Chapter 218

Chapter 218
Elora
 
The silence that follows my declaration is thick enough to cut with a blade.
 
Then Petra breaks it with a laugh—sharp, mocking, dripping with condescension. "Elora. Should I call you amusing? Or just delusional?"
 
Isabella's voice cuts in next, her tone syrupy with false sympathy. "Seventh place should come with a little more self-awareness, don't you think?"
 
Natasha doesn't even look at me as she adjusts her skate guards. "Ignore her. We're up next. Don't let her mess with your head before your own performances."
 
The others murmur agreement, already dismissing me as they turn away to prepare. Their laughter fades into the background noise of the arena, but I don't move. Don't flinch. Don't let the sting of their mockery touch the core of what I know to be true.
 
Instead, I lift my gaze to the stands.
 
Marina sits in the front row of the coaches' section, her posture rigid, her eyes burning with an intensity that could melt steel. She's been waiting for this moment. I can feel it in the way she leans forward slightly, in the way her hands grip the railing like she's physically restraining herself from jumping onto the ice.
 
That look—fierce, expectant, relentless—pulls me back.
 
---
 
Six months ago. The regional qualifier in Newark.
 
I'd landed my triple lutz-triple toe combination cleanly, executed my step sequence without a single wobble, and finished my program to enthusiastic applause. When my scores came up—128.47, a new personal best—I'd skated off the ice grinning like an idiot, practically bouncing with pride.
 
"Marina, did you see that?" I'd gasped, still breathless as I reached the kiss-and-cry area. "I nailed the triple-triple! That's the hardest element I've ever landed in competition!"
 
Marina had been silent for a long moment, her expression unreadable. Then she'd turned to me, and the look in her eyes had made my smile falter.
 
"That's what satisfies you?" Her voice had been quiet, but it cut through my euphoria like a scalpel. "One moderately difficult combination, and you're ready to celebrate?"
 
I'd blinked, confused. "But… I won. By almost ten points."
 
"Congratulations." The word had been flat, devoid of warmth. "You beat a field of skaters who will never make it past regionals. You want a medal for that?"
 
The sting of her words had made my throat tighten. "I thought you'd be proud—"
 
"Proud?" Marina had leaned forward, her gaze boring into mine. "Elora, complacency is a disease. And right now, you're infected. That triple-triple? It's nowhere near your limit. Not even close."
 
She'd stood abruptly, gathering her things. "Get back on the ice. We're not done."
 
"What?" I'd stared at her, incredulous. "Marina, I just finished—"
 
"And now you're going to start again." She'd turned back to me, her expression severe. "Today. Right now. You're going to learn the quadruple toe loop."
 
The words had hit me like a physical blow. "A quad? Marina, I just proved I can beat everyone with the triple-triple. Why would I risk—"
 
"Because there are skaters out there who are more talented than you and work harder than you," she'd interrupted, her tone unforgiving. "If your goal is just to go professional, fine. Keep doing what you're doing. You'll make it. But if your goal is to push yourself to the absolute edge of what you're capable of—if you want to walk off the ice one day with no regrets, knowing you left everything out there—then you'd better start mastering that quad. Right. Now."
 
The celebration had drained out of me in an instant, replaced by a cold, sharp focus. I'd looked at her—this woman who'd seen something in me when no one else had, who'd pushed me past every limit I thought I had—and nodded.
 
"Okay."
 
"Good." Marina's expression had softened, just slightly. "Now get your ass back on the ice."
 
I'd trained for six hours straight that night. Fell forty-three times. Didn't land the quad once.
 
But a week later, I landed it.
 
Two weeks after that, I landed it again.
 
A month later, my success rate was seventy percent.
 
And now, standing here in this arena with the weight of the world's best skaters pressing down on me, I know exactly why Marina made me do it.