“There she is!” said Trina, like she’d found Waldo.

Sure enough, Riley was halfway down the rink, pulling herself up from her hands and knees.

“She must have wiped out pretty bad,” said Megan, smirking.

“I’ll go help her,” said Lily. But before she could reach her, Riley started sliding uncontrollably toward Trina.

“Whoa, here I come!” a wide-eyed Riley shouted.

“Watch out!” Lily shrieked, but Riley slammed right into Trina anyway. It was a good thing Trina was still close to the guardrail, otherwise the both of them would’ve been dropped.

“Are you guys okay?” I reached out and gripped Riley’s arm in case she hadn’t yet regained her balance.

“We’re okay. Yup, okay,” Trina said. “Just a little out of control.”

Megan, Lily, and I made sure they were both fine before we started cracking up at the timing of Riley’s body slam.

“Trina’s getting better on those skates!” I remarked after watching her effortlessly skate around Riley.

“Oh, yeah?” said Lily, tying her scarf and fixing her knit hat in place. “Bet she can’t do this!” She did some fast back crossovers, and a little twirl at the end.

My mouth swung open. Who knew Lily could move like that on the ice? That was just another small reminder that I had so much to learn about Lily.

“Lily, you’re so good at skating!” I yelled to her. I could tell that no matter what tension was between us, she liked that compliment. She turned around and began skating backward. As I took a video of her, I was beginning to see how I’d taken her for granted since we’d come to New York. Leaving to go hang with Eliza without letting her know I was doing that in the first place was one major goof that stood out in my mind. I hoped to be a better friend to her. Lily kicked up a good speed and then put her back leg up in a banana-split pose before skating away like a pro. A few skaters offered their muffled applause, and Lily took a dramatic bow.

“Is that all you’ve got?” I shout, grinning.

“Easy for you to say on solid ground. But give me a move to do and I’ll match it!” Lily challenged me playfully.

Any move I thought up would look a lot more amazing on ice, thanks to Lily’s skill level. I did a sample of today’s winning routine. Because I could hear Vanessa’s warning in my ear, I didn’t want to cause Lily any extra risk while her lower body was weighed down by those rented skates. Instead, I overemphasized the arms and head choreo. There was holiday music playing on the plaza speakers, and I danced along with the tunes like this was the Olympic trials.

Megan, Lily, and Trina recognized the moves right away and chuckled. “Nice!”

As soon as I was done, Lily extended her arms and gracefully skated through the moves with the wind whipping through her hair. She looked like an ice goddess!