Post by veronasage on Mar 20, 2006 21:24:10 GMT -5
Authors Note: Thank you again to all those who have been leaving feedback. If it weren't for the reviews I'm sure I would have stopped writing this story. So I shall continue on with your support, after all it is you the reader who gives me the inspiration to continue. Hope you like ch. 3
Chapter 3
The next morning I woke up to find the couch bed empty. Danni was gone. Of course I tried to figure out a logical explanation to the disappearance seeing as her things were still scattered around the living room. I figured she went out to find something to eat so I decided to get an early start on the ice before practice started. As soon as I entered the arena I saw a lone figure on the ice. It was Danni. In that instant when I laid my eyes on her I immediately remembered what it felt like when her arms embraced me last night. I could remember the smell of her hair, something sweet, something beautiful, something distinctly Danni. I was entering dangerous territory. I shouldn’t be feeling these emotions, I’m in training mode, the Olympics are coming, I have to focus. I watched her for a while gliding across the ice and realized… she was good. I had never before seen any female skater turn at the steep degree that Danni was turning. She came to a stop at the other end of the rink, back turned to me, trying to catch her breath. I slowly made my way on to the ice and crept up behind her. I put my hand on her hips and whispered boo. She then threw her hands up in the air and nearly slipped and fell trying to turn her body around. We both found each other in a very compromising position. I had my arms around her successfully pinning her against the plastic panels that surrounded the rink in fear of letting her land on the ice. She was breathing fast as I looked down to see her head against my chest. Thoughts began rushing through my head. Why did you do that Apolo you nearly scared her half to death, why does she feel so good in my arms? Why am I feeling these feelings?
She slowly looked up and put her hands on my chest. She was so close, yet so far. She then moved her hands down the length of my arms and untangled herself from my grip. Her touch was irresistible but the feeling ended too soon as she pushed me away and I slowly glided backwards on the ice. An uncomfortable silence settled in as we both just stared at each other. What was I supposed to say…
“Trying to kill me Ohno?” She giggled a bit and looked away looking horribly uncomfortable.
“Sorry, I didn’t think it would scare you that badly.” I swept my hand through my hair trying shake the feeling of her touch. “So… you weren’t lying.” She gave me a questioning look as she pushed herself off the wall. “You are good.” She gave me one of her million dollar smiles and skated past me.
“I guess I’m okay.” I rolled my eyes and skated after her the uncomfortable silence slowly ebbing away.
“Better than okay.”
“You think?” She continued to skate at a slow pace when I grabbed her hand and made her stop.
“I know.” She looked down at our interlocked hands and immediately pulled away. She shrugged her shoulders and made her way to the exit. Stop screwing around Apolo.
She stepped off the ice and looked at me. “Skating is my priority Apolo. I asked for your help in getting there not to get in my way.” I was hurt. I looked down at my hands and tensed as she stared straight at me. I knew that. Skating is my priority too but these feelings…these feelings. “Plus… last I heard you already had that special someone in your life.” I looked up as she sat on the bench taking off her skates.
“And who might that be? I hear a lot of things about my own personal life floating around. It’s hard to keep track of who I’m with.” If looks could kill, I would’ve died at that moment. I was only trying to lighten the mood.
“Allison Baver. Ring a bell?” I nearly lost my balance as I heard Allison’s name roll off Danni’s tongue. She continued to stare intently as I caught my breath.
“We’re close. But…” I was at a loss for words. Danni’s voice brought me back out of my own thoughts.
“But what?”
“We’re just friends.” She gave me a skeptical look and continued to untie her laces. Allison and I were close but we never really agreed on anything official. She was nice enough, we had fun together, we went out, but I never once got the same rush of emotions with Allison as I did with Danni.
Then suddenly the team started streaming into the arena. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Danni make her way towards the bleachers so she could watch the team practice. Then my coach caught my attention.
“Apolo. Getting an early start I see. Championships are just around the corner. You ready?” I glanced at him and slightly nodded my head. It was not going to be a very good practice.
I was dragging a large blue training matt by a black strap around the rink when my coach called me over. I handed the strap to Rusty and I went towards my coach.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked when I noticed my coach was not looking at me but staring intently at Danni who was now sitting in the bleachers. Here it comes…
“Apolo? What is she still doing here?”
“Who?” He nodded towards Danni and then looked at me.
“That girl from the other day. I thought I sent her away.”
“Oh her. Yea, you did send her away.”
“Then why…?”
“She didn’t listen.” I licked my lips and adjusted the helmet on my head. He then gave me one of his ‘no kidding captain obvious’ looks.
“There isn’t a hotel around the training center. Where did she stay?” I merely shook my head and started to skate back out on the ice.
“You shouldn’t be thinking about where she stayed last night. What you should be thinking about is why she’s still here after you blatantly told her no.” He gave me a questioning look and continued to stare at Danni. Before I could get away I heard his voice again.
“I also wanted to say.” I turned around to listen to what he had to say. “Where’s your head today Apolo?” Man… was I really that obvious? “Something going on that I should know about?” Going on… hah you’ll find out soon enough I’m sure.
“No. I’m okay, just didn’t get enough sleep I guess.” He nodded his head.
“Alright, then I guess you won’t mind if I finish today’s practice off with a race now do you?” He smiled contently as I sighed. I was not in the mood to race. The next thing I know me and all the boys are lined up at the starting line about to race 500 meters. I could hear my coach yell go and I launched myself off of the starting line. I was second behind Rusty, my fingertips grazed the ice as we went into a turn when I saw Danni out of the corner of my eye. I knew I had lost my focus and I tried to gain back my balance when my hand hit a block. I tripped and slipped out of control as J.P. ran into me. The next thing I knew I was sliding into the wall head first. I felt immediate pain in my head and my knees were aching.
“Apolo what was that!” I could hear my coach shouting across the rink as I slowly stood up with my hands on my knees.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? You nearly injured yourself and another skater because you lost your focus. I’ve never seen you do that.” I sighed and took off my helmet as I made my way across the ice.
“Whatever it is that’s bothering you Apolo… you better figure it out quick. Championships are coming up soon and you can’t skate like that. Apolo, do you understand? Apolo… Apolo?”
“God, what?!” I had snapped. “What do you want me to say? Sometimes I have good days and sometimes I have bad days. I get it, I had a crappy practice today alright. Get off my back I’ll do better tomorrow.” He gave me a disappointed look and walked away. The arena started to empty with the end of practice and I continued to sit at the bench. I took off my skates, helmet, and slowly unzipped my skin suit letting the cool air brush against my skin. I looked up to see if Danni would have waited for me but only found empty bleachers. I put my head and my hands and sighed. Focus, focus, skating is your priority. You don’t have time for girls right now. Think of her as your teammate. You have to win Apolo, if you want to be the best you have to keep your focus on the goal. It was then I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up.
“You okay?” I didn’t say anything, I just continued to look at her. She gave me a little grin and squeezed my shoulder, “Its okay… I still think you’re the best.” Well what do you know… she does care about you after all.
Authors Note: So?? What do you think of that? Hope it's living up to your expectations. Please leave feedback and I may just post Chapter 4 sooner than expected.
much love!
Chapter 3
The next morning I woke up to find the couch bed empty. Danni was gone. Of course I tried to figure out a logical explanation to the disappearance seeing as her things were still scattered around the living room. I figured she went out to find something to eat so I decided to get an early start on the ice before practice started. As soon as I entered the arena I saw a lone figure on the ice. It was Danni. In that instant when I laid my eyes on her I immediately remembered what it felt like when her arms embraced me last night. I could remember the smell of her hair, something sweet, something beautiful, something distinctly Danni. I was entering dangerous territory. I shouldn’t be feeling these emotions, I’m in training mode, the Olympics are coming, I have to focus. I watched her for a while gliding across the ice and realized… she was good. I had never before seen any female skater turn at the steep degree that Danni was turning. She came to a stop at the other end of the rink, back turned to me, trying to catch her breath. I slowly made my way on to the ice and crept up behind her. I put my hand on her hips and whispered boo. She then threw her hands up in the air and nearly slipped and fell trying to turn her body around. We both found each other in a very compromising position. I had my arms around her successfully pinning her against the plastic panels that surrounded the rink in fear of letting her land on the ice. She was breathing fast as I looked down to see her head against my chest. Thoughts began rushing through my head. Why did you do that Apolo you nearly scared her half to death, why does she feel so good in my arms? Why am I feeling these feelings?
She slowly looked up and put her hands on my chest. She was so close, yet so far. She then moved her hands down the length of my arms and untangled herself from my grip. Her touch was irresistible but the feeling ended too soon as she pushed me away and I slowly glided backwards on the ice. An uncomfortable silence settled in as we both just stared at each other. What was I supposed to say…
“Trying to kill me Ohno?” She giggled a bit and looked away looking horribly uncomfortable.
“Sorry, I didn’t think it would scare you that badly.” I swept my hand through my hair trying shake the feeling of her touch. “So… you weren’t lying.” She gave me a questioning look as she pushed herself off the wall. “You are good.” She gave me one of her million dollar smiles and skated past me.
“I guess I’m okay.” I rolled my eyes and skated after her the uncomfortable silence slowly ebbing away.
“Better than okay.”
“You think?” She continued to skate at a slow pace when I grabbed her hand and made her stop.
“I know.” She looked down at our interlocked hands and immediately pulled away. She shrugged her shoulders and made her way to the exit. Stop screwing around Apolo.
She stepped off the ice and looked at me. “Skating is my priority Apolo. I asked for your help in getting there not to get in my way.” I was hurt. I looked down at my hands and tensed as she stared straight at me. I knew that. Skating is my priority too but these feelings…these feelings. “Plus… last I heard you already had that special someone in your life.” I looked up as she sat on the bench taking off her skates.
“And who might that be? I hear a lot of things about my own personal life floating around. It’s hard to keep track of who I’m with.” If looks could kill, I would’ve died at that moment. I was only trying to lighten the mood.
“Allison Baver. Ring a bell?” I nearly lost my balance as I heard Allison’s name roll off Danni’s tongue. She continued to stare intently as I caught my breath.
“We’re close. But…” I was at a loss for words. Danni’s voice brought me back out of my own thoughts.
“But what?”
“We’re just friends.” She gave me a skeptical look and continued to untie her laces. Allison and I were close but we never really agreed on anything official. She was nice enough, we had fun together, we went out, but I never once got the same rush of emotions with Allison as I did with Danni.
Then suddenly the team started streaming into the arena. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Danni make her way towards the bleachers so she could watch the team practice. Then my coach caught my attention.
“Apolo. Getting an early start I see. Championships are just around the corner. You ready?” I glanced at him and slightly nodded my head. It was not going to be a very good practice.
I was dragging a large blue training matt by a black strap around the rink when my coach called me over. I handed the strap to Rusty and I went towards my coach.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked when I noticed my coach was not looking at me but staring intently at Danni who was now sitting in the bleachers. Here it comes…
“Apolo? What is she still doing here?”
“Who?” He nodded towards Danni and then looked at me.
“That girl from the other day. I thought I sent her away.”
“Oh her. Yea, you did send her away.”
“Then why…?”
“She didn’t listen.” I licked my lips and adjusted the helmet on my head. He then gave me one of his ‘no kidding captain obvious’ looks.
“There isn’t a hotel around the training center. Where did she stay?” I merely shook my head and started to skate back out on the ice.
“You shouldn’t be thinking about where she stayed last night. What you should be thinking about is why she’s still here after you blatantly told her no.” He gave me a questioning look and continued to stare at Danni. Before I could get away I heard his voice again.
“I also wanted to say.” I turned around to listen to what he had to say. “Where’s your head today Apolo?” Man… was I really that obvious? “Something going on that I should know about?” Going on… hah you’ll find out soon enough I’m sure.
“No. I’m okay, just didn’t get enough sleep I guess.” He nodded his head.
“Alright, then I guess you won’t mind if I finish today’s practice off with a race now do you?” He smiled contently as I sighed. I was not in the mood to race. The next thing I know me and all the boys are lined up at the starting line about to race 500 meters. I could hear my coach yell go and I launched myself off of the starting line. I was second behind Rusty, my fingertips grazed the ice as we went into a turn when I saw Danni out of the corner of my eye. I knew I had lost my focus and I tried to gain back my balance when my hand hit a block. I tripped and slipped out of control as J.P. ran into me. The next thing I knew I was sliding into the wall head first. I felt immediate pain in my head and my knees were aching.
“Apolo what was that!” I could hear my coach shouting across the rink as I slowly stood up with my hands on my knees.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? You nearly injured yourself and another skater because you lost your focus. I’ve never seen you do that.” I sighed and took off my helmet as I made my way across the ice.
“Whatever it is that’s bothering you Apolo… you better figure it out quick. Championships are coming up soon and you can’t skate like that. Apolo, do you understand? Apolo… Apolo?”
“God, what?!” I had snapped. “What do you want me to say? Sometimes I have good days and sometimes I have bad days. I get it, I had a crappy practice today alright. Get off my back I’ll do better tomorrow.” He gave me a disappointed look and walked away. The arena started to empty with the end of practice and I continued to sit at the bench. I took off my skates, helmet, and slowly unzipped my skin suit letting the cool air brush against my skin. I looked up to see if Danni would have waited for me but only found empty bleachers. I put my head and my hands and sighed. Focus, focus, skating is your priority. You don’t have time for girls right now. Think of her as your teammate. You have to win Apolo, if you want to be the best you have to keep your focus on the goal. It was then I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up.
“You okay?” I didn’t say anything, I just continued to look at her. She gave me a little grin and squeezed my shoulder, “Its okay… I still think you’re the best.” Well what do you know… she does care about you after all.
Authors Note: So?? What do you think of that? Hope it's living up to your expectations. Please leave feedback and I may just post Chapter 4 sooner than expected.
much love!
