On Thin Ice

30. Halo

(Please listen to song when it starts to gain the full experience!)

Minnow's POV

Competition Day

I was a big 'ol ball of glitter.

Little sparkles would fall off me if I moved too much or too fast.

Staring at my reflection in the mirror, I tugged at the tight skating costume. It was golden, with silver sparkles running up and down my arms on the sheer skin color material. The skirt was short and my netted stockings had jewels too. Aunt Mona had outdone herself. She was a wizard with her glitter gun.

My makeup was shimmery gold eyeshadow and little gems around my eyes to match. Whitney had spent 5 minutes telling me to stop moving, as she applied every little gem.

I closed my eyes and sighed, shaking my hands at my sides.

"You look beautiful."

I opened my eyes and watched as Dickyi came into the locker room.

"Thanks."

She smiled brightly at me, looking up and down at my costume. "How are we feeling?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. I think I'm more nervous about people's reaction to me coming back to skating as a singles skater if anything."

"The people's ice princess is back, I'm sure they'll be thrilled."

Maybe I was more nervous about Brodie seeing me. The competition would be broadcast live on TV and knowing that he'd be watching me, made me antsy.

Putting her hands on my shoulders, Dickyi looked down at me, a sternness in her eyes. "I'm so proud of you." I wasn't sure why but that made me weirdly emotional. "And you should be too. You've worked hard for this, remember why you love it so much."

I nodded my head quickly, feeling the prickling behind my eyes.

"Let's mark out the routine before you go out there."

We stepped out into the hall, where Rylo stood on guard.

And for the next 20 minutes, we marked out my routine on foot. Dancing and pretending that I was on ice. I lifted off the ground into a triple axle and landed on my feet, my movements not as graceful as when I was on the ice.

By the time we were done, I was zipped up in my long-sleeved sweater and pulled on my skates, making sure my guards were on.

We walked into the arena with the other skaters, the sounds of the large crowd around us, making my heart thump.

"We've got skaters from all across the country here this afternoon Mark. How's the atmosphere?"

"Holly, I think we're all just excited to start the season. We have some new skaters and some veterans returning to the ice today."

I sat down at my assigned spot, a few feet away from my competition. I could see Rosie from here, her costume a poisonberry red and her short hair jelled back into a ponytail. She looked fierce.

I lifted my hands toward my hair, making sure that the ponytail was tight enough. I had decided to leave it out, letting my curls hang from the crown of my head.

I probably looked like a glitzy black Barbie and that made me smile.

The announcers were going through the whole group of competition. There were 24 girls. And two hours worth of competition to get through.

I was watching as each of the girls took their place on the ice, paying attention to their routine. I was a nervous wreck, my leg bouncing over and over again. Rylo knocked his knee against mine, trying to tell me to relax.