Sparks Fly (ONGOING)

Chapter 8

Days has passed at palapit na ng palapit ang competition namin. Ilang araw nalang at magsisimula na ang Skate Stars.

The competition isn’t limited to skaters who train in a university. It is open to all skaters including my old school, Zagitova. Skaters ranging from 7 and up years old, are welcome to participate.

The competition will last to 3 days. On day one, female singles skaters, male singles skaters, and pairs skaters from 7 to 12 years old will compete. On day two, junior skaters, which means those who are 13 to 15 years old will compete. And lastly, us university skaters or anyone 16 and above years old, will compete.

Out of the 8 chosen skaters in our university, only two of us will participate at the Senior Women’s Singles category. Four of them are from the Pair Skating category, and the other two are from the Senior Men’s Singles category. So all-in-all, Everette Academy has six representatives.

Sa aming magkakaibigan, si Ashley lang ang kalaban ko. Si Lia and Jasmine kasi ay pairs figure skaters so magkaiba kami ng category.

Nakakakaba kasi lahat kami ay gustong mapatunayan sa aming mga kapwa athlete sa academy na ‘di kami rapat-rapat na tinatrato ng parang hindi kami importante. We are all training harder, striving for more, so we can prove to everyone that our sport is as important as their sport.

Even if I have won competitions already, I can’t just slack off. Bawal ako magmayabang; bawal ako maging kampante. Kung hindi ako nagseryoso, hindi lang ako ang mapapahamak kung ‘di ang buong reputasyon ng skate team.

Also, Skate Stars isn’t just some competition. It is THE competition. Majority of the Filipino skaters join, even a few from other countries participate. There’s so much skaters joining the contest, abot ata sa 30 participants PER category. May three categories for each age level, which means the estimation is most likely 270 participants.

Once you are finished performing both short program and free skate, and you are part of the top 10… that means you are going to the finals.

I’ve competed at Skate Stars before, back when I was just 15 years old. This contest happens every 4 years which is why it’s a big deal for us. I won third overall sa Junior Women’s Singles level back then; I really hope I get to do it again. Even better if I place second or first, especially first.

Mas mahigpit training namin since palapit na ng palapit. Every after classes na at pati weekends. Minsan nga bumibisita pa ako sa Zagitova para kamustahin ‘yong cute na bata, si Lana. Kahit na mahigpit schedules namin, nakakasingit pa rin paghang out ko kay Lukas.

We’ve been getting closer lately. He still doesn’t know what my sport is and he’s not pushing me to let him know. He knows that I have a tight schedule because of my training which is why he doesn’t force me to hangout with him. Minsan nga, siya pa mismo ang nagsasabi sa’kin na magpahinga nalang kaysa sa gumala kami.

Pero gusto ko siya makasama eh hehe.

Every time we hangout, we only go to cafes, restaurants, or my home. Alam niya kasing gutom ako after training kaya lagi kami sa kainan at alam niya rin kasi na pagod ako kaya minsan sa bahay ko kami nagpupunta.

Oo, nakapunta na siya sa bahay ko. Paano ba naman, pinipilit niya kasi akong magpahinga nalang kaysa sa gumala kami. Gusto ko siyang makasama kaya sabi ko sa bahay nalang kami pumunta. Tumanggi pa nga siya nung sinabi ko ‘yon; mas lalo siyang tumanggi ‘nong sinabi ko wala naman sila mommy kaya kami lang.

Parang ewan. Ayaw niya ba ‘yon? Walang parents na nagbabantay?

Weird din kasi ‘tong crush ko eh.

Minsan pag pagod na pagod talaga ako, nagtetext nalang kami sa isa’t isa. I don’t know how it happened, but I guess when I chatted him after I arrived home from the Japanese restaurant, our conversation just continued there.