Fake Skating

Dani, the novel’s female point-of-view character, moves to Southview halfway through her senior year, expecting to have one familiar bond in Alec, her childhood best friend. However, the boy she remembers is gone, and in his place stands “Zeus,” a star hockey player surrounded by adoring fans and a life that is separate from hers. Dani’s hope for a smooth transition quickly fades as she realizes that Alec doesn’t seem to want to reconnect, and that Southview’s social hierarchy revolves around a sport she has always dismissed. At first, she becomes “just somebody that [Alec] used to know” (200). Moreover, Dani must live with her grandfather, Mick, a man she barely knows and doesn’t fully understand. Once a local hockey legend himself, Mick is gruff, old-fashioned, and emotionally distant.

Her move to Southview comes on the heels of her parents’ divorce, leaving her emotionally unmoored and unsure where she fits in. Determined to keep her guard up, Dani approaches the new school with the same strategy she has used at every other one: staying detached and invisible because she knows that she will probably leave before anyone can hurt her. However, her plan begins to fall apart as her connection with Alec slowly resurfaces. She also becomes more involved in the hockey community, which she once viewed with disdain. As Dani spends more time around the rink with Alec, she begins to see the tradition and pride that hockey symbolizes to Mick and others.

Dani agrees to a fake-dating relationship with Alec as a strategic move that might land her a job as the team co-manager, thereby improving her chances of getting into Harvard. Pretending to date the town’s hockey star instantly boosts her social standing and gives her a sense of belonging that she has never experienced before. However, the arrangement quickly becomes complicated when Dani realizes that her feelings for Alec aren’t fake at all.

As she spends more time with him, her emotional walls begin to crumble, forcing her to trust and care in ways she hadn’t expected. Even her friendships with Cassie and Lillie, which she initially thought were conditional, turn out to be genuine. For the first time in years, Dani feels safe and at home at her school and in her community. In the end, she emerges with a clearer understanding of who she is and where she belongs. Through her friendships, her growing bond with her grandfather, and her rekindled relationship with Alec, Dani finds the family and stability she has been seeking. Her choice to reconnect with Alec allows both teens to confront the misunderstandings and hurt that have lingered from their past. As Dani gains love and a true sense of belonging, Southview becomes the place where she rediscovers herself and learns what it means to have a true home.

Mick, Dani’s estranged grandfather, is a former hockey star in Southview, and his presence looms large in the town and in Dani’s life. When Dani and her mom move in with him, memories of the family’s past tension immediately resurface. When Dani first sees him, she says, “[S]uddenly there he was, looking more like a character from an action movie than somebody’s granddad” (19). However, her emotions are dampened as she recalls the heated argument between her father and Mick at her grandmother’s funeral and realizes that she hasn’t spoken to her grandfather since that disastrous moment in the family’s history. This past conflict casts a shadow over their reunion, making Dani wary of him and unsure of how to navigate their new living situation. Mick’s reputation as a legendary hockey player adds another layer of complexity as Dani feels the pressure of living in a household that is so closely tied to a sport that she neither understands nor respects. At first, their relationship is distant and awkward, but as the story progresses, Mick’s small acts of care begin to bridge the gap, allowing Dani to understand Mick not just as a figure of authority but as a family member who genuinely cares for her.

Mick and Dani begin to bond over her growing interest in hockey and their shared experience of panic attacks. Both characters have struggled with anxiety in different ways, when they recognize this shared experience, they empathize with one another on a level beyond sports. Rather than seeing Mick as a distant, gruff figure in her life, Dani begins to trust and lean on him. His willingness to listen, support, and validate her feelings helps her to feel seen and understood in ways that she hasn’t experienced with her father. Likewise, talking to Dani allows Mick to shed his stoic façade, and the novel suggests that even someone who is perceived as strong or legendary carries hidden emotional struggles.

By the end of the novel, Mick proves that he wants to be a positive male presence in Dani’s life, and he actively steps up where her father has fallen short. As he says to Dani’s father, “I’m the one who’s here, I’m the one who’s around, and I’m the one who gives a shit” (213). He defends her against her father’s unreasonable demands and interference, standing up for her even when it means fomenting new conflicts. At the same time, Mick becomes involved in her relationship with Alec to support and guide her as she navigates her complicated emotions. Mick’s involvement helps Dani feel safer, more validated, and more confident in her personal growth and her relationships.

Benji, Dani’s neighbor and Alec’s bitter rival, is a foil to Alec. Whereas Alec is hardworking, loyal, and motivated by personal and family responsibility, Benji is wealthy, privileged, and primarily concerned with his own glory. He represents everything that Alec is not: entitlement without effort and status without integrity. Beneath Benji’s arrogance, he hides deep insecurities and bitter jealousy of Alec, and these emotions are fueled by the fact that Alec has something Benji cannot have: Dani’s attention and affection.

Benji’s presence in the story heightens the tension and conflict, forcing Dani and Alec to sort out the rivalries, misunderstandings, and external pressures that often govern small-town social dynamics. Yet because Benji embodies selfishness and entitlement, his resentful presence also highlights Alec’s integrity and emotional depth. Benji temporarily sabotages Dani and Alec’s relationship, but his true nature is revealed during the climactic hockey game when he takes a cheap shot and injures Alec, sending himself to the penalty box and directly contributing to his team’s loss. This act underscores Benji’s selfishness, showing that his drive for personal gain comes at the expense of any fairness and integrity.