Free The City of the Broken (Prince of the Broken) by Ceri Beynon Page A

confident students glide along the ice like this is second nature, whilst the less daring individuals cling on for dear life along the hand rail that goes around the whole rink.
    “ Ready guys” says a friendly African-Caribbean man who works at the rink. Calix could look like an ice sculpture himself, with his perfectly carved features and porcelain skin. Holding his hand I feel anything is possible. Like I could grow wings and fly to the most distant universe, kissing the brightest and highest star just for the sake of it.
    “ Ready?” He turns to ask me, looking so flawless and heroic that I could only ever say ‘yes’. We tightly hold hands and he leads me through those double doors, there’s no turning  back now! We walk over the  carpeted area, the last area of safety. Staying close to the side, Calix steps onto the ice like someone stepping into the sea for a paddle, their only fear being the temperature of the water. Not letting go of my hand, he turns to face me, to beckon me onto the ice with him.
“Come on Seren, its really not that bad” He stands perfectly upright looking so at ease, not even holding onto the bar, so I decide it must be fine. Surely the skates have a firm grip? I put one foot on the ice and already I can feel how slippery it is. The skates do not help at all.
    “ Calix, I cant. I’ll break my neck” I say fearfully. I’m about to turn back when he pulls me onto the ice.
    “ You wont hurt yourself Seren, I promise. Just trust me okay” he says, gazing fixedly on me with his truthful eyes that could only ever completely fulfil a promise.
    “ Okay” I answer fully believing every word. No one else could convince me of ice safety but Calix.
    I ’m on it. Two feet on the ice. It is so slippery. Every time I think I’m achieving some kind of balance, the next second I slip, to which Calix chants ‘careful’, not ever slipping once. We are still round the edge, which is where I want to stay ,but Calix has other ideas
    “ Come on Seren, lets go in the middle, it’ll be fun” he exclaims, eyes bursting with childlike excitement.
    “ No! Calix you only just managed to get me onto the ice, I’m not looking forward to being the laughing stock of the whole college if I go into the middle!” I screech at him.
“Please Seren, just for me?” he says, turning up the Fahrenheit on his hot factor.
    “ Oh okay. If I fall you better shield me from the crowd and help me up pronto” I say trying to be forceful.
    How do I let him convince me of these things? He has unbelievable powers of persuasion. He pulls me along as he moves like a champion ice skater and I try to enjoy the momen t. I soon find that this is impossible as when I think I’m getting the hang of standing up and being dragged along, I find myself tripping over my own feet, nearly doing the splits. It doesn’t help that there is a crowd standing around the rink.
“Oh please Calix, can we get off now? I hope you’re not expecting us to do the Bolero next are you?” I joke while at the same time secretly worrying he will think I’m seriously suggesting this.
    “ No, okay Seren we’ll get off now. You were brave coming out in the middle with me”.  We glide off with the most grace and ease I experienced the whole time of being on the ice.
    “ Wow look at you two go, young love on the ice!” Its Mrs. Shelley, she’s been watching the whole class from the sidelines of the rink.
    “ We’ve got half an hour left, if you are both finished with the ice why don’t you grab a coffee?” she suggests.
    “ That’s a great idea Mrs. Shelley. We could use some warming up after that” says Calix.
    “ Come on Seren” he says, taking my hand.
    “ See you back on the bus” we both wave at her.
    We go to the nearest Starbucks. I order a caramel frappucino ,my all-time favourite.
    “Its mid-December and you’re ordering that ”?  he asks, a mix of shock and amusement on his face.
    “ Who cares what month it is?