Meant For You

thirty-eight.

Nola Scott

The pressure was real and I was feeling it.

Worlds were one twenty-one days away. This was the last stretch. I was only having four practices a week now instead of five. Coach Laurel didn't want to wear me out any more than she had to. I was at the practice facility from 7-3 every day instead of 8-6. The rest of my days were filled with training, eating, napping, and reading a book. There wasn't much time for anything else. Not anymore.

I only had two mental breakdowns which was good. Coach said usually athletes have 4-6 a week at this point. But every day I woke up was a fresh, new day and I didn't think about the last. The mindset had been keeping me going.

Friday rolled around quickly and since I didn't have practice and Miles didn't have a game, we decided today would be the day we'd catch up. Ever since I had a drunken breakdown and realized I have feelings for him, our interactions have made me more on edge. We're both dealing with a lot at the moment which is why I'm canceling out the way I feel for him.

We're just friends and honestly, it's simpler this way. Things are too complicated any other way. I mean look at the chaos from the time we almost kissed. Never again.

After I finished a couple of errands, I made my way to his place. Ember and JT were spending the day together at our place so I wanted to give them that space. Plus, Miles' house is way cooler than my apartment. I'm about to ring the doorbell but the door opens before I'm able to. "Uh-huh, yeah." Miles walks back inside of his house, his phone pressed against his head and shoulder.

I follow behind him, setting the bag of my healthy snacks down. I can't eat the carbs Miles eats every single day. "So if I say no, I'll look bad?" he says into the phone. His eyes widen but I can't hear the voice on the other end. Miles and I sit down on his couch and he's shaking his head, rubbing his temple with two fingers. "Alright, fine. I'll do it. But get back to me with dates ASAP. I'm a busy man." He smiles like he's joking. He says goodbye and hangs up the phone.

"Tiffany. My manager," he tells me before I'm able to ask. "What'll make you look bad if you say no?" I asked another question I had. He shoves a spoonful of rice into his mouth. "A collab with Nike," he says with a shrug. My eyes widen. "Hello?!" He looks at me like I'm crazy. "Hi?"

"Miles, why did you want to say no to that? It's an amazing opportunity!" I say. He shakes his head. "That's going to be too much attention on me right now. I don't want that in this moment. Plus, they usually wait until after the Stanley Cup and choose a player from the winning team. I'm fucking baffled they chose me," he chuckles, continuing to eat his brown rice.

"Well, that means they want you because you're a stand-out player now. It means something! You should do it," I try and convince him. I know he said he didn't want the attention but maybe this will be something to get his mind off the whole adoption thing. "Yeah, I'm gonna do it."

Good. Miles deserves something great like this. He deserves everything good life has to offer actually.

"Amazing. Now, let me catch you up," I say and he adjusts himself on the couch. I don't talk his ear off about every single little detail about figure skating. I tell him about how practices have been both good and bad, this past week getting harder for me. Since I don't want him to worry too much, I keep the fact that I've had breakdowns to myself.

The last time I had a panic attack, I ended up in San Jose with him. And that's when... that happened. Whatever, we're not mentioning that anymore. Nope! Friends. We're friends.

"So Worlds is on..." His words trail off. "March 24th is the first day. If I'm in the top 24, I'll get to advance to free skate which is on the 26th," I tell him. I don't think Miles knows much about figure skating so I try my best to put it in simple terms. "Top 24? You got that, easily." It's easier than it sounds. These women are the best of the best from all over the world.