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!

“You guys have nothing on me!” Trina was back, but with Riley literally hanging on to her coattails. “Watch this!”

“Oh, boy.” Megan playfully rolled her eyes as Trina gestured to her to get the camera ready.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Riley let go of Trina’s coat hem and made her way, clumsily, to the guardrail. “I didn’t say go fast!”

We grinned to ourselves and gave Trina the stage. She pushed off slowly but elegantly and took a wide turn and came back toward us before turning off again.