2. Logan
TWO
LOGAN
This woman hates me, and I have no idea why.
I’m used to people not liking me. Not to sound like a complete asshole, but it comes with being at the top of your sport. People either openly despise you out of jealousy or they pretend to like you to use your connections. It’s never bothered me before.
Savannah DuPont is looking at me like she would hurl sharp knives at my head if she had the option. This could be a problem, considering I’m her new coach.
I retired from skating at the end of last season and had a tough decision to make.
I went against what everyone was telling me to do, but I knew it was best for me.
I knew I was leaving Chicago and coming to Colorado.
There was no way I was letting my mother move without me, no matter how much she told me not to worry about her.
I’ll always worry about her. She’s all I have.
Leaving Chicago meant leaving my coach and my partner. I wasn’t willing to start over with a new partner, and I’ve done my time in the sport and on the ice. Now it’s my time to be the son my mom needs.
I retired on a high. The announcement surprised a hell of a lot of people, especially since I provided no explanation for it other than that I felt like it was time. My partner, Cassandra, was livid. She hasn’t talked to me since.
Thankfully, my mom was able to pull some strings with Tati. They used to be in the same skating circles back in their day. Tati was contemplating stepping back from coaching, and my showing up gave her the ability to do that.
I’ve never coached a day in my life, but I have been coached for over twenty years now, so I’ve picked up a thing or two. I know how to work hard, and I know how to win.
Tati hired me after a half-hour video “interview” that felt more like a catch-up phone call than anything else. She gave me the job and told me she would be assigning me to a few beginner skaters but also her most capable ice dance pair.
“They’ve just got it,” she told me. “They’re so close. We just need to give them a little extra push.”
Tati told me their names. I said them repeatedly to myself to remember them, but I never took the time to look them up. I haven’t reviewed any of their previous performances or read any critiques.
I knew of them, of course. We’ve competed in so many of the same competitions, but I always made it a point not to compare myself to my competition. I rarely ever watched other pairs unless my coach specifically told me to, but even then, I looked at their movements, not studied their faces.
I should’ve looked them up. I should’ve done some research at least. But the past two weeks have been an absolute whirlwind. I was packing up my life when Tati told me I had the job. I thanked her and didn’t think about it again until I got her email telling me when to show up at the rink.
“Savannah, Max, should we show Logan your last program so he can see what he’s working with?” Tati suggests, pulling me out of my thoughts.
Savannah slaps her hand down on the table as she stands from her chair, commanding everyone’s attention. I take my time looking up at her. She can throw all the tantrums she wants, but I’m still her new coach, whether she likes it or not.
“Sure,” she bites out. She makes eye contact with me as she says it. She’s ballsy, I’ll give her that. Max lets out a quiet laugh behind her, which makes me think he’s used to this type of behavior from her. “Let’s go, Max.”
She turns and strides out of the room with Max close on her tail.
Tati sighs next to me. “She’s… not one to let go of a grudge.”
I grunt. “Should I know what the grudge is about? I’m fairly certain I’ve never even talked to her before.” I think I’d remember the attitude. And the unique green shade of her eyes.
Tati turns to look at me as I meet her questioning stare. “You really don’t know?”
I shake my head.
“Look up footage from the National Championship three years ago. You’ll figure it out.
” Tati stands and walks toward the door, but stops before she leaves.
“Logan, she’s not going to make this easy for you.
She’s going to push you every step of the way.
I wouldn’t have paired you with them if I didn’t think you could handle it, though, ok?
Just stand your ground. I truly believe that you are what they need to get where they want to be. ”
I give her a curt nod before she leaves the room. I take a minute for myself in the emptiness to exhale. I knew coaching at this talent level wouldn’t be easy, but I didn’t expect… her. I assumed people would be excited to work with me, but clearly, I was mistaken.
I stand and make my way out to the rink. There are several couples on the ice now, but it’s easy to spot Savannah and Max. They’re skating through what looks like part of a routine. It seems a little rusty, though, as if they haven’t done it in a while.
Tati tells them they have ten more minutes before she starts the music.
They nod, use their allotted time, and take their places in the center.
The music starts, and they take off.
Three minutes later, I’m staring as they pant in their finale pose. The routine was… fine. I’m assuming it’s been a little while since they last performed it because there were several small mistakes, but I got the gist. They’re good, but they can be better.
That’s what I’m here to do: make them better.
They skate over to me and Tati.
“Well?” Savannah says with raised eyebrows and a hand on her hip.
“It was good,” I say evenly.
“Good? That’s all you have to say?”
“This is my first time seeing you skate. I don’t want to make assumptions yet, but I see a few areas where we can make changes.”
Her confident smirk falls, and a scowl takes its place, like she can’t believe I would find anything that could be improved. That’s a dangerous attitude to have in ice dance. There’s always room for improvement.
“Like what?”
“Like you try to take too much control. Max needs to be leading you. The judges look at that kind of thing.”
“He does lead me,” she counters.
“There were several times when you tried to take the lead, and it messed up the spins. You hit them too early.”
Max is trying his best to hide his smile, like he knows I’m right but didn’t want to be the one to tell her.
“I’ve been telling you that,” Tati chimes in, validating my assessment.
Savannah rolls her eyes. “Wow, alright. Fine. Guess it’s ‘pick on Savannah’ day.”
“Sav—” Max starts, but I don’t need him to run interference.
“Or it’s ‘learn to take criticism’ day. You’ll never win gold if you think you can’t improve,” I tell her flatly.
“I know how to accept criticism,” she says.
I raise an eyebrow. “Really? Just not from me?”
“Especially not from you.”
“You do realize I’ve won several gold medals, right?” It’s a douchey thing to say, but I used it to get my point across.
“ You do realize I don’t care, right?”
There’s silence surrounding us as we stare at each other, arms crossed over our chests. “As your coach?—”
“I didn’t pick you,” she cuts me off.
“I didn’t pick you, either. But here we are. So either get over it or leave.” I expect Tati to tell me I’m being too harsh or pull me aside and tell me that maybe this was a bad idea. But she doesn’t. She looks from me to Savannah and back to me, waiting to see what happens.
Savannah skates closer. “I don’t like you.”
That’s an understatement. “I’m not asking you to.”
“I don’t trust you.”
“I’m not going to let you fail, Savannah. I can’t promise you a lot, but I can promise that when you get out on that ice this season, you’ll have the best package ever.”
Her jaw moves like she wants to say something, but surprisingly, all that comes out is, “Fine.”
Then she slaps on her blade guards and stomps off toward one of the back rooms.
“I, um, yeah. I don’t know. She’ll come around?” The last part comes out as a question, which doesn’t make me feel much better.
“Will she?” I ask.
Max exhales and shrugs. “Shit, I don’t know.”
He quickly follows after her, calling her name.
“They’ve got ballet practice now,” Tati explains. I’m glad to know she’s not just running away because I pissed her off. “She’ll come around, Logan. Just don’t give up.”
I nod and follow Tati to her small office.
She goes over some of my employment paperwork, the schedule with my younger students, and gives me a copy of Savannah and Max’s schedule.
Then she has to go work with a few other new coaches she hired.
I’m not coaching a lot this season. I wanted to make sure I was good at it before I took on too many skaters.
Tati agreed that would be the best plan, too.
Once she’s gone, I find an empty bench near the rink and pull out my phone, searching for the National Championship footage that Tati mentioned because it’s been weighing on the back of my mind. I wonder what I did to piss this woman off so bad that she can barely look at me.
The first few links on my search give nothing except videos of me, which I have no interest in watching. I change my search to add Savannah’s name and click on the first video that comes up.
It’s the skaters in our group warming up on the ice. The camera is pointed at Savannah and Max as they skate backward, arms out. They look great, but it’s strange because I have no recollection of seeing them that day.
I’m about to exit out of this video, thinking it’s not the right one, when I see Cassandra and me skate into the frame.
I’m getting dangerously close to them. And that’s when it happens.
I skate too close as if I don’t see them.
Savannah notices me at the last second and makes an attempt to get out of my way, but as she does, her ankle twists and she falls to the ice.
There’s no way her ankle isn’t broken by the looks of the angle it’s at.
I rewind the video to watch it again, but this time I watch my face. It’s completely blank. I don’t smile. I don’t frown. It’s as if I don’t even notice her fall. Cassandra notices, though. She smirks—fucking smirks—at Savannah as she’s lying on the ice holding her leg.
Fuck.
I’d hate me, too.
There’s no way Savannah would’ve been able to compete after that.
Why don’t I remember this happening? I know I can be cold sometimes, but I would never purposely hurt one of my competitors.
I look down and see the date that the video was uploaded.
My shoulders tense. This competition was one day after my mom found out she had cancer.
I was broken. Numb.
I don’t remember anything other than my mom forcing me to go to that competition.
I skated for her because she asked me to.
My routine was second nature to me at that point, and I barely had to think to get on the ice.
Cass and I did it and won, and I left immediately with my mom.
Cassandra stood on the podium by herself that day.
It was the beginning of the end for me.
Now I’ve got to get this woman to trust me after I ruined her chances to go to the last Olympics.
Fuck.
This is not what I signed up for.