Page 16

chapter sixteen

bring me roses and tell me i'm breathtaking. but only if you mean it.

“ Y ou’ve got to be kidding me.”

That was the only thing going throughmy mind as I stared back at my reflection.

With a sigh, I turned slowly to face thegirls. All three were perched togetheron my bed, their expressions caught somewhere between shock, awe, and something I couldn’t quite name.

“Say one word, and I swear I’ll…” Itrailed off, glancing down at the outfitagain before meeting their gazes. “Oh, why fight it? I look ridiculous.”

Cora was up in an instant, tucking herhair behind her ears as her eyes grewwide. “Ridiculous? Rory, I think I have a crush on you.”

Goldie leaned forward, her grinmischievous. “I’ve never wanted to break upwith Tristan more.”

I rolled my eyes but couldn’t help thesmile that tugged at my lips.

Fin ally, Ilooked at Daisy, who was simply beaming at me. “I still love you the appropriate amount,” she said, her voice warm, “but honestly, I think you should never take that off.”

I turned back to the mirror, my gaze falling once more on the absurdity that was my recital costume. Because Aspen had kindly agreed to buy my costume, that meant I forfeited having any say in the design. The blue and white plaid dress skimmed just above my thighs, and the princess sleeves? Far puffier than I’d ever imagined. But there it was—the unmistakable vision of Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz.

If Dorothy had boobs too big for her dress, that was.

“I can’t tell if I hate it or if, somehow, it works?” I murmured to the mirror, catching the girls’ reflections from the corner of my eye.

Goldie stood and brushed the custard tartcrumbs from her yellow sweats. “Saying you look okay would be the understatement of the century,” she walked towards me, tugging gently at the ends of my braids. “And this is just the ‘try-on.’ Wait until you add a little sparkle and have your makeup done. You’ll look insane!”

I arched an eyebrow at her in the mirror, flailing my hands like I was weighingsomething. “Clinically or…”

She nudged me, her eyes gleaming.

Daisy got up, wandering over to my dresser and leaning against it, herreflection half-captured in the mirror. “And we’ll all be there to remind you of that before you skate,” she said, her smile laced through her tone.

Cor a stayed sprawled on my bed, her elbow propping up her head. With an exaggerated roll of her eyes, she grinned. “I’m buzzing to watch you skate. I’ve been dying for this.”

“Me too,” Daisy chimed. “I haven’tstopped thinking about it.”

A text tone chirped from Cora’s phone, stealing her attention. But as sheglanced at the screen, her dark eyes scanning whatever it was, her smile faltered. Then without a word, she tossed the phone to the foot of the bed. Sitting up, she hugged her knees to her chest, her voice suddenly more clipped. “Besides, it’s the perfect excuse to skip this press event tonight.”

It was as if spotlights fell onto her at thatmoment.

Goldie tilted her head, her brows pinched. “Wait, that was tonight? And you’re not going?”

Daisy leaned forward, curiosity flashing in her eyes. “But isn’t what’s-her-facestarring in it? You’re obsessed with her! She’ll be there. And that blonde surfer influencer from California that you’ve been crushing on forever?”

Cora’s lips quirked at one corner—asmile so faint it was almost a grimace. “Yeah, I know,” she said softly. “But I’m not feeling it. I’d rather celebrate Ror. This is a big deal.”

Her words were sweet, but somethingabout the way she said my name pulledmy attention. It wasn’t like her to hold back. Cora was probably the boldest out of us, like an onyx shield that could handle any hit that tried to break it. She was never the kind to retreat. Not with us, anyway.

Folding my arms, I narrowed my eyes ather. “What aren’t you telling us?

Her gaze darted to me, sharp butguarded. “Nothing,” she said with a small,hollow laugh. “Seriously. You’re more important than some stupid event that I don’t even want to go to anyway.”

I tilted my head, studying her smile, the faint tension in her shoulders. “Yeah, I get that. But there’s something else. I can see it.”

Cora’s gaze flickered between us, thendropped. She let out a long breath andshrugged, her smile softening. “It’s nothing, honestly. I’ve just been in my head lately. All these events, the brand deals, the… everything. It’s like it’s taking over my life. I haven’t touched a canvas in weeks, and I think that’s what’s been nagging at me. I’m afraid I’m losing my grip on everything.”

The confession sounded genuine—toogenuine to argue with. But somethingabout the way she hugged her knees tighter, her fingers fidgeting with the fabric of her jeans, and the subtle glances towards her phone set off a quiet alarm in my chest.

Something was off.That much was clear.

But I didn’t press. If Cora wasn’t readyto share, I’d wait. Pushing her nevergot you anywhere.

“Well, that’s understandable,” Daisysaid, her voice warm as she leaned backagainst the dresser. “You’ve got a lot on your plate. But hey, maybe tonight will help clear your head. Watching Ror crush it might inspire you or something.”

Cora’s smile stretched a little wider,though it didn’t quite reach her eyes.“Maybe.” A moment later she shook her hair from h er face, her eyes darting back to me. “But seriously, get changed before I add you to my ‘crushes of the month’ spreadsheet.”

“Miss Aspen, she looks green. And I’msupposed to be the only green one!”Junie, the little eight-year-old who’d gotten the role of the Wicked Witch of the West, stomped her foot in front of me as she turned to find Aspen, her tiny brown pigtails bouncing.

Aspen came bounding over, sweatdripping from her forehead from trying tohuddle up sixteen of the little skaters since they all arrived an hour ago. Her eyes raked me up and down as she crouched to Junie’s level, passing me a smile before turning her attention to her. “I think it is near impossible for anyone to look as green as you right now, Junie.” She arched her head over her shoulder. “How about you go help Leisel with her skates? Show her that neat trick that you do with your laces.”

Junie, clever thing that she was,narrowed her eyes at Aspen. “But she’s Glinda . I can’t be seen being nice to her.”

“And why not?” Aspen laughed.

Junie shook her head like whatever wasabout to leave her mouth was the mostobvious thing in the world. “What if the judges see? They’ll take points away from me for my lack of commitment to the character.”

Bot h mine and Aspen's heads fellforward, our giggles mingling. The nerves had been building since I walked into the rink, but that little release, that laugh, it did wonders.

“You’ll be fine, now go help her out,honey.” Aspen patted Junie on the tip ofher witches hat, before claiming the spot next to me on the bench. “She has a point, you don’t look well. Is it nerves?”

I nodded, reaching my arms up to mypigtails to tighten the blue ribbons that bound my braids. “I think this is the pinnacle of nervousness. I don’t think anyone on the planet has ever felt this nervous before.”

“I think I have you beat. Don’t you remember that one sectionals when I was up against the girl who’d made it to the Olympic try-outs but didn’t make it through? And the year I finally made it to sectionals just had to be the year everyone was hoping that she’d win?”

I nodded, the memories flooding mymind. “I do. I think I remember mom holding back someone's hair at some point?”

Aspen nodded, her cheeks reddening.“That would have been me, when I threw up.” She nudges me. “So if you’ve not thrown up yet, I still have you beat.”

I hold my finger up and I shuffle. “Holdthat thought—”

Aspen's hands clasped my shoulder asshe sat me back down, her laugh weavingthrough the moment as she took a peek towards the rink, then back at me. “You’ll be fine. For the first minute, they’re watching the little ones skate, and then by the time your solo comes up you’ll have been back on the ice long enough to forget what you were even nervous about.”

I n arrowed my eyes. “Can I get that inwriting?”

Her laugh was light and airy, everythingI wasn’t feeling yet. “You’re a star, Rory. Just like your Mom.” She nodded at me, while her hands slipped into mine. “I wouldn’t have told you that you could try and compete if I didn’t believe in you. So believe in yourself. Like you used to.”

She squeezed my hands one last time,right before she slipped them out androse to her feet, clapping for the attention of the room. “Okay Team Oz! Listen up!” All the little skaters gathered around, some dressed as munchkins, some with giant lollipops, and the rest as the main characters of the story. “Everything you’ve worked on since we’ve been back has all been leading up to this moment. Remember to keep your arms tucked in on your turns, your crossovers fluid, and if you fall, keep those beautiful smiles right where they are, because you can always recover. Now let's get lined up!”

I had no time to gather my thoughtsbefore the changing room became a mobof cutely dressed eight-year-olds trying to remember which number in the lineup they were. I didn’t have that problem, because I was leading them out. The mere thought that I’d be the first person the audience saw was enough for me to pull at the edges of my skirt, tug the ends of my braids, anything to distract me from the overwhelming urge to sink inside myself and hide away.

But I had to pull it together. I’d felt thisway before performing with Bindi andthe other Lionesses, in front of a packed rink, my ex-boyfriend and Finn. And the second that was over I wanted to do it again.

Bef ore I could even wonder if hewas here, with the others, the lights went out. Aspen appeared from thin air, waiting to open the gate for us all to skate out.I stood up straight, gently closing myeyes as I breathed in, holding the air inmy lungs for one second, two, before I heard the gate click. My eyes opened slowly, and without another thought, I stepped onto the ice, leading the line behind me until I was on my mark, looking out onto a crowd I couldn’t see thanks to the spotlights.

Something about that made me relax,until my eyes drifted down to the judge'stable, their eyes scanning us. But all I did was smile.

No going back now.

My heart thumped as the opening notes of the music filled the rink. Junie andfew of the others began to whirl around the cardboard Munchkin Land, bobbing up and down in time with the notes. I stayed hidden, behind a cardboard fence, watching them nail every move.

After a while, the music shifted, gentleand familiar, the first notes of Somewhere Over the Rainbow swelling through the speakers.Something inside me unlocked, and Imoved thoughtlessly to the centre of therink. The first few moves were simple arm stretches, single turns and character, but when the lyrics came, I began to move. And to my surprise, the routine flowed through me effortlessly—like I’d had it memorised for years.

With my arms reaching gracefully aboveme, I slowed into my turn, the cool airbrushing against my face as I crossed over, gliding with a fluidity I hadn’t felt in what felt like forever. The first axel came—one swift, practised motion. I tucked my arms, feeling the rush of air as I was suspended in time, weightless, and then the soft thud of landing smoothly.

Perfectly.

The distant applause felt muffled in myears, as though I’d plugged them before stepping out here.

Next came the toe-loop that I’d hadnightmares over. But I breathed, and replayed what Aspen had whispered to me before the show started.

Believe in yourself. Like you used to.

I trusted my instincts as I dug my toe-pick into the ice, not thinking when Icommitted to do a double loop instead of the single as we’d rehearsed. But when the roar of the crowd hit me, clearer this time, and I realised I was still skating, and not sprawled across the ice, I knew I did it.

I landed a double.

From there on out it was pure pride thatmoved me, ebbing through my body,to my stretched fingertips as I spun and the tips of my skates as I leapt. I’d forgotten all about the judges. They were out of my mind entirely. Because I wasn’t skating for them. I was doing this for myself. I was doing this to be happy again.

Remembering that made a smile beamacross my mouth, and I lifted my legand glided into one final spin, tucking every part of myself in tighter to spin as fast as I could. I held my breath as I released everything, eventually slowing down and moving backwards to meet the rest of the skaters, the multicoloured lights blinding me as the finale soared.

The routine ended in a flurry of spins andjumps, and as the music faded, the rink erupted into applause. My cheeks blushed, from what I wasn’t sure. My heaving chest was probably one reason, but most of it came from the warmth of the crowd's cheers and the smile stuck on my face.

I skated off the ice as the noise dieddown, breathless but still grinning. It didn’ttake long for the room to become a rush of little laughs and giggles and gossiping about what went well and what didn’t.After a gulp of water, I slipped my bladeguards over my skates, my breaths finally steadying. The adrenaline buzzed in my veins, but I needed to see them—to hear what they thought. I headed toward the stands, scanning the crowd, when—

“Rory!”

I turned, and there they were. Goldie,Cora, and Daisy, practically glowing asthey waved me over. Something in my chest twisted, and before I could stop it, my eyes prickled with a familiar sting. Maybe it was the adrenaline, or the sheer weight of the last four minutes replaying in my head. Or maybe it was just the sight of them, my friends, smiling like I’d just won gold at the Olympics.

They ran over, throwing their arms around me all at once, and I let out a laughthat was half a sob. Their warmth pressed into me, grounding me in reality.

When they finally pulled back, I wiped at my face and smoothed my skirt,trying to shake off the wave of emotion. “Was it okay?”

“ Okay?” Goldie stared at me like I’dgrown a second head. “Rory, it was incredible.”

“Those jumps…” Daisy shook her head,her grin widening and curls bouncing. “Are you even human?”

Cora gave a dramatic sigh. “I couldn’t blink. Literally. My eyes hurt.”

“And I think I’ve been playing the wrongice sport, because that looked fun.” Jesse chimed in, stepping forward from the shadows and towering over the moment. “Although I’m not sure Burton would appreciate it if I was leaping after scoring.”

I let a giggle slip as he embraced me, hislong arms curling around my back, before he let go, and I saw Tristan appear by Goldie’s side.

“Rory you were incredible.” He said,taking me in a hug like Jesse, before settling beside his girlfriend.

The silence settled long enough for me tonotice he wasn’t here, but before my mind could even let his name trickle into my thoughts, I saw him.

He was weaving his way through thecrowd, his friends parting instinctively tolet him through. He looked a little windswept—dishevelled in a way that somehow worked for him—and the boyish grin on his face made my stomach flip more than it had when I landed my double.

But it was the flowers that undid me. Asimple bouquet of pink roses and baby’s breath, wrapped in brown paper, cradled in his hands like they were made from glass.

He stepped closer, his gaze soft, theusual edge in his voice absent when hesaid, “Hi.”

I f elt my cheeks start to burn. “Hi.”

Behind me, I heard Goldie clear herthroat dramatically. “Wow, I could reallygo for some popcorn right now. Anyone else?”

“Definitely,” Cora said as she nudged Daisy.

“But there’s still some left,” Tristan started,lifting the half-full tub in his hand.

“Nope, we need fresh popcorn,” Goldieinsisted, tugging him along. “We’ll meet you outside, Ror.”

“Yeah, c’mon, Jess,” Daisy said,grabbing his sleeve. “Let’s find some Twizzlers orsomething.”

Jess glanced back at me and Finn, hisbrow quirking slightly before followingher.

And then it was just us.

Finn stepped closer, his gaze flicking tothe bouquet before landing back on me. “These are for you,” he said, holding them out.

It was odd how for the better part of tonight I'd been wondering whether he’d be in the crowd,and now that I knew he’d been here, that he was stood right in front of me, all I wanted to do was hide away. It felt juvenile in a way that I wanted to hold on to.

I lifted my head and met his stare, andsomehow his smile was in his eyes too.Like he knew I was close to melting.

“They’re beautiful,” I whispered, takingthe flowers from his arms. “Thank you… for being here.”

He pulled his head back, blowing a laughthrough his nose. “You say that like itwasn’t the only place I wanted to be tonigh t.” He took a step closer. “And you were amazing. I can’t believe a month ago was your first time back on the ice. Because…” His words faltered, as though they were a tumbling tower on the tip of his tongue. I’d say he was nervous, but I was sure that was an emotion Finn Rhodes had never felt before. But saying that, his eyes scanned the floor in a way that almost convinced me I was wrong.

He lifted his head, the spotlights hitting the edges of his blonde strands. “Because that was breathtaking, Aurora.”

I never wanted anyone else to say myname ever again. Only him. My namewas for him and his mouth only as of this moment.

My smile quirked, those nervous fluttersthat only seemed to take flight around him flapping in my stomach. “Not too bad for Bambi, right?”

He grunted a laugh. “We’ll see aboutthat. But now that I know you’re doing these incredibly dangerous manoeuvres, I’m demanding extra ice time with you. I won't take no for an answer.”

That mouth of his was a weapon tonight.A lethal thing when coupled with the seductive twang that could undo me with a few words.

And those words hit my ears again.

Ice time. With him .

“You want to help me?”

He nodded. “I know you don’ttechnically need it but…” His eyes sparkled as he shrugged. “When I was at the rink with you it was the first time in a long time where I was skating and didn’t feel pressured to be the best version of myself. I was just me.” His smirk tugged higher. “That is if you want to.”

I spoke without thinking. “I’d love to.” Iglanced around at the chaos for a moment, when I caught sight of the judges packing up their table, before a thought wandered into my head and I turned back to Finn. “Although I might not even need ice time, depending on what the judges think of my ability to not fall on my ass and my impeccable method acting.”

We both laughed, our cold breathsmingling in the space between us. Until Finnknocked his head to the side. “Well if they’ve got eyes then I’m sure they’ll make the right decision. And if not, me, Jess and Tristan might have to meet then in the parking lot.”

My mouth gaped as that boyish laughleft his mouth and he hunched over. “Finn Rhodes, I will not allow such a thing.”

He lifted his hands in a ‘ what ya gonnado about it ’ kind of way, before smiling down at me. “Gotta fight for the lady.”

I didn't know why the thought of Finnfighting for me was as arousing as it was. Ormaybe I did know, but didn't want to think about it when he was standing right in front of me and could probably see the drool hanging from my mouth—

“Aurora?”

Aspen’s voice pulled me out of the slow-motion montage of Finn with his shirtoff, his oiled-up chest glistening in the sunset.

A hopeless romantic can dream, can she not?

I turned around to face her, herexpression unreadable. “Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone?”

Yeah, because that sounds promising.

But I nodded back at her, my head feeling like a bobble doll. “Sure.” I turnedback around to Finn. “I’ll meet you and the others outside in a minute.”

He nodded down at me, probably seeingthe worry in my eyes. “Okay.”

And before I could wonder what he was doing, he leaned down and pulled me into his chest. My breath caught as I realised what was happening. His hands slipped around my shoulders, cradling me into his chest. My soul felt as though he'd struck a match against it. We didn't hug. We weren't even supposed to that day when he helped clear the house. My God, we didn't even sit close when we studied.

So to say I was in a slight state of shock would be an appropriate reason as to why it took so long for me to settle into his hold.

But just when I was figuring out all the ways that this hug felt lightyears better than the last, he let go, his hand trailling down my arm, leaving goosebumps in their path, before he sank into the crowds that were hovering.

He hugged you, Aurora. He didn’tdeclare his undying love for you. Calm down.

I had to close my eyes for a second, suppressing all those feelings to make way for the nervous ones when I turned around and found Aspen again. Quick as anything, she came over to me, pulling me to the edge of the rink before slipping a folded piece of paper out of her back pocket."For you."

I e yed the paper for a second beforeplucking it from her. It felt like theheaviest piece of paper I’d ever had in my hands, and I wasn’t sure whether that was a good sign or a bad one. Regardless, I sucked in a breath, drowning out the noise around us and unfolded the page. I was met with grids and numbers and words I didn’t know the meaning of. My eyes scanned frantically, my heartbeat picking up with every unknown word.

Until I read the results at the very bottomof the page.

I felt the world fall off its axis when Iread—

Saint merde. 1

“I got a junior pass.”

I looked up at Aspen, her unreadablelook from before switched for a smile, one that told me she probably knew I'd passed before I did.

I looked back down to the sheet again.

Junior Pass.

My chest began to heave, the questionsstacking up in my mind so fast that I didn’tknow which one to start with.

My eyes met Aspens again. “What…”The shakes in my voice were too intense. “What does that—”

“It means you can compete.” I felt myeyes widen. “A junior pass is what skaters need to compete. If you want to.”

The room spun for a moment. “Compete,” I repeated, my mouth doingits own thing. “Like, seriously compete? As in costumes and privates and—”

“Regionals.” Aspen ’s head bobbed to theside, her face quirking. “And then sectionals, and then Olympic tryouts, and before you know it you’ll be a Team USA champion.”

Oh God. Was I ready for that?

“So…” I cleared my head for a moment,trying to make sense of all this. “Whatwould that mean? If I wanted to compete?”

Aspen’s stare felt like a hug, groundingme for what felt like the moment I’d be let down. “It would mean commitment, Rory. To training, to technique, to everything about this place. About this world.”

I let her words settle.

Committment.

I didn't know why the word scared me. Iof all people didn’t suffer from commitment issues. If anything I was too committed. Tell me I looked nice and I'd send you a birthday card every year. Tip me well and hey presto, you've just earned complimentary muffins every time you come into Flo’s.

But this? It was bigger than that. It was alifestyle change. A mindset change.

I shook my head as I let myself sink intoher emerald stare. “Aspen, I can’t just do this. I’d have to drop everything.”

“You’d have to drop out,” she saidmatter-of-factly.

Something dropped in my heart as shesaid that, although I didn’t know whetherthe way it began to sink was because dropping out wasn’t what I wanted, or whether admitting that it was what I wanted felt too real to even think about.

“I can’t do that.” My voice cracked as I looked everywhere but at her. “I’d lose everything—my friends, my life…” Finn .

Eve rything that’s been keeping me from drowning since being back.

Aspen’s face softened, but she didn’tback down. “I’d be very surprised if dropping out was all it took for those people, who were screaming you’re name through that entire performance, to forget you.” Her hand reached behind my head, smoothing out the frizz.

“I can’t afford everything,” I argued, thewords tumbling out in a rush. “New skates, costumes, ice time—it’s too much.”

“Think about it,” Aspen said gently.“Sleep on it, breathe, and take some time to really ask yourself if it's what you want about it.”

After a moment of staring, I nodded upat her, but my mind was already spinning into oblivion.

But for some reason, existing at the bottom felt like the only place I wanted to be to decide whether I wanted this.

1. Holy shit.