Chapter 15 Hannah
FIFTEEN
HANNAH
“I’m late. I’m late, and I’m sorry!” Liv comes tumbling into the practice rink with her backpack on her shoulder and a duffle bag in her hand. “My dad had a meeting that ran late so I had to take the Metro. Going to school across town is a pain the ass.”
“Take a second to catch your breath.” I laugh and help her unload her stuff. “I just got here a few minutes ago. Traffic sucked.”
“The Metro wasn’t much better. The red line was delayed by ten minutes. I can’t wait until I learn to drive.” She groans and sits down. “I hate when people don’t show up to things on time. I’ll make it up to you.”
“Hey. Enough apologizing. It’s fine, Liv.” I smile to let her know I’m not mad. “Do you need to change? Your dad said there’s a women’s locker room in the building.”
“I’m good. I did that before I left school.” She unzips her coat, revealing black leggings and a white sweater. “Man. What a freaking day.”
“If you ever need a ride from school, and it’s okay with your parents, I don’t mind picking you up if they’re busy.”
“They’ll probably take you up on that. With the hockey season in full swing, sometimes I wonder when the heck my dad is sleeping. And my mom lives outside the city, so making her way in to pick me up or drop me off can take forever.”
“Have you ever had a nanny or babysitter?” I ask, and Liv shakes her head.
“Nope. Mom is all for it, but having someone unfamiliar in the condo makes Dad uncomfortable. He’s very private.
” She follows it up with a laugh when she stretches out her leg, slipping on her left skate.
“And, I get it. He’s, like, kind of important.
But he’s not the freaking president. Not everyone wants his autograph. ”
“I fully support you keeping him humble.” I grab my gloves and put them on. “When you’re ready, I thought we could try something different today.”
“Different how?”
“I know you’ve been anxious to get to your double Axel, so I figured we’ll start working up to it.” When Liv’s mouth opens in surprise, I hold up a hand. “Slowly. You’re not doing a 2A today, but we’re going to lay the foundation that will make it beautiful when we do get there.”
“Please, please, please, please!” She squeals and races to put on her other skate. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since I started skating!”
“We’ll spend today perfecting your single Axel, then I’ll give you some drills to practice off-ice so we can start gearing up for your double. Sound fair?”
“So fair. The day I land a 2A will be the best day of my life!”
I spend the first thirty minutes watching Liv perform her single Axel multiple times.
I stop and correct her form when necessary, giving her pointers to remember throughout the sequence: big movements.
Deep knee bend. Speed, speed, speed. Satisfied with how the move looks, we rewind it back to an easier sequence, implementing a standstill waltz jump and single loop combo.
“Initiate the rotation,” I call out. “And hold your outside edge.” She responds well to the feedback, the next cycle smoother than the last. “Yup. Just like that, Liv.”
“That one felt really good.” She stops to yank off her gloves, and I nod in agreement. “Breaking it down into two moves helped my brain understand what it needed to do.”
“I’m so glad. That’s the point of the exercise. The double is hard. You’ll be in the air for almost half a second, so you need the height to clear the ice.”
“How old were you when you landed yours the first time?”
“Ten, maybe? And I was terrified. All it took was one time though, and I was hooked. I wanted to spend more time in the air.” I smile.
“But we all learn at different paces. Getting comfortable with a move later in your career doesn’t mean you’re a bad skater.
It’s better to spend more time on getting the fundamentals right instead of rushing to do a move incorrectly. ”
“Dad always tells me to stay in my lane, but it’s hard to see girls younger than me doing more advanced moves.” Liv sighs. “I want that to be me.”
“When did you start skating?”
“I was skating by the time I was two. There are photos of me and Dad on the ice together. He’s holding me up under my arms. I barely come up to his shin. Doesn’t help that he’s a giant.” She giggles. “I started taking lessons and getting serious about learning when I was nine? Maybe?”
“Well, there you go. I bet those younger girls have been competing since they were eight on novice teams. You can’t compare yourself to them.
Take it from me, Liv. Enjoy these moments of learning.
The excitement you feel when you land a move for the first time?
Gosh. That’s where the magic is. There’s nothing like it, and when it becomes part of your routine, it won’t mean as much to you. Soak it up now.”
“Wow.” Liv offers me a smile. “That’s a good way to look at it. Like, I won’t know it’s my last time practicing a move before I nail it until it’s over.”
“Don’t tell your dad I said this, but he’s right.
The longer you stay in your lane, the more fun this is.
” I remember how eager I was at her age.
My determination to be the best junior skater in the world and the thousands of hours I put in just to end up here: dejected.
Lost. Not in any lane at all. “And I want this to be fun for you for a very long time.”
Liv must hear the bite of pain under my wish for her, because she gives me a soft smile. An easy hug, and I’m not sure the thrill of winning any of my medals beats my reaction to seeing her land her single Axel so perfectly, my mouth drops open.
“Liv!” I jump up and down, giving her a high-five after another successful execution of the move. She shrieks with delight. “Yes, kiddo. Spectacular!”
“It’s never felt so easy before. Hang on. I need to do it again so I know it’s not a fluke.”
I know it’s not a fluke, but I nod. I quiet down and watch her nail it ten more times, so fucking proud I could burst.
When we wrap up for the afternoon, she’s beaming. I am too, my adrenaline pumping like I’m at the World Championships.
“What a transformation. See what happens when you think about each step of the process?” I say, pushing my sleeve up my arm so she can see my goosebumps. “I got chills watching that.”
“Why do I want to cry?” Liv fans her face and laughs. “I just love skating so much, and it makes me happy when I do something that I’m proud of.”
“You deserve to be proud. You’re working so hard, and after the holidays, we can start talking about your choreography for the Potomac Memorial. And, if you’re up for it, we can take a look at some smaller local competitions you might want to enter.”
“I didn’t need motivation to work hard, but you just gave me some. Speaking of competitions, who do you think is going to win Skate America? I love Tierney Paige. She’s so majestic.”
“Tierney is my best friend!” I smile when Liv screeches. “I’ll see if she can stop by one of these days to say hi.”
“I would die.”
“I hope you’re not planning on dying anytime soon,” Brody says, and Liv and I turn our heads in his direction.
He’s in gray sweatpants today, the material loose on his hips and paired with a plain long-sleeved white shirt with the word STARS across his chest. Another backward hat, the ends of his hair sticking out by his ears. “I’d miss you.”
“Hey, Dad. I’m just talking about figure skating royalty who Hannah knows. Like, in real life. Oh! My single Axel got so much better today. Do you want to see?” Liv asks.
“Of course I do.” He shuffles to the players’ bench and hops on the boards, legs dangling when he sits down. He blinks, looking our way, and I move so Liv can be the star. “The Olympics are on the horizon.”
“I have a long way to go before that.” She laughs and shakes out her arms and legs, getting loose. “Give me a second. I want to get this right.”
“She’s going to get it right,” I say to Brody, leaning against the boards next to him. “Your daughter is very talented.”
“Don’t know where she gets it from. Her mother isn’t coordinated, and the only skills I have on the ice are hitting a puck and ramming guys into the glass with my shoulders.”
“Weird. That’s what we spent this afternoon doing.”
He smirks. “Sorry she was late today. That’s on me. I had a meeting with a player that ran long. Liv is always my top priority, but it felt wrong to cut him off when he was talking to me about something personal.”
“No worries. We had a great lesson and—”
“Okay, I’m ready.” Liv inhales a deep breath and takes off, skating into the jump with speed.
From the forward outside edge of her foot, she bends her left knee, lifting her right knee up.
A rotation and a half later, she lands backward on her right foot, arms raised in the air. “Badabing, motherfucker!”
“Olivia Elliot Saunders,” Brody hisses. “What have we talked about with the language?”
“I’m so proud of you, Liv,” I say, shutting Brody out. “Way to implement what we worked on today. That was exactly how it should look.”
“All thanks to you.” She smiles from ear to ear and skates toward us, brushing her dark hair out of her eyes. “This was a great day.”
“Agreed.” I grin. “Are you guys heading out?”
“Yup. Someone has an English test to study for, and it isn’t me. Shakespeare was never my friend.” Brody climbs over the boards, picking up Liv’s backpack from the bench. “Time to clear out, Mini-Me.”
“Before we go, can we do something fun?” There’s a conspiring look in Liv’s eyes, and she gives me an innocent smile. “I think you two should race.”
“No.” He frowns. “Not a good idea.”
“Is it because Hannah would obviously beat you?” She blows out a dramatic exhale. “I thought so too.”
“For the record, I didn’t pay her to say that,” I say.
“Come on, Dad. I have straight A’s. I’m the ninth grade student body president. I haven’t missed a day of school all year and I had the best figure skating lesson of my life. I never ask for anything.”
“You asked me for a pony.”