𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 𝒮𝓌𝒶𝓃 - L. Fantilli

𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝒩𝑒𝓍𝓉 𝑅𝒾𝑔𝒽𝓉 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔

✯¸.•'*¨'*•✿ ✿•*'¨*'•.¸✯

It was the day Mika was set to meet up with Evgenia. The older girl had made the trip the night before down from Canada and told Mika she would meet her at the park outside of campus at ten thirty.

The younger girl had stopped and got them both coffee, completely forgetting to let Lottie know she was going to meet up with a friend, but hopefully she wouldn't be gone too long to where it would be cause for concern.

"Mika, nice to see you again." Evgenia smiled seeing the girl walking closer to her, before holding out a cup of coffee towards her. "Aw thank you, you didn't have to."

"I figured coffee was fitting for our talk, but you're welcome Ev." Mika smiled taking a sip of her own coffee.

The two walked silently for a bit before Evgenia spoke up. "How's your knee? Surgery go okay?" She hoped it had, not wanting to see Eteri ruin yet another young skater before they hit their prime.

"It's good, they fixed it. Told me it wasn't as bad as they initially thought it was but I'm too scared to get back on the ice again." Mika said softly as she stuck her free hand in her hoodie pocket.

Evgenia could only give the girl a sad smile. She knew what that felt like after she had found out she could only do two small jumps now because of her back injury.

"You know I know how you're feeling, to be cast aside for the next shiny new toy when you're broken and need fixing, the ones who you trusted the most abandoning you instead of being there to help you back up." The older girl spoke, as she looked at the sky for a moment, it was a sunny morning in august, the air was cool but not cold, Mika could see the Soph house from the park and wondered what the boys were doing.

"I remember." Mika nodded, she remembers how Evgenia and Alina went up against eachother back in 2018 and how she got beat by, the then fifteen year old, Alina. She went from being Eteri's star child to second place in a matter of minutes just like Yulia had when Evgenia came along.

But she had seen it with Alina too.

Alina had been replaced by herself, Sasha, and Aliona.

Just like how now she was being replaced by Kamila and Sasha.

Mika sighed. "It's been really hard for me to accept being replaced by someone who is better in every aspect. It's like my confidence took a huge hit, and I can't seem to shake off this feeling of inadequacy. All because my knee gave out."

"I understand how you feel. It's never easy to see someone excel in something you were once passionate about. That's how I felt when Alina beat me for gold. But instead of dwelling on feeling replaced, think about it as an opportunity to grow and improve. Remember, there will always be someone better, but that doesn't define your worth or potential." Evgenia said looking over at the shorter girl with a soft look.

Mika nodded as she ran her hand through her hair before tucking a few pieces behind her ear as she took another drink of her coffee. "It's also been tough to even think about skating again after my knee injury. I used to love it so much, but now I'm scared to even step back onto the ice."

"It must have been incredibly traumatic, both physically and emotionally. But remember, skating is a passion of yours, and you shouldn't let one setback define your entire journey." The older girl spoke as she slipped her hands into her jacket pockets.