Chapter 14 #2
After the skate was done, all we had to do was wait for the others to finish.
There were several other pairs after us, which meant that we had plenty of time to kill, but I preferred it this way.
I would rather get our skate out of the way and see what everyone else had done, especially at the start of the year.
We hadn’t had the chance to see the other performances yet.
I preferred to watch them live, without the need to focus on what was going to happen in our program.
Going in, we knew that our toughest competition in the Skate Canada competition would be the top-ranked pair from China.
Yilin Yang and Liping Shen were close in age to Dom and me, having moved up from junior to senior competition the year before we did.
Dom and I had chatted through most of the other pairs, making comments about the skates or voicing completely unrelated thoughts that popped into our heads.
We stopped when Yang and Shen stepped onto the ice.
They deserved all our attention. As I watched, I tried to make my best guess about what their score would be.
It would be close to ours; that much I knew.
They always skated well. This competition was no exception.
Dom and I didn’t speak until after their score was read.
It was as close as I’d feared, with them only a couple of points behind us.
Below them, there was a larger gap to Thompson and Peres, the second highest ranked American team.
While there was one pair left to skate, I didn’t think that they would break into the top three.
I was right. Dom and I waved briefly at the cameras that were pointed towards us as the rankings after the short program were announced.
We had to act like we were happy to have so many eyes on us, but also be professional about it.
It was always nice to be in the lead coming out of the short program, but it could change quickly.
The free skate was worth significantly more.
If we messed up there, we would topple out of first place.
And since the schedule was so packed, we didn’t have much time to shift our minds onto the next program.
I carefully changed out of my dress, taking care to pack it up neatly.
I would use it and my skates all season, so I needed to take good care of them.
The dress was nearly impossible to clean if something happened to it, so I knew it was best to spend as little time in it as possible.
If something happened to it in a performance–say, sequins falling onto the ice or a strap breaking–we would lose marks for our wardrobe issues.
There were enough things that could go wrong even with us trying our hardest. If we were to get docked points, I would rather it happen because we landed a jump wrong or our synchronicity was slightly off in our step sequence.
If we were to lose points because of something as silly as a wardrobe issue, it would be harder to swallow.
As I packed my dress up, I couldn't help but listen to the conversations that were being held around me.
Somebody mentioned Pierce and Hughes, but were they mentioning us because we were leading or because of the nature of our skate?
I felt like people were looking at me more than usual.
After so many years of changing around other people, I knew people kept their eyes to themselves and that everyone was more focused on themselves than on you.
But after that skate, I suspected people were talking about Dom and me.
I couldn't shake the feeling. The sense of being watched fed my urge to escape and get back to the hotel.
Dom and I got hugs from Seohyun when we ran into her near the locker rooms. “You were fantastic,” she said. “You really stood out from the rest of the pairs.”
“Thanks,” I said, feeling my cheeks redden. Standing out had been the goal. So why did the compliment make me feel flustered? “Mark will be happy.”
We chatted with Seohyun for a few more minutes, then wished her luck before her skate.
She left with a warm smile and a wave as her coach beckoned her.
Once she was gone, I looked up at Dom. “Let’s get going before people have the chance to ask us anything.
I could use some quiet.” Before leaving home, I had downloaded some shows onto my tablet.
I was looking forward to binging the rest of the season of the comedy I was almost through.
I had been so focused on preparing for the last few days that I hadn’t had enough energy to invest in TV by the time we had been back in our hotel rooms for the night.
Now, with one program behind us, I could use something to keep me off the internet.
My parents called shortly after I got back to the hotel.
I spoke to my mother first and then to my father.
I thanked them for their positive comments about my skate and then assured them I really wasn’t upset that they hadn’t been able to travel to this competition.
“It’s fine, really,” I said to my father, a sense of déjà vu washing over me.
“I know you and Mom have to work. It isn’t like this is the end of the season, anyway.
I would much rather have you guys at the Grand Prix Finals, hopefully, or Nationals than here or in Russia next month.
Really.” I left the hope that they could travel to the Winter Games with me unspoken.
I didn’t think I was too superstitious, but as I had reminded Dom when he talked about the Winter Games, we were still only hopefuls, not guaranteed competitors.
Once I had got them off the phone, I flipped through the room service menu.
I had to be healthy tonight, but my mind wandered to what I could have the next night.
Was it the smartest thing to have a cheat meal the day after you finished a competition?
Maybe, maybe not. But at least it was as far as I would get from a competition for the next several months.
And if things went well, having a slice of cake or pie seemed like a reasonable celebration.
Nothing too crazy, so my parents or coaches couldn’t disapprove.
If things went poorly, I would tell myself that the flourless chocolate cake was a small pick-me-up that I could afford myself before I tried to regroup for the next competition.
I settled for salmon with seasonal veggies.
A boring choice, but safe. I would pay more attention to my show than my food tonight, anyway.
On the night or nights between events, I liked to relax my mind and my body as much as possible.
Watching reruns of my favourite old shows while eating qualified.
I would then tuck in at an hour that would make my grandmother proud, ensuring I got plenty of rest. Ideally, I would sleep for most of the night.
If not, at least I was letting my batteries recharge, as my father would say.