All Chapters of LOVE ON THIN ICE: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

Julian’s POV; The head coach’s office wasn’t built for this many people, It was packed to the point of suffocation. Too many bodies, too little space. Every chair was taken, and the rest of us were crammed along the walls, shoulders brushing, knees almost colliding.The air felt heavy with the smell of sweat, damp gear, and coffee that had probably been sitting in the pot since the previous day. The walls seemed closer than usual, lined with framed photos of championships and trophies no one here cared about at the moment.My team was stuck to one side of the room, shoulders brushing, blades and skate guards resting against our bags on the floor. Coach Harris stood alongside us looking nervous and sweaty, that was enough to know that bad news was coming.Across from us, the hockey players sprawled out like they owned the place. Even in normal clothes they took up more space than they should’ve, they laughed loudly as usual, their sticks and bags littered on the floor in a huge smel

Julian's POV:Lunch wasn’t supposed to be a social activity.At least, not for me.I found a quiet corner in the central dining hall and rushed towards it with my tray that held a bowl of noodles, a sandwich, and an apple I wasn’t sure I’d actually eat. Thankfully, the dining hall was half empty. Just the hum of other students at their own tables, chatter mixing with the clatter of trays. The kind of noise I could easily tune out.Halfway through eating my sandwich, a familiar voice rang across the table.“Wow, you really eat like a normal person. I don’t know why I thought figure skaters only ate salad and drank coffee.”I froze mid bite, a piece of lettuce hanging from my mouth. Then I looked up and of course, Gabrielle Tanaka was sitting and sliding her tray down across from me, grinning like we were best friends.I chewed and swallowed quickly before scowling. “What are you doing?”“Sitting,” she said simply, stabbing her fork into her butter chicken like she’d had been waiting

Julian's POV;The central cafeteria was as loud as ever, there was a group of freshmen shrieking over social media videos like they’d just seen a goat do a backflip and the air smelled like greasy burgers, burnt coffee, and the tang of leftover garlic from someone’s late-night noodles. It was busy and exactly the kind of place I liked when I wanted to disappear. Now all that was remaining was an empty table, my bacon sandwich, and an hour of my alone time. That was it.But the universe hated me.I thought I’d beaten the odds today. Tray in hand, I found an empty table in the corner, the holy grail: out of the way, no easy angles for people to slide in from. I set my tray down carefully, the bacon sandwich looking like salvation, and I sat.Then Gabrielle happened.She dropped her backpack on the floor before plopping down opposite me while slamming her notepad on the table with a huff. “You are the worst,” she said immediately, as if we were continuing a conversation we’d never st

Julian’s POV:The week before the hockey match was a slow blend of ice, stress, and coffee. The figure skating team had ramped up practice, double sessions, choreography polish and my psych minor decided that now was a great time to give me three essays and a reading list the size of a fucking dictionary.I mostly spent my mornings on the ice and running to my next class. My evenings were spent trying to write a paper on the understanding of grief and its effects on one’s mind. I knew it was due but I still hadn’t gotten through the first page.That says a lot for someone who would know a lot about grief.Gabrielle apologized for the cafeteria incident the very next day…. I probably shouldn’t have stormed off like that.I’m a bit of a drama queen, aren’t I? I told her it was fine though… I genuinely just wanted to pretend it never happened so I can move on with my life.Back to my misery, I have to get this paper done and the library picked today to be full. Of course it did.Ever