Over the limit

6- The usual

I was back in Moscow after Skate America. It felt great being able to hang up another medal on my medal wall. Since I've got home it's been about 2 weeks. I've basically just been spending time at practice and at home with my grandparents. They recently switched me onto private school. It was an agreement between my coaches and my parents. Eteri thought that if i wanted to improve as a skater I needed to be homeschooled, so that I had more time to skate.

I was on my way to practice as usual. My grandpa driving me like always. I was snacking on a protein bar and drank a protein shake. I've gotten a strict diet from my coaches in order to stay in shape.

I exited the car and said goodbye to my grandpa. I headed in to the practice center and said hi to the receptionists like I usually do and continued to walk over to the changing rooms. I was the first to arrive at practice so the changing room was empty.

I walk over to the off ice room and place my stuff down. I put my AirPods into my ears. I begin my stretching routine. Some simple stretches, splits, over splits and I do some joint movement.

After a while some of the other girls started to arrive. By the time they came I was already done with my off ice warmup. Eteri told me that her and my other main coaches wanted to have a meeting with me privately, and with everyone else. I leave my stuff in the dressing room and walk over into the coaches room.

O, privet, Melisa, prisyad (Oh hello Melisa, come sit) She taps on the chair next to her. Her, Sergei and Daniil are all drinking coffee.

Itak, eta vstrecha ne o chem-to plokhom. Eto prosto dlya informatsii. Olimpiada v fevrale, i potomu ty katayesh'sya ne za Rossiyu, a za Bosniyu. K vam po-prezhnemu primenyayutsya te zhe pravila. Vashi predstoyashchiye sorevnovaniya dolzhny dokazat' nam, chto u vas dostatochno talanta, chtoby uchastvovat' v Olimpiyskikh igrakh. Yesli my uvidim vash talant, my zapishem vas v Olimpiyskiy komitet Bosnii! (Okay so this meeting isn't about anything bad. It's just for information. The Olympics are in February, and because you don't skate for Russia, but Bosnia. The same rules still apply for you. You have your upcoming competitions to prove to us that you have enough talent to compete at the Olympics. If we see your talent, we will sign you up for the Bosnian Olympic Committee!) She says while taking notes in her notebook.

Da, eto zvuchit zdorovo, stat' olimpiytsem — moya mechta, poetomu ya prilozhu vse usiliya, chtoby dostich' yeye. (Yeah that sounds great, being an Olympian is my dream so I'm gonna give it my all to achieve it.) I say with a bright smile

We finish up the meeting and I've already told family and friends about it back home. Training is finished for today and im currently waiting to be picked up. Im in the dressing room with all the other girls. Considering their more fluent in English than my coaches I speak English with them more than Russian. After todays training the hot topic was obviously the Olympics. Most of the girls are stressed and nervous. Considering they all skate for Russia, and only 3 Russian girls can go.

"Melisa are you going to the Olympics?" Aliona asks me and I turn around in her direction

All eyes on me as everyone waits for me to answer the question

"I mean surely you would go? There isn't anyone else skating for you country at the moment, right?" Anna says a little confused.

"Uhm well I mean I had a talk with Eteri and the others about the Olympics and she basically said that im not gonna get treated differently. If I wanna go, I have to prove it". I say while packing the rest of my belongings.

"Oh damn, they really are strict then" Daria says while laughing lightly.

I put my sneakers on and get ready to head out. My grandpa texts me saying he's out front.

"Wait are you going?" Sasha asks

"Yeah my grandpa is outside" I answer

"Oh I'll come with im done packing my stuff anyway" she says with a small smile

I wait for her to gather her things before we say bye to the rest of the girls. We walk out together and say bye to the coaches.

"So how are you feeling Sasha? With todays topic?" I ask

"The Olympics has always been my dream, especially winning. Coming in anything else than 1st place is loosing. The Olympics are a make it or break it for me" she says passionately.

You can tell Sasha is a very passionate skater. And she does things for a reason. She's one of the girls I've looked up to while I've been here. Her mindset and strength motivate me.

"I bet your going, 100%. And I'll be rooting for you, even if I'm there or not" I smile at her.

We finish up our small talk before we share a hug and separate. I get in the car and greet my grandpa before telling him about todays practice.

When I got out the shower back home, I went onto my computer and looked at Yunas programs from the Olympics. She's literally THE Olympian. She has perfect technique, she's the skater I strive to be. I took notes on how to improve as a skater. I'm taking this Olympic role very seriously if you can't tell.

I finish up some schoolwork before doing my night routine and head to bed.

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Authors note:
I knooow I've been gone for like half a year. But I haven't really had the motivation to continue. And before summer I was also really busy with school so I didn't really have time to write anyway. I'm gonna try and get back to it tho. So hopefully you enjoy this quick little chapter while I find motivation to do more!

Thanks for reading <3