Dark Night

Making Decisions

The next few weeks went along pretty smoothly. We had spring break, and I spent that sleeping in, picked up two shifts at work during the day, and hung out with my friends. We went to a couple of movies and went to the skate park, did a little shopping for spring. I got some shorts, a couple pairs of linen pants, a few new t-shirts and a blouse. I was worried that I was getting cheap because I had a tendency to hang on to every penny.

Cass shrugged. "I don't think it makes you cheap, just frugal. Nobody's got unlimited funds and at least you're not wasting your money." The other girls agreed.

Carol's birthday was at the end of March, and I got her a necklace with a little skateboard charm, details picked out in red like her board, and a first-aid kit. She was learning to grind the rails and fell a lot. Everybody laughed when she opened the gift, but she put it in her backpack right away.

The weekend after that, Mr Warren and Mr Miller turned up again. There was a big meeting with the family and Mr Petrov as well, so it was held up at the rink. My brother had done off-ice training beforehand, so he arrived fresh from the shower. Fortunately. 

"This was a great year for you, Starry," Mr Miller exclaimed. "We at the national organization couldn't be happier with your competitions, World Champion!"

"And the rivalry between you and John Tang is also good in terms of publicity and press," Mr Warren said cheerfully. "It's especially valuable going into the Olympic year. Now, as a result of your showing this year, especially at Worlds, we've received several inquiries from businesses who want to sponsor you. What this means is that they will provide money that can be used for your training and related expenses, such as coaching fees, ice time, travel, things like that. In return, you will be asked to wear their logos on your training clothes, for example, or appear in their advertising. We've got rules for what you can and can't do, particularly in an Olympic cycle because advertising is so strictly controlled. But right now, you're golden and you should take advantage of this opportunity. It's a smart idea to increase your social media presence as well, where you can promote your sponsors and gain fans. Here are some guidelines for that as well." He added some papers to a growing pile. "Honda found out that you drive a Civic, so they're interested in you." I could see the Honda letterhead on another packet of papers placed on top. "And Gatoraid, Spotify, and Nike for warmups and shoes for off-ice training."  More packets. "Now, since you're still seventeen, you'll need your parents' permission and co-signing, so you need to understand this as well, Greg and Jane. And as a way to promote US figure skating, we'd like to appear in some promotional materials, both with John and by himself. And we always urge our athletes to accept local sponsors, too, even if they don't offer a lot of money. It helps strengthen the ties between you and the community, you, the rink, and the community, and inclines them to sponsor other local athletes."

I was unprepared for the next comments. "Now, we understand that you're friends with John, Delia," Mr Miller said smiling in a friendly manner. I nodded, puzzled. "I'm just going to be blunt here. It looks weird for you to be friends with your brother's main competition. So while we're not asking you to end your friendship--"

"That's an excellent choice," I said in a hard voice.

"We're asking that you conduct yourself in public in such a way as to show your support for your brother," Mr Miller plowed on, missing his smile now. "At competitions, any official events, things like that, where cameras or reporters are."

"Well, that's easy, because I don't go to any of the competitions," I said flatly.

"Yes, and that's a matter of concern, too. You and your  brother have a strong family resemblance, and it always looks good to have family members on TV, showing their reactions after a performance. We do like to promote our skaters with their families in human interest stories, and yours is especially photogenic. We also have the devoted grandpa, which is good.  Plus you're not as outgoing as your brother, so you won't risk overshadowing him."