“Congrats.” I pulled her into a hug. “I hate you.”
“Yeah, you can hate me all the way from Olympic Village.” She laughed. “Don’t start.”
We walked to our cars, which were next to each other in the back corner of the parking lot, so we could avoid the minivans filled with sweaty boys getting dropped off for hockey practice.
“The Scorewants to interview me,” I said as I threw my bag in the back seat of my car.
“Wow, that’s huge,” Zoe said and paused with her hand on the car door. “Can I hang out in the background looking cute when they’re here?”
“Nope, because I’m not doing it.” I shook my head. “They hired Bennett Martino and they want to send him to interview me.”
She grimaced. “Awkward.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Have you guys spoken since the Switzerland ghosting?”
It went so much deeper than a simple ghosting, and she knew it. I shook my head. “Not a word. And it’s not like I’ve been keeping up with what he’s doing. I had no idea that he’s a correspondent now.”
It was a half-truth. I’d unfollowed him, but of course I’d kept up with most of what he was doing, because it was impossible not to. Healwaysfound a way into the headlines. The man was even more unavoidable than usual with the Games on the horizon, because his final speed-skating run four years prior was legendary. I wanted to scream and plug my ears every time I heard the words “Magic Martino.”
“I think you should do it,” Zoey said as she slid into her car. “Show him how incredible you are, and what he missed out on.”
“Yeah,no. I told Mel to see if anyone else can interview me. Total diva move but I’m not subjecting myself to him for a week straight.”
“Good,” she said with nod. “Lean into your diva-hood, you deserve it.” She paused a beat. “See you at home?”
We both did our usual big frowns, because I hadn’t lived with the Chens in years. They’d been my surrogate family when I’d moved from my home in Connecticut to the Colorado training facility as a young skater. It was with them that I’d finally learned what a family could be.
“I wish. I’m dying for some of your mom’s jiaozi.”
“Come for dinner,” Zoey insisted. “She’d love to see you.”
My stomach growled at the thought of whatever Mrs. Chen would whip up for me. I’d deprived myself of so much good food during the dark years, and while I was better at managing my eating thanks to my nutritionist, now wasn’t the time to be gorging on zhajiangmian. I had a $3,000 costume I needed to fit into that was going to be shot in unforgiving close-up HD. And then there were the figure-skating Reddit threads that would pick me apart afterward, commenting on any flaw that made me look human and not like Figure Skater Barbie.
“Can’t. I’m doing an extra session on the bike tonight. Rain check?”
If there was a nonskating word to describe me, “rain check” would be it. My life was a series of missed gatherings and celebrations.
But it would all be worth it.
My phone chimed with a FaceTime call. I glanced down. “Shit. It’s Tricia.”
“Decline it,” Zoey said.
“I’ve been declining her for so long that she’s going to send the police to do a wellness check soon, to prove a point.” I heaved a sigh. “I’ll talk to you later. Love you.”
“Love you back.” Zoey gave me a half smile as my phone continued to ring. “Good luck.”
I got into my car and checked myself out in the rearview mirror. Of course my flyaways were standing at attention on the top of my head, and I looked pale, so I ran my palm over my head to smooth them down, then pinched my cheeks Scarlett O’Hara style.
I could already hear her commentary. I sat up a little straighter, shifted my expression to neutral, and hit accept.
“Hi, Mom.”
Unlike most people her age, she already had the phone perfectly positioned to avoid an unflattering angle, and the lighting around her was soft. She was in full glam makeup, with a blowout and sparkly earrings. It looked like she had a filter on too. My beautiful, always perfect mother.
“Aww,thereyou are! I’ve been trying to reach you, I was getting so worried. Did you see that I called?”
