I've had this feeling before. It first fell upon me after I won the Cricket Club Competition just a few months before.
Shock. Wonder. Pure ecstasy.
"Another serendipitous victory for Lyubov!" Dad exclaimed. "It's too bad Daniil put you on the ice and not me this time. I would have liked to believe that I was a good luck charm!"
We--my family, Bessie + Jessie, and Anna--were at Mike's for cookies and gelato to celebrate my win. Árni also congratulated me soon after I told him the news, and we were going to video chat through WhatsApp later to catch up. I also wanted to call Katya and Javi to tell them the news, but I think they might already know.
After my friends' parents came to pick them up from Mike's, Dad drove us home. Right as I stepped through the door, I got an incoming FaceTime call from Katya.
"CONGRATULATIONS CHAMP!!!!!" It sounded like a thousand voices were screaming at me but it was only 5 in particular: Katya, Javi, Yuzuru, Nam, and Brian.
"Thanks everyone!" I replied. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around what has happened."
"Did you meet Nathan Chen?" Katya asked. Nathan had won the junior men's event at nationals.
"Got his autograph too!" I grinned and held up my autographed photo of Nathan Chen. Katya and I had been following him online and in Skating magazine ever since his novice days.
"Javi, Yuzuru, do you guys feel prepared for the Olympics yet?" I asked.
"Yes!" they replied. They both put on comical hero faces with their hands on their hips.
"I can't wait to see you both compete!" I said. "I just got home from the competition, so I'm going to go to bed soon. I still have some homework to do too. Ugh!" I mock-fainted, and I heard laughter from the other end.
"Alright everyone, let Lyubov rest now," Brian told the skaters. "Good luck with school and continue to work hard! I'm expecting you back here strong and healthy, so take care of yourself too!"
"Thanks Brian," I said. He and the boys walked away, but Katya stayed on the line.
"You aren't backing down from our Olympic Bet yet, right?"
"Of course not!" I replied. "You better start learning how to do the back flip now!"
"Same goes for you!" Katya chuckled. "Also, by the way, high school is wayyy harder than middle school. Just a fair warning."
"That's to be expected." I sighed. "Good luck with high school and skating then!" I hung up and then rang up Árni.
"Hey Lyubov," Árni said in a hushed voice to me. "I'm supposed to be sleeping but congrats again on winning Nationals!"
"Thanks góður vinur (good friend)," I replied. "Oh, I don't wanna get you in trouble so we can talk another day if you want."
"It's ok; I can chat for a few minutes."
"How are things at Iceland by the way?"
"Very different from Boston. We have to eat fish for supper almost every day. I'm sick of it! I want burgers again."
"Maybe I can see if my parents will let me ship some frozen burgers to you," I said, giggling.
"Don't bother. Frozen isn't the same as fresh." Árni had a wistful look on his face. He looks kind of handsome when he's sad.
Oh dear me. Your fatigue is making you delusional.
"Long day?" Árni asked me, snapping me out of my weird hormonal thoughts. "You look like you're about to doze off on me."
"You could say that. I had an early morning. I need to go off to Dreamland right after I take a shower and then finish all my homework before Monday."
"All right then; I'll let you go." The boy looked thoughtful for a moment. "You know, I miss you and the others too, not just the burgers." We laughed.
"I miss you too. Ok, you better go to sleep before your mom gets in there and beheads you," I joked. We had an inside joke about the French Revolution, which was our favorite unit in history because of all the violence and gore.
"Night!" He hung up.
*********************************
February 2014
Olympic season has finally arrived! I had just finished watching the short program events for both the men and ladies. I had never followed ice dance very closely (except for Davis/White and Virtue/Moir's healthy rivalry), and pairs skating was just too scary for me to watch.
Yuzuru was leading with a world record score! Javier was currently sitting in third. Yuzuru got the whole crowd going during his step sequence, which Katya and I were able to learn from him while we were at the summer camp.
The long program event left me in a nervous wreck. Yuzuru fell twice and Javi popped one of his quad Salchows into a triple, but then repeated a triple Salchow at the end of the program. The end result was Yuzuru becoming the Olympic champion, while Javi finished just off the podium in 4th place.
I was very happy for Yuzuru, sad/disappointed/a little mad at Javi, and worried for myself because now I have to learn a back flip on the ice. Katya put more salt in the burn by reminding me after the event was over.
"I know I know," I repeated endlessly while Katya jabbered at me on the phone.
May 2014
All of a sudden, my world came crashing down.
I got a huge growth spurt. Then I sprained my right ankle (from trying the back flip on ice) and had to put it in a cast for most of the season, which resulted in me having to postpone training with Brian during my freshman year of high school.
I tried to use the extra time I now had to study harder in school. But it was harder for me to focus without my main stress reliever: skating. The gym just doesn't hit the same note.
However, I did come across some neat music selections that I would like to skate to. For my short program, I decided on "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You," and for my freeskate, I chose to skate to music from the movie Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence.
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This is a picture of my cat Junie!
Also real world updates: Yes, Worlds is cancelled. Yes, I am sad and disappointed. But...YES YUZURU IS RETURNING NEXT SEASON OH YEAHHH.
I am currently on spring break, but for at least two weeks after this week of break, I have to continue class online. I hope you all stay safe and healthy!
