Chapter 338: Elena IV—Nasal Etiquette
“Are we ready to get to the ice?” Elena asked brightly, she felt a bit overwhelmed today looking at the bright, round, blinking eyes of the little girls clustered around her body. Mom didn’t know about the book report she needed to finish by next Friday, and she hadn’t even started the damn novel. Instead, she had been concentrating on math and English and she had a feeling she wasn’t doing too well on either one. If she didn’t get A’s on all these things, then it would screw her GPA and there goes her streak of being gold with the National Junior Honor Society.
Well, did Mom care about that much? Not really. Mom told her to go easy on her grades, as long as they were respectable she didn’t need to short circuit her brain over it. The important thing, Mom said, was to be studious about stretching, moving to music, practicing her ballet and her skating. Oh if she could do that and only that all day, Elena knew she would. Practice your music as well, Mom added, don’t get rusty on that piano.
Dad, however, he would tilt his chin down and look at her with his black eyes. “What do your grades look like this week, Elenita?”
If Elena told him about her straight A’s, he would smile, hug her tight, tell her how smart she was, how her future would be so bright because in these changing times everyone would respect her brains and not look at her race or sex. In fact, she should think of herself as a role model for other Mexican girls, she should show everyone what a girl can be and do without having to be white. You carry the hopes of our race on your shoulders, you will show everyone that you can succeed and that you did not even need affirmative action to back you up, you can do it on your own brains!
If Elena said I have an A- average, a B+ average, Dad would not yell. His jaw would tighten however, he would pale somewhat, his mustache would bristle. “And why was this week so much harder than last week? Did you study less? Did the lessons become harder? Have you spent too much time dancing?”
Elena didn’t resent Mom or Dad for their expectations. She loved that they had that much confidence in her prospects and talents. She loved being singled as the star of the litter so to speak, outshining her brothers and sisters by being the best one, the prettiest one. She loved being multi talented, she loved the praise. She loved having intelligence and charisma being a math nerd and a performer at the same time. She loved it all so much that it made her dizzy how much in love with herself she was. She knew by all rights that made her immodest and stuck up and just plain arrogant.
But I’m not hurting anyone, Elena reasoned to herself, I don’t think less of anyone else and I don’t pick on anyone. Is there anything wrong with liking the spotlight and still being nice?
Yes there
was something wrong with it. Elena knew this, because there were some days when
her brain and her body didn’t want to get out of bed in the morning. She knew
because sometimes she didn’t want to blink or speak because of the energy it
took. And what other explanation could there be for how insanely happy she got
visiting the
Elena leaned against the glass surrounding the ice and let the girls pour onto it like hyper kittens, squealing and pushing at each other. Jadzia, the coach, a young woman of small stature and black flowing curls, put her hands on her hips and squinted in their direction. Elena waved lazily at Jadzia. She knew Jad didn’t care too much for having a class take to the ice before she was finished with her present one. But, ah well.
She put her fingers over her lips and pressed them softly. Jonathan had kissed her five times already; she kept account of each time. Just soft on her mouth. He hadn’t said I love you or anything like that, and that was okay because she knew that it would be too weird if he did. Jonathan made her dizzy because he smiled and thought everything she did was just great, even if it wasn’t. She didn’t have to perform for him. He had confidence in her ability to just be magic.
Most of the girls took up space at the far end of the vast sheet of ice. There weren’t that many people today, and anyhow public skaters wouldn’t be allowed on the ice for another hour, and the hockey players, smelly old bastards wouldn’t be around til the afternoon.
She watched the girls, some of them tried to spin around, others practiced T-stops, and Ember Wincott tried to show off “her new jump”. Elena lifted an eyebrow as the girl with the blond curls demonstrated an ability to hop on one leg, slam her toe pick into the ice and flaunt that as a vast achievement. All it did really was chop holes into the ice.
“Ember!” Elena shouted, cupping her hands over her mouth, “Patch up the holes you make, remember how I showed you last week?”
“Why should she have to do that?”
Elena looked at Ember’s mom; the woman had a pale, thin face and large pale eyes. She never sat on the bleachers, but she stood at the glass wringing her hands together, never warm under her mittens.
“Holes are dangerous, Mrs. Wincott,” Elena said being careful to keep a respectful tone in her voice. Dad had told Elena over and over to be extra nice to Mrs. Wincott because she was the governor’s sister and that meant kissing some serious ass. Perhaps it would be good to babysit for her too.
“Well yes, but why should Ember patch it up? Isn’t there people to do that?”
Mrs. Wincott looked down her thin nose, her lips pursed.
“It’s best for figure skaters to patch their own ice,” Elena replied sweetly. “We chop it up far too much in a session for it to be safe.”
Mrs. Wincott’s eyes crinkled slightly and she looked back at the skaters.
“Elena…”
A whispered peep. Elena leaned in to see Jana on the ice, with her back pressed against the glass. The little girl’s face was pale and her eyes wide.
“Jana!” Elena exclaimed. “What’s wrong?”
Jana gulped. “I… I don’t think I can skate in these.”
Elena stepped onto the ice and did a little twirl before facing Jana. “I thought you could skate honey.”
Jana nodded. “I can but in hockey skates,” She wrinkled her nose. “These are different. I tried a step and the toe caught in the ice and I almost fell, I don’t want to fall it’s embarrassing.”
“Hockey?” Mrs. Wincott asked poking her face in. “My dear little girl what were you doing playing hockey?”
“Cause I’m fierce!” Jana snapped, “Like tiger! Never mind Elena I don’t need anyone’s help.” Jana’s china blue eyes sparked wildly and she took three choppy strides forward and caught herself.
“Don’t lean on your toes,” Elena said. “The toe pick gets caught. Lean on your edges.”
“It’s stupid,” Jana snipped. “Why is it there?”
“For jumps, dear.”
Jana grinned. “Ooooo! Heehehee.” She then took a few more strides and then picked up speed, gliding bent forward, one arm forward and one back, her hockey instincts laid bare for everyone to see. Elena grimaced, that was going to be a chore, teaching the girl a completely different stride.
“What a disagreeable child,” Mrs. Wincott said in an awestruck voice. “She’s very pretty though, it’s good that she is in figure skating now, it would be a shame to ruin her disposition anymore with hockey. What’s her name?”
“Jana Roy.”
“Wah? What kind of name is that?” Mrs. Wincott asked with disbelieving eyes. “She isn’t part Asian is she? She’s so blond. How odd.”
“No it’s French,” Elena replied carefully. “R-O-Y but its pronounced “Wah” that’s all and I don’t think her disposition is ruined at all. She’s spunky but she’s a good kid.”
“Well I don’t know what kind of parents would put their daughter in hockey, that itself is unspeakable.”
“I don’t see your meaning, Madame.” A French accented voice said.
Elena’s skin prickled. She had no idea Mrs. Roy had crept up to the ice. She probably heard everything too cause that’s just how things went. “Hi, Mrs. Roy,” she said with a smile. “Didn’t see you there.”
Mrs. Wincott put her hand to her breast and took a big step back from Mrs. Roy. “Oh… hello.”
“Well I’ll let you ladies hang,” Elena said skating backwards. “Have fun.” She pivoted and without waiting for any reply she skated to the group of girls. Jana didn’t seem to be in a pleasant mood, she had her arms crossed over her breast and her cheeks were pink.
“Look I didn’t mean to be mean,” Ember replied. “I just said you skated like a hockey player, how come you skate like that?”
“Well I don’t like the way you said it,” Jana snipped. “Cause there’s nothing wrong with hockey.”
Ember lifted one eyebrow and rolled her eyes, laughing, sending the other girls around her into laughter. “Whatever,” she said popping a bubble of gum, emulating the rich bitch style of teenagers on tv.
“Ember get off the ice and spit out your gum, you know you’re not supposed to have it.”
Ember scowled. Elena pointed, “Or do you want Jad to tell you?”
Ember rolled her eyes and skated off the ice. Elena sighed watching the girl. Nine years old but she was definitely tall for her age. Would she be getting taller? More than likely, it would be hell dealing with Mrs. Wincott when she began to realize that her daughter was too big for figure skating.
Elena sighed nervously and looked at her own wrist. She had put on two inches of height in the past couple of months, two inches was a helluva lot. She couldn’t afford to grow much taller; the only blessing was that her bones weren’t heavy and clunky like most other girls growing from childhood to puberty. She had put a ton of energy in making sure that the two inches of height was accompanied by only four pounds of weight gain. As long as she stayed light, her future stayed bright.
She coughed into her mittened hand and so did a couple of other girls.
“Ewwwwwwwwww!” Jana squealed, “You blew your nose in your mitten ewwww!”
Elena grinned as Jana pointed at Jeanette who had indeed wiped her runny nose on her mitten. “It’s okay Jana.” Elena said.
“But that’s gross!” Jana gasped looking at her in horror.
Jeanette giggled and so did the other girls. “Duh!” Jeanette said.
Elena’s heart went to Jana at that moment because for a brief moment, Jana’s eyes didn’t flash with her usual prickly fire, but with wounded feelings and tears. Of course being new to this group she would want to be so accepted and popular. Elena could understand that.
“We blow our noses on our mittens,” An-Mei said in a sweet voice. Elena blessed the world for the existence of An-Mei. “It’s okay Jana; it’s just how we do it.”
Jana scowled. “Just blow it on the ice, what’s wrong with that?” Jana then demonstrated by leaning over, pressing one finger to the side of her nose and blowing a shot of snot onto the ice surface. “See, easy.”
“Ewwww!” All the other girls squealed. And they clustered around Elena who herself felt horrified. She never thought she would ever see a girl do something that obviously disgusting. Maybe Mrs. Wincott was right and Jana’s entry into figure skating would save her disposition.
Jana rolled her eyes. “What’s wrong with that?”
“We skate on that ice!” An-Mei exclaimed.
“So?” Jana asked. “You hug your mommies with those mittens.”
Elena closed her eyes and felt tears spring into her eyes. She knew she would die laughing in about a second due to the nasal etiquette of figure skaters and hockey players.