Broken Ice

the wait seemed endless

Sadie's POV

I skated off with one more wave to the cameras.

"Well, that finishes off the girls division for today with a surprise routine from Miss Sadie Curtis! Now welcoming Max Marion!"

I clapped for him as I walked off and into the room.

"Hey, Sadie." Kathleen said.

"Hi." I said looking around and trying to catch my breath.

"I thought we'd get a winner today. Guess not." Carly muttered.

"Yeah. Sorry about that." I mumbled.

"No, don't worry about it. We all deserve a fair chance."

"I'm very impressed you did it with a bandage around your knee." Kathleen continue. We all laughed.

We all talked for a few minutes while the guys performed and then they announced us back out.

"Well, whatever happens, good luck." Kathleen said.

"Agreed. I wish you both the best." Carly continued.

"Good luck everybody." I said just before we walked back out.

"Well everybody, now it's time to get down to the top two!" Mr. Nickel said.

"With a surprising turn of events, we didn't have an easy decision to make. In first place, we have... Kathleen Dunn with a score of 47/50!"

Claps erupted from the crowd, including some from me and Carly.

"Alright. Our second place winner for today with a 43/50 is..."

...

The wait seemed endless.

"Sadie Curtis!"

I gasped and smiled. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." I mouthed, closing my eyes.

"Making our third place winner overall, Carly Griffith with a score of 41/50. Congratulations Carly!"

We all clapped for each other and walked off.

Carly grabbed her stuff from her locker and smiled. "Congratulations you guys. I'm so excited for you guys." She pulled us into a genuine hug and I couldn't hold my tears back anymore.

"Congratulations, you two. You both did amazing." I muttered.

Dallas' POV

She did it. She really did it.

Cassidy sighed. "Why are you upset? She did awesome!" Two-Bit said.

"She tripped up a bit. Her leg has got to be hurting her like hell. I don't want this to get to her head."

"I doubt it will." I said.

"How do you know?" She asked.

"I've seen her a couple times over the past few months. She doesn't seem like the cocky type."

"Yeah. And she still hasn't said hi to us." Ponyboy muttered.

It was silent for a second. "I'm gonna tell you something, but you cannot tell her I told you." Cassidy said.

I knew it. Here it comes. Sadie doesn't think they like her.

"I think she's worried about what you guys think of her. She wants to prove she isn't some reckless girl anymore. So before she sees you, she wants to make sure of it. Even if she'd never admit it."

Well that wasn't that I was thinking.

"I don't think she is." Darry said, quickly.

"You might not, but last time you saw her she was. She made bad decisions. So she wants to prove herself first. She was right. I forced her to come down here. She was worried about running into you guys or her parents."

"She still doesn't know?" Johnny asked.

"Know what?" Cassidy asked. She really was intimidating.

Darry sighed. "Our parents died. Almost a year ago. Both of them. Car accident." He said quickly.

"Really?" She asked after a short pause. "Wow. I didn't really expect that. But it's gonna have to be one of you guys who tells her. One, she probably never wants to talk to me again. Two, it's just not my place."

"We will if she ever wants to talk to us again." Sodapop said.

"Well, I better go congratulate her. And try and get her not to hate me." Cassidy said getting up.

"Wait, look! She's on TV for an interview." Steve said pointing.

Sadie's POV

Kathleen and I walked out of the building and people were cheering and clapping.

"Kathleen! Over here!"

"Sadie! Look this way!"

We both just smiled and looked at the cameras around us.

"Sadie, can we ask you a few questions?" A woman asked.

"Yeah, of course."

"We're all dying to know, why did you walk out of the boys side before being accepted to skate?"

I laughed. "It's actually a funny story. So someone told the security team and judges that I was not allowed to compete under absolutely no circumstances. So I tried to walk in through the back and he told me no and I walked to the front."

I paused. "Another security guard saw me and told me I couldn't go in. I told him I'd rather do it the hard me and he took me to this closet-like room and locked me in there."

I made a shape with my hand to visualize it. "There was a door here and here. Both doors were locked and this front one was being guarded. So after forever of pounding and crying to be let out, this door opens. It was Max, Jonas, and Robert. All very sweet guys. They let me out and let me go through the mens room to get on before them."

"Wow! How interesting. Do you plan on doing anything to the guys who locked you in that room?"

"Nope. They were just doing their job. But what really motivated me to get in was someone close to me telling me they didn't think I could do it."

Yeah I'm going here. Better be watching Cassidy.

I continued. "And what motivates you more than someone saying no?" We all laughed.

"Glad we got to talk to ya! Have a good day!"

"Thank you." I said with a smile.

Sodapop's POV

Well... maybe I was wrong about the whole cocky thing. I dunno. Something about that whole moment where she bashed Cassidy seemed wrong. Even if she deserved it.

Cassidy sighed. "I just wanted what's best for her. I wanted her to stay at the hotel where it was safe and she could heal. I didn't want to make her upset."

"I guess you'll just have to explain that to her and hope for the best." Darry mumbled.