a tiny exhale. Considering the huge mistake I’d made, the score was pretty good. But none of the major contenders had skated yet, so we likely wouldn’t be in first place for long.
We moved backstage for a series of interviews, and by the time we finished we’d been bumped down to third place. We changed out of our costumes and went upstairs to watch the final group, specifically Roxanne and Evan.
As we got quick hugs from my parents on the concourse, a horde of fans approached us for pictures and autographs. I appreciated their support, but I was having trouble putting on a genuine smile. Inside I was only getting angrier with myself for letting nerves overpower me on the jump. No way could that happen again. We were in a situation where we had to skate perfectly in the free skate to have any chance of moving up.
“Steph’s in Section Twenty-Two,” Josh said as he looked at his phone. “She said she’s by herself. My parents are somewhere else.”
That was all I needed to hear to follow him to her seat. Stephanie might not be the most sympathetic person regarding my mistake on the ice, but she wouldn’t berate me like Mrs. Tucker would. I couldn’t avoid Josh’s mom forever, but I was going to stall as long as possible.
Stephanie waved us into two empty seats beside her, and she gave us both hugs, mine more a courtesy.
“Well, your dress looked fabulous,” she said. “I hope you’ll get a chance to wear it again.”
The slight snarkiness to her tone actually made me smile. Stephanie had come a long way in accepting me as Josh’s girlfriend and partner, but she couldn’t stop the attitude from coming out every now and then.
“Did you ditch Mom and Dad?” Josh asked.
“They were arguing about dinner later, and I was so over it. It’s no wonder they couldn’t agree since they barely talk to each other.”
Her mouth turned down, and I thought about my own parents and how easy their relationship was. They didn’t lead an exciting life like the Tuckers did, but they enjoyed each other’s company and hardly ever fought. I had the total opposite from Josh in parental role models.
The six-minute warm-up on the ice ended, and we all put our attention on Roxanne and Evan striking their opening pose. For two-and-a-half minutes I watched them conquer each element, though not with the expert unison Josh and I had shown. They finished with their arms open to the audience and huge smiles on their faces, and the uneasiness in my stomach grew as I added up the points in my head. Their score was going to be massive.
I couldn’t stand to look as the numbers came up on the video board. I didn’t have to because Roxanne’s shrieking and fist pumping told me the story. They were seven points ahead of us.
“She needs to calm the hell down.” Stephanie glared at the kiss and cry.
Even in her bratty days, Stephanie hadn’t ever made a spectacle of herself when the score was announced. Roxanne was acting like the competition was over.
“Anything can happen in the long,” Josh said.
“Exactly,” Stephanie said. “You can make up seven points. They’re going to crash and burn on the quad, and there’s nothing special about the rest of their skating.”
The next team took the ice, so the conversation halted, but I kept silently running the numbers, thinking back to our season’s best score versus Roxanne and Evan’s. We’d topped them by seven points before, so doing it again was very possible. We only had to finish second to make the Olympic team, but I really wanted to win on our home turf and prove we were worthy of all the attention we’d received.
And I didn’t want that one stupid jump to be the reason we lost the title.
The remaining three teams didn’t crack into the top of the standings, so we were still in fourth place when the final leaderboard flashed on the screen. Josh and I headed back downstairs to draw for the free skate start order, and he pulled me aside before we reached
We moved backstage for a series of interviews, and by the time we finished we’d been bumped down to third place. We changed out of our costumes and went upstairs to watch the final group, specifically Roxanne and Evan.
As we got quick hugs from my parents on the concourse, a horde of fans approached us for pictures and autographs. I appreciated their support, but I was having trouble putting on a genuine smile. Inside I was only getting angrier with myself for letting nerves overpower me on the jump. No way could that happen again. We were in a situation where we had to skate perfectly in the free skate to have any chance of moving up.
“Steph’s in Section Twenty-Two,” Josh said as he looked at his phone. “She said she’s by herself. My parents are somewhere else.”
That was all I needed to hear to follow him to her seat. Stephanie might not be the most sympathetic person regarding my mistake on the ice, but she wouldn’t berate me like Mrs. Tucker would. I couldn’t avoid Josh’s mom forever, but I was going to stall as long as possible.
Stephanie waved us into two empty seats beside her, and she gave us both hugs, mine more a courtesy.
“Well, your dress looked fabulous,” she said. “I hope you’ll get a chance to wear it again.”
The slight snarkiness to her tone actually made me smile. Stephanie had come a long way in accepting me as Josh’s girlfriend and partner, but she couldn’t stop the attitude from coming out every now and then.
“Did you ditch Mom and Dad?” Josh asked.
“They were arguing about dinner later, and I was so over it. It’s no wonder they couldn’t agree since they barely talk to each other.”
Her mouth turned down, and I thought about my own parents and how easy their relationship was. They didn’t lead an exciting life like the Tuckers did, but they enjoyed each other’s company and hardly ever fought. I had the total opposite from Josh in parental role models.
The six-minute warm-up on the ice ended, and we all put our attention on Roxanne and Evan striking their opening pose. For two-and-a-half minutes I watched them conquer each element, though not with the expert unison Josh and I had shown. They finished with their arms open to the audience and huge smiles on their faces, and the uneasiness in my stomach grew as I added up the points in my head. Their score was going to be massive.
I couldn’t stand to look as the numbers came up on the video board. I didn’t have to because Roxanne’s shrieking and fist pumping told me the story. They were seven points ahead of us.
“She needs to calm the hell down.” Stephanie glared at the kiss and cry.
Even in her bratty days, Stephanie hadn’t ever made a spectacle of herself when the score was announced. Roxanne was acting like the competition was over.
“Anything can happen in the long,” Josh said.
“Exactly,” Stephanie said. “You can make up seven points. They’re going to crash and burn on the quad, and there’s nothing special about the rest of their skating.”
The next team took the ice, so the conversation halted, but I kept silently running the numbers, thinking back to our season’s best score versus Roxanne and Evan’s. We’d topped them by seven points before, so doing it again was very possible. We only had to finish second to make the Olympic team, but I really wanted to win on our home turf and prove we were worthy of all the attention we’d received.
And I didn’t want that one stupid jump to be the reason we lost the title.
The remaining three teams didn’t crack into the top of the standings, so we were still in fourth place when the final leaderboard flashed on the screen. Josh and I headed back downstairs to draw for the free skate start order, and he pulled me aside before we reached
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