Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 113072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113072 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 565(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 377(@300wpm)
I sigh.
“And you have to wear a short skirt.” He shrugs. “I don’t make the rules. You have to smile and look perky and skate backward holding Chase’s hand. The end.” He flips on the camera, and a view of the rink appears on its digital screen.
“You know what, Aiden? That’s both depressing and insightful. But at this rate I don’t know if we can do that without tripping each other.”
“Is Chase really that bad?” he asks. “Didn’t you say he was one of the most natural skaters you’ve ever met?”
He’s right but also wrong. “It’s weird. He didn’t forget how to figure skate. He looked fine while we were warming up. But then when we tried to skate together…” I pause for a moment while the horror of it replays in my mind. Missed connections and a faltering rhythm. “We just couldn’t sync up. And synchrony is at the core of pairs skating. If you’d been there, you’d know why I feel hopeless.”
He chuckles again. “I wasn’t there, because you kicked everyone out. But there’s your answer, Zoe—call someone in to help. I know you want to prove yourself as a coach. But you’re not the coach in this situation. You’re on the struggle bus, so get a second opinion.”
I stare at him for a second. “Okay, you might be a genius.”
He laughs. “Nah, Zoe. Asking for help is, like, a thing people do.”
Not me. Not usually. But he has a point. “I know just the right person.” I grab my phone again. And while Aiden tests our setup, I dig up an email address for Martina—the first person who ever watched Chase and me skate together. She moved to Korea last year, but sometimes we still correspond by email.
After pulling up her address, I tap out a plea for help. What is wrong, and how do we fix this? I link to a section of the video from our practice. And—because I don’t want him thinking that I went behind his back—I also cc Chase.
He always liked Martina, and he’ll probably listen if she offers us tips.
That done, I skate over to Aiden. “Thank you for the great advice. And for teaching me how the cameras work.”
“You’re welcome,” he says. “What are you using them for?”
“Science. During my master class, I’m going to use some software to measure everybody’s speed on a few crucial skills, and then compare them. It will help me get a baseline for every player on the team.”
“Sounds kinda gimmicky,” he says. “No offense. My buddy is a skating coach, and he doesn’t use cameras at all.”
“No offense taken,” I say quickly. “It is gimmicky. But that’s beside the point. Not every player responds to the same kind of coaching. But no matter their personal style, every player is competitive as hell. If I tell a winger that his buddy is twelve percent faster at transitioning from forward to backward, he’s going to try to fix that metric.”
“You evil genius.”
“I prefer to think of it as motivational psychology—just with a dash of pettiness.”
“Good luck with your class. I heard Coach Fairweather tell the boys that they’re all expected to participate, no excuses.”
“Really?” This perks me up. “What a great guy.” Unlike your father, who’s a dickweasel.
“Agreed,” he says, still smiling, almost as if he can hear the comparison aloud.
“I’ll put all the cameras away, okay? You helped me so much already.”
He gives me a salute. “My pleasure. Night.”
A few hours later, I’m back at my own apartment when my phone pings with a text.
Chase: Saw your email to Martina. That was a good call. Did you delete the part at the end when I threw a temper tantrum?
I sink down to sit on the floor, smiling at my phone.
Zoe: I deleted your tantrum, plus the part where I was a whiny little bitch.
Chase: On your worst day you were never a whiny little bitch.
He’s wrong, but my heart does a double axel anyway.
Zoe: We’ll see if she comes back with anything useful. Or if she just tells us not to quit our day jobs.
Chase: She’ll know what to do. Martina is magic. We have a lot to discuss. Want to come over tomorrow for an early dinner? Say 5:15? I’ll get some food.
Zoe: I’d love to.
After that, I get ready for bed. But it’s hard to fall asleep when all I can think about is the last time Chase and I dined together.
Chapter 29
Nine and a Half Years Ago
It’s Sunday evening, and Zoe is sitting in Chase’s truck, as planned, wearing her favorite sundress, with an overnight bag at her feet.
She’d put a nightgown in the bag, then decided it was too babyish. So she took it out again. Then she changed her clothes no fewer than five times.
Chase has probably clued in to the truth—that going to a campground for sex is not something Zoe has done before. She looks more nervous than right before she skated at nationals.