The Hockey Star and the Ice Princess (Complete)

Ch. 19 - Success

When Rachel went to her second skating practice of the day she was relieved that Coach Sumners didn't say anything about her and Cain. Apparently he didn't know yet, which was a miracle. 

"Ok. Do your stretches and warm ups first and then we're going to try some of the jumps we were working on earlier, but without the harness. I want to see if it helped build up your confidence enough to do it on your own now." 

After stretching and skating around a few times Rachel attempted a single lutz to warm up and she did it perfectly. 

"Good. Now a double," the coach said. 

She took a deep breath and shook off her nerves before skating out and attempting a double and to her surprise she landed it perfect on the first try. 

"Nice!" he yelled. "Now I want you to try a triple lutz and see how it goes."

She wasn't sure if she was ready but she wanted to try. She started skating backwards, crossing one foot over the other, until she had gained enough speed and then she started gliding backwards leaning forward and bending her front leg, kicking her back leg out, and digging the toe pick of her right foot hard into the ice and pushing off, tucking her arms in and crossing her feet, spinning .....1, 2, 3 times but when she went to land her foot wobbled and she lost her balance, crashing down onto the hard ice right on her hip and sliding across it, slamming her back into the wall. 

"Rachel! Are you okay!?" Coach Sumner yelled, skating fast and rushing over to her. 

"Yeah. I'm fine," she groaned, wincing in pain as she stood up, brushing the wet ice off her side.  

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you into trying it without the harness. You weren't ready for that yet." 

Rachel lifted her head and looked into his worried eyes. "I'm not made out of glass Coach. I'm pretty tough. Do you have any idea how many times I fell when I was little learning how to do a triple?" she laughed. "Or how many times I crashed into the wall or onto the ice learning how to throw my quad." 

She looked down and laughed as a memory came back to her. "I've never told you this but back in high school I actually bribed the rink janitor with homemade cookies and cake so he'd let me sneak in after hours to practice on my own and I'd be here for hours doing it over and over and over. Everyone told me it was impossible for a girl to do a quad but I was determined to do it. I would say I was a little obsessed," she smiled, "but I did it."

Coach Sumner just looked at her and shook his head, raising his eyebrows in surprise. "I can't believe you really came here after hours to practice and I didn't find out about it." 

"Yeah. I didn't tell anybody because I didn't want somebody to tell me I couldn't do it anymore and the janitor never told because he didn't want to get in trouble. I wish he still worked here. I'd go thank him and bring him some cakes and cookies," she smiled. She looked down and let out an exhale, "You know, I loved that time to myself, being out there on the ice with no one watching, feeling completely free. Free to make mistakes and try new tricks and push myself as hard as I wanted. If I fell I just got up and did it again, over and over. There were no parents or judges or coaches or TV cameras. There was no pressure at all. It was just me on  the ice doing what I loved. It was great," she said with a sigh. 

He gave her a sympathetic smile and said, "Yeah. I know all tha pressure really got to you. Is the anxiety medication the doctor gave you helping?" 

"Yeah," she nodded. "It's helping, but I haven't tried to do any competitions yet so I guess that will be the real test. So, is it okay if I try again now? You don't have to watch if it makes you too nervous."