On top of the world

ROO

"Lyuba, I see your mom signed you up for our club competition. Are you excited for that?" Brian asked me. I nodded. I don't know why, but it normally takes me a longer time to open up to adults than younger kids or people my age. 

We had some time to talk before he would leave to do office work and then head home for the day. During the lesson, I got to try the triple Lutz on the harness. Then I tried some off the harness. It's still not fully rotated, but it's getting there. 

I also showed him my triple toe + triple toe combo and my double Axel + triple loop combo a couple times. For the last 10 minutes of the lesson, I executed my combination spins and layback spin for him, as well as my footwork sequences from both programs.

"After your competition this weekend, I'll see if Dave can clean up your choreography a bit," said Brian, referring to David Wilson. "Did your coaches back at home choreograph your programs?"

"My former coach, Stanislava Kurakova, choreographed both of my programs. She and my other coach Spencer Winter used to be my coaches. Now I technically don't have a coach, but hopefully I can find one in my rink who is willing to coach me when I return home." 

Brian saw a golden opportunity to recruit. "You're dreaming about Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in 2018, right?"

I nodded.

"Well...I bet I can take you there," he said with a wink.

"I'm sure you can, but if I make my whole family move here just for that reason, I'd be selfish. I don't want to be selfish," I protested. 

BE SELFISH, screamed the ambitious part of me.

BE CONSIDERATE, screamed the compassionate side of me.

"Katya told me she and her family would be more than happy to let you live with them while you train here."

I gulped, feeling conflicted. "I'm so sorry, Brian. But I can't make this decision now. I hope, however, that you would still be open to coaching me should I come back in the future. Please give me one year to decide with my parents."

"Ok," Brian agreed, and we shook hands. "Hmm...if I can get one of my boys to be the Olympic champ in 2014, would you take that into consideration while making your decision?"

"Even with that, it still may not matter with my mother. She really wants me to take my education as seriously as I do with skating. But sometimes I feel like I'm hurting myself in both areas if I try to put everything I have into school and skating."

"I see," he said. "So it's gonna take your mom some convincing." He thought for a moment. "If finances are an issue, we can also work that out," Brian assured me. 

"That, for us, is not as huge a problem as the actual decision I'd be making: choosing between quality education and the Olympics."

"You don't have to give up school entirely to make it to the Olympics. I can talk to your parents about good education you could receive here in Toronto."

"I want to at least finish middle school before I move somewhere else. You have no idea how much I want to train with you and drop my cares about school right here and now," I confessed. "But I have to finish 8th grade at Boston first. Please understand."

"Of course I understand, Lyuba." Brian smiled and patted my shoulder. "I expect great things from you. See you tomorrow." I waved goodbye to him.

*************

"Looba!"

I turned around and saw Yuzuru. He was the last one off the ice because he always touched the ice before he left it.