Skating Backwards

'I know that song. I know that beat, the tones that echo through the house,' Sonica thought as she raced down the stairs, practically leaping around the turn and dashing towards the TV her brothers were watching. She plunked herself down on the ground since the couch was already filled.

Leverage was just starting up as the intro goes through reintroducing the characters and their roles. Sonica could feel her heart racing and had to silence the urge to bounce around in excitement. Instead she vibrated a little and began quoting the lines with her brothers as the episode began.

By halfway through the episode, all three siblings were laughing with tears in their eyes before their parents called everyone up to get ready for dinner.

"Coming, dad!" Sonica yelled, before racing up the stairs once more. Much to her brothers’ annoyance, they were left to clean up the room and turn off the lights. She grabbed pans piled high with food from where her papa was cooking and brought them over to the table as her dad brought over utensils and plates.

"Oi, slow down Ica!" Papa said, "Some of these are hot, don't burn yourself."

"I know, I know. It's fine, I've got tough hands." He tried whacking her with the back of his wooden spoon, but she dodged out of the way with a grin. Papa returned it before turning back to the stove.

"Dad, how was work? Did you meet any interesting people today?" Her dad was an artist that was slowly building up his network after having moved to a new town. His work was fantastic and they had pieces all over the house of different animals and scenery. Some of them were outlines of the kids with colorful backgrounds. That series of paintings was Sonica's idea.

"Nah, not today. I did meet up with Robin again, though. She wondered if you were going to join me again soon, it's been a while since she's seen you."

"Robin's back? Awesome! I'll message her later. Did she have any new series? Or was she visiting her dad again?" Robin was similar to a mentor for Sonica. She was another artist for Sonica to learn from outside of her dad's influence, and it helped her develop her own style of art.

"Ica, put your phone away! You can message Robin later." Papa scolded before shouting, "Boys! Get your butts up here, it's time for dinner!" The two boys scrambled their way up the stairs, shoving each other to see who reached the top first.

"I won!" the older of the twins, Rayaan, said while almost punching Aarone in the face. Aarone responded with a sharp elbow to the side. "Rude," he said, holding his rib cage.

"Whatever dork, don't hit me." Rayaan responded with an attempted slap while Aarone aimed a kick to his legs.

"Hey! Move away from the stairs!" Papa shouted. The twins moved over to the table and sat down next to each other, still within shoving distance.

"Well then, you two missed out on hearing about Robin. She's around if you want to catch up." Dad said in an effort to distract the two from possibly causing an accidental blood bath.

"Cool," Aarone said and he and Rayaan simultaneously reached for a paratha. "I'll message her later. Has she been working on any new projects?"

"Not that I know of, but you can always ask. How were all of your guys' days?"

"Awesome! Remember Cali? I was telling you about her last week? The one who's awesome at physics?" Sonica waited until her dad and papa nodded. "Well, we're going to hang out tomorrow to try roller skating! Turns out she's really good! Hopefully I won't fall on my face, but we'll see!"

"Don't worry, Ica!" Rayaan said.

"You absolutely will! Man, I wish I could watch that... wonder if they'll have a video on the security camera. I bet you'd go viral!" Sonica launched her napkin at Aarone, but it floated down harmlessly.

"Oooh, you're right! I bet you'll manage to do a flip! And then land on your butt with your arms flying everywhere! Just don't squish the little children, okay, didi?" Sonica threw her spoon at Rayaan, hitting him in the chest. He laughed it off.

"You two are so rude!"

"And you shouldn't be throwing your silverware." Sonica shrugged at her dad. It was fine, no one got hurt or anything. Besides, everyone was used to it.

"Papa, what did you do today? Change any lives yet?"

"Sadly not yet," he said. "The team is still working on the internet problem, but it looks like we can at least extend broadband to more rural areas than it currently has. That doesn't do anything with the speed as of yet, but there's always the next steps."

"Well, that's progress at least! So, yay!" Sonica grinned at her papa and he grinned back.

"Okay, but can we change back to the topic of Sonica getting a date?"

"Oh, shut up, you menace!"

...

Sonica's brothers helped her pick an outfit, though helped might be a strong word for what actually happened.

"What do you think makes her look more gay? The flannel or the graphic tee? I can't tell anymore."

"Doesn't matter, Cali probably won't notice. She sounds straight, right?"

"Shut up you two! It's not even a date!" The boys were piling clothes onto her bed. They ranged from dresses to what some of Sonica's friends have called a 'hobo outfit'. Kicking the twins out didn't work, even though she needed to head out in just a few minutes in order to get to the skating rink in time.

"Alright, back up. I'm just gonna grab some stuff and throw it on, so leave me alone!"

"What, are you shyyyy?" Aarone asked with mischief shining in his eyes.

"No, I just want you out! Next thing I know you'll just start putting on the clothes I'm trying to wear. So, out!" Rayaan had already walked out the door as Sonica pushed Aarone the rest of the way. She swung the door shut, but it stayed just a little bit open as per usual. It didn't matter if she closed it fully or not, the two were already gone.

"Now, what to wear..." She grabbed an Iron Man shirt and a pair of cargo shorts, then some thin socks that went about halfway up her shin. Cali warned her that the shoes would rub up against her skin if she wore the ankle-length socks.

She searched through her wallet to find the $10 entrance fee for the rink before heading out the door. Another thing Cali warned her about was people trying to snatch cash from others. Turns out some rinks in the area had that type of culture, and this happened to be one of them. Most people leave extra cash at home.

"Bye dad, bye papa!" she shouted while walking through the door. Her and her brothers shared a car that used to be owned by their aunt until she got a newer one, which meant there would be times it was completely trashed - after Aarone drove - and other times it was extremely clean - after Rayaan drove. This time it was pretty clean, so Sonica didn't spend any time sifting through the extra trash to make the front seat usable.

She jammed out to Foster the People and lovelytheband as their top songs played on the radio, and switched the station once “Californication” started. Only twenty minutes later and she was at the rink where a small line had formed.

Cali was waiting with a small group of people. Sonica knew a couple of them. She was close friends with Lee, a sweet girl that was interested in drumming and helped out with show choir. She had a bubbly personality that fit with most groups and a wicked sense of humor that earned her a spot with the so-called punks.

"Lee! Cali! Hey!" The two waved as Sonica approached and Lee bounced over and launched herself onto Sonica who barely managed to catch the girl's flying body. With a pair of legs now wrapped around her waist, Sonica waddled over to the group. "Hey, Lee. It's been a bit!"

"Heh, I know, an entire four hours! How you could survive for so long is beyond me."

"Sure, munchkin. I'll just make sure to die the next time we separate, good?"

"Sounds perfect! You can never leave me again." They both grinned.

"Guys, come on!" Cali shouts. The line had been moving forwards while Lee and Sonica were in their own little world, and now the group was at the front. Lee jumped off Sonica so they could hand over their entry fee and walk into the rink.

"So, do you guys just skate the entire time? It's, like, five hours straight." Lee hummed and shook her head.

"Nope! There's a few people in our group who don't even like skating, so they stick with hanging out and talking. Or, you know, games. Truth or dare, never have I ever, that sort of thing."

"So what you're telling me is that this is basically a sleepover with the possibility of getting run over by people on wheels." In lieu of a response, Lee just pulled her away and to the roller skate checkout counter. After her feet were tied in, Sonica was dragged onto the skating floor, stumbling only a couple of times on the carpet.

"Cali!" Lee shouted. "Come teach her already! Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

"Alright, I'm here. You can run off and I'll take good care of Sonica, happy?" Lee waited barely half a second before zooming off across the floor and seemingly racing with a random person whose hat she knocked off. Hopefully it was someone she actually knew.

"Alright, grab my hands. I'm going to skate backwards and guide you, just place some of your weight on me if you feel like you're going to fall. Other than that, it's just like walking. Okay?"

"Okay, sure. Walking, I can sometimes do that." Sonica stepped out onto the smooth plastic tiles, panicking a little as the skates shifted around underneath her. Cali slowly pulled her forwards, making sure to stay at the side of the rink in case Sonica fell. Which happened. A lot.

Lee was merciless whenever she stopped by to check out Sonica's progress. "Wow, you really do suck at this."

"It's okay, you don't have to love me. I'll just stew in my failures and inadequacy over here. Alone. With only strangers to console me."

"Hey, you still have me helping you out. And you're doing great, a lot better than some of the people that come here." Sonica smiled at Cali before sticking her tongue out at Lee. Her gesture was returned in kind.

"Come on, let's take a break. Lee, you coming?" Cali began guiding Sonica to the seating area.

"Sure, I could use a drink." Cali went to a booth that had another group of people sitting there, shoving her way to sit down and make enough room for Sonica to join as well. Lee went to grab her drink.

"Alright guys, this is Sonica. Sonica, this is everyone. Michael, Cat, Sarah, Tyler, Vala and Erbadersh. Don't mess with her, she's mine. And Lee will kill you. Yeah, I'm looking at you Vala."

"What? I was just going to ask about her shirt. Iron Man, huh? Not a Cap fan?"

"If you're looking to argue, might not want to get into it with me. I will crush your dreams," Sonica stated. She was willing to go through hell and back to protect her self-proclaimed baby.

"Wasn't going to fight you on that but noted."

"Good."

...

The rest of the night went by fine. Sonica managed a couple laps around the rink by herself, though Cali stayed close by to help if she fell. Lee ran into her a couple of times though thankfully she didn't knock Sonica down too hard. At the end of the night, with everyone exhausted, Sonica, Cali and Lee were sitting in the booth with all of their weight spread on the others. Sonica and Cali's fingers were interlaced until it was time to separate and drive home.