𝗠𝗘𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗢𝗜𝗔

1

Perhaps, it's the ice that led them to each other.

"The next in line for one of the best performances on the ice tonight is Ophelia Astor! Please, come to the rink!" a loud man's voice over the stadium speakers announced the name of the next participant in the figure skating championship.

It was one of the most important events in ice skating, as only a few ice skaters will be chosen to represent their country in the winter national match.

All these young people with a passion for their sport were ready for anything to fulfill their dream.

Ophelia was like that too.

"Please, come to the rink and be ready for the short program" the announcer's voice echoed in Ophelia's ears again.

She took off the plastic protectors from her ice skates and stepped onto the ice. After skating to the center of the rink, she froze into a position that was a start for her performance.

After a few seconds, the music started. The ice dancer's muscle memory kicked in and she started moving to the beat.

She was spinning, jumping, and showing off her perfectly trained moves. The audience clapped and yelled in amazement and pride for this young talent.

The performance was one of the best of the night, maybe even the best, but suddenly at the end of this show something changed in the ice skater's head, and moves.

Ophelia was about to perform another great double jump when somehow her right leg lost balance. Her balance failed her and she landed painfully on her left leg and later fell on the ice.

She tried her best to stand up and continue her performance, but her legs weren't listening. The sharp pain in her left leg hit her hard.

The music stopped. Emergency workers rushed to the rink and a few minutes later Ophelia was safely carried off the ice.

Maybe it looked like an accident to others, but to Ophelia, it was a living tragedy. Loss of her dreams. Maybe the end of her hard work.

"This is what spoiled girls get when karma hits" a guy chuckled in the audience.

"You shouldn't say that. She must have been seriously injured" the other guy spoke.

"These kind of girls like her, full of parent's money and received attention for a simple talent. You can't even call it a talent when it was bought by her parents"

"What are you even talking about?"

"I believe that they bought her a place in this championship too. So disgusting" the guy put a black color cap on his head before leaving his seat. He was full of hatred towards Ophelia even at the time like now.

"Where are you going? Wait for me, Arden" the first guy's friend shouted at him and chased after him.

These two guys are Arden Nolan and his friend Dareen. They are known as the boys from their college hockey team. Tonight they were watching the ice skating championship out of curiosity.

"I only needed to see how Astor fails. I saw that. So I'm done with watching" Arden was walking out of the stadium fast, without looking back.

"Why are you always harsh to her? It's been months since you two are fighting like a cat with a dog. But what's the reason for that? I don't get it" Dareen caught up with his friend's pace.

"I hate her. It's enough to be a reason" the taller guy finally escaped the stadium and went toward his motorcycle. It was parked on the left side of the parking lot.

"You have no reason to hate her. Admit that all this hate towards her is because of the rumors" Dareen was the kind of friend who would not stop talking until everything is solved. So that's what he exactly was doing right now.

"What rumors?" Arden turned to his friend.

"Don't act like you don't know. Everyone talks at college about how her parents paid her way to ice skating, and studies since she has no talent for anything. You said that by yourself too. Also, you're mad at her for what happened in the past between her and your younger brother. Am I right?"

"These are not rumors. It's the truth" the dark brown-haired guy looked madly at his friend. He couldn't admit that his friend was right.

"You should forget the past. Poor girl is probably injured badly after that failed double jump..." Dareen went forward. He felt sorry for what happened to Ophelia. He knew how much this kind of championship means to athletes.

"She deserves that" Arden took his motorcycle keys out of his pants pocket. Finding his motorcycle wasn't that hard because it was already standing in front of him.

"I don't know, man. You should move on" Arden's best friend patted his shoulder and went towards his car, leaving him all alone.

At that moment, Ophelia was taken to the private room at the stadium building. Emergency workers tried their best to give her first aid.

"Hey, Ophelia, tell me how much it hurts?" the woman asked.

Ophelia was lying down on the bed with her eyes closed. There was blood running down her right leg. You could clearly see the open wound on her leg. Her whole body had bruises from a fall.

"It's fine" Ophelia mumbled still without opening her eyes. She even put one of her hands on her face, to cover it.

"No, it's not fine. You're bleeding and I believe that we will need to take you to the hospital. We should also call your parents" the woman spoke again. She gently tried to cleanse the wound and stop the bleeding.

"You don't have to" Ophelia suddenly sat down on the bed and took a look at her injured leg. She knew that her bones are still in place, but the wound was really deep. If they won't rush she can even lose a fair amount of blood.

"I should forget about the winter national match or even this sport"

"I believe that you will need to take a break from ice skating, but please don't let this stop you from achieving your dreams, Ophelia" her coach came into the room without making a sound.

"You did great" the coach praised her.

"I wish, I did" the girl just whispered and lay down on the bed again, feeling dizzy.

"The bleeding is not stopping, we will take her to the hospital" these were the last words she heard before she lost consciousness.

"Make sure to call her parents when you drop her at the hospital," the coach told the emergency worker and left the room before Ophelia was taken to the ambulance car.

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Hey! It's the first chapter of this book. There's a lot to come after this one. I'm glad to be able to finally publish this book, hehe<3 and thank you for reading!

Let's go to the next chapter!