Melissa almost gagged.The stench of rink food mixed with the scent of ice was a harsh reality check. Only those who were frequent rink-goers were able to bare it. She lugged her blue to a bench with a displeased face.
"Half of the smell is from the burned pizza. You'll get use to it." Cynthia followed behind her grumpy sister and placed a pack of stickers next to her ,"The session is an hour and a half long, so you'll need to put two of them in the binder. I'm off to the coach's room."
Melissa sat on the edge of the bench with a clenched fist. Her sibling had ditched her in a new place. Melissa zipped her old rink's skating club jacket on, which sealed the Foreigner Fate. Her name was embroidered in gold letters on the right side of her jacket. Her coach had presented it to her as a result of joining the skating club. It was the logo of the elites-- a testament to greatness . Everything was a missile locked on her.
To her luck, the rink wasn't busy for a midweek summer afternoon. With the deserted plain in front of her, she couldn't imagine recruiting coaches catching her -- or so she hoped. Melissa grasped onto her binder, water, and gloves pushing towards the entrance to the ice. She slapped her two stickers into the binder and stepped onto the ice.
Bam! Everything froze into place. Melissa sat up and rubbed her the back of her head. White flecks of snow covered her body. Assessing the cause of her embarrassment she ripped her blade guards off. It was day one, and the brunette already made a fool of herself. Everyone's attention focused on her.
"Dang, if Savvy were here she'd beat me senselessly." (She shuddered) She collected her belongings and stood back up. The thought of her old friend made her shudder.
Cynthia hit the play button on the CD player to cover the echo, "Are you alright, Mel?" She followed Melissa to her place on the wall.
Without hesitation, the new girl took off. Melissa's eyes became laced with malice and hints of betrayal. She pushed her way around the perimeter of the ice as fast as she could. Every blade mark made into the ice went from a careless stroke to a precise series of glides and turns in less than a second. Melissa's fury became her fuel.
"And there she goes." Cynthia took a deep breath and searched for her student. As long as there weren't tears, her mind was at ease.
One coach approached her with a smile, "You know that skater over there?"
"That's Melissa, she just moved here a week ago. My mom finally shoved her out the door to get her here." The elder sister scored double points. She knew Trina had a daughter that skated at the same level as Melissa. In her mind, there was a sudden potential for a friendship.
Trina nodded. "I'll speak with her later." She patted Cynthia's shoulder and skated off to coach a lesson.
"I swear, one wrong move and I'm out of this game." The young coach found who she was looking for and plastered on a smile. She placed two discs in the music line as her student rambled on about her summer. She'd take it over listening to upset skating moms and drama queens.
Melissa was finally relaxed enough to think straight. Everything seemed adequate and with little error-- that was until her name appeared in the music line up. Her already fast heart rate spiked even higher. She skated to her belongings again. Water poured into her mouth. In the background, an ominous beat boomed from the ceiling. There wasn't much time for her to chew her suspect out.
"Please don't tell me--" The victim to the act of treason slammed her toepick into the ice. It was the music from her last competition season before her move that was going to be played next. "Cynthia." Melissa was able to pinpoint the criminal in an instant. There wasn't much time left, and the 'suspect' was coaching.
She found her starting position and waited for her music to turn on. Her heart tightened as the speakers blared Beethoven's first movement from his Symphony No. 3: Eroica. This program was the one that sent her to regionals. When a skater connects with the music, it becomes their strongest skate.
Melissa's mind became distracted by old memories. She couldn't focus on the music any longer. Family and friends flooded her mind. "Traitors," she muttered under her breath as she took off for a jump, "They are all traitors."
Her toepick touched the ice. Another double loop: complete. The surrounding skaters couldn't tell the new girl had been off the ice for almost a month. They stared at the new girl in disbelief. Nobody had that high of a probability of landing any double jump after not training for a month. Bad habits often returned or progressively became worse. The skater's body would most often become lazy and not want to cooperate.
The program ended on time. She went back to the wall for water. Everything felt stiff and disoriented. She lifted up the entrance to the hockey box and closed the door behind her. Her head hung in agony as she checked her skates. Nope. They weren't too tight. Her heartstrings tugged.
The chipper and competitive attitude disappeared. Skating was suppose to bring that back. Her mind sunk deeper in thought. Melissa leaned forward and hid her face. Observing from the sidelines wasn't going to help. Everyone was driven by a different passion. Everyone was fueled by something unique.
"Mel? Mel? I have someone I want you to meet." Cynthia snapped her fingers, and Melissa broke her trance.
"What do you want?" Melissa sat up and fixed her headband. She kicked her feet on the bench.
Another female with bright red hair pulled into a messy ponytail stopped in front of her. She extended her gloved hand. "I'm Ciera, Open Juv division.Your sister and my mom told me about you." She smiled. Her eyes told a different story. The fiery gaze of competition and rivalry burned into Melissa's face.
"Melissa Sadent, Open Juv division." She sighed and stood up. She ignored the hand in front of her, "I'm headed back out."
Melissa made another abrupt departure. It was a bad time for anyone to approach her. If Cynthia thought this imprisonment was a time to make friends, she was wrong. When someone is dragged somewhere by force, it's obvious they want to have nothing to do with the people surrounding them. The answer was clear; Cynthia didn't know how to take a hint.
YOU ARE READING
Ice Bound (#Wattys2018)
Teen Fiction[NEW] Melissa is torn apart after having to move. She is forced into a new rink where she is practically a foreigner. As she struggles to regain herself, she falls away from herself. Her heart longs for the ice. She is "Ice Bound".
