Chapter 12 - Are you ready?

Bexley’s P.O.V. I don’t remember the last time I was this nervous. Is tonight a date, or am I only imagining it? For the rest of the day, that’s all I have on my mind. “Has anyone seen Janelle?” Mr.Nelson asks, looking around the class. “She left for the day. She’s getting her cast taken off,” I answer, lifting my hand up. “Oh, right.” As the class goes on, I take extra care taking notes today. I can’t have messy and unintelligible notes to give to Janelle. Although, if I have bad writing, she’ll need to ask for my help reading them and we could spend more time together. But she could also find someone to borrow notes from. I shake my head and concentrate again. No, I need to have proper notes in the first place. As soon as school is over, I make my way to the rink. I’m not sure if Janelle will already be there or not. As soon as I step in, Sam greets me. “All by your lonesome today?” He teases, looking behind me to see if Janelle is there. I guess she isn’t here yet. “Yeah, but not for long. She’s getting her cast taken off today. She’ll be dropping by afterward.” “Ah! I didn’t know that was today. She must have been excited about that,” I laugh. “You have no idea,” “You two seem to be getting along great now,” “Yeah, we’re friends,” I answer shyly, not looking in his direction. I can feel his eyes peering at me, and I don’t want to get into it with him right now. “Well, I need to get my skate and make sure the ice is ready for when she gets here.” “Sure thang,” I grab my skates from my locker and head to the ice. “Coach Henley?” “Hey Bex,” “Is everything ok? You’re never on the ice at this time?” I say, looking at my watch. “I know. But I also know Janelle is having her cast taken off. And knowing my niece the way I do, the first thing she’s going to do is drop by and get some real practice time,” He says, shaking his head. “Yeah, it’s the first thing she said she was doing when she told me her cast was coming off. I was actually coming to see if the ice was in perfect condition for her,” “You won’t have to. I already did. Sanbonied it myself,” “Seriously?” I ask, c*****g a brow. “Yes, seriously. Why does that surprise you so much?” “It doesn’t. Well, maybe a little.” “Look, she is my only niece and I will protect her. From anything …And anyone” He says, his eyes darkening. “Why do I get the feeling you have a double meaning to what you just says?” “Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t. But know that I’m watching you,” He says, skating odd the rink and patting my shoulder as he walks by. “What is that supposed to mean?” “It means treat my niece right, and we won’t have a problem, Bex,” “I would never do anything to hurt her,” I exclaim defensively. “I know you wouldn’t. I’ve known you for a very long time. But I will still be the overprotective uncle and give my unwanted warning anyway,” I smile at the blush on his face. “You’re a pretty good uncle to her. She loves you a lot, even though she sometimes complains. She knows you love her too,” “Thanks for saying that. Now you two have fun and please,” “Be careful?” He chuckles and leaves the ice. I strap on my skate and wait for Janelle to get here. I wait less than ten minutes before she comes barreling through the doors. “Look!!!” She squeals, twisting her arm in every direction possible. “That’s got to feel so much better,” “It feels great! You have no idea!” She says, sitting down and fastening her skate. I almost grab her food and prop it on my knee, just as I’ve been doing the past few weeks. “Sorry. Habits,” “No, it’s ok. I almost place my foot on your leg too” She laughs, shaking he head. “You ready to get some skating time on?” “I was born ready!” She exclaims, jumping up on her feet, stepping one foot after the other on the ice, and gliding away. “Don’t push yourself too hard tonight, ok?” “Don’t worry. I know. My mom, Uncle Henley, and the doctor have already given me a speech about it. Let's just have some fun and maybe do a trick or two?” She pleads. “Sure. Only if you let me catch you when you jump,” She blushes hard but agrees regardless. Tonight is going to be a great night. Oliver’s P.O.V. I keep looking at Janelle, even when she doesn’t see me. I see her. On her first day, she gave me a sense of deja vue. And for a few days, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I knew who she was. Not from her skating competitions, but from somewhere else. And then it clicked. It’s her. The one he spoke of and showed me a picture of before. I can’t believe it. How small can the world be? And what’s worse, I know what he did to her. He bragged about it. It makes me sick just thinking about it. I want to tell her. I don’t want to hide this from her. She is seriously the nicest girl I have ever met. And we’ve become friends. But I also know that as soon as she finds out the truth, she’ll hate me. I just want us to be friends a little longer. Just a little. I know I won’t be able to keep this to myself forever, and my being an ass to Bexley isn’t helping. I just got this overwhelming feeling to protect her when he made her cry. Just like he had before. I know deep down Bex isn’t that type of guy. He never was. But I don’t know if I cloud tell him what I know either. It’s not my place to tell. How did I become part of this mess? And how the hell do I get out of it as unscratched as humanly possible?