ice // s. knight

one

why do i love the ice?

the feeling of my legs straightening out in a spread eagle, the smell of the cold when i step on the ice, the way my eyes tear up that first couple of minutes of freezing air stinging my face as i warm up.

the gut feeling when you land that jump, the passion you put into programs, showing off for your parents and friends.

but skating can also be difficult.

like when you go for that one jump or move and just slip off your edge, or when that one person you compete against psychs you out.

one of the reasons why i love skating so much is because i get to show off for my best friend, just as i was doing now.

i took in a deep breath as i opened my eyes in front of the crowd, searching for the pair of icy blue eyes i'm so familiar with.

the music starting, flooding my ears with soft piano notes, and i blinked, almost missing my cue.

my opening jump was a double axel, and my take off was a little shaking, making my landing a little shaky, but i could still hear people cheer.

that sort of helped me get my feet under control, and well, my nerves too.

my triples went off without any problems and my spins were fast. my footwork went slightly wrong as i made a slip on an element, but i'm going to blame that on my dull blades.

my program finished, and there was a sharp pain through my foot, making me almost fall down.

i stayed on the ice long enough to get out some waves and then limped off the ice, bending down to grab a stuffed animal, but fell over. i heard some laughed and i let out a pained giggle.

"daniel, my foot really hurts." i tell my coach, who gives me a concerned look and helps over to the kiss & cry.

i overhear some of the reporters talking about how i hobbled off the ice, and how i keep my face so emotionless off the ice.

i find that kind of ironic as they claim i'm the "most emotional skater" they've ever seen.

anyways, back to my promising career of skating.

i've won most of the competitions i've skated in, including hopefully this competition, worlds.

"moira, back to earth." daniel said, shaking me out of my thoughts, bring back the sharp pain of my foot.

"right, sorry." i apologized and he just chuckled.

"and the scores for moira williams" the announcer said, "150.10! combined with a short program score for a total score of 223.86!"

"moira, you just broke the world record." daniel said to me and i just nodded.

"are you okay moi?" he asked, i shook my head.

"come on, let's go. all you have to do is skate out for your medal and then we can get your foot checked out." daniel convinced me, giving me support as we walked to the door, ready for the medal ceremony.

all my competitors came up and gave me a hug, this was my first year senior and i had just beaten all of them.

the lights dimmed and spot lights came out on the podium.

"don't worry moira, it's not that bad." one of my team usa teammates said, also on the podium.

i winced and nodded, putting a little weight on my foot.

they announced our names and we all skated out, i headed right to the podium while the two other did a small victory lap.

we got our medals and all stood on the podium for a picture.

my teammate hailey helped me skate around for our victory lap, making it look like we were just trying to fit under the team usa flag.

when the three of us got off the ice, daniel helped me to the locker room, where i met my best friend.

let me tell you something about my best friend.

he is the most loyal, perfect, sweet human being i have ever met, but he will not hesitate to kick your ass if the need arose.

"moira! are you okay?" spencer asked and i shook my head.

he wrapped his arms around me in a hug.

spencer knight was a hockey player, a goalie to be exact, and was my absolute best friend in the entire world.

we both lived in connecticut and used to go to the same high school.

daniel and spencer didn't exactly like each other but dealt with it for my sake.

"spence, i have to get my skates off, can you get like medical or someone?" i asked him and he nodded.

"of course love." and rushed off to find someone in the medical field.

i went to the locker room, daniel following behind me, and took off my left skate no problem.

"daniel, i can't get my skate off." i said, almost in tears.

he ended up unlacing my entire skate, and we could barely get my foot out.

it was so swollen, i started crying, just as spencer came back with a lady wearing a yellow coat.

"hey hey hey, moi, it's going to be okay. i love you." spencer said and took my hand, squeezing it.

i squeezed his hand as the lady grabbed my ankle and tried rotating it, which made even more tears stream down my face.

she let go and gave me a sad smile, then walked to my coach and started talking to him.

"moi, don't worry, it's probably just a sprain. you'll be good before you know it." spencer said, trying to cheer me up but i just cried harder and curled into him.

"moira." daniel said when the lady walked out.

"moira-" he tried again but i shook my head.

"if it's bad news, please just tell spencer. i don't want to hear it." i said and let go of spencer.

daniel didn't look too happy as he motioned for my best friend to go out into the hallway.

i sniffled and started changing into sweatpants and a team usa shirt.

i slide a shoe on my left foot and a sock over my swollen foot.

the locker room door creaked open and spencer walked back in with my mom and daniel.

"moira, ma fille." my mom said, speaking in her native tongue, french.

"mamma." I say, another round of tears working their way to my eyes.

"daniel, can you give us a minute?" my mom asked and my coach nodded.

i watched as daniel and spencer left, leaving my mom and i alone.

"moi, it's not good."