Roller Skating

“But I can’t... I’m serious, I cannot roller skate, I will just embarrass myself,” Mark said for about the eight time today.

He was sitting with Tiffany, on the bench at the roller skating place. She was in the middle of putting on her roller skates as he tried to talk himself out of doing it once again.

“You’ll be fine Mark, who cares if you fall over, it’s just a bit of fun,” she said, trying to comfort him.

He reluctantly put his own roller skates on, knowing well and truly that this would end terribly.

“Anyway, I’ll help you out, I’m a fantastic skater,” she said giggling, teasing him nicely.

“I’ll hold you to your word,” he replied, finally ready to take the brink.

Mark and Tiffany got on their feet and made their way to the entrance where Diego and Tiffany’s brother were waiting. He would have been okay with going if it was just him and Tiffany but with Diego here, the whole situation changed.

Making things worse, Mark managed to slip as soon as they entered the ring. Falling back on his ass, resulting in a lot of laughter, especially from Diego. “Did nobody teach you how to skate before,” he said laughing his ass off before taking off, showing his ability to skate.

Tiffany helped him up laughing herself, “Hey at least I find your clumbsy-ness cute,” she said, smiling at him. It was meant as a compliment but it did little to calm himself down.

The next five to ten minutes were some of the most embarrassing minutes he had in quite some time. The amount of times that Mark fell over were too many to count, he ended up having to hold on to the railing for the most of the time, even then, still struggling.

Watching Diego fly past him every minute was even worse. He was so close to sticking a leg out the next time he passed him. But, he couldn’t afford to do it in front of Tiffany and have her think that he is the actual jackass out of the two of them.

Eventually Tiffany took his hand, “Just follow me, hold on to my hand and just don’t fall,” she explained to him.

“Easier said than done,” he mentioned.

After a couple of early stumbles, Mark had at least found his footing, feeling comfortable being connected to Tiffany. “That’s better!” She said, feeling confident enough to spin the two of them around.

“Oh shit,” he said, wobbling but keeping balance, “You’re so good as this.”

“Too much practice,” she responded.

He couldn’t help but admire how graceful she looked on the ring. Adding to that was how beautiful she looked in her winter attire, topped off by that adorable knitted beanie.

As they went around in circles for the next fifteen minutes, Mark was unaware that Diego had been keeping his eye closely on them, working out how he could break this little couple skating up.

Eventually, he made his move, sneaking up on them, “Wow Tiffany, you may be the best female skater I’ve ever seen.”

“Best female? What about males, you think their better skaters than me?” she questioned him.

“Hmm no but I’m a male and I don’t think you’re quite as good or quick as me,” he said, presenting a challenge.

“Oh really? You want to make a bet on that?”

He had gotten what he wanted, “A bet? Yes please, let’s see who can do ten laps the quickest.”

“You’re on,” Tiffany said confidently, fixing up her beanie on her bed.

Mark watched as he soon found himself back against the railing, his hand holding with Tiffany done for now. Frustrated, he made his way back off the ring and onto the first bench he could find. “Fucking prick,” he mumbled, annoyed with Diego.

He could barely watch as they went round and round, trying to outlast each other.

Both of them were quick, Diego a little faster but Tiffany had better control turning corners which made it a pretty even contest. They were coming up on their last lap, both neck and neck. As they approached a turn, Diego lost balance a little bit, going way too fast to control himself. He slipped but spun right into Tiffany, knocking her over.

Mark instantly stood up, seeing this. He had to get out to her to check if she was alright.