"Nicole! Nicole!" Nicole felt a hand shaking her shoulder. She broke out of her daydream and looked at her tutor- Erin. "I'm sorry- I'm a bit out of it- I'm just anxious." The young-blond haired girl smiled guiltily. Erin sighed. "I know. And I am too. But until we get this calculus done�" A yell echoed throughout the arena, "NICOLE!" Nicole looked up and saw her trainer- Alex standing at the other end of the arena, looking very unhappy. She glanced at Erin who sighed. "Go on." Nicole smiled and took off running to where he was standing. He pointed to his watch. "You have practice in 10 minutes. You're not even dressed. Now, you'd better hurry it up."
Nicole nodded and headed for the locker room. She changed into her warm-up clothes and she put her silky blond hair into a ponytail. She grabbed her skates and slung them over her shoulder and paused to look in the mirror. She was about 5'7, had semi-long blond hair, ice blue eyes, and a slender, graceful figure most girls would die for. She touched the gold chain around her neck and smiled sadly. Her dad had given her that chain for her 13th birthday. She never took it off. It was her own special reminder of him, that he was still watching after her. He had died when she was 15 in a car accident, just outside of Boston. She sighed, remembering the painful memory. She shook her head and walked out to where Alex would be waiting. He was a good guy- for the most part- quite overbearing and strict. And he always kept her on her toes. Her mother was much the same way. Only worse. Nicole wasn't allowed to do anything that might affect her skating. So usually there was no parties, no clubs, no fun, and no guys. It sucked when her friend Adriana always came regaling her about the new hot guy she had met.
Nicole never had any guys to talk about. But there was Brandon- who was like an older brother- and he watched out for her. And to her, that was all she needed. She sat down on the bench and bent down to pull on her skates and lace them up. She finished and stood up and walked over to Alex. He looked at her. "Ready?" She nodded. He smiled. "Go show me whatcha got. Start from the beginning." Nicole took a deep breath and stepped onto the ice. She skated around a couple laps, stretching. And she began her routine.
"I hate it here! It's so damn cold." Chris Kirkpatrick grumbled, crossing his arms. His fellow band-mate Lance Bass looked at him and rolled his eyes. "Quit complaining. We should almost be there." Sure enough, the bus pulled to a stop in front of the arena, and their manager Johnny Wright stepped on board. "Ok, guys, let's go check out where you're gonna be performing." They walk inside. "Dang this place is cool." Said another member, Justin Timberlake. JC Chasez and Joey Fatone nodded in agreement. "You guys can go look around for awhile."
They nodded and walked off to get a better glimpse of their surroundings. JC looked at a set of double doors, and heard music coming though. He turned the knob slowly and peered in and saw a blond-haired girl ice skating. He walked in, his eyes never leaving her. She was beautiful and extremely graceful. He looked over and saw a man- who must be her coach- talking to her and sending out words of encouragement. "Ok, Nicole. Time for the triple axle. You can do it. I know you can." She shook her head firmly. "No. I can't. I'm not ready." The man sighed and rubbed his face in frustration. "Honey, you gotta let the past die. Your performance has been flawless so far. Don't mess it up, by not doing this little jump."
She stopped skating and put her hands on her hips. "Little jump? You mean, the jump that nearly killed me and ended my skating?" He sighed. "Nic, everyone falls. If you don't do this, you can kiss the Olympics goodbye." He looked down at his watch. "I've gotta go. Keep practicing and be ready to do that jump tomorrow." She sighed and went back to skating. He shook his head and walked out. JC continued watching her, knowing they were probably all looking for him now, and he didn't care. He was completely mesmerized by this girl. She heard her cell phone ringing and she skated over to the side and searched her bag, till she found it. "Hello? Oh, hey, Addy. Yeah. What concert? Tomorrow night. I've never heard of them. You know I don't get to listen to much music. I'm planning on heading down to Old Anderson Lake for a little skating tomorrow. Yeah, I chickened out again. Sure. I gotta go, I'm exhausted. Call you later. Bye."
She hung up the phone and sat down on the bench and un-laced her skates and pulled on a pair of sneakers. She slung her bag over her shoulder and looked out at the ice one last time and walked out. JC watched after her. He made a mental note to remember Anderson Lake and he walked out to catch up with the others.
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