Page 97 of Wonderstruck

i also wanted to say good luck for today, bambi. i’ll be thinking about you.

i can’t wait to see the trophy.

i’ll be thinking of you today.

i can’t wait to see you in a knights jersey

bit ambitious of you to think they’d sign me from watching one game.

just speaking it into existence for you

rory?

yes?

ice reallylike you.

I really like you.

Four words I’d never imagined beingdirected at me, by Finn of all people.

Okay, sure, he said ice. But we all knewwhat he meant… right?

Regardless, those four words were what distracted me from regionals on the drive to the arena, and for that, I was more than grateful.

The anticipation that hung low over thearena was nearly electric. Cheers from the crowd applauding whatever skater was currently performing travelled as far as the dressing rooms. Part of me was thrilled that the crowd cared enough to scream that loud. And part of me wondered if I’d get the same treatment, or whether the skater they were cheering for was simply better than the rest of us.

Once I was warm and squeezed my way intothe basic dress Aspen and I had picked for this routine—a baby pink thing with a feather trimmer skirt and tiny rhinestones gathered to the side on my waist, exploding out onto the fabric like a firework—I stood at the edge of the rink, my skates laced so tightly that I could barely feel my toes. Aspen stood in front of me, her hands on her hips, her eyes narrowed.

“One more time,” she said, before shecaught my sigh. “Do not sigh at me, Aurora. I know marking it sucks, but I just want to you be prepared.” She walked towards me, her hands landing on myshoulders. “I know you’re going to kill this; I just need to know thatyouknow that too.”

She needed to define ‘kill it’. Because therewas a very real chance that I’d kill it by forgetting every single move and ending the skate with my face flat against the ice.

I forced a smile, but my hands wouldn’t stopfidgeting. “Will I, though? My axel’s been hit-or-miss all week. And what if I mess up my lutz? You know I always rush the timing.”

Aspen crouched to look me in the eyes, herexpression suddenly serious. "Stop that. You’ve been practising nonstop. I’ve literally watched you nail your lutz like twenty times in a row. And one of them was a triple—“

I lowered my voice. “Barely a triple.”

“It was a triple, regardless.” Her green eyesroamed mine, her attention was as soothing as it could get, before she nodded. “You’ve come so far, Rory. Remember how terrified you were when you first came to see me? Look at you now!”

I took a moment to take myself back, almostfeeling the shake in my hands from when I saw her for the first time again. That girl would faint if she saw me now, waiting by the ice, ready to perform at regionals.

Regionals.

I really was here, wasn’t I?

My eyes flew around the rink and realityslapped me with every scoreboard and sign they landed on.

“You’re ready.”

My lips twitched as her voice pulled myeyes back to hers, but still, I couldn’t shakethe nerves.

Maybe my costume was too tight.

I felt my breaths grow heavy, as I arched myhead over my shoulder, just in time to watch the skater before me come out of her spin. “What if I’m not, though? What if this whole thing is a mistake?” My eyes were on Aspen. “What if I trip on my skates or lose my footing on my landings? What if I’m on my ass before I have a chance to show them mybarely a triple?”

Aspen sighed dramatically and grabbed my hands, stopping my fidgeting. “Okay, first of all, no one’s going to care if you fall on your ass. The judges will just want to see how you recover." She caught my eyes as they turned to slits. "Okay maybe they'll care a little, but that wont happen. Second, you’re not going to trip on your skates or mess up any part of this routine unless you get in your head. Which is exactly what you’re doing. So stop it.”

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