On Thin Ice (Editing)

Chapter 16

Can you say "Vuncan"?

Note: this is unedited.  I will fix it when I go back and revise the whole story.

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As I fold my arms and settle into my starting position, several emotions quickly flood through me.  First comes fear, the ever present feeling that something is going to go wrong throughout our performance.  Then, dread - the sinking feeling that when something does go wrong, it will be terribly wrong.  Excitement of what lies ahead, happiness of doing something that I love again, and that blissfully unpleasant bundle of nerves course through me, energizing me to the point where I'm itching for the music to start.

I glance over at Duncan to find that he is mimicking my pose, breaking the stony demeanor that the beginning of this performance requires for only a split second to shoot me a quick smile.  I return it, then we both arrange our faces back into intense, distraught expressions as the opening notes of Demi Lovato's "Warrior" start pulsing through the speakers.  The soft piano notes indicate my start, and I skate backwards slowly, bringing my arms above my head and looking off to the side.  As the cello in the background rises, Duncan begins moving as well, coming towards me with a tender look on his face.  Since we've never practiced this, I'm not exactly sure what to expect of him.  Missy seems to think it will come naturally, though, so I go forward. 

As Demi's strong voice swells above the instruments, I take Duncan's hands in mine, allowing him to spin me out, then back towards him.  We sway for a few beats, then I break away, gesturing wildly but gracefully with my arms to bring the song to life in the performance.  As we skate around each other, throwing in whatever facials and movements necessary, I begin to lose myself in the song, no longer paying attention to the hundreds - probably thousands of people around us.  The judges don't matter, the reporters don't matter - it's just Duncan and I on this ice, skating our hearts out.

The song picks up and I push off the ice with my skates, leaping into the air and I know that Duncan does the same.  At this point in the routine, we shift from trying to play off of each other to doing every move in synchronization, from a camel spin to a handful of side-by-side jumps.  Duncan places his hands at my waist and does an easy lift, holding me with gentle but firm hands as he spins beneath me and puts me back on the ground.  I can faintly hear applause, but I push past it and continue.

We make it through a few more moves, the most complicated of them being a death spiral.  I almost lose my grip on Duncan during this, but we come back together, albeit a bit sloppily.  "Okay, big finish," Duncan whispers as the music begins to swell one last time.  He places his hands at my waist and skates very close to me while explaining that this is going to be a twist lift, and that all I have to do is spin and wait for him to catch me.  With a large thrust, I'm suddenly up in the air, twisting and waiting for Duncan's hands to find my body again.

It doesn't happen.

Instead of his warm hands, I feel the cold ice as I fall onto the ground, curling into myself.  Duncan's wide eyes meet mine and I know he's about to apologize one thousand times over, but I give him a curt head shake, warning him not to speak.  I barely lift my head up as the final lyric, "You can never hurt me again," spills out of the speakers, before dramatically collapsing back onto the ice.  Duncan falls to his knees beside me, catching on as the song ends, and draping his body over mine.