I clicked my feet on my board and stood tall, hands on my hips looking up at him.
He was staring at me. Blinking and taking a step closer, he placed a hand on my waist, shocking me. Even through the thickness of my jacket, I felt the pressure of his...
I sucked in a cold breath of air, allowing the wind the bite at my skin.
I was so cold.
But at least I could feel something else besides sadness. In fact, I wish the snow would cover me whole, envelop my skin with the bitter cold.
I threw up this morning, immediately after breakfast. I was going to blame it on the nerves.
In the past 2 days, training had been nothing but hell. I was just going through the motions.
I did as I was told and when I was told. Arthur and Bill encouraged me, but Nathan barely spoke a word to me. Ozias had been taking it easy on me, getting rid of all extraneous exercises.
And when I asked him if he knew, he told me Nathan had told him the truth. I expected him to be mad at me...disappointed even.
Instead, he flashed me his usual cheeky smile and said, "I'm just glad you're alright kid." And then he hugged me.
And his hug nearly tore me in half emotionally. I instantly started crying and he just held me, not saying a word.
Whitney and Poppy were going back to school in a few days and the thought of being home alone in the house made me want to cry even more. I'd spent the night on the floor sitting while Whitney did my box braids
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Stevie was staying at Nalu's most nights now and I wasn't used to not seeing Lilo.
Everything just felt wrong with my life and my body seemed to be displaying that. I was more tired than usual, unable to find the energy to execute my training the way I used to. And being here at Qualifiers today made me feel like I didn't deserve any of this.
"Hey, where's your head at?"
I blinked and refocused, coming back to reality. The sound of the announcers reporting the last run from a rider named Meadow and Arthur's voice greeted me.
"I'm here," I gave a curt smile and pulled off the velcro from my gloves. It was either too tight or too loose, irritating the fuck out of me either way.
His gaze was intense and he looked over my head before looking down at me.
"Look, we've prepped for everything and I believe you are ready, I wouldn't worry about it. It's just qualifiers. Keep it simple."
I nodded numbly, a throbbing headache forming behind my eyes.
I had 3 minutes till I was up. It was 3 runs as usual and the top 10 made it to the semifinals and finals the next day.
And this was nothing like the other competitions. The X-Games were worldwide, and globally broadcasted. There were competitors from all around the world all fighting for any of the top 10 spots. There were so many categories too. Skateboarding, slopestyle, BMX, Ski cross, surfing, freestyle skiing, etc.
