Chapter 18

The next morning after having breakfast with my dad I told him about Mandy and her new passion for skating. “Well, that’s the age a lot of girls tend to go crazy for something. With your mom, it was barrel racing. Like Mandy she was kinda old really get good at it, but she did it competitively for a few years before we started dating. She still loved riding, but I think she mostly got discouraged because in the four years she did it she never won anything better than a minor award.”

I confirmed with him that we could borrow his car, and he pulled his keys out of his pocket and tossed them to me. I then put my keys on the table so he could use Scout in case he had to go somewhere. I was glad I had already put everything back the way it normally was before I had gone inside this morning. I had stashed the backpack in the garage and transferred it to the back of the car before I went in and called Keith.

I then got Holly and drove over to pick him up. I gave both of them a briefing of what we were thinking about for the day and both said it sounded fine. I had already told them about how much fun we had skating the night before, and that we were thinking of going back out to Glendale. It would cut down on our alone time, but it really was a nicer rink. They said that was fine.

When we got to Linda’s and after the usual hugs we were all sitting around her kitchen table, and I was asking them for some help in planning out a more professional version of the game I had made. The four of us went through the Thieves World book, and between the charts listed in there and throwing around some of our own ideas we came up with a simple one-page chart that had about forty different random encounters for a city on a single chart. About half of the choices (like the dog peeing on somebody) we pulled from that chart, but others (“Cleric comes up and accuses you of being possessed”) were ones we came up with on our own. We then ran through them and made a few other minor changes before announcing it was satisfactory. Holly took the sheets and told us she would type them up for me during the next week or so.

Rosie then made us some hamburgers and we had them with chips before we said we were going to go hang out at The Castle before going to pick up Mandy and Peggy. With a hug for Linda and a reminder that she was leaving soon and to watch her sister we were soon on our way out the door. We hung around for about two hours and played some games, and then wondered if we might just go ahead and head over early.

Keith called Peggy’s parents, and they told him the girls were already at the rink. So we all piled in my dad’s car and drove to Parthenia. When we got there we entered the vestibule at the entrance and the guy behind the counter said they were closed. But like a magic word, when we said we were getting Peggy he smiled and let us in.

The two girls were skating, and wow! It looks like they had already gone beyond basic skating and had advanced a little more. The boom box was blasting out a Beach Boys song and they were dance skating around the rink hand in hand. Peggy would call out a command and Mandy would reach across and grab her other hand and pull Peggy through a spin. Then Peggy would stop facing Mandy and they would reverse it so Peggy did a 540 degree spin and come out of it skating side by side once again next to each other, switching hands during the turn.

The song ended and the four of us started to applaud as they slowed down and started to just skate. Startled they looked at us for a moment then dropped each other’s hand. Peggy quickly stopped and performed a cute perfect performer’s curtsy, and Mandy followed a moment afterwards.

“Oh Mandy, that looked incredible!” Linda gushed, as Mandy skated over and gave her sister a hug. We all agreed, and hugs were exchanged as Peggy came over a little nervously and joined us. Linda then grabbed her and gave Peggy a hug too, thanking her for the obviously hard work she had been doing for her sister.

“Oh, trust me, it’s my pleasure. I almost wish Mandy was a boy, she is such a great dance partner. It’s too bad that in all of the competitions the couples have to be boy-girl. In a year I bet we would make a killer couple if they allowed single-sex couples!”

We all agreed, they had really looked great out there. We asked if they wanted to join us and go to Glendale early, and of course, they both jumped at the chance. So once they changed back into shoes we drove to Peggy’s so they could shower and get changed. They were both a little sweaty because they had really been working out hard.

We talked to Peggy’s parents as we waited, and they were happy to finally meet Linda and I. They also talked about how much they enjoyed Mandy staying the night with them, and how happy she was making Peggy.

“We worry, Peggy not have many friend since she move to new school. She in Magnet program so she go to Van Nuys for music, all her friend go to Cleveland or in San Fernando. But now she make new friend, and friend like skating too.” We told them where we were going, and they said to have Peggy and Mandy home by 10. Linda said that Peggy was welcome to stay at her house (neglecting to mention our plans for the weekend) and they talked for a moment and agreed.

Shortly afterwards the girls came on out, and they were in matching tan pleated skirts and white blouses. I looked at Linda and raised an eyebrow, she just grinned. Add a dark blue or plaid blazer and a tie, and they look like they would be Catholic Schoolgirls. Linda asked if Peggy wanted to stay the night and she of course jumped at the chance and ran off to her room and two minutes later was back with a backpack with more clothes I guess.

Once back in the car Linda and Mandy were in the front with me, while Peggy, Holly and Keith were in the back. Holly looked at Peggy and smiled, and said “Go Warriors!” Peggy laughed said “Yeah, I went there until I started Junior High. My parents wanted me growing up in a Christian environment, but thought after elementary school I should have more contact with other students so I transferred to public school. How did you know?”

Holly just smiled, and said “The uniform. My parents thought the same thing, and they really are a good school, but I also only went there until Junior High. That was also when I stopped doing gymnastics. That is why I started going there originally, they have a first-rate gymnastics program.”

I looked back in the mirror for a second, and Keith asked “Wow, I didn’t know you did gymnastics Holly!”

“Silly, remind me to have you come into my room sometime. I have a display case there with some of my trophies.”

Linda agreed, telling us she had about twenty of them. Mostly vault and balance beam. “Why did you stop then, if you were so good?” Mandy asked.

Holly just raised her hands to her chest and giggled “Because of these, of course. My tits came in early, and by the time I was twelve I knew I was going to be big. My hips also started to widen even then. So I decided to go to public school early.”

“Holly, why would that cause you to stop gymnastics?” I asked.

“Ever see a gymnast with big boobs?” Holly said, then giggled. “There are damned few of them, and there are good reasons why. For one, it makes the outfits a little, let’s say lewd. And for a second, it really throws off the balance. When you are thin like a stick, your center of balance is generally around your navel. That’s why young and small girls are normally the best at gymnastics. But as we get older, boys and girls change.”

“And I like how they change!” Keith said, squeezing her and smiling.

“Shush you, lover mine. OK, now once we actually start to mature, the center of gravity for boys moves up, more towards their chest. Your chest muscles start to really develop, and because muscle weighs more than fat, the center of gravity moves up.

“In girls, yes we get boobs, that’s obvious. But our center of gravity actually moves down, not up. More towards the hips and butt. So when you get the ideal image of a girl that is 36-24-36, remember that her hips and boobs are the same size. But boobs are fat, hips are bone, and butt is muscle, so that weighs more. Also when you measure the chest a lot of the space is air, not just body. So with a lower center of gravity, it makes a lot of the exercises harder.

“I first realized when I tried doing some floor exercises and was having a harder time doing a bridge chest roll. Ya know, when you are lying on your belly and roll your hips back behind you in the air, your legs forward over your head? Well, the roll in and out of that started to add pressure. I was almost a B cup by the time I was twelve. They’ve slowed down a bit in the last two years, but I am damned near pushing a D now. I think unless I get a last-minute growth spurt, I should finally stop as a D, maybe DD.”

“She’s right,” Peggy said. “It’s not the same for skaters but I also noticed changes in how I have to skate when I got boobies. For me it made things a bit easier though, cause a lower center of gravity means I can put my butt out a bit more when doing a spin.”

“Wait a minute Holy,” I asked. “Why were you going to a Christian School? You’re Jewish.”

“Oh Pete, a lot of Jewish girls go to Christian schools. They care more about believing in God than Christ. The education at most of them is first-rate, and many think the environment is better for young girls growing up.”

Peggy nodded, “A lot of my friends there were Jewish, none of us cared. And there was always a choice of a kosher meal in the cafeteria.”

“Yep, I remember that. A lot of us JAPs go to Catholic and Christian schools, even though we are not Gentiles.”

“Japs? Wait, you’re not a Jap, and Peggy is Korean, not Japanese” I said, completely confused.

All five of them bust out laughing at that. Holly leaned forward and put her hand on my shoulder, still laughing. “Oh, not Jap as in the racial slur. I would never say that! No Pete, JAP stands for ‘Jewish American Princess’. It’s kind of a slang term, and normally not a good one. Much of the ‘Valley Girl’ thing actually started as a play on that stereotype. Changing clothes all the time, the fashion, things like that. Even the nasal twang, classic Jewish American Princess stereotype.”

“Besides,” Peggy said in the back. “I’m not a Jap, I’m a Gook!” she said proudly, and we all started laughing all over again. We chatted until we got to the rink and we all got in line. Peggy smiled at the lady at the door. And after handing her a card, we got a discounted ticket price. I asked about that, and she said she was an ARI member, so she and her group got discounts.

The four of us were still standing in line as the girls were hitting the floor. Having their own skates had other advantages. And after a few warm-up laps they were again holding hands and moving through what looked to be a basic couples routine. But towards the end they were changing who skated forwards and who skated backwards every five seconds or so.

As of yet only a few people had gone onto the floor, but there were more than a few clustering along the railing and watching them. Finally on one of the changes Mandy caught an edge to a wheel and she fell onto her bottom, to the groan of quite a few spectators. Then we all started to lightly applaud.

I think for the first time Mandy actually realized she had an audience. She blushed as Peggy came back around and took her hand to help her up. She whispered something as still holding Mandy’s hand she went into a perfect curtsy, Mandy following half a second later.

Peggy really was a natural performer. The girls hugged and the spell was broken, and everybody started to flow onto the rink. We skated the full session, and has become the routine during each couples skate we all traded partners. And for almost everybody I skated with, it seemed that we talked about how much and how fast Mandy was improving. You would never know that a month ago she was happy just to skate at all.

The difference when I skated with Mandy towards the end of the night was that she only wanted to talk about Peggy. Peggy was a great skater, Peggy was teaching her so much, Peggy had such great clothes, it would be almost two years before she went to the same School as Peggy, and that would only be for one year before Peggy graduated.

I just chuckled and squeezed her hand and listened to her until the skate ended and she kissed my cheek before returning to Peggy.

Linda chuckled when she came and took my hand, and said her conversation with her little sister and her skated had been pretty much the same. Then we started to talk about other things as she leaned her head on my shoulder.

As has become our routine, everybody skated with their regular partner on the last skate, Peggy turning so she faced Mandy during the first song, then reversing at the start of each following song. This was a long final couples, and the set went for five songs. By the end Linda was almost touching me we were so close, and I saw that it was the same with the other four. Even Holly was now skating backwards and holding both of Keith’s hands.

Somehow Linda and I had started a trend for the final couples skate among our little group. Always with your own partner, and with the girl turned backwards facing the guy as you hold both hands. And it always seemed to be the best way to end a session skating.

During the 45 minute break between skate sessions the four of us went to the snack bar and got a light dinner, Peggy and Mandy barely left the floor. And with nobody else out there they were making the most of it. She had Mandy going through several figure 8s, then they were not two circles but three. Then she would have her add in some other turns, it was quite pretty watching.

Then she skated over to where the DJ was standing chatting with the girl at the skate rental table and after talking for a few minutes he smiled and returned to the booth. Moments afterwards I recognized the Viennese Waltz. Peggy was soon skating with Mandy again, and guiding her through yet another couples skate.

It was obvious that Mandy was having a few little stumbles at first, and as the song ended there was about a 15 second pause and the same song started again. And they started to go through the routine again, exactly the same way. I went back to get Linda and me more soda, and the girl at the counter said that refills would be free since there was nobody else around. So I went and got Keith and Holly’s cups and got them refills before I rejoined them.

By now we had moved to some benches that faced the rink, and as Linda leaned back against me, Holly did the same to her date. And we just continued to watch the girls. After about 15 minutes it became obvious that Peggy was skating in the male role, and was guiding and telling Mandy what came next. And by the time the DJ called out that the next one would be the last they were doing quite good. About half of the employees were now watching them, and I saw a guy and gal in their late 20’s I would guess leaning together as they watched, talking about something. Finally they finished the last one with barely a hitch, and as one they turned towards the front of the rink and at the same time performed simultaneous curtsies.

Everybody applauded at that, and they gave each other a hug before leaving the floor. As they were leaving I heard a BTO song start, so knew that the next session would be starting soon. The couple I had noticed earlier came on over and started to talk to them just as we arrived.

“Pegs, that was great! I was surprised when I came in and saw you here, I haven’t seen you since the last competition. And who’s your friend, somebody from your club in Reseda?”