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❦Black Swan - Tchaïkovski❦
^Isabella's skating performance & Bella's dress for skating^
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OKAY, DEEP BREATHS, Bella. Deep breaths. In a few minutes, you'll be going out there and show the world what I can do. Well, maybe a few thousand people. No biggy.
Wait- What if there are millions of people watch the Nationals? Oh my God, I already know I will embarrass myself in front of thousands- no million people.
What if I slip and fall down the ice? What if my dress is see-through and you can see ass crack? Oh my God!!! What if I get my period while skating?
Stop overthink you piece of shit. My inner voice yelled at me.
Deep breath Bella. Take a deep breath and relax.
"Hey, are you ready?" I let out a scream when I heard a voice behind me. I snapped my head towards that person and saw Aaliyah standing there with an apology look on her face. "Sorry," she mumbled and closed the door after she entered.
"Everyone is already waiting for you. Axel wanted to come in here but I told him to stay and that I want to go and give you the pep talk," she explained while helping me with my hair. I curled them at the end and pinched two strands from the front behind.
"How do I look?" I asked her while straightening my dress.
"Beautiful," she beamed in excitement. I let out a shaky sigh with a smile on my lips.
I took a last glance at my dress.
Since it was a rule to wear a dress for skating, I chose one that would fit me.
It was a black mid-thigh dress with red and black rhinestones on it. My arms and chest were covered in a laced fabric and I also had black laced gloves on.
Satisfied with my look, I turned back to Aaliyah, who was waiting for me. Before we exited the room she stopped me midway.
"You will do great. I know you're nervous and all that but don't be. You will leave this rink with the trophy tonight. You have all the support from your close friends and family. And even if you don't win you still be the greatest. I believe in you, B," she gleamed at me with so much happiness in her eyes.
"Thank you, Aaliyah. I love you," I brought her into a hug and she wrapped her arm around my waist.
"I love you too,"
We stayed like that for a few seconds until she pulled away and patted my forearm. "Now let's go and rock this shit," I chuckled and she opened the door for me.
I walked out and made my way towards the rink doors.
Anxiety started whelming up my chest while I reached for the handle of the door. I knew when I enter the rink I would look through the cowed and once I do that I can't function anymore.
I was scared.
Shitlessly scared.
I was scared to fail.
I was scared to lose everything that I've built up for myself.
I was scared to disappoint my family and friends.
I was scared of everything at this moment. I felt so vulnerable.
A hand that touched my shoulder bright me back to reality. I turned around and saw Axel. A furrow started appearing on my face. "What are you doing back here? Shouldn't you be at the benches with everyone else?" I asked while he had this boyish smirk on his lips.
"I was but I wanted to see you and wish you the best of luck," he said. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me closer to him.
"Good luck, pequeño zorra,'' (little fox)
I smiled up at him and pecked his lips. I noticed that all the worries that I had a minute ago left my mind. Axel was always the one to help me clear my mind. It's astounding to see that even the little things he does, can relax me in seconds.
I leaned in, rested my forehead on his, and closed my eyes. "Thank you," I sighed.
I slowly pulled my head back while having my gaze at Axel. "You will ace this. Don't worry too much just go for it," he whispered and placed a tender kiss on my forehead.
"Now go, you don't want to miss your own competition," he said with a chuckle. I shop my head in amusement and stood up on my tippy toes to peck his cheek.
"I love you," I whispered and bit my lip. I saw how his gaze moved down to my lips for a second and then back to my eyes. He lifted his hand and took my bottom lip out of the hold of my teeth.
"I love you," and with that, I walked out to the rink.
❦
"I'm so proud of you," my mom whispered into my ear.
After my warm-up, my Mom and Dad came down to me.
"Mom, I still have to skate," I tightened the hug and she chuckled.
"I'm nonetheless proud of you," I pulled away and stared at her. "Thanks,"
My parents both arrived yesterday when they decided last minute to come to this event. I told them that they don't have to come when they can watch it on television. But they both insisted.
The relationship between my Dad and I got stronger over the last few months. I'm definitely getting used to him not being dead. Regardless of the events that happened, I love him so much.
My Mom took a step back and my father came walking in front of me. "Hey, baby girl," he said with a big smile on his face.
"Hey, Dad," I smiled and he pulled me into a hug.
"Are you nervous?" he whispered into my hair. I nodded into his chest.
"Don't be. I know you'll win this," he convincingly said and I nodded again. "I will try," I smiled.
We both pulled away from the hug when the narrator started talking.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen for this year's Nationals here in New York in the category Figure Skating," the whole crowd started applauding while I was getting more and more anxious.
I started at the crowd and saw no one particular that I know. But I saw a lot of people.
Who the fuck wants to watch this? I mean do they want to be here to watch poor girls and boys fall on their faces for their entertainment?
They are not making this any easier for me now. Fuck, I'm sweating already.
"We have very talented skaters here today and we are very excited to see what they have to show us,"
"The judges are also very excited to see who is going to win this year's Nationals,"
"With that being said, let's start," the narrator announced.
"First up is Sarah Jones from state Washington, D.C.," a girl with blond hair that was in a perfect high bun and with a blue sparkly dress came skating into the field.
She skated to the middle and waited for the music to start. I decided to sit down and wait for my turn. I was already feeling sick to my stomach from all the nervousness but to make the matter worse some girls that also were competing sat next to me on the bench and started talking about Sarah.
The music started and I recognized the song.
'Scars To Your Beautiful' by Alessia Cara.
Sarah started skating on the ice flawlessly which made me more nervous.
God, she's doing so good. I will never win this.
"Oh my God, she so bad. She can't even skate straight," the girls next to me laughed.
A bawled my fists together at their words towards Sarah. Why do people have to bring other people down like that? Don't they have a life?
I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down before I do something that might get me kicked out of this.
I turned my head back to the benches where Axel, my friends, and my family were and saw Axel was already looking at me with a smirk on his lips.
I smiled at him and he mouthed. 'You can do this' I smiled again and then turned my head back to the field.
Axel has been acting very weird lately. He seemed extremely tense. I would sometimes catch him turned his head behind him and making sure no one followed us. He's been acting like that since he got that phone call from Enzo last week. I don't know what happened or what he said but I didn't want to push it.
I noticed the song was over while Sarah started bowing down and the crowd applauded. I quickly clapped my hands for her when I saw her leave the field and walk towards the bench next to me.
"You did great," I beamed towards her. She looked up and gave me a thigh smile. "Thank you so much,"
After a few minutes and after a few opponents, the narrator started speaking again.
"Next up is, Isabella Adelina Moretti," I furrowed my brows when I noticed I forgot to tell them that my last name changed.
I shrugged my shoulders and stood up from the bench.
I took a deep breath while I heard a few people cheer for me. I smiled and started making my way to the field entrance.
Before I entered the field, I turned around one last time and looked at Axel. He winked at me with a smirk. I smiled and then turned my gaze towards my family and friends. They all cheered for me while I entered the field.
I skated towards the middle and waited for the music to start.
The familiar music that I chose started playing.
Black Swan. A classic.
(A/N: I won't describe what moves she's doing since it'll be a lot. You can watch the video above that's Bella's performance. For no I'm just going to skip her performance.)
I was about to do the last move when I saw someone from afar.
I looked closely and saw Ricardo standing at the entrance of the rink. I saw him looking at me and waved at me. My eyes widened and I guess I got startled because I messed up the move and fell down on the ice. I quickly looked up and saw he wasn't there anymore.
"Bella, are you okay?" I heard a voice beside me. A hand touched my shoulder and I turned my head towards that person and saw Coach Brown.
I gave her a nod and turned my head back to the rink entrance to make sure Ricardo wasn't there.
Coach Brown helped me up and we skated off the ice.
I knew I wouldn't win because I failed the last move and I fell down. But I didn't care because what was more important was Ricardo being here.
The question is...
Why was he here? And what did he want?
❦
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