Trying to calm down my sniggering I held out my hand. "Come on, I'll show you."
Taking her hand in mine, I pulled us through the throng of cars and people until they made way for the view of Ashter lake.
It was a decent sized lake which I personally knew could be well over fifteen feet deep in some spots, but right now it was completely frozen over. People were skating across its icy surface. Some were light and graceful on the blades while others were steady. Off to the sides, there were kids and their family playing in the giant piles of snow that had been scooped off the shore. It was a jolly sight, only missing the Christmas lights that some people would string from the trees in December.
I looked down at Atalanta who watched with a bit of wonder and excitement.
"I've only ever seen indoor rinks. This is amazing!” She was nearly jumping up and down with joy until her face fell into a frown and halted. "Is it safe? Won't the ice crack?"
"This deep into the winter, no. Once it starts to warm up some, it will be too dangerous.” When her face began to morph into one of concern, I added “The locals know the lake pretty well, so they'll start blocking it off to tourists when the time comes.”
She nodded. “That’s good.”
I took her up to a temporary trailer which had an old couple who rented out skates by the hour. After I paid for the skates, we strapped them on and made our way down the bank to the ice. I was pretty steady on my feet walking through the padding someone laid down, having done this for many years. Atalanta, on the other hand, was a bit wobbly. She held onto me tightly as she tried to maintain her balance. Hey, I wasn't complaining about having her hands all over me and neither was the erection in my pants.
When we hit the edge of the lake, I glided effortlessly out into the ice. Spinning, I watched as Atalanta made it a couple feet out on wobbly legs until losing her balance and falling on her delectable ass.
I glided over to her, trying to suppress my smile. "Would you like some help, my lady?"
"Nope! I got this," She held up her hand for me to stop, then flailed around for a few moments attempting to stand before falling right back on her butt. "Okay, yes, I need help."
I chuckled, took her hand, and pulled her to her feet. "Come on, nice and steady."
We went like that for a while, I held her hand as she tried to maintain her footing on the slippery ice. Whenever she would start to fall, I would just keep her steady until she was good to go. Eventually she got the hang of it, not needing me to hold her anymore. I'd have to say within a good twenty or thirty minutes it was as if she were born on this ice. She wasn't able to do tricks or anything like the few professionals that were here, but she stopped falling and skated around with ease.
"I don't know whether to be jealous or proud that you're a natural at this," I commented as she skated gracefully in a circle.
"Apparently I have figure skating in my blood,” She said.
"Really? From your mother?” I asked, curious. She had yet to mention her mother.
She nodded. "She died when I was really little though."
A pang of empathy shot through me and I reached for her hand. "I'm sorry.”
"It's alright. I hardly remember her,” she said, slipping her hand out of mine.
I probably wouldn't have caught it if I wasn't so focused on her, but her voice was a bit strained, and she bit at the corner of her lip when she said that. I didn't understand why she would feel the need to lie about something like that. I thought long and hard on it for a moment before I realized I had seen her bite her lip like that several times today, not giving it much thought.
When I talked about her father acting like a cop.
When I asked about her birthday.
Several times when we talked about our likes and dislikes.
...When she first said she ate her lunch in study hall.
I had brushed it off as a nervous tick but now I realized...she didn't trust me with the truth.
Anger flared in my chest. The point of today was for us to get to know each other and she had more than likely been lying the entire time! Was anything she said true? I know she had been lying about eating lunch. What else had she been lying about?
"I just remembered something. I'll be right back," I said through clenched teeth.
Turning around, I skated off towards the parking lot, leaving Atlanta standing there all alone in the middle of the lake.
I stomped up the padded path and towards the bathrooms, too angry to even take off the boots once I hit the gravel. I would have to buy them now that I was chipping the blades, but at this moment I didn't care.
The heat of rage continued to boil in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to go back there and scream at her, call her out on all of it!
Trudging into the Men’s bathroom, I locked myself in the handicap stall. Breathing heavily, I moved to the sink, leaning myself on it. Looking up into the mirror I could see the color of my irises spread, blocking out both my pupils and sclera until my eyes looked like iridescent blue orbs.
Growling, I raised my fist and smashed the glass, shattering my image. I knew I should have cut open my hands doing that but the scales under my skin were rippling, meaning the small ones which covered the tops of my hands protected the skin from the impact. I knew that if I didn't calm down, the fins on my back, legs, and ulna would be tearing through my clothes.
I took a deep breath, willing myself to calm my shift.
In through the nose and slowly out through my fanged mouth.
When I felt my scales settle and fangs recede back into my gums, I opened my eyes and looked at myself through the shattered remains of the mirror. My eyes were back to normal.
Sighing, I slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor.
"At least I didn't lose it in front of her," I mumbled to myself.
I felt ashamed of myself for losing control like that. I had no right to be mad at her for keeping secrets. I had several huge ones of my own that I was too afraid to share with her. Percy was right. I knew she suspected something and If I wanted to continue what I was doing, I would need to tell her the truth.
I was scared, though. That side of me was a monster, a mythical creature which belonged in the ocean, not on land with the rest of the people I cared about. The others never seemed to struggle with that part of themselves as much as I did. Even Percy, who was so strong and hadn't grown up on the surface seemed fine. Never losing his temper and fazing, never seeming to need the ocean as much as I craved it.
Perhaps it was because they hadn’t grown up the way I had.
Or perhaps it was because I was weak.
Chapter Fifteen
Atalanta
"Jason?"
I called into the Men's bathroom. I had seen him practically sprinting this way when he suddenly bailed on me on the lake. I didn't know what was up with him. One moment we were talking and the next he went all rigid and booked it.
I worried he had caught me in my lie. The lie that my mother was dead, when in reality she was alive, probably behind bars or padded walls. Yet, the normal reaction I was used to when caught in a lie was to be confronted about it or ignored. Not running away.
So, after several minutes of waiting on the slippery ice, I followed him, being sure to swap out my skates for my normal boots that we had left at a spot near the shore.
It was a little upsetting as up until now the date had been pretty magical. Well, besides the interrogating questions I had to answer knowing that I really couldn't give the full truth for a lot of them.