Of all the lockers in all the world (Eddie)

[Eddie Locksley]

"Definitely," Eddie agreed with a grin, even Gaston was really good at making tea. "Don't think like that, you're really cool, and being you is still a pretty special thing to be, you're the only one, right? There isn't another Genevieve in the whole wide world, in any world. I mean, another Genevieve who is you." he tried to clarify, then wisely decided to quit while he was ahead.

"You never know, maybe you'll find your thing when you least expect it, I mean I'm rubbish at everything, but as soon as I get onto the i-..." he stopped himself, looking horrified "Nothing. Never mind. I... I forgot what I was going to say. You'll be awesome at something I bet and you're really smart. And yea Gaston knows more about Star Wars than anybody ever he always win when we play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit."

[Genevieve]

She smiled, blushing and tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear as he spoke. She'd never thought of it that way, and it felt quite special to hear it come from someone else. "Thank you." She said with a shy smile. "That's one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me."

She couldn't help but be curious as he stopped speaking, especially when she saw the look on his face. "Get onto the what?" She asked, wondering what he was embarrassed about. "Have you found something you're really good at here? You should be proud of that." She was intrigued - what was it he was good at, that he was embarrassed to say?

[Eddie Locksley]

"Really?" Eddie couldn't help but blush, surprised that people didn't say more nice things to her all the time, and that he could actually manage to say something flattering to a girl without accidentally messing it up.

"Oh-uh..." he scrambled for an explanation "I.. nothing, nope, I'm not good at anything, everybody knows that, I don't have any secret skills," he shook his head rapidly, "And if I was good at something it definitely wouldn't be something that was too embarrassing to talk about." he added, blissfully unaware how obvious he was.

[Genevieve]

Raising an eyebrow as he stumbled over his words, Genevieve's look very clearly showed that she did not believe him. "Everybody is good at something." She said with a small smile. "And you shouldn't be embarrassed about a skill you've discovered. You should be proud of it."

She leaned back against the locker and studied him. "I mean, your brother is probably pretty proud of his skills, right? Arrogantly so perhaps? And your sister, she's proud of what she can do too. Just because what you are good at isn't what people expect, or maybe isn't what everyone else is good at. Life would be incredibly boring if we were all good at the same things."

Smiling at him, Genevieve gave him a conspiratorial look. "Go on - tell me what it is. Please?"

[Eddie Locksley]

He wanted to keep denying it, but it was obvious she didn't believe him, and while he might not be the sharpest arrow in the quiver, he at least knew that if he kept denying it he would only look more obvious. He wished she would drop it like Gaston did, it seemed like his best friend believed him whenever he tripped up and backpeddled about stuff like this, but Eddie could guess that Gaston had figured it out - after all, he was really smart - but he was just too nice to say anything about it, and usually let Eddie get away with his terrible lies. (He could pretend he was clever and had realised Gaston was humouring him, but in truth it had taken a couple of months to figure that out).

"Okay..." he said eventually "I'll tell you, but you got to promise not to tell anybody else, okay? Cross your heart and hope to die, swear on... uh... swear on tea that you won't tell anybody else at all?"

As soon as she agreed, he would lean in conspiratorially after glancing around the hallway to make absolutely sure that nobody was around them, and whisper very quietly.
"Figure skating."

[Genevieve]

Leaning in as he did, she nodded enthusiastically when he asked her to swear, and waited excitedly for his revelation, wondering what it could be.

"Figure skating!" She whispered with enthusiasm. "That's fantastic, that's so exciting, that's..." She couldn't carry on, she was just going to embarrass herself.

She looked around, making sure no one was listening and leant in again. "What's figure skating?" She asked, her voice apologetic and sheepish.

[Eddie Locksley]

Eddie can't believe she's so excited, this was amazing! Two girls thought it was cool! Maybe it wouldn't be so bad if everybody - oh. Oh she didn't know what it was.

His face fell, but he couldn't bring himself to be mad at her, after all he would never have known what it was if he hadn't stumbled across it here in Tintagel, and it was sweet of her to be encouraging even without knowing exactly what. He only hoped she would still be encouraging when she did.

"Well it's like..." he searched for the best way to explain it "Actually it's probably better if I just show you..." he pulled his phone out and brought up a video, tilting the screen so she could see.

[Genevieve]

She leaned in with interest, watching the video he pulled up on his phone. As she watched, her mouth opened in amazement - she was very clearly impressed. She didn't speak as the video played, watching intently.

When the video finished, she looked up at Eddie, slightly awed. "You can do that? That's..." She searched for the right word. "That's incredible! That's amazing! I could never do anything like that - I don't think I'd even be able to stay upright on ice like that. And the costume and the make-up - do you dress like that too? I bet you look amazing. Can I come and watch you sometime?"

She smiled at him, feeling everything she'd said was now fully justified. "And that is most definitely not something to be embarrassed about, Eddie. There aren't many people who could do something that impressive."

[Eddie Locksley]

"Well, uh, yea... I mean, I don't do that exact routine or anything, but I can do al the moves he did in it, all the jumps and stuff..." he explained shyly, amazed by her enthusiastic response "I don't have costumes like that, or makeup, but... there are costumes..." he felt his face heating up with all her compliments.

"You really think so? It just seems... well, it's like dancing, isn't it? And all the costumes are... well, it's not like archery or sword fighting is it? I thought people would make fun of me..."

[Genevieve]

"I think if anyone makes fun of you, you should challenge them to have a go at that one legged crouching spin... thing." Genevieve said firmly, with a small nod of her head. "Because I bet they'd fall on their bums and look ridiculous, and you could just skate rings around them - literally." She smiled at him.

"And, if you think about, almost everybody here can do archery and sword-fighting. All my family can, even I had some lessons growing up. So what's so special about that? Your talent is something completely different, and unique. You should hold your head up high."

[Eddie Locksley]

"It's called a sit spin," Eddie told her with a little grin, feeling pleased with himself, he didn't usually get to correct people about things, he almost never knew more about something than anyone else - unless it was Star Wars or something nerdy, but even then he usually had Gaston or Meredith around who also knew it all, or even more, this was something that was all his own. He laughed at the thought of Richard or somebody else who liked to tease him trying to do any of the things he could do on the ice, and it made him feel a little better.

"You think so?" he grinned awkwardly "Wow, that's really nice, that's like the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me, thank you Genevieve. See? You're a really great person."

[Genevieve]

She smiled back at him, pleased to have been able to make him feel good about himself and his talent. She loved being able to do that. It was something she thought her mother would be proud of, and so she worked hard at it/

"Thanks," She said shyly. "I suppose I just like to see people feeling good about themselves. So, can I come and watch you some time? I've never ice skated before, maybe you could teach me some of the basics. And I'd love to see you do that sit spin."

[Eddie Locksley]

"Yea... yea you can come and watch some time," Eddie agreed. If she wanted lessons maybe he could find out who the mystery girl was and invite them both for lessons, they were both so sweet they'd probably get along really well, and it would probably be more fun for them to learn together. "I'll show you some of my routines maybe? And I can teach you some moves..."

He couldn't help but blush a little at the fact that she wanted him to teach her, a Summer! He had knowledge that somebody actually thought was good enough to want him to share it with them, two people! This was why he loved being in Tintagel, even if Richard was here, there were so many other nice people that he felt so much more at home here than he did in Nottingham.

[Genevieve]

"Great!" Genevieve smiled excitedly. "I'll hold you to that."

Finally, she was making friends outside of the family. She hoped her mother would be proud - sure, she wasn't exactly branching far by making friends with the son of her mother's best friend, but it was a start - and they hadn't met in the library, which she figured had to win her extra points. She couldn't wait to start learning to ice skate, and to show Jesse - she was sure he'd love it as well. Or, if not, he'd want to start making ice sculptures or something. Either way, it would be great. And she had a feeling that Jesse and Eddie would get on like a house on fire.

{fin?}