"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." – Philippians 4:6

When Maya stepped from the muggy outside air into the coolness of the Ice Palace, she was surprised at how cold it actually was. She squeezed her arms tighter against her body, thankful for the sweatshirt and jeans she was currently wearing.

Jake gave a little tug on her ponytail. "This way," he sang.

She followed him to the front counter and sidled up alongside Hannah, their friend from school. Hannah and her boyfriend Benji were doing a double date with Maya and Jake.

"What size?" the man behind the counter asked Maya, interrupting her thoughts.

"Six," she replied, waiting for him to rummage around in the back of the room before he returned with a pair of white ice skates.

"You have such small feet," Hannah remarked, holding up her own size nine skates. The girls took a seat on a nearby bench and slipped off their tennis shoes before lacing up their skates. They placed their belongings in a locker and stepped carefully towards the ice rink.

"You guys ready?" Maya called over her shoulder. Jake and Benji were obviously feeling awkward in their skates as they waddled nervously towards where the girls were standing. Hannah, on the other hand, couldn't be more excited. Because she used to take classes and compete regularly, ice skating for their double date had been her idea.

"Let's go!" she said brightly, stepping onto the ice and immediately joining the flow of people circling the rink. Maya followed, though not as gracefully—she had to keep one hand on the railing while she attempted to glide across the ice.

Meanwhile, Hannah was already halfway around the rink, her hands hanging loosely at her sides while her legs propelled her forward. She casually turned around and skated backwards, balancing on one leg before swinging forwards again. She eventually lapped Maya and paused a few feet in front of her.

"Showoff," Maya said.

"Hey, you got this. Take your hand off the railing and just glide."

Maya reluctantly let go of the railing and took a few wobbly steps forward. She felt extremely unbalanced as wave after wave of people rushed by her. How did they make it look so easy?

"You're doing good," Hannah said, smiling. "The guys, on the other hand, are doing horribly."

One glance over her shoulder told Maya that the guys were, in fact, terrible at ice skating. She witnessed Benji lose his balance, latch onto Jake's shoulder, and send both of them tumbling to the ice. Ouch.

It took a few minutes for Maya to get the hang of skating, and once she did, she felt confident enough to go all the way around the rink without holding onto the railing. Though she couldn't skate backwards like Hannah, she had found her rhythm and balance and was doing just fine.

The guys were a different matter. The girls lapped them twice before coming to a stop in front of them. Benji was still hanging onto Jake's arm, his feet slipping and sliding all over the place.

"Benji," Hannah laughed, "relax. Put your hand on the railing and stand up straight."

As she instructed her boyfriend, Maya skated over to Jake's side and looped her arm through his elbow. "Having some trouble?" she asked.

His eyes twinkled. "Nope, not at all. It's Benji's fault—he decided to claim me as his personal wall to keep his balance. I've been dying to get away from him and just skate."

"Hey, I heard that!" Benji called.

Maya laughed and skated forward a few feet. "Then show me what you got, Sanders."

Jake removed his arm from hers and pushed forward. He glided on one foot, jumped 180 degrees, and skated backwards with his arms crossed smugly across his chest. One eyebrow was raised higher than the other, as if to say, How's that?

"Wow," Maya said, impressed. "I didn't know you could skate."

"I go to the roller rink with my little brothers all the time," he replied. "Ice skating is pretty similar."

"Want to teach me some of your moves?"

He smiled and held out a hand. "I'd love to."

They skated around the rink multiple times, sometimes dancing to the music playing overhead, other times stopping to see how Benji was doing. Hannah was patient with him, but it was clear Benji just wasn't cut out for ice skating. He had no balance whatsoever.

"We should have asked Alana and Cole to come," Maya said as she and Jake zipped around the rink.

His brow furrowed. "I don't know, that would have been kind of awkward. Plus, this wouldn't be considered a double date anymore."

"Well, yeah, but we would still be able to hang out," Maya said. "Haven't you noticed the sparks between them?"

Jake stared at her and burst out laughing. "Alana and Cole? Are you serious?"

"Just watch them! They've grown so much closer since the surfing safari. Alana says it's because Cole became a believer, but I think they both like each other."

"You're just trying to stir up some romance." He quickly dodged a little kid that had fallen in front of him.

Maya shook her head. "And what about Alana and Koa? Don't you think it's weird that they've been really distant lately?"

"Okay, now that I have noticed," Jake admitted. "They aren't speaking to one another, and it's a little weird."

"Yeah. I think they had a fight or something. Or"—she wiggled her eyebrows mischievously—"there's a love triangle going on."

Jake pressed a hand to his forehead. "Maya," he groaned, "you and your ideas..."

"Hey, you admitted that Koa and Alana aren't talking. In the meantime, Cole and Alana have grown closer. Doesn't that seem suspicious?"

"No," he said, balancing on one leg before zipping around a giggling group of middle school girls. "It sounds like normal fluctuating friendships."

Maya narrowed her eyes. "I'll convince you. You'll see."

"Personally, I think you're a bit crazy."

"But you still love me!"

Jake opened his mouth and closed it again. "Well..."

"Jake Sanders."

"I'm just kidding." He grinned.

Suddenly, Maya's ringtone went off. She pulled her phone out of the front pocket of her jeans and checked the caller ID. "Oh, it's my mom," she told Jake. "She's probably just checking up on me."

But the minute she raised the device to her ear, she knew that wasn't the case. Her mother's voice was strangely calm and businesslike. "Maya, honey," she said, "there's something important I need to tell you."

Maya plugged her free ear with a finger and skated over to the side of the rink. "What?" she asked above the loud music.

Mrs. Mallory took a deep breath before plunging ahead. "Your father was on his way over here, but something went wrong with the plane during the landing, and most of the passengers were taken to the hospital—" She started sobbing, the calm edge to her voice cracking.

"Wait, what?" Maya was stunned. "Dad was coming here?"

Jake gave her a bewildered look.

"Mom, talk to me," Maya pressed. "Why didn't you tell me Dad was coming earlier?"

"He was scheduled to be here next week, but something came up and he changed last-minute, and he flew out tonight instead."

Maya could barely understand her between the sighs and sobs from her mother's end of the line, and the pop music blaring overhead. "Okay," she said, closing her eyes, "I don't really know what's going on, but what do you want me to do?"

"I'm sorry to break up your date, honey, but you need to come home. He's in the hospital."

Her broken voice pierced Maya's heart. "I'll be there as soon as possible," she promised. "Bye, Mom."

Jake grabbed her shoulders. "What was that all about? Your mom's in the hospital?"

"No, my dad is," she mumbled.

"But I thought your dad has been living in Arizona."

"He was." She sighed and placed her hands over her face. "Look, I don't know what's going on or why my mom didn't tell me sooner, but I guess my dad flew out here and something went wrong with the plane landing, and now he's in the hospital."

Jake quickly pulled her by the elbow to the nearest exit. "Then we better get you home," he said.

After a lengthy explanation and a half-hour car drive, Jake succeeded in dropping off Hannah, Benji, and Maya at their respective homes. He wanted to stay with Maya while she went to the hospital with her mom, but he figured their problem was too personal for him to tag along. All he knew was that Maya's father was in trouble—the father that Jake had never seen. He could only pray that everything would be all right.

With his car stereo broken, Jake was forced to sit in silence as he drove home. He rolled down the windows and let the noises of traffic surround him, but it wasn't enough to drown out his thoughts. He was consumed with worry for Maya and her family.

His ankles, still a little sore from ice skating, caused him to walk slowly into the house when he reached home. His ears were immediately greeted by the sound of his three younger brothers hollering and screeching, followed by his father yelling at them to quiet down.

"Hi," Jake said tiredly, pausing in the doorway of the living room with his hands on his hips.

"Jake! You're back early," Mr. Sanders said, surprised.

Jake quickly explained what had happened, and his father nodded with sympathy. "How horrible," he said. "I can't imagine what they're going through."

No, Jake thought, he really couldn't. While Maya was an only child, Jake was the oldest of four siblings. Maya had lived the later years of her life without a father figure, but Jake had grown up with both parents for as long as he could remember. The Sanders had had their fair share of accidents: broken bones, searching for lost children in amusement parks, getting stitches in the hospital, and plenty of skateboarding maneuvers gone painfully wrong. But they had always been a close-knit group. There was no father who suddenly left, flew back, and got injured in a plane accident.

As Jake was about to enter the den to quiet his loud siblings, his father suddenly pulled him aside. "I'll be praying for the Mallory's," he promised solemnly. "But Jake...we also need to be praying for your mother."

Jake stared at him, puzzled. Meanwhile, Mr. Sanders swallowed slowly and folded his hands in his lap.

"Wait, is Mom pregnant? Again?"

"No," his father said with a hint of a smile.

"Where is she?"

"In the bedroom, reading the doctor's notes."

Jake furrowed his brow.

Mr. Sanders' voice warbled just a bit as he explained, "There might be a chance she has breast cancer, son."

"What?" Jake's mind suddenly switched tracks. He remembered all the times his parents talked about so-and-so having cancer, but all of it seemed far away. No one in his immediate family could have cancer. They had been healthy and whole for as long as he could remember. Hearing that his mother might suddenly have breast cancer was strange and unbelievable.

"We don't know for sure," Mr. Sanders continued. "But the safe thing to do is to take all the precautions we can."

Jake nodded, telling himself that his mother was fine. She didn't have cancer; it was just a possibility. There was probably nothing even wrong.

"In the meantime, we need to pray," Mr. Sanders reminded Jake. "Her doctor doesn't seem worried, but they're keeping an eye on things."

"Okay." His father's tone clearly told Jake that he was dismissed, so he slowly headed to his bedroom, the laughing and screeching of his brothers now tuned out like white noise. He felt numb. First Maya's father, and now this? He wondered what the chances of his mom having breast cancer actually were. Then he imagined the worst-case scenario: finding out she did have cancer, and dying.

No, Jake told himself firmly. He couldn't think like that. The best thing he could do was pray, like his father said. The worst thing to do was imagine all the horrid possibilities.

As he closed his eyes, he prayed first and foremost for his mother, and then for Maya. His heart beat anxiously the whole time.