To start off, Nico slowly moved his body to the melody then performed two forward crossovers into a forward inside mohawk. He did a step down and a cross behind, to a forward inside edge, skating clockwise then counterclockwise. And at that the crowd clapped at elegant Nico moved across the ice.
"Nico Peters is moving with such ease," the announcer spoke.
"Such elegance in his performance," the second announcer added. "But here it comes- the single jump."
I can do this, Nico said in his head. He made his way around the ice preparing for the waltz jump.
Here goes nothing.
His skates cut the ice as he jumped into the air. Everything in slow motion the whole time he was in the air. Every thought that Sergio yelled at him about at practice rushing through his head. His heart is not even from all the movements that lead up to this moment. This moment could put him on top. Then finally he comes down- sticking the landing.
"Yes," Sergio exclaimed, nearly drowned out by the crowd.
And finally, to top off his routine, he made a half circle, coming back around, gracefully performing a one-foot upright spin then strikes a free foot ending position. And yet again the crowd went crazier than they did at the beginning once the music stopped. Nico was breathing heavily as he skated back to meet up with Sergio at the barricades.
"Maybe the yelling helps," Sergio jokes, handing Nico his skate guards.
Nico chuckled while he stepped off the ice to put his guards on. "Don't push it," he spoke nearly out of breath.
"Nico Peters everyone," the announcer spoke over the crowd's applause and cheering.
After a long time of waiting for the other skaters to run through their routines it was now time for Gabriel to hit the ice.
"Alright and our final performance of the day," the second announcer spoke. "The newest member to S-Tech Academy- give it up for Gabriel Amore."
The crowd cheered and clapped as Gabriel made his way to the rink. As he stood by the barricade taking off his skate guards, he stared at Vincent who still sat on the bench.
"Aren't you going to give me some words of encouragement," Gabriel asked, getting Vincent's attention.
Vincent sighed then stood up and walked over to Gabriel. "Uh," he said speechlessly.
"Forget it," Gabriel remarked, shoving his guards at Vincent's chest in anger. "Forget I asked."
He skated away, putting on a fake smile just listening to the crowd cheer his name.
"Good luck," Vincent whispered.
~~~
"And in second place," the announcer spoke.
They had already called out fifth place which was some guy from Shontail High. Fourth place was Joshua Creed who was now at Baytone High and third was Dayton also from Baytone High. Now Gabriel sat on the bench nervously bouncing his leg waiting for them to call out second place.
"Second place in the Moves-in-the-field showcase goes to." He paused, putting the crowd and the skaters on the edge of their seats. "Leo Reece from S-Tech Academy!"
Gabriel looked over in Leo's direction and noticed that he was still taken aback that he got second, but he eventually got up and skated out to the ice rink after taking his skate guards off. He stood next to Dayton who whispered, congratulations, in his ear.
"There's no way I get first so can we just leave," Gabriel spoke, looking over at Vincent.
"You know the rules, Amore," Vincent spoke, looking at him. "We have to wait for dismissal."
"Half of the audience already left," Gabriel stated, pointing out at the big empty chunk in the stadium.
"Well, you're not in the audience last I checked," Vincent remarked. "Unless I'm wrong and you're not a competitor in this competition."
"And in first place," the announcer spoke again which caused Vincent and Gabriel to look away from each other. "Nico Peters from S-Tech Academy!"
The two boys watched as Nico skated out onto the ice, blowing kisses out to what was left of the crowd before standing beside Leo.
"And as far as the other skaters from tonight, positions will be posted soon on your locker room doors. Thank you everyone for coming out. We hope you had a great time. See you all back here next Tuesday. Goodnight."
"TENTH!?" Gabriel shouted when he, Vincent and the rest of the team got back to the locker room. "I never got tenth in my whole life of figure skating."
"There's a first for everything," Nico chuckled, putting his skates in his gear bag.
"You would know," Leo spoke, not looking up from his phone. "You were the first to fail on the team. The first to fall on your ass out of everyone on the team."
A couple of the team members chuckled except for Nico who glared at Leo. "At least I made it to the Gold Free Skate competition."
"But you didn't make it to the next," Leo smirked.
"Remind me which one of us actually has a title," Nico snapped, and everyone fell silent as Leo slowly looked up from his phone, locking his eyes with Nico.
"Exactly," Nico spoke harshly.
He picked up his bag then left the locker room with Sergio right behind him.
Leo looked around at all the faces that were staring at him before he turned off his phone. He grabbed his bag then left the locker room without saying anything else.
Eventually the other team members left the locker room. The only ones left were Gabriel and Vincent. Gabriel still sat on the bench staring at the ranking/score sheet while Vincent watched from the other side of the locker room.
"If you think about it- tenth isn't that bad," Vincent stated, breaking the silence.
"Tenth will always be bad in my eyes," Gabriel groaned.
"Out of ten? Yes. But out of thirty? No," Vincent replied.
"You don't get it, Vincent," Gabriel finally snapped, looking up from the paper. "It doesn't matter what it's out of. Tenth? That's not who I am."
"You're completely looking past what put you there, Amore."
"No! I know what I did wrong but a mistake that small would put me at fifth, maybe even fourth."
"Competitions change," was all Vincent said with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Or maybe if you would've given me some words of encouragement- like I asked- I wouldn't be in this position."
"Like that makes a difference," Vincent snapped. "Leo didn't get any words of encouragement and he still placed higher than you. Second to be exact."
"Maybe I should just go back to Shontail. At least there I know they want me to win."
"Yeah," Vincent said, opening the locker rooms enter/exit door. "Maybe you should." He walked out of the room, closing the door behind him.
Gabriel scoffed then looked down at the paper before balling it up and tossing it into the trash bin.
Once he gathered all his things, he left the locker room and jogged down the stairs, not looking up because he didn't want to miss a step. But once he neared the corner his body crashed into someone else. And when he looked up, he was in complete shock with a loss for words.
♢♢♢
YOU ARE READING
Stone Cold {bxb}
Romance"This is it," Gabriel spoke to himself. "My last shot for the 2023 World Championship title. I worked my skates off all year to get to this point. And now-now's my chance to get that title." Gabriel opened his eyes, slowly lifted his head up, and ro...
