A Crack in the Ice

Chapter 14

The next day, Sarah and I decided to head to the local skating rink so she could get some practice in. Granted, it was about twenty minutes away, but we did what needed to be done.
As Sarah was driving, she mumbled under her breath. "Man, it's been years since I've been down this way. We're almost there, but man, being here sure does bring back some memories."
I sighed. "I don't blame you. If I was revisiting where I grew up as a child, I'd be having the same type of reaction."
She nodded. "I know," she said as she made a left turn into the parking lot, and parked the car.
I got out and grabbed the bag our skates were in and went into the building with her.

It was surprisingly empty for the time of year it was, and I looked at Sarah as we sat down to put our skates on. "Is it normally this empty here?"
She nodded. "This early in the morning, yeah. If I had to guess, it's because school is in session. It'll be really busy once three o'clock rolls around."
"I see," I mumbled as I went and plugged my phone into the speaker that we brought with us. "What do you want to work on first?"
"Let's see," she said, obviously contemplating her options. "Let's start with my Quad Toe Loop. I mean, I think nervousness got to me during my performance, but I still want to work on it," she explained as she got on the ice.
I nodded, following her on. "Got it. In that case, how about you start with the end your step sequence?"
Sarah nodded. "I can do that," she said before she skated around a bit, just to get herself warmed up.
She then went directly into her step sequence, which was flawless executed. She went in for her Double Lutz, which, again, was done perfectly. I slightly bit my finger as she went to build up her speed for her Quad Toe Loop. Everything seemed fine so far, but there was no telling if something was going to go wrong. I held my breath as she took off. It was at the perfect position on the back of the blade, and of course, she got all her rotations in and landed perfectly.
"Great job!" I yelled at her.
She smiled at me. "Thanks, Yurio. Oh, can you come over here?" she asked.
I nodded and began to skate over to her. "Of course. What do you need?"
She slightly smirked. "I have an idea."
"...and what might that be?" I asked, becoming a bit suspicious.
She sighed. "Yurio, you don't need to be worried, all right?"
"All right," I mumbled.
"Good," she said with a smile. "Okay. So, I was thinking we'd have a bit of a challenge. It's kinda like the game of Horse, but done with figure skating."
"...what exactly does that mean?" I asked, not quite catching on to what she meant.
"Okay, so do you know how Horse works?"
"Of course. It's a basketball game where you try to match the way your opponent makes a basket. If you don't make it, you get a letter, and the first one to spell out the predetermined word, which is usually horse, loses."
Sarah nodded. "Exactly. I was thinking we'd take turns doing jumps and sequences, and the like, and then the other person has to copy it, or else they get a letter. For sake of time, I was thinking we'd go with pig for our word."
"Ah, I got it," I nodded, finally understanding. "In that case, who's going first?"
Sarah smiled. "I'll let you go."
I nodded, and we began our game.

===

About an hour later, our game was still going strong, but Sarah and I were both up to pi. So far, we'd been doing simple and well-known jump combinations and such.
It was Sarah's turn, and she gave me look. "I hope you're ready for this," she said with a smirk.
At that point, I knew that she was going to pull off a really...interesting move.
She then skated away from me and stopped at the center. "Now, pay close attention," she said before crossing her arms.
Once she had done that, she started to skate around, and I realized she was doing the step sequence from On Top of the World, but something then drastically changed. She stopped the sequence and went for a Triple Axel, Double Salchow, and a Triple Flip.
That's when I realized I had a problem. I had no idea when she cut off on her step sequence.
Sarah then skated over to me. "Well? Are you going to go and try and do it?"
I bit my lip. "I...I can't do it."
"...why's that?" she asked, obviously confused by my statement.
"Lool," I said with an annoyed sigh. "You win. I was paying attention to what you were doing, but...I just totally forgot to pay attention to where you cut off your step sequence," I admitted.
Sarah slightly chuckled. "Seriously? That's why I'm winning this?"
I nodded, awkwardly scratched my head. "Yeah. I know you'd expect better from me, but-"
Sarah then suddenly cut me off by pulling me in for a kiss. Once she broke away, she slightly sighed. "And that, Yurio, is one of the reasons why I love you. You're so amazing at many things, yet you make small mistakes that can lead you to failure."
"Hey, no need to rub it in," I mumbled under my breath.
Sarah sighed and began to make her way over to the edge of the rink. "Anyways, we should probably take a break and grab something to eat for lunch. After all, it is heading at noon. Is there anything in particular you want for lunch?"
I shook my head. "No. Anything is fine, really," I said as I followed her out.
She nodded as she sat down to take off her skates. "In that case, how does Wendy's sound?"
I nodded. "Sounds great."

===

We ended up spending the rest of the day practicing, and when we got home, we began to pack everything up, as we had an 11:40 flight to China tomorrow.