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It was their first Christmas together since becoming a couple. Jun didn't seem to be thinking about it too much, but Tomo found herself obsessing over the holiday. Nothing said "couple" more than a Christmas date. As part of a couple, Tomo reasoned that she should be entitled to dreaming about the event. She began secretly poring over magazines and online articles, trying to figure out what would be the most romantic Christmas activity. But everything that she found was something she and Jun had already done in years past: seeing Christmas lights; eating cake together; waiting in line to get fried chicken. Finally, she found one that they hadn’t done. Something that, in fact, Tomo hadn’t done at all: ice skating. She located a rink near them that would be open on Christmas, looking up all the relevant information she would need. When she felt prepared, she set about putting the last piece of her plan into place.
She needed to ask her boyfriend out on this Christmas date.
The day after she had decided on a course of action, Tomo determined that she should ask Jun on the date as soon as possible. She tried her best to summon up her courage as they were walking to school, but every time she looked at her boyfriend she felt like her heart was going to sprint straight out of her mouth. Jun didn’t make any attempts at conversation until they were about halfway to school. He cleared his throat nervously, and Tomo snapped her gaze to him. He stumbled back a half-step, then said in a cracking voice, “Uh, Tomo? Is something wrong?”
She fixed him with her stare, and she swore that the man started to break out in a sweat. “Wrong? No, nothing’s wrong.”
“Oh. Okay. It’s just that…you seem mad about something.”
“I’m not mad. I’m just…just thinking about something.”
He edged cautiously closer to her on the sidewalk. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Here was her chance. She had to ask him now. If she didn’t, there wouldn’t be another good opportunity. Not looking at her boyfriend, Tomo gathered in a deep breath and blurted out, “Are you busy on Christmas?”
“Huh? Christmas? I just figured we’d do something together like we always do. Why?”
Her nerves flared up into anger. She rounded on the hapless Jun. “Just like always? You idiot, has it even registered with you that we’re dating?”
“What? Of course it has! I mean, how could I not know that?” Jun held his arms up in front of himself, looking decidedly panicked.
Undeterred, Tomo continued her tirade. “Then it should have occurred to you that this Christmas is NOT going to be just like always. Geez, Jun, do I have to spell out everything for you?” She reached out and halted their steps, grabbing her boyfriend by the front of his shirt and yanking their faces together. “Listen closely. We are going on a Christmas date. We are NOT going to just be hanging out like always. This will be a DATE, and I expect you to understand that. We are going ice skating, and we will have a damn romantic time! You got it?”
“Uh, yes, ma’am. A Christmas date, got it. Do you want me to pick you up?”
She blinked up at him, and her grip loosened. “Yes. That sounds nice.”
“Okay, I’ll do that, then. Is there anything else you want?”
Trying to get a hold of the rest of her dignity, Tomo released Jun’s shirt and began walking again. “Not in particular. As long as you remember that this is a date.”
She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard her boyfriend mutter, “As if I could forget.”
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Despite her show of bravado, Tomo found herself fidgeting with nerves when Christmas finally arrived. She hovered in front of her mirror all morning, changing out pieces of her wardrobe to try to come up with the best outfit possible. She wanted her boyfriend to think she was cute, but she was also aware that she couldn’t choose clothes that would constrict her movements too much. She finally settled on a turtleneck sweater paired with thick, fitted leggings. She topped the ensemble off with a white hat and scarf. She was staring at herself in the mirror again, wondering if she should add jewelry, when her mom called up the stairs to her.
“Tomo, your date is here!”
“Mom!” Blushing furiously, Tomo grabbed her bag and dashed down the stairs before either of her parents could do anything embarrassing. Skidding to a halt in the foyer, she glared at her mom before turning her attention to her boyfriend. She felt her face freeze as she took in his figure, dressed in a dark green sweater and crisp black pants.
He raised his hand, looking about as gobsmacked as she felt. “Uh, hi, Tomo. Are you ready to go?”
Slapping her cheeks lightly, Tomo straightened her mouth into a determined line. “Yup. Let me get my coat and my shoes and then we’ll get going.”
Thankfully, Tomo’s mom chose not to say anything else, and her dad didn’t put in an appearance before the teens managed to slip out the front door. Once safely outside, Tomo breathed a small sigh of relief. The sigh quickly turned into a gasp as she felt her hand being caught up in a warm grip.
She looked up at her boyfriend. Jun didn’t return her gaze, but muttered, “Don’t wanna get lost. Come on, let’s go to the skating rink.”
There was very little conversation between the two of them as they walked. Tomo was grateful for the crisp chill in the air that prevented her palm from growing overly sweaty in her boyfriend’s. Still, she felt that she might overheat from the embarrassment of it all.
She somehow managed to last until they reached the skating rink. Tomo navigated their transaction with relative smoothness, and soon they were both sitting on a bench with rented skates. Tomo found the task more confusing than she had expected. She stared down at her skates, tugging on the strings with various strengths. She wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to do.
From next to her, Jun asked, “Do you need help, Tomo?”
She lifted her head, not quite wanting to look him in the eye. “Uh…yeah, if you could. That would be nice. I’ve never ice skated before.”
Her boyfriend gave his own skates one last tug, then dipped down to kneel in front of her. “I’ve been a couple times. Mostly, you want the laces to be as tight as they can be without being uncomfortable. The skates should be almost like they’re part of you, so that they don’t move around when you’re skating.” As he spoke, Jun laced the skates up firmly, wrapping them around Tomo’s feet and ankles. He patted them and asked, “There, does this feel alright?”
Fighting a blush, she nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Thanks.” She gave her legs an experimental swing. “They feel really heavy.”
Her boyfriend stood in front of her and held out his hands. “Yeah, they do. Should we go out to the rink?”
She paused, then placed her hands in Jun’s, allowing him to pull her upright. As soon as she was standing, everything felt off. She wobbled, trying to balance on the two thin blades. She desperately clung to Jun’s arms in an attempt to stay standing.
He dipped his head down, concern in his face. “Are you ready?”
“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? Let’s go.” Feeling like a newborn deer, Tomo hung off of Jun as they walked to the edge of the rink. Jun stepped out first, facing towards his girlfriend as he held her hands. He slid backwards tentatively and urged, “Just put one foot on the ice, and then the other. It gets easier once you can glide.”
She took a deep breath and decided to just go for it. With large steps, she placed her feet firmly onto the ice.
And promptly had a spectacular fall.
Instead of biting into the ice, the blades of her skates slid out and just kept sliding, dragging one of her feet in between Jun’s legs. She tried to use her other foot to brake her forward momentum, but only succeeded in sliding that skate around uncontrollably. Luckily, Jun’s reflexes were fast. He pulled her body towards him and twisted himself mid-air, landing on the ice underneath his girlfriend. Instead of hitting the hard surface, Tomo found herself instead landing on the firm planes of Jun’s muscled body.
The wind was knocked out of her, and she simply gasped at him, trying to pull in words. He groaned, then asked, “Are you alright?”
The air returned to her lungs enough for an answer. “Y-yeah, I’m fine. I’m so sorry, that must have hurt you. I know I’m heavy.” She scrambled off to the side so she could sit next to him on the ice.
He sat up, rubbing the back of his head with a smile. “Nah, you’re not heavy. You forget I spar with guys bigger than you all the time. You’re nothing.”
“Oh. Okay, good.” Tomo held her hands out, averting her gaze. “Can you help me up? I’d like to try again.”
“Sure.” He hauled himself to his feet, then bent down to help Tomo. As their gazes drew level, Jun gave a surprisingly gentle smile. “It’s nice to be able to help you for once. I think I’m starting to appreciate this Christmas date.”
Despite feeling like a failure at this whole skating thing, Tomo smiled back. She decided that it would be nice for Jun to help her out for once. “Yeah, me too.”