Meant For You

fifteen.

Nola Scott

After unconvincing and convincing myself a thousand times last night, I finally stuck with my decision to talk to coach Laurel about beginning my journey to possibly make it to the big stage. After doing my research, I was able to find out more about the competitions that I had to compete in to possibly get to there. Nerves wracked my body as I walked toward Coach Laurel's office after practice on Tuesday.

Most of the team had already left besides Ember who I came here with. I haven't told her about what I'm talking to coach about today. I haven't told anyone. The only person who knows I'm considering this is Miles freaking Dempsey. It still shocks me that he's one of the reasons I'm doing this right now. After years of being terrified, a man I disliked just two weeks ago pushed me to chase one of my biggest dreams.

How ironic.

Standing outside of Coach Laurel's office, I pace back and forth, thinking about all the possible outcomes of this conversation. Well, the two possibilities. She could completely support me or tell me I'm not good enough. The latter sounds terrifying enough to ruin the rest of my life. I can handle criticism but I haven't even made it to the beginning of this journey. An instant no would crush me.

I try and slow my breathing, leaning against the wall with my hands on my hips.

You got this. I believe in you.

Miles' words to me the other day run through my head as I pump myself up to finally knock on my coach's door. After another couple of minutes, I raise my fist and knock on the door. "Come on in," Coach Laurel says from the inside. Taking one last deep breath, I push open the wooden door. Coach looks up from her computer and smiles when she sees me. "Hey, Nola."

"Hi coach, can I steal a couple of minutes of your time?" I ask, standing by the door still. "Of course, sit," she replies, shifting to face me in her chair. I shut the door completely with my back and walk over to sit in one of the chairs in front of her desk. "Everything alright?" she starts off by asking.

I place my shaky hands in my lap, out of sight. "Yes, everything's fine. Uhm, I wanted to ask you a question.. a very scary, crazy question." I chuckle nervously. "Okay? Go ahead." Confusion fills Coach Laurel's eyes and I know why. I've never been the nervous type of person. But when it comes to something this big, you can't blame me for shitting my pants at the moment.

"So I've been thinking about... a lot of things. Mostly about the next step in my figure skating career. I know I just started competing for you but... I think I want to take that next step already. I want to compete at Worlds this coming year," I almost blurt out that last sentence. Coach Laurel triggers me with her silence and a straight face. Even though she's only been my coach since August, I've known her since my junior year in high school.

She reached out to me after a competition I participated in, asking if I wanted to skate for her. Since the constant traveling to Los Angeles for practices would have been too much, I declined. One of the reasons I decided to go to school here was because of her. I wanted to skate for her because I knew she could help me reach my greatest potential. My skating has been better since she started teaching me.

After excruciating moments of silence, a smile spreads across her face. "Can I tell you something?" Coach Laurel says in kind of a whisper despite us being the only people in the room. I wasn't expecting her reply but her smile eases my worries. My throat tightens up so I give her a nod as a response.

"The year we met, I was training a team of young girls for Worlds. When I saw your performance, I saw potential. There were still about seven months until March and I was certain I could take you to Worlds. It's why I came up to you and asked if you wanted to join my team. I wasn't talking about the team you're currently on. I was talking about my Worlds team."