My Passion

1. New Season

I woke up into beautiful morning. No annoying early alarms or screams on me to get up from bed. Nothing. I turned on my left side, unplugging my phone from his charger, lifting him above my face.
,,It's 6:30 already?" I gasped out in shock.
Sudden sweat caught me. Today is my first race in this season. I'm meeting all my rivals again. But on the bright side. I'm meeting my fans again. Their screaming of my name is hyping me up through whole two rounds on the snowy hill. From my thoughts, I was interrupted by knock on the door. I rolled out of my bed, lazy walking to the door, open to someone who was knocking. For my surprise, it was my best friend.
,,Wakey, wakey Lucas. Are you ready to start off new season?" he smiled, as I scanned his body. Team hat, jacket, skiing combi and black sneakers. ,,Good morning to you too Atle. How was your sleep? Did you get right amount of it?" brushing my fingers through my curly bad hair, I yawned. ,,Thanks for asking. It was great. But coach woke me up at six. So I got ready and now I'm here to wake you up. And I'm proud of myself, so I can call it mission accomplished," he bursted out laughing, with me second after him.
,,Okay lad. And what about breakfast? Are we still on with Sebastian and Alex?" I asked, entering back into my hotel room, with him following me. ,,Yep. So you better hurry. Sebastian texted me saying that I should drag you out of the veď by your foot, if you won't wake up on knocking," he chuckled. ,,Haha. He's being grumpy from the very start of the season. That's great," I giggled. ,,Okay. Get ready and I'm meeting you by Henrik's room in fifteen minutes," he bumped me into my shoulder with his fist, leaving my room. ,,Alright," I let out a sigh of relief with shaky voice. Stepping in front of my suitcase, I yawned: ,,Why am I so tired?"
I kneeled myself down on the floor, picking out my clothes for today. Placing it on a bed sheet, I throw myself on my bed. ,,You got this Lucas. It's only first race of a new season. Nothing is relying on this race," I whispered, getting up, dressing up and then brushing my curly hair. ,,Okay. I'm ready," I breathed out, puttingon my sneakers, team hat and jacket. Throwing my backpack on my shoulder, I locked my room, running to be on time in front of Henrik's room. I nearly killed myself running through the long, still quite of dark silent hallway.
,,Right in time buddy. Good morning," Henrike smiled, as he stepped out of his room with Atle behind him. ,,Morning Henrike. Are you ready?" I chuckled, as Atle nearly tripped on doorstep. ,,Yes, I am. Are you? And jeez Atle. Are you okay?" he asked him, as I was giggling in the back. ,,Yes. I am. Just nervous," he laughed. ,,We are all nervous," We heard a voice and we turned around. ,,Sebas. Hey. How are you?" I asked.
,,I'm good. Thanks for ask-" Sebas was cutted off by our last teammate. ,,Hey guys. Are you all ready?" Alex chuckled, throwing his arm around my shoulder. ,,I am," I laughed and in a split second, we were all laughing. ,,Where's the head coach?" Alex looked around. ,,Probably downstairs. Already at breakfast. Which is making me hungry even more. Can we go?" Atle groaned, as I smiled. ,,Sure buddy. Let's go," I crouched my face in soft laughing grimase, we picked up our backpacks from the floor and headed to the elevator.
,,Boys? Can you two go by elevator with all of the backpacks?" Henrike asked. ,,Who?" I looked over my shoulder to see him. ,,You and Atle. Surely me and rest of the boys can take the stairs. Right lads?" he giggled. ,,Shut up Henrike. You have so much energy. How come?" Alex huffed. ,,It's the first race of the season Alex. How can I not be excited and filled with energy?" Henrike smiled, putting down his backpack as rest of the boys did. ,,Sure you can be. And Alex calm down. We all gonna put the best into this day," Atle chirped as I nodded.
,,Come on guys. Help me put them in so we won't be late  on breakfast. We don't want to piss off coach on the start. Do we?" I raised my eyebrow, looking at all of them.
,,Sure Lucas. And I don't want to even see his face when he's mad. Do you remember, what he did, when we arrived late into Wengen last year? He went crazy," Sebas laughed. ,,He almost ripped my and Alex's head off," Henrike chuckled. ,,I remember that. But his mood changed fastly. Because of your debut. From twenty-ninth place to first? That was crazy," Atle laughed, snapping my hat down from my head. ,,And you surely beated me on full line. I was at first mad when I crossed the finish line and I saw that I was not on the podium.  But then I saw your name on the first place. And I have to say, that I was so proud at the moment. Because I knew that one day, you'll be on the highest step of the podium, smiling like a sun," Henrike came up to me, messing my curly hair.
,,Thanks Henrike. It means a lot to me," I blushed. His speech almost made me cry. He is like my bigger brother. I can't stop thanking him. ,,Guys. Snap put of this melancholy. We're already late," Sebas laughed, putting all backpacks into elevator, in which Atle was already standing. ,,Coming!" I yelled,  throwing myself in there after him.
,,Whoa. Had enough fun?" Atle chuckled as I smiled. ,,Ya. But back to the presence. What do you think that they will be?" I asked out of blue. ,,Who?" he raised his eyebrow. ,,Other guys. We trained whole summer together. So I know how we are. But what about Alexis? Maybe Loic? Or Marco? What if they got better?" I asked, voice trembling.
,,Listen Lucas. Stop focusing on them. They aren't you. You are you. None of them are you. Everyone is special in something. You are special in skiing. On training, you're listening to every single thing that coach says. You know, what you're doing out there. But in a race, you're a different person. You turn on beast mode. And nobody can mess you up whole two rounds. You are you," he smiled. ,,Wow. Thanks. I really needed that. Your words are always so truthfull.  I can't get enough of them. Every single day, you can come up with some new hyping up words, thanks a lot," I smiled back.
,,You're so welcome. Do you remember, how much you've helped me last season?" he gave me a sweet look. ,,I do. You had a lot going on. But with me, you changed in everything. And don't be afraid to ask for help again," I finished my sentence and elevator ringed. ,,Help me with them. So the door won't close on us," I said, picking up three backpacks. ,,Okay," he said, picking up last two, leaving elevator behind me. ,,Where are they? As I last saw, they were sprinting down the stairs," I laughed. ,,We're here," Alex whined out, breathing fastly.
,,Like swiss watch," Atle bursted out laughing. ,,Lucas, you forgot your hat," Henrike said, placing it on my head. ,,Thanks," I thanked. ,,Which way are we going? I'm still lost in this hotel," Sebas laughed.
,,That way," Atle pointed with his finger in front of us. ,,Let's go eat, " I laughed, my stomach growling. We picked our backpacks from the floor, making our way into dining area, where,  hopefully we will see out head coach. Atle and Sebas opened large glass doors, with some familiar song echoing from there. ,,Oiii Lucas. Your favorite," Henrike chuckled. ,,Yes it is," I smiled, moving my head in her rhytm. ,,I don't love you, I just thought you were cute, that's why I kissed you..." I was jumping quietly.
,,Alex! Henrik! I'm here!" coach screamed as we were looking on tables full of food. ,,Good morning coach. How was your sleep? You went to your room early yesterday," I said. ,,It was good. Thanks Lucas. Good beside knowing that I woke up at half past three, going on track, checking it. And surface is great. Not soft not hard. Right in the middle. For four of you it's perfect. But Lucas, you have to careful. This kind of surface it's harder for you to fight with," coach inquired.
,,Okay. So it's giant slalom right?" I asked. ,,Yes. We're starting at ten. We have to be down in the finish at eight,  so you could draw your number. So go and have some breakfast. I don't want to hear any of you at the start, that you're hungry. Understood?" he commanded us with grin on his face. ,,Understood!" Henrike and Sebas saluted and we all bursted out laughing. ,,What are you gonna get?" Alex asked me as we were both scanning all of that food. ,,I don't know. It's so hard to choose from all of this," I whined. ,,Good luck," he laughed, leaving me there all by myself. Minutes were slowly passing by and my plate was still empty.
,,Screw it," I whispered in low breath. I grabbed two slices of bread, butter, fresh four slices of ham and some vegetables. Picking cup with tea, I got back to table. ,,Enjoy your meal," Alex said, rest of us quietly nodding. ,,What do you think? Who is gonna be on the podium?" Sebas asked after a while. ,,I mean, it's hard to say, when were not at the start yet. But it won't be easy today. Everyone is full of energy and everyone gained new skills through the summer," Henrike explained his thoughts.
,,That's true. We can't be relying on last season. Everyone got better. So sum up last season and forget it," I said my breath sharp. ,,Lucas is right," Atle chirped, stuffing his mouth with ham and cheese panini. ,,Thanks," I chuckled. ,,And Sebas, how are you feeling in front of your first GS race? Nervous? Scared?" Atle turned on him. ,,Look, I think that it's not gonna be any miracle. I trained it through the summer and I think that if I get eliminate, I don't care. There is always slalom. Isn't it?" he said. ,,It is, mr. Miracle," Alex laughed, bumping his fist into Sebastian's shoulder.
,,We should get going guys. It's 7:50," Henrike stood up, putting on team jacket and grabbing his backpack. Me and Atle quietly nodding, We got up too, with Sebas and Alex following us. We left our hotel and we managed our way to the finish of the first race of this season...

This is it. Officially first chapter to my new story what I was excited for. Thanks to all the people who waited this long to read this❤

Loads of love
~S.