It was a late afternoon in the first week of December in 2003. Haley had just turned fourteen and she wanted to go ice-skating with Jonathan. Lately they hadn’t had much time because of his training, so he’d promised to go with her today. They went to their usual pond and laced up their skates. A few people were there. A family with their children, two girls, who thought they could figure-skate, and a young couple.
“Come on, Jonny,” Haley said already standing on the ice, her brown hair hidden beneath a white beanie. She rarely went skating without him.
“Calm down, I’m finished.” When Jonathan looked up, she was already further down the ice. With an exasperated sigh he went after her.
“We don’t have much time!”
That was true. They had maybe a little more than half an hour before they had to head back home. But they wanted to make the most of it. They skated a couple of rounds around the pond, until Haley told Jonathan to catch her and took off.
“That’s not fair!” Jonny called after her. She was nearly as skilled a skater as he was. He went after her, but got distracted, when he heard a child cry. Slowing down a bit he turned around and saw that one of the children had fallen down, but the boy’s father was already by his side. When Jonathan looked for Haley again, she was gone.
“Haley?” he called out again a little worried. He couldn’t see her anywhere so he skated in the destination where he’d last seen her. What he saw then, shocked him to the core. There was a hole in the ice and Haley’s beanie was swimming in the water. Without even thinking about it, Jonathan dived in the freezing water.
It was hard for him to see anything, but he had to concentrate. He looked around and thought he’d made her out. As fast as he could he swam in her direction, grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her close. She was already unconscious. Frantically he looked around until he found the hole in the ice again.
Haley limp in his arms he reached the surface. Cold, fresh air filled his lungs, making him cough. Strong arms pulled him and Haley out, but Jonathan didn’t wait to calm down. He turned Haley around, still coughing a little and looked at her face. She was scarily pale.
“Don’t you dare die on me, Haley Finton!” he mumbled pushing the hair back out of her face. Meanwhile everyone who was there had gathered around them. The young couple had already called an ambulance.
Jonathan was just about to shake her, when she suddenly spit out water and started coughing. Her whole body shook and she turned on her side. When nearly all the water was out, she slowly opened her eyes and looked straight at Jonathan.
“What-“
“Don’t say anything. The ambulance will be here any minute.” He was freezing himself, but that didn’t matter. The only important thing was, that Haley was out of the water and breathing again.
“Yeah, she probably broke in, because she’s so fat,” one of the figure-skating girls said.
“Bri, you’re a bitch!” her friend said and skated away.
If she hadn’t said that, Jonathan would have gotten up and said that. He’d never hit a girl before, but this would have been a valid reason to do just that. But what was more important, was Haley. She was breathing and she would be okay.
Before he got on the ambulance with Haley, he picked up their belongings. In the car he told them how to reach Haley’s parents. He stayed with her until they arrived and told them what had happened. At the hospital he’d gotten dry clothes that were a little too big for him. Well, at least they were dry and he wouldn’t catch a cold.
Haley’s parents both went to talk to the doctor, so the two of them were alone again for a moment. With tears in her eyes Haley looked at him and mouthed a “thank you”, since she was still a little too weak to talk. Or rather, Jonathan had ordered her not to talk and rest.
“No need to thank me, Hales.” Jonathan sat down on the side of her bed and put his hand on top of hers. “I can’t let you die until we’ve reached our goal. We need each other to fulfill these dreams.”
They’d always talked about this. That he would one day be a hockey player and that she would interview him as a well-known journalist. She was like a little sister to him and he couldn’t go on without here. When he‘d jumped in the water he hadn’t questioned his decision once. He’d rather have died together with her than lose her and move on alone.

When Haley was finished with the story, Patrick tilted her head up to make her look him in the eyes. He gently pressed his lips to hers and stayed like this. She leaned against him, melted into the kiss, but Patrick broke it again.
“You are beautiful, Haley. You were already beautiful back then. Jonathan has shown me lots of photos. But it’s not so important what I think. It’s important that you like yourself and we’ll work on that.” He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “I’m here for you and I know you can do it.”
“Okay.” Haley slowly nodded and leaned her head on his shoulder. Her body wasn’t trembling anymore. Patrick sat in silence with her until he was sure that he’d fallen asleep.
He got up from the sofa and carried Haley to her bedroom, where he lay her down on the bed and covered her with her blanket. She looked so peaceful ad happy all of a sudden that it made him sigh. Why did children always have to be so cruel?
Back in the living room he called Jonathan and told him what he’d just heard from Haley.
“I didn’t think that she’d heard that. Those stupid girls…” Jonathan shook his head. He’d been pretty sure that she could not possibly have heard them. And even if, she’d usually been such a strong person, she still was. How could something like this have made her act that way? The good thing was, that she’d talked to Patrick.