Skate City
I was so anxious and over excited about the plan I guess I forgot to be surprised when Dad asked if Skye and I wanted to go to Skate City Monday night with him. I mean, I don’t know what was more shocking: Dad wanting to take me somewhere, Dad actually paying for me and Stacey to go somewhere, or going out on a Monday night with school the next day. Okay, Skate City wouldn’t have been my first pick – perhaps a night of musical theatre in Melbourne or my first big concert or something, but it was still a surprise.
‘I just feel we should get out a bit more,’ Dad said to me when he told me. ‘Skate City is a pretty good place to start.’
‘Really? And you’re going to go skating as well?’ I was a bit incredulous, I mean the last time Dad took me to Skate City was with Mum for Stacey’s eleventh birthday.
She pretty much has her birthday at Skate City every year, but Dad hasn’t been since then.
‘Why? You think your old man can’t handle a pair of inline skates?’ Dad laughed. ‘I somehow doubt it,’ I said. ‘Even if you were a roller skating king a few centuries ago.’
‘You better believe it.’
Dad loves to tell me he’d skate around the streets all day, once without a shirt on in the middle of summer. He got so sun burnt he had to spend three days in bed with Grandma smothering his back in calamine lotion.
‘You better bring the newspaper along just in case.’
Skye was totally up for it. ‘Monday is Super Skate night! They play 90s hits and there’s like a great crowd there,’ she squealed over the phone. ‘And it’s half price.’ Half price. I bet Dad did a bit of research into that one. He would have done anything to avoid paying full price for all three of us!
‘I’ve been thinking, really we should go out once a week together,’ Dad said as we drove to Skye’s house. ‘Just you and me.’
‘Really?’ I said. I mean, go out with your dad on a sort of date? Sounded a bit weird.
‘Nothing spectacular,’ said Dad. ‘I mean, just to a McDonald’s even, you know.
And you can bring Skye or even Topps. Even once a fortnight, you know…’ he started to fumble a bit. It was obviously a big deal for him. It had been that long since he’d taken such an interest in our relationship. I guess I thought he’d always remain this distant, lost sort of guy I bumped into before and after school, someone I wouldn’t have too much to say to anymore. Even someone I’d never feel totally comfortable with again. ‘Sure Dad, that sounds cool,’ I said before he got his tongue totally in a twist. He seemed relieved I’d cut in. ‘We could go to the cinema and stuff. Skye can get us free tickets.’
‘I’d like that,’ he said. ‘It’ll be the first date I’ve been on for years!’ ‘Yeah, settle down Dad!’ I laughed.
Skye was totally up for Skate City. She even brought her own inline skates along.
Seriously, she thinks the place is like the capital of awesomeness in the outer eastern suburbs. I was dragged along every now and then, and I guess I didn’t mind it. Topps and his mates never went, and I hadn’t been since starting work at the Video Saloon. When we were in the car Skye asked me to do a quiz. She’d obviously been reading about it on the Internet just before we picked her up, as she couldn’t help herself. As soon as she said hi to Dad, she asked me five questions straight away.
‘Okay Stacey, you’ve got to try this. First, just tell me your favourite animal and what you like most about that animal.’
‘What? Er…my favourite animal has always been the Meerkat because I love the way they work together and always look out for each other. And they’re cute.’ Skye seemed to be memorising what I’d said. ‘Got it,’ she said. ‘Now, name a really cute guy from year ten at school.’
‘Does it have to be from school?’
‘Yes.’
‘Okay, let’s try…Ryan Dowling from 10C. He’s got a nice smile.’ ‘Wow! Yeah, you’re right,’ said Stacey. ‘Now, what is your favourite dessert and
describe why you like it.’
‘That’s easy,’ said Dad. ‘It’s apricot Danish with vanilla ice-cream.’ ‘Definitely,’ I laughed. ‘Because it is nice and crusty, but really sweet too.’ ‘Okay, last question. Describe the ocean.’
‘The ocean…um…it’s pretty scary because you can’t see what’s underneath you, but it’s something you can’t wait to dive into anyway. You just hope there’s no creepy crawlies waiting to bite your toes. But I love the ocean cause I’ve got good memories of it.’ I saw Dad slowly nod in acknowledgement when I said that. Skye clapped her hands. ‘Okay, this is how it goes. I’ve changed the questions and used your answers for the new questions. The first is, how would you describe yourself?
The answer you gave is that you love working together with others and you look out for them too. And you think you’re cute.’
‘She’s right, Stacey is cute,’ laughed Dad.
‘As if,’ I replied, secretly chuffed.
‘For the second question, you have a major crush on Ryan Dowling. Why? Because he is nice and crusty, but really sweet too.’
‘Crusty? Sure you’re not talking about me?’ said Dad.
‘No, I said sweet,’ I said, ‘but you’re right about the crusty bit.’ Dad pretended to whack me.
‘Finally,’ said Skye, ‘what is your attitude towards life? You said you love life even though it’s pretty scary because you can’t see what’s underneath you, but it’s something you can’t wait to dive into anyway. You just hope there’s no creepy crawlies waiting to bite your toes. But you love life because you’ve got good memories of it.’ I was quiet for a moment as I thought about that answer. ‘Even though the other questions were stupid, that last one was pretty cool,’ I said.
‘Yeah, it’s a psychological test,’ said Skye.
Did I love life? I guess so. It could be pretty scary sometimes and I learned first hand there definitely were creepy crawlies waiting to take a bite of me. But I did have good memories of life, especially with Mum and Dad together. I just hoped those memories wouldn’t fade and be replaced with nightmare stuff like the past few months. ‘Maybe you’re gonna be a psychologist Skye?’ said Dad.
‘Nah, you need to be smart for that. I’d like to be a school counsellor or something though,’ replied Skye.
‘You’d be good at that, for sure,’ I said. ‘Or perhaps you could be a professional rollerskater? Wait till Dad sees your moves. He’ll be impressed.’
I think Dad regretted taking us the minute we walked into the place and Hanson was thundering out this sugary pop classic called “MMMMBop” that Skye immediately started singing along with as loudly as she could. A mirror ball shot traffic lights of colour across the skating rink, the ice machine looked like it was ready to blow and everyone was shouting and laughing trying to do barrel rolls and grapevine tricks. Dad looked a bit shell shocked. ‘I think I’ll have a Coke and take a look at the paper,’ he said to us. ‘You both have a good time.’
‘Gee, your Dad is cool taking us skating,’ Skye said, easing onto the rink as easily as a seal sliding into an aquarium pool.
‘Yeah. The whole Video Saloon thing really shook him and me. It sort of gave him a head spin. It made him think of someone other than himself,’ I said as I stuck one hand on the barrier. It always took me a few minutes to get back into skating.
I struggled to keep up with Stacey who, as usual, hurtled off around the rink. She was like some frisky mare. You just had to let her go for a few laps of the rink before she would settle down. I tried to speed up a bit, but it didn’t really work for me. I felt the skates zig-zag left and right and the wheels slide on the slippery surface. I stumbled forward, then overcorrected myself and fell hard on my bum.
A hand reached down to help me up.
It was, of all people, Ryan Dowling. ‘Need any help?’ he said, as I grimaced and held his hand. He flicked his fringe away from his baby blue eyes as I stood up, and smiled at me. I was right, he really did have an awesome smile. We were in different classes, so I didn’t get to see that smile much. A pity.
‘Thanks,’ I said, smiling back.
‘No probs. Cool, see you later,’ he said, giving me a wave before joining up with his friends.
‘Oh my God Stacey,’ said Skye, flying up behind me and grabbing my hips. ‘This has got to be, like, fate! I mean, he really is sweet.’
I just smiled.
Fate! It can be fickle. But I hoped it would be good to me tomorrow morning at the Video Saloon. Was I being stupid? Was this the world’s worst plan? No. I had to go through with it. Life was feeling a bit more normal but I really, really wanted to go through with my plan. It’d work.
I put on a burst of speed and, for the first time ever, overtook Skye. Tomorrow is going to go off, I thought. And there’s nobody who can stop me.