Tears flooded my eyes. I drank in the moment, alternating between covering my mouth in shock and waving to everyone in the stands. The junior skaters flooded onto the ice to collect the stuffed animals raining down from the stands.
I skated to the exit, where Mel was waiting for me, and launched myself at her, laughing and crying at the same time.
“You wereamazing,” she said as she squeezed me tightly.
The cameras crowded closer but I didn’t care. This time around I wanted the world to see my face, mascara streaks and all.
When we finally pulled apart I put my guards on and practically levitated to the kiss and cry.
I felt like I was in shock as I settled onto the bench next to Mel. I was still breathing heavily, and a little sweaty, but I dialed up my smile for the camera broadcasting my every move. It always feltlike the wait for scores took forever, but this time around I didn’t care.
“Thattriple,” Mel breathed as she leaned closer to me. “Why did you add it?”
I laughed. “Because I could.”
Chapter Forty
Among the many congratulatory texts that came after my triumphant performance from Zoey and the rest of my friends at the rink were a half dozen from my mom. I’d maintained a cordial distance from her prior to the competition, blaming my practice schedule, but she knew that I had a two-day gap before my free skate and wasn’t letting up about us getting together.
She promised that she and my father were available to meet me for any meal I could swing. I figured it would be easiest to get it out of the way during the afterglow of my short, but with enough time padded in as I shifted my focus to my next performance.
Before I suggested a meeting time to her I crossed my fingers and reached out to Ben.
He’d been so overwhelmed for me after my short that the first three texts he’d sent were nothing more than exclamation points, heart and fire emojis, and celebratory curse words. When we finally managed to steal a few minutes to talk later that night he couldn’t stop raving. Now I was hoping that he’d be willing to break our agreement in a big way to help me stay sane; I wanted him to chaperone my dinner date.
I crossed my fingers as I called him, still splayed out on my cardboard bed. I figured I earned the late start to the day after the previous night’s triumph. Erica and Kayla had already left for breakfast, and I felt like it was good for me to keep my distance in the aftermath of Kayla not making the cut. She knew that her chances had been slim, but it didn’t dull the pain of not moving on.
Ben’s phone rang once then went to voicemail. I followed up with a text outlining why I was demanding a protocol break to our agreement with all sorts of silly faux-legalese. When he didn’t reply to my legit funny message after ten minutes I got up to start my day, trying not to obsess about why he wasn’t responding.
Hours later, after practice, my gym session,andPT, I received a reply.
Sorry, they’re shipping me off to Cortina D’Ampezzo to cover curling. Have fun.
I stared at the screen for an eternity, waiting for the follow-up text with encouragement, or an acknowledgment of how terrible the night was going to be, or an apology for not being able to go, or at the very least a muscle-arm emoji, but nothing else came through.
He understood the stakes, so his nonresponse was as loud as a tornado siren.
Ben was currently fighting his own battle.
I ignored my instincts and texted him back:I’m here if you need me.
This time his reply was immediate.Remember we’re lc. Protect your peace and focus on you.
Another side step. My chest hollowed out at the thought of himstruggling. What I needed to say to him wouldn’t translate in a text, so I vowed to track him down somehow.
For now I needed to find alternate backup formynext battle. I called Mel.
Mel strode up to me at the Village gates dressed for battle in her tallest heels and a black leather trench coat I’d never seen before.
“Okay, super spy,” I laughed. “Look at you.”
“I did a little celebratory shopping after practice today,” she said and did a catwalk turn and posed. “Too much?”
“In Italy, it works. Not so sure about Woodspring. What about me? Do I look ready for intense, nitpicking scrutiny?”
I opened my coat to flash my brown sweater dress and tall boots.
“Perfection. Body is a ten, face is off the charts. Let’s walk.”
