On Thin Ice Quotes

“I've been in a 12-hour pain medication haze and coming out of that, realizing that I'm back home in my bed. It's impossible not to think that maybe last night wasn't real. Maybe I dreamed it. Maybe school hasn't even started and it's still summer, but the shooting pain across my chest and down my left arm tells me otherwise.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Any minute now. Any minute now, someone will bang on the door and tell Grandma everything. Why couldn't I have just stayed inside listening to Mom cry? It would've been better than what I ended up witnessing. Why did I have to crawl across the ice and help Jake Hammond out? But I already know the answer: Because no one else would have.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I almost head to my truck to wait of the rest of this nightmare when Red and Jenkins force two freshman to kick the shit out of each other while their hands are cuffed behind them. Through my truck's headlights, I can see several sets of blue lips. It's too cold for this. Too cold to be out here this long with so little clothing.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Maybe the three years of steering clear of this Otter tradition was enough for the rest of the guys to forget how much it fucking sucked to be on that cold ground nearly naked. This event is exclusive to freshmen and seniors. Either you get to be pond scum or God. There is no in-between.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I felt that source of power for a minute when all eight of us seniors stood in front of the line of boys, knowing they were literally going to do whatever we told them, but the second we gave them the command for them to strip down, I felt the first twinge of indigestion.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“After the light turns off under Grandma's door, I make my way out the back and across the yard, around the pound and then into the woods. Exploring the area at night, running on the trail without getting lost isn't a novice activity at all. It took me weeks of daily runs to brave it without shining a flashlight the whole way.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Even it's cold as hell outside, even if my legs get so tired I can't take another step, I need to remember that sound and not come back home until I don't have to hear it anymore. At least until tomorrow night.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I'm back on the main level in less than a minute, sporting running shoes, a coat and my iPhone and earbuds, but I'm not fast enough to miss Mom's nightly sobbing. The sound pierces through her bedroom door down the hallway and pierces right into my chest.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“It wouldn't be terrible to be able to talk about girls with Dad, but again, small town, small world. Talking about getting to third base with a girl who my mom used to babysit when we were little? A girl whose diapers Dad had been forced to change on at least a couple of occasions when my mom left him in charge to run to the store or something? It's just not worth the incestuous connections that come up in these situations.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“It's hard not be intimidated by my hockey coach after three years of being yelled at and humiliated by him, especially when I've been held back during a game to follow that unspoken rule of not outplaying a senior.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Dating, or even just hooking up when you're stuck in a town this small sucks. You go out with someone one night and everyone knows by the next morning. And by everyone, I mean even the fucking mailman knows. It's just not worth it.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“There's no way in a town of three thousand people, we'll have a whole team of high school girls are actually serious about playing and aren't committed to other sports, school clubs or whatever else people do who don't play hockey. Not many girls' teams nearby. They'll have to drive hours to big cities for every game.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I don't know her family. I don't know anything about her, but learning more would be an unnecessary distraction from both school and hockey.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“After a more careful examination, I can see that there's nothing out of the ordinary about her. She's wearing jeans and a hoodie like almost everyone our age. She's kind of short and small, but not the shortest girl at school either. Brown eyes, dirty-blonde hair in a messy bun. She's the type of girl who would normally blend into the background, but for some reason, she seems way more interesting than her similar female counterparts.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I look at the new girl to see her reaction. Her gaze is fixed on mine. She's fearless with eye contact which freaks me out a little, but I don't look away.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I don't want to jump on Smuttley's be true to your school wagon, but I try to kiss his ass occasionally because he's great for getting me out of tardies and getting retakes on Spanish quizzes that I've bombed. All in the name of Otter hockey, of course.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“But there's a rare-spoken-of-rule players must adapt from our very first pickup game as freshman: never out play a senior. Never. No matter what tricks we've got up our sleeves, not matter how much gas we have left at the end of a game to breakaway and head for the goal, we're all taught to hold back. Wait for our turn or as my dad likes to say, "Otter hockey is a highly productive, fine tuned-machine. Everyone has to play their part or the machine breaks down and nothing gets made or sold.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Juniper Falls, Minnesota might be a small town, but we've produced 18 NHL players, 5 NCAA All-Americans and three Olympians, including a member of the 1980 Miracle on Ice team. Hockey is almost everyone's blood and NHL games are only for people like us; the Olympics are only once every four years. Juniper Falls High School Hockey is a town event. No, it's the town event which is why, outside of the team and our coach, we're all treated like royality.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I give her a quick glance. She's not cute. Cute is when girls stare at you and the second you look back, they look away. New Girl has been staring at me for at least 20 minutes and every time I catch her, she doesn't even attempt to look elsewhere. Cute is flat and one-dimensional. This girl obviously isn't either of those things.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Sometimes I wish teachers would treat us like inferiors the way they do the rest of the students. Special treatment makes me feel in debt, but then again, Smuttley is a guidance counselor, so he'd probably cause mental instability or something if he went around yelling at kids.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Think Langston will make varsity?" Red asks.

"Don't know. Don't care. Coach picks the team, not me."

I busy myself wrapping tape around my stick. I know Langston will make varsity. He's a sophomore this year and he's fucking Langston Juniper. As in Juniper Falls.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Paul Redmond has been my best friend since peewee hockey. Now that we're seniors and he's six-three and well over 200 pounds, the freshmen already nicknamed him Big Red and lately, it's his head that's been growing bigger.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I open my eyes again and see Hammond making circles around a small area of the ice while he stays back, allowing other players to handle the puck. He glides forward, then backward, crossing one foot over the other, then changing sides, making sharp, abrupt turns, but never pausing his movement. I imagine a true hockey fan would be watching the puck during a game, but I can't look away from number 42. It's the closest thing to dancing I've seen in months.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Maybe I am passionate about passion. About caring. Whatever the opposite of numbing yourself with antipsychotics and sleeping all day is.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“A town rich in history with deep hockey roots is way more interesting than a small town in the middle of nowhere. Maybe I've been looking at this place from the wrong angle. This is why shutting up and listening can show you a new perspective, but I guess guidance counselors are trained to reach for words like "depressed", "withdrawn" "removed." I don't feel removed. Right now, I feel alive and alert.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Hammond shoves the kid down with one hand until he's bent over, staring at his skates. And then leaps right over the kid's back. The landing is so light and graceful, I'm certain if this Hammond guy spent a little time in a ballet studio, he could pull off a mean grand jete.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I've always loved watching figure skating and even tried my hand at sewing a skating dress years ago, but instead of twirling figure skaters, a group of hockey players in mismatched practice jerseys are out on the ice. There doesn't seem to be any teacher or coach. Nor are any of them doing much besides horsing around.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Smuttley goes on and on about the importance of making friends at a new school and exploring new options and new territories, not being afraid of change. Like how he got completely impulsive and decided today's hour-long appointment would take place outside his office. Bad boy Smuttley. That's what I'm gonna start calling him in my head; it's way better than the nicknames the other kids use.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“Basically, I spent most of freshman year doing everything I shouldn't. All while my dad was on trial and my mom fell apart. It's impossible not to associate those things with the same cause... me and my bad choices.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice

“I'm one of those strange individuals who doesn't like anything sweet. Not desserts or candy, not pastries or muffins or soda. Not even chocolate. My mom always says it's because she fed me only pureed vegetables as a baby. No sugar for the first three years of my life.”
― Julie Cross, On Thin Ice