“Your stupid little tricks aren’t going to work. You’re going to blow your program, and I’ll be there to watch,” she added.
I refused to open my eyes and concentrated on the salt. Gabby made a skeptical noise and walked out, slamming the door behind her.
I took ten more minutes to focus, clearing out my energy and blocking out the rest of the world. While I did, I listened to the music of my long program over and over, envisioning a perfect program. By the time I felt my energy completely clear, Lady Magdalina had arrived to tell me I was up.
As we came to the boards, the fresh smell of clean ice overwhelmed my senses. I stepped onto the ice to wait my turn to be announced. Lady Magdalina observed me. “How do you feel, Emmaline?”
“Better,” I said, but I wasn’t completely there. A bit of disbelief that I could really do this still held me back.
“Figure skating is the culmination of believing in yourself. It’s what allows us to defy gravity and perform the impossible.” Lady Magdalina smiled. “Just like fae magic, if you have faith that you can, you will. Believe it into reality, and the podium will be yours.”
“Yes, coach.” Magdalina was right. If I believed, I would achieve. I could leave no room for doubt.
I skated onto the ice, this time with a genuine smile. Instead of being nervous, like I was before my short, I felt completely calm. This is what I was born to do. Win or lose, I just wanted to skate. I’d come to perform today to an audience and give the crowd an experience. Nothing else mattered.
And that’s how it was. The audience and the judges fell away as I began to skate to the music. I was no longer Emma, no longer myself. I was a girl in love with a boy I shouldn’t be, living in Verona and cursed to a star crossed romance that could only end in tragedy. I fell into the illusion of the story, and used my skates to weave the tale as I spun into one spin, and then another. My footwork sewed seamless patterns into the ice, and the crowd became still as the emotion I felt for Shakespeare’s timeless love story showed upon my face.
My first jump was my triple axel. It was flawless, followed up by my triple lutz, triple toe. I stepped out of my triple flip— what was with that jump this weekend?— but didn’t give it any mind, and soared into my next combination without making a single mistake. I lifted my leg to perform my spiral, and as I spread my arms wide, I felt like I was flying with the gods themselves as the cold chill of the ice hit my face.
The best part of skating was losing yourself. You ceased to be who you were and became someone else for the entertainment of the crowd. At one point, your soul melded with the music, and your emotions swelled to become overwhelming, bursting out of you with a passion that could only be felt. I rode that high up until the very end, when I gave my finishing pose and bowed my head to the crowd.
The crowd absolutely lost it. They jumped to their feet to give me a standing ovation. Red roses were tossed, scattering on the ice with a collection of teddy bears and cards.
My breaths were long and ragged, and my body shook. That had to be another personal best. If the judges couldn’t appreciate my program, it hardly mattered, because I’d skated my heart out and proven to myself that I could do this.
I headed to the kiss-and-cry. Lady Magdalina was beaming. “That was brilliant, Emmaline.” She gave my shoulder a squeeze as I sat down. We looked up at the megascreen. My score; 160.30, putting me in first place.
My mouth dropped open in shock. I couldn’t believe it! That was an amazing score!
Magdalina clapped me on the back. I felt elated as my coach left me to go instruct Gabby. She seemed paler than before, but more determined than ever. I took a seat near the entry to the ice in the competitor’s section, waiting for my rival to take the ice.
Gabby was the last skater. I was staying on this podium, no matter what she did now. The only question that remained was if she’d take the gold.