Off The Ice

Chapter 28

I don't know what I was thinking. There is so much more bad in Harry than there is good. He's a lost cause. No matter how many times I tell him that I'm frightened by his violent behavior he keeps going back to his own ways. Now I know that people can't kick old habits in two weeks. I know that. But he could at least try to resist a little more. And what the hell was he doing in that building in the first place? I thought he said he never wanted to go there again. We both made a promise to stay out of there, not just me so he has no place telling me off for not keeping promises. And that blow towards Karly was just low. He knows I hate her. He knows that I hate that they've been together before and he still chose to pour salt in that wound. 

I don't need this right now. I have a major competition in two days. I can't have this stuff distracting me. If I go out on that ice with this drama hanging on my shoulders it will weigh me down; literally. Anyone who's ever gone on the ice with something troubling them has fallen at least twice. Last year at Nationals, another girl in our region broke up with her boyfriend and she was in the running for placing 2nd but ended up placing 17th. Drama can damage you, that's one of the main reasons I stayed away from it in the first place. First with Chelsea, then my parents, now with Harry. 

~~~~~

I haven't talked to Harry since the fight Wednesday night. It's Friday morning and I'm sitting at the breakfast table, enjoying my breakfast at 9:45 instead of 4:45. Peyton's already at school and dad's at work. Mom is at the store getting snacks for tonight's drive. Lorelai is apparently renting a small 20-seater charter bus for everyone. This year we'll have Lorelai and her husband, the other coach whose name I have yet to learn, Louis, Ellie, myself, Adeline, Carson, Cory, and apperently Louis and Ellie invited the others; Niall, Zayn, Liam, and Perrie. Then my mom, dad, and Peyton. Harry said he was coming but I'm not sure if he is or if I even want him to. I'm so beyond pissed at him and the fact that I haven't talked to him since Wednesday is just...

I mean of course he called me about a billion times with countless texts, all of which I ignored. I told him if I wanted to talk to him I would. Call me stubborn but whatever. I'm not one to back down from something. 

I spend the day doing what Lorelai told me to do; I go to the mall and get my nails done for the competition before going to the hair salon to get it trimmed and blown out. I only do this kind of stuff before big events like competitions and birthdays and stuff. It's not exactly my thing. 

I go home afterwards and just repack my bag. I make sure my garment bag has all parts of my costumes in it and then make sure I have all of regular clothes for the weekend and my purse with my wallet for shopping and souvenirs and make sure I have my skates in their special carrying case. 

At four o'clock I decide to just get a head start and go to the rink early. We're supposed to meet at 4:45 anyway so we can leave at five so I'll only be like half an hour early. I can just chill inside or run my pieces one last time in the center of the free skate rink with my phone for music. 

My short program is a two minute and forty-two second cut version of the Electrohouse Remix of the Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy from the Nutcracker. My short program is my power program and then my long is to the instrumental version of a song called Youth by Daughter. It's my artistic program. Normally people don't do one of each but we want me to stand out amongst the competition.

I do just as I had planned and skate my programs a couple times before people start getting here to leave. Soon we're all pooled in the lobby as Lorelai finishes getting the last of the suvillians out of the building to close it for the weekend. The bus pulls up at 4:42 and we start boarding. I decide to wait for everyone to get here and stay outside.

My parents pull up with Peyton and they load their stuff underneath the bus before climbing on. Not too long after their car comes, my friends pull up. Out of the car comes Adeline, Carson, Cory, and Chelsea; the person I had disinvited. She walks up to me with her bag on her shoulder and sad look on her face. "Hey." She smiles weakly.