Meant For You

forty-five.

Nola Scott

Friday had come too soon.

The time from when I landed on Stockholm soil to now couldn't have gone any quicker. We had two days of practice and now it was almost time to hit the big stage. I had been a nervous wreck since getting here. My family got in yesterday, helping me ease some of the panic. Seeing my siblings here to support me helped the most.

For a couple of hours, they helped take my mind off today. That only lasted so long. When I got back to my hotel room, I was in pure panic mode. Ember not texting me back wasn't helping either. First Miles, now her? I had no idea what was going on. The only person who seemed to answer me was JT.

He told me Ember had been ignoring him too. She was probably on one of her antisocial sprees. Why she picked two days before the biggest day of my career to do it, I have no idea. Surprisingly, I slept like a baby last night. I did my before-competition day rituals and made sure my head was on my pillow in time for me to get a full eight hours.

Melatonin helped with that.

When my eyes opened this morning, I felt a sense of serenity. My nerves from the day before seemed to be gone. It was weird, but I tried not to think much about it. This was a good thing. I needed a clear head to be able to function today.

I had received plenty of more texts today and my heart skipped beats when I noticed Ember had reached out.

Ember: getting over a slump. i love you so much, nola. you're going to smash it later! ill be watching <3

Her words made me smile. I hearted the message just like I did the others. The fact that Miles still had not reached out made me queasy. We had been talking about this day for so long and now that we're here, he's silent.

Before I got in my head about a man not texting me, I took a deep breath.

Today is your big day.
Don't let anything other than figure skating come first in your head.
Focus. Focus. Focus.

Coach Laurel and I were back in the waiting/locker room area. I hadn't gone out to the other side yet but I heard the chatter of the people out there. The house was fuller than most of my competitions.

Once I stepped foot into the arena, it was like all of my nerves and emotions had been waiting for me inside this building. My hands began to get damp and chills touched every inch of my skin. This was it. In just a couple of hours, I was going to find out whether or not I was going to be on the Olympic team.

Team freaking USA.

I had been dreaming of this for years and years and I was getting my shot today. The emotions were getting the best of me. I started thinking about all the teams I had been in, all the people I had met, and all the blood, sweat, and tears I had put into this sport.

All of that brought me to today.

Nola Scott, an American figure skater, that nobody knew. My name had been talked about a little more now that I was competing today but no one really knew what to expect from me. I wasn't like Mei and Karington who had been training for this competition for years. Their whole life goal was to be on the Olympic team while I had been lucky enough to have Laurel as my coach.

She was once a star on the ice meaning she had the most connections. Coach Laurel had coached several Olympic athletes in the past and she was trying to make me her next one. I didn't want to fail her because she wanted this for me as much as I did.

Relaxing music plays through my pink headphones, the ones Miles had gifted me for my birthday. It's nearing ten and the competition would start soon. I was number 25 out of 37 competitors today so I had time to blow.