On top of the world

It's Time

June 2015

It's been a long, painful year, but I finally managed to gain all of my triple jumps and most of my triple + triple combinations back. What was harder to get back was my stamina and my competitive drive. Fortunately for me, I had the Cricket Club to thank for helping those return. Brian continued to send me his inspirational emails every week. Javi and Yuzuru continued to compete and perform, providing me with insipiration for the sport I love. And Javi never neglected to video chat with me every week. I had more Spanish vocab and could carry conversations with him in Spanish with much more ease than before. 

I also started learning some Japanese on Duolingo, and Yuzuru and I are learning each other's languages (Yuzuru is learning English, not Ukrainian). 

**********

"A-ri-ga-to-u." I over-pronounced. I tried again faster: "Arigatou."

"Sank you." I could sense Yuzuru's struggle.

"Thank you." I showed Yuzuru how my tongue rested on my top teeth when I made the "th" sound. "Th-ank you."

Yuzuru's face twisted with concentration. "...Tsssank you?"

I laughed and laughed. I couldn't help it because his face looked so funny. Yuzuru looked bashfully away from the screen and started laughing as well.

***********

I was excited to finally get to see Javi, Yuzuru, Nam, Brian, and Katya in person again. I think Katya might still feel a little guilty because of her being part of the cause of my injury (but I still mostly blame myself). I want to make it clear in person that it's not her fault, especially since she started video calling me much less after I got injured, and when I initiated video chats with her, she would be really slow to pick up.

Another strange thing I noticed was how Nam acted when I was chatting with Javi or Yuzuru. Whenever Javi told him to greet me, he would either just squeak out a small greeting and scamper off or just run away without a word. It was as if he was scared to spill a secret in front of me. It would be much easier to interrogate him in person, because then I could actually chase him down. The curiosity was killing me!

I made sure to exchange farewells with all of my school friends and exchange contacts. Now that we were in high school, Bessie has made some new friends, but she assured me that she would still miss me a lot. 

The drive to the airport was bittersweet...and loud. Yuri and Masha were yelling at each other per usual, and my parents were yelling at each other because Dad took a wrong turn and we were cutting it a bit close on time. Before we left, we had to turn back once to get my pajamas and toothbrush/toothpaste. It was absolute chaos.

But we eventually made it to the airport. Dad and I walked to luggage check-in and got my boarding pass, and then I had to say goodbye to him. 

"Make sure you work hard in both studies and on the ice!" Dad reminded me. "Oh, and rub my right shoulder for good luck." I giggled and did as he told. "We'll be praying for your safety. Don't forget to call us every night!"

"Thank you." I hugged him and waved as his figure grew smaller and darker. 

I then picked up the phone, seeing that Katya's mom was calling me. "After you pass through security, I'll be by the Auntie Anne's, which is right near our gate, Gate 7."

"Ok, thank you," I replied.

*********

I finally made it to Toronto! Katya and her dad were here to pick me and her mom up from the airport. I went to the bathroom with Katya so we could talk the incident out.

"...and I just want you to know it's not your fault. It was mine. I made a bad call, so I had to pay."

"We're keeping this secret forever, right?"

"Yes."

Katya bit her lip and looked away for a second, as if to gather some courage. "I have another secret."

My eyes widened. "What is it?"

"I wanted to tell you as soon as it started; it was really hard for me to not blab it to you...but he insisted it wait until you come here."

He? "Who is this...he?" I asked suspiciously.

"NAM. HE AND I ARE DATING."

My eyes almost popped out of their sockets. I was expecting something much worse for some reason.

"...SORT OF," she added.

"Sort of?" I raised an eyebrow once I recovered from the slight shock. Shy Nam dating a chatterbox like Katya? I certainly wouldn't have foreseen that.

"I mean we haven't gone on an official date yet, that's why I say 'sort of'," Katya said.

"Ok...now that we got that out of the way, let's get outta here before you're parents get suspicious."

(While the girls were in the bathroom)

"What's taking them so long; it's getting late," Katya's dad complained.

"You know how girls are after not having had seen each other for a long time. They're probably gossiping or telling each other secrets!" Katya's mom said.

"Why can't that wait until we get home?"

"Because they know we'll hear them, of course! We don't have soundproof walls, dear."

"Who would I tell their secrets to?"

"No one, but we're the ones they want to keep the secrets from. We can interrogate Katya another day if you really want to know. Like you said, it's getting late, and I'm not in an interrogation mood at the moment."

"Maybe they're just pooping," Katya's dad said, mostly to himself. He needed to persuade himself that his daughter was not keeping secrets from him.

"Yeah, that's an option too," Katya's mom agreed.

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

Finally, Katya and I came out of the bathroom.

"Ok girls, what took you so long," Katya's dad asked with a humurous glint in his eye. This "cheeky dad" front was put up obviously for my sake. It was exactly how my own dad acted around anyone else not in his blood family. I could tell he really wanted to uncover what we were trying to hide.

"Pooping!" we both exclaimed simultaneously, putting on our "innocent girl" fronts.

Katya's dad sighed. "Remember, sitting on the toilet too long causes hemorrhoids," he said eventually, knowing that we were not telling the truth.

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

It was time for me to begin my trial period with Brian. Katya and I arrived at the rink early the next day to begin training. I was going to have a lesson at 7 am, so we arrived at the rink at 6 am to warm up off ice and got on the ice at 6:30 am. 

Then we heard someone enter the rink. It was Yuzuru! He waved at Katya and his eyes scrunched and then widened as they fell on me. A blush grew all over my body and I became a little more self-conscious. For the past few months I have gone through puberty, gained a few inches, gotten my first period. I also exchanged my glasses for contact lenses, got my teeth straightened with invisalign (now I just have to sleep with a retainer), and grew my bangs out. I definitely did not look like the Lyubov from two summers prior.

"Roo?"

Welp, I'm going to be learning online for the rest of this semester. I feel terrible for the seniors graduating this year, since I know they worked hard all these 4+ years to be able to cross the stage and get their diplomas in person. And at some point, I'm going to have to get everything out of my dorm. I'm a little worried because I think I may have left some dessert in my fridge by accident and I turned it off so...the room might reek.

The good that comes out of this...I get more time with my family! Though they're somewhat already getting on my nerves a bit...

Anyway, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy and washing your hands!!!!!