The Faces Of Karl Jacobs

Chapter 7: The Death of My Dignity

She smiled kindly at me, before joining our arms and giving me a comforting rub on the back, reassuring me in the way only she could. And together, we walked to the death of my dignity.

I felt the cold air fill my lungs, as I looked out on the freshly cleaned ice. A normally beautiful morning was interrupted by the sight of Dean Wilson gliding effortlessly around the rink, skating a few warm-up laps. I couldn't contain the scoff that left my lips, as he executed perfect technique so flawlessly.

Dean was a conceded asshole who truly believed his skating was a blessing to the world.

Dean was also my ex-boyfriend.

I'm not proud of it, but there was a period in my life when I thought I loved him. But, what I didn't know at the time was that Dean is only capable of loving himself.

I felt Ally give my arm a reassuring squeeze, drawing my attention away from the sickeningly pretentious man, "Practice is only two hours today, you can do this" And with her last words of wisdom, Alison took the ice, leaving me by my lonesome.

I sighed stepping into the rink, as I began to skate my warm-up laps. I stretched out my limbs and slowly made my way around the ice, preparing myself for the grueling practice ahead. My attention was soon pulled behind me by the sound of skates cutting wildly through the iced floor. Before I could turn around to see who was approaching, I felt air whip through my ponytail as Dean stopped himself right in front of me.

"Heyyy baby," He cooed, licking his lips like a predator, "It's been a while"

I rolled my eyes as I skated past him, "Dean" was my only greeting.

"Wake up on the wrong side of the bed today Hailey?" He asked, skating backward to catch up with me.

"Nope, just glad I didn't wake up in yours" I retorted, trying my best to avoid eye contact with the man who couldn't seem to take a hint.

Dean gasped, "Well now you're just being rude, hotstuff" He held a hand to his chest in feigned surprise, mocking my words.

The sound of a whistle blowing stopped me from hurling my next insult. I angrily turned my attention to Coach Brian who was now standing at the center of the ice, "Huddle up everyone. Quickly, quickly"

Choosing to ignore Dean's last comment, I pushed off my back skate in the direction of Coach, intending to finish this practice as quickly as possible.

"Alright, we all know what today is," Coach began to say, "Partner's practice. By now you should all know your routines, so I want you all to iron out the difficulties within them. Work on lifts and turns specifically, I'll be skating around and watching. Remember, only some of you will be chosen to be featured in the winter showcase" He threatened, giving us clear instructions for what to expect from the day, "We're getting too close to competition season for you guys to be screwing off, so act like adults and let's get it done" He clapped his hands together twice, indicating the end of his pep talk.

I turned to Dean, an annoyed smile already present on my features, "Alright, let's get this over with" I spat, as I began to skate towards a more secluded section of the ice.

I heard his skates trail behind me, a soft chuckle leaving his lips at my words. For the next hour, the two of us focused on ironing out the details of our near-perfect routine. Duke's winter showcase was a huge deal for skaters. Scouts from all over the world attended searching for the next Tonya Harding, Vasilisa Kaganovskaia, or Nathan Chen. To compete with the greats was a dream the entire team shared, however few would be picked.

While I prayed for the opportunity to perform in the winter showcase, the last person I wanted to do it with was Dean. Unfortunately for me, he was the best male skater on the team.