FLAKES | NATHAN CHEN

TWELVE

      Avery sat in front of her TV on her living room floor that late night, waiting for Nathan to appear on the screen. She had seen some of the other entries of the men in his program, and she began to nibble on her finger nails as she waited for her friend. She wasn't sure how Nathan could beat some of these scores, they seemed impossibly high, and she didn't know how he could possibly catch up.

     Last night, Avery couldn't sleep. She kept tossing and turning as images of Nathan passed through her mind. She realized how stupid she seemed for not picking up any of the signs. The insane amount of workouts, randomly disappearing off campus, not showing up in the beginning of the semester. Not only to mention the insane amount of pressure the boy seemed to have in him. He was carrying the weight of the figure skating world on his shoulders.

     "What are you watching?" Her mom, Connie, asked as she placed the laundry on the couch and sat almost directly above her daughter. "The World Figure Skating Championships," Avery said, not taking her eyes off of the screen. She missed her mothers confused look in her eyes, "Figure skating? Since when do you like figure skating?"

     "Since apparently my only friend at Yale is the best in the world and is competing tonight," Avery said, still not taking her eyes off the screen. "Oh, you mean that Nathan kid?" Her mom questioned as she folded her shirts. "Yes? How did you know that?" She questioned her mom and finally turned around to face her. "Well, it's obviously not Jess or Anna cause you would've already know that. Plus, I watched the Winter Olympics last year."

     "Why didn't you say anything!" Avery said loudly is a confused tone. Her mom looked at her with a puzzled look, "How the hell was I supposed to know you didn't know. You're at Yale for goodness sake you could figure it out."

     "Representing United States of America, Nathan Chen," the voice from the TV screen announced, making Avery quickly avert her gaze back onto the screen. There she saw the boy who she has been spending most of her time at school with, dressed in black pants and a grey shirt with white lines across his upper chest.

     Avery was mesmerized by the performance of the boy on the screen. From his beginning pose, to the dance sequences, to his jumps, his turns, and his facial performance. She had never been any more captivated by anything in her life. She had heard the commenters mention something about his quad jumps, which he seemed to land all perfectly.

      She knew before they even announced his score that he had even won. With a total of 323.42, he had taken another gold medal according to the commenters. During the ceremony, she couldn't keep her eyes off of him. He had just won a world competition, all while balancing school and normal life. She had become almost best friends with a boy she hadn't even known was an icon. She was deeply and incredibly proud of him despite the fact that he kept his life from her

     But she couldn't seem to hold a grudge against her best friend, the Quad King. 

AUTHORS NOTE: 

Sorry this took way longer then it needed to lol. This is also a short one because this needs to be some sort of filler chapter between the last one and the next one. And trust me the next one is going to be a long one. I had work and it just ended so now I have like a week before school starts and I'm going to try and pound some out before then. Have a great rest of your summer y'all!