Post by veronasage on Mar 23, 2006 20:44:14 GMT -5
Authors Note: Ok folks. You wanted it, well here it is. Thank you thank you thank you for all the lovely reviews. Enjoy chapter 5!
Chapter 5
“Apolo! They told me I’d find you here. I’ve missed you.” She came towards me and gave me a hug. Not now not now not now…
“Allison what are you doing here?” I tried my best to untangle myself from her embrace, I could see Danni out of the corner of my eye just staring.
“I wanted to see you. I flew out from home as soon as I could. Plus coach wanted me to come back and start training again for championships.” She then noticed Danni. “Oh, who’s this?”
“Uh Allison this is Danni, Danni Allison.” They shook hands and did the standard hello’s.
“So you’re Allison. Apolo has told me so much about you.” What I did not. What is she doing to me.
“Oh has he.” Allison smiled up at me and I gave her a grin. I then looked at Danni with a questioning look in my eyes. “I’ve never seen you around. Are you a friend here visiting Apolo from back home in Seattle?” I saw Danni’s right eye brow rise up at the question.
“No. I’m here for training.”
“Training? Oh, you must be the newest addition to the training center. What sport are you training for?”
“Short track.” I could feel Allison grow tense. She always told me that she was a bit afraid of younger up and coming skaters. Especially at the age Allison was trying to race at. She’d be 26 by the time Torino came around. Allison gave a nervous laugh and proceeded to put her arm around my waist. Why was she doing this, I really hope she didn’t get the wrong idea about where our relationship was headed. I could see Danni staring intently at Allison’s current position on my waist. I had never felt more uncomfortable in my life. “I guess you’ll be training with me then?”
“I guess I will be.” Was that jealousy in her voice?
“Which hall are you staying in?” Here it comes. Don’t answer Danni, please don’t answer.
“I’m not staying in a hall. I’m staying with Apolo.” My jaw dropped. Did she really just do that to me. “Well… I’ll leave you two alone now. I’ll see you back at home, roomie!” She stalked off with a smirk on her face leaving me with a shocked Allison.
“Is it true Apolo? Is she staying with you?” Why was she all over me? That’s about when common sense stated kicking in, think about it Apolo… you guys went out to dinner, hung out what else can she assume. Like you said, she’s a nice girl, cute too. If it were possible I would kick my own butt.
“I don’t know why it would matter. She’s a friend, nothing more.” But you want it to be more, that’s the danger about being around Danni.
“Apolo, I don’t know if I feel comfortable with her living with you.”
“Allison chill out. Since when did you care who I hung around with.” I didn’t mean for that to come out so harshly. I could see the hurt in Allison’s eyes, but I really didn’t have the emotional energy to try and comfort her. “Hey…I’m glad your back. Now that you’re here things can go back to the way they were yeah?” I started walking back to the table when I heard Allison say something under her breath.
“I think it’s already changed.” I didn’t want to admit it to her, but it really did. I turned back around to find her with a look of sadness. I instantly felt bad and proceeded to offer my arm.
“You coming?” She looked up and nodded her head wrapping her arm around mine.
Later in the evening…
“Are you sure you guys aren’t going out? Because if you aren’t I don’t think she knows it yet.” Danni came out of the bathroom dressed in her pajamas and sat down on the couch bed, turning on the television just in time for Conan O’Brien. I sighed as I landed next to her with nothing but a tank top and sweat pants.
“We never kissed, I never held her hand, I thought it was a mutual friendship. Guess she though differently.”
“Looked that way.” There was that tone again.
“Are you jealous?”
“Me…hah…no.” Lies, lies.
“Sure.”
“Why would I be jealous? I mean I’m the one that said to you I didn’t want anything to get started between us. She just rubbed me the wrong way is all.”
“Please, Allison wouldn’t hurt a fly. She’s really nice.” Danni looked at me out of the corner of her eye.
“No one is that nice.” I decided to change the subject.
“So your dad found out that you didn’t go to Korea.”
“Yeah.” She sighed loudly and turned off the T.V. “He found out alright.”
“And…”
“In short… he was pissed.”
“Does he know that you’re here?”
“No, but I’m sure it won’t take him long to find out. Give him a couple weeks, months, he’ll find me.” I began to worry, she made it almost seem like he was going to hunt her down.
“What do you think he’ll do if he ever found you here?”
“I don’t really want to know. But one thing I know for sure, he would kick your ass.”
“I disagree? What did I ever to do to him?”
“Not what you did to him Apolo. What you did at Salt Lake.”
“Geez, your dad too? What do I have to do? It wasn’t my fault. I did what any good skater would’ve done.”
“I know that. It’s just the rest of Korea doesn’t.” Well now that’s comforting to know. “Whatever… I really don’t want to worry about my dad right now. I’ll deal with him when he comes around. I assume your relationship with your dad is still going strong.” Thoughts of my dad always brought a smile to my face. Where would I be without him?
“Yeah. My dad is great. We never used to be close. I was a little brat growing up. It amazes me how my dad was able to put up with all the crap I pulled.”
“Why? What did you do?”
“I was hanging around the wrong crowd. I was doing things that I shouldn’t have been. I’ll even admit I actually experimented with various drugs.”
“Wow…”
“But looking back on it…its like, why did I do that? It just isn’t worth it. I would’ve ended up no where going down that road. It was tough though, to get over it all. But he pulled me through. Set me straight.”
“It must be nice, being close with your dad.” I could see the sadness in her, “Ever hear from your mom?”
“No. Not since she left. I don’t even know what she looks like. I was so young. What about your mom?”
“My mom? She barely knows who I am.” I grew puzzled at this statement but I didn’t want to meddle into something she was so obviously uncomfortable talking about. “Life is hard.” I laughed.
“Compared to what?” She looked at me dumbfounded unable to find the answer to the question. Gets people every time.
“You’re right.” Danni fell back on the bed and snuggled into the blankets and pillows that surrounded her.
“With all I’ve been through I’d like to believe that God or fate or whatever only gives me as much as I can handle in my life.” She slowly smiled and looked up at me.
“I only wish that he or it or whatever didn’t trust me so much.” Don’t we all… “You better get to bed. You look beat.”
“Yeah.” I was just about to get off the bed when I felt Danni’s hand on my shoulder. I turned around only to find her giving me a kiss on the cheek.
“Goodnight.” She said as she lay back down and closed her eyes. Her lips were so soft, my cheek was still tingling from the sensations of her kiss. She was going to be the death of me.
And so it was. Danni continued to train and skate everyday with me and three quite uneventful weeks passed by. She and I grew close but never close enough. I felt like I had known her for an eternity since I met her a few weeks ago. The kiss on the cheek every night before bed was a regular occurrence. A moment with her that I cherished, even though I knew that Danni and I wouldn’t be anything, somewhere in the back of my mind I still had hope. That maybe one day… Allison and I on the other heard slowly grew apart. We didn’t hang out as much as we used to but we still talked.
It was like any other day on the ice except this time the whole entire team was there, both women and men. We were all taking laps around the ice when my coach blew his whistle and told us to stop. We all made our way up to him when he looked at me.
“Apolo?”
“Yeah Coach?”
“She’s still here.” I tried to suppress a grin on my face. “What’s it been? Three, four weeks since I turned her away, and she’s still here.”
“Who are you talking about Coach?” Coach pointed to Danni who was sitting in the bleachers. The rest of the teams heads were bouncing back and forth from looking at me, Coach, and Danni.
“Oh her. Yeah… looks to me she’s still here.” A look of determination came into his eyes.
“Alright that’s it. Hey you!” He shouted across the ice to get Danni’s attention. Danni looked up and slowly scanned the area around her to see if anyone else was sitting near her. She looked back at my coach and pointed at herself. “Yeah you. Come down here.” She jumped from her seat and ran around the rink towards us. I couldn’t help but smile. This is it.
“I’ve seen you skate once before, you think you improved any with all the training you’ve been doing?” There it was…her million dollar smile and that fire.
“Yes sir.”
“Well then show me what you can do.”
“What?”
“I said, get on some skates and show me what you can do. Let’s see how you can hold to some of my girls.” The next thing I knew Danni was on the ground putting on her skates. The girls on the team didn’t seem too worried but I knew that Danni would be able to beat them.
It wasn’t long before all the girls were lined up and everyone else was in the heatbox. I could see Danni smile at me and I gave her a thumbs up. I could hear Shani sigh behind me. “Not today Shani.” It was then my coach yelled go, they were going to race a 1,000m.
All the girls were fighting for a good position while Danni was in dead last. Allison was leading the race pretty well when about nine laps in I could see Danni make a move. She passed all of, she passed every single skater from the outside and it didn’t seem like she was going to slow down. It wasn’t long until everybody stood in disbelief watching Danni actually lap Allison who was second. I knew she was really good, but that was just amazing. The race ended and I looked up at my coach to find his jaw hanging open. “Um, if I’m correct coach… Danni just lapped Allison, Allison who is the third ranked skater in the U.S. And judging by the time on your clock, she just beat the fastest time of the South Korean skaters.” Coach continued to watch Danni glide on the ice and nodded his head.
“We need to get her ready for championships. Alright folks shows over, time to hit the gym.” The arena started to empty and Danni was still in the middle of the ice completely out of breath. I slowly made my way towards her as she looked up.
“Well…” I put both of my hands on her shoulders to prepare her for the good news.
“You’re in.” She seemed star struck.
“I’m in?”
“You’re in.”
“I’m in? I’m in. I’m in!!” She started jumping around and threw herself into my arms and would you believe it, she gave me a kiss on the lips.
Ok, ok, not a kiss, more like a peck on the lips that lasted maybe .2 seconds. I didn’t really have time to recover from it because the next thing I knew she was running out of the arena screaming at the top of her lungs saying that she needed to train even harder. So there I was, standing in the middle of the ice alone with my fingers on my lips.
Apolo don’t overanalyze. That meant absolutely nothing, you can’t even call that anything. It was nothing, nothing. I didn’t know whether to laugh out of joy from getting a peck or to cry for knowing that I may never get anything more than that.
Whatever it was, it was a lovely .2 seconds.
Authors Note: So? You still enjoying it? Hope so. Don't forget to leave feedback por favor!
Chapter 5
“Apolo! They told me I’d find you here. I’ve missed you.” She came towards me and gave me a hug. Not now not now not now…
“Allison what are you doing here?” I tried my best to untangle myself from her embrace, I could see Danni out of the corner of my eye just staring.
“I wanted to see you. I flew out from home as soon as I could. Plus coach wanted me to come back and start training again for championships.” She then noticed Danni. “Oh, who’s this?”
“Uh Allison this is Danni, Danni Allison.” They shook hands and did the standard hello’s.
“So you’re Allison. Apolo has told me so much about you.” What I did not. What is she doing to me.
“Oh has he.” Allison smiled up at me and I gave her a grin. I then looked at Danni with a questioning look in my eyes. “I’ve never seen you around. Are you a friend here visiting Apolo from back home in Seattle?” I saw Danni’s right eye brow rise up at the question.
“No. I’m here for training.”
“Training? Oh, you must be the newest addition to the training center. What sport are you training for?”
“Short track.” I could feel Allison grow tense. She always told me that she was a bit afraid of younger up and coming skaters. Especially at the age Allison was trying to race at. She’d be 26 by the time Torino came around. Allison gave a nervous laugh and proceeded to put her arm around my waist. Why was she doing this, I really hope she didn’t get the wrong idea about where our relationship was headed. I could see Danni staring intently at Allison’s current position on my waist. I had never felt more uncomfortable in my life. “I guess you’ll be training with me then?”
“I guess I will be.” Was that jealousy in her voice?
“Which hall are you staying in?” Here it comes. Don’t answer Danni, please don’t answer.
“I’m not staying in a hall. I’m staying with Apolo.” My jaw dropped. Did she really just do that to me. “Well… I’ll leave you two alone now. I’ll see you back at home, roomie!” She stalked off with a smirk on her face leaving me with a shocked Allison.
“Is it true Apolo? Is she staying with you?” Why was she all over me? That’s about when common sense stated kicking in, think about it Apolo… you guys went out to dinner, hung out what else can she assume. Like you said, she’s a nice girl, cute too. If it were possible I would kick my own butt.
“I don’t know why it would matter. She’s a friend, nothing more.” But you want it to be more, that’s the danger about being around Danni.
“Apolo, I don’t know if I feel comfortable with her living with you.”
“Allison chill out. Since when did you care who I hung around with.” I didn’t mean for that to come out so harshly. I could see the hurt in Allison’s eyes, but I really didn’t have the emotional energy to try and comfort her. “Hey…I’m glad your back. Now that you’re here things can go back to the way they were yeah?” I started walking back to the table when I heard Allison say something under her breath.
“I think it’s already changed.” I didn’t want to admit it to her, but it really did. I turned back around to find her with a look of sadness. I instantly felt bad and proceeded to offer my arm.
“You coming?” She looked up and nodded her head wrapping her arm around mine.
Later in the evening…
“Are you sure you guys aren’t going out? Because if you aren’t I don’t think she knows it yet.” Danni came out of the bathroom dressed in her pajamas and sat down on the couch bed, turning on the television just in time for Conan O’Brien. I sighed as I landed next to her with nothing but a tank top and sweat pants.
“We never kissed, I never held her hand, I thought it was a mutual friendship. Guess she though differently.”
“Looked that way.” There was that tone again.
“Are you jealous?”
“Me…hah…no.” Lies, lies.
“Sure.”
“Why would I be jealous? I mean I’m the one that said to you I didn’t want anything to get started between us. She just rubbed me the wrong way is all.”
“Please, Allison wouldn’t hurt a fly. She’s really nice.” Danni looked at me out of the corner of her eye.
“No one is that nice.” I decided to change the subject.
“So your dad found out that you didn’t go to Korea.”
“Yeah.” She sighed loudly and turned off the T.V. “He found out alright.”
“And…”
“In short… he was pissed.”
“Does he know that you’re here?”
“No, but I’m sure it won’t take him long to find out. Give him a couple weeks, months, he’ll find me.” I began to worry, she made it almost seem like he was going to hunt her down.
“What do you think he’ll do if he ever found you here?”
“I don’t really want to know. But one thing I know for sure, he would kick your ass.”
“I disagree? What did I ever to do to him?”
“Not what you did to him Apolo. What you did at Salt Lake.”
“Geez, your dad too? What do I have to do? It wasn’t my fault. I did what any good skater would’ve done.”
“I know that. It’s just the rest of Korea doesn’t.” Well now that’s comforting to know. “Whatever… I really don’t want to worry about my dad right now. I’ll deal with him when he comes around. I assume your relationship with your dad is still going strong.” Thoughts of my dad always brought a smile to my face. Where would I be without him?
“Yeah. My dad is great. We never used to be close. I was a little brat growing up. It amazes me how my dad was able to put up with all the crap I pulled.”
“Why? What did you do?”
“I was hanging around the wrong crowd. I was doing things that I shouldn’t have been. I’ll even admit I actually experimented with various drugs.”
“Wow…”
“But looking back on it…its like, why did I do that? It just isn’t worth it. I would’ve ended up no where going down that road. It was tough though, to get over it all. But he pulled me through. Set me straight.”
“It must be nice, being close with your dad.” I could see the sadness in her, “Ever hear from your mom?”
“No. Not since she left. I don’t even know what she looks like. I was so young. What about your mom?”
“My mom? She barely knows who I am.” I grew puzzled at this statement but I didn’t want to meddle into something she was so obviously uncomfortable talking about. “Life is hard.” I laughed.
“Compared to what?” She looked at me dumbfounded unable to find the answer to the question. Gets people every time.
“You’re right.” Danni fell back on the bed and snuggled into the blankets and pillows that surrounded her.
“With all I’ve been through I’d like to believe that God or fate or whatever only gives me as much as I can handle in my life.” She slowly smiled and looked up at me.
“I only wish that he or it or whatever didn’t trust me so much.” Don’t we all… “You better get to bed. You look beat.”
“Yeah.” I was just about to get off the bed when I felt Danni’s hand on my shoulder. I turned around only to find her giving me a kiss on the cheek.
“Goodnight.” She said as she lay back down and closed her eyes. Her lips were so soft, my cheek was still tingling from the sensations of her kiss. She was going to be the death of me.
And so it was. Danni continued to train and skate everyday with me and three quite uneventful weeks passed by. She and I grew close but never close enough. I felt like I had known her for an eternity since I met her a few weeks ago. The kiss on the cheek every night before bed was a regular occurrence. A moment with her that I cherished, even though I knew that Danni and I wouldn’t be anything, somewhere in the back of my mind I still had hope. That maybe one day… Allison and I on the other heard slowly grew apart. We didn’t hang out as much as we used to but we still talked.
It was like any other day on the ice except this time the whole entire team was there, both women and men. We were all taking laps around the ice when my coach blew his whistle and told us to stop. We all made our way up to him when he looked at me.
“Apolo?”
“Yeah Coach?”
“She’s still here.” I tried to suppress a grin on my face. “What’s it been? Three, four weeks since I turned her away, and she’s still here.”
“Who are you talking about Coach?” Coach pointed to Danni who was sitting in the bleachers. The rest of the teams heads were bouncing back and forth from looking at me, Coach, and Danni.
“Oh her. Yeah… looks to me she’s still here.” A look of determination came into his eyes.
“Alright that’s it. Hey you!” He shouted across the ice to get Danni’s attention. Danni looked up and slowly scanned the area around her to see if anyone else was sitting near her. She looked back at my coach and pointed at herself. “Yeah you. Come down here.” She jumped from her seat and ran around the rink towards us. I couldn’t help but smile. This is it.
“I’ve seen you skate once before, you think you improved any with all the training you’ve been doing?” There it was…her million dollar smile and that fire.
“Yes sir.”
“Well then show me what you can do.”
“What?”
“I said, get on some skates and show me what you can do. Let’s see how you can hold to some of my girls.” The next thing I knew Danni was on the ground putting on her skates. The girls on the team didn’t seem too worried but I knew that Danni would be able to beat them.
It wasn’t long before all the girls were lined up and everyone else was in the heatbox. I could see Danni smile at me and I gave her a thumbs up. I could hear Shani sigh behind me. “Not today Shani.” It was then my coach yelled go, they were going to race a 1,000m.
All the girls were fighting for a good position while Danni was in dead last. Allison was leading the race pretty well when about nine laps in I could see Danni make a move. She passed all of, she passed every single skater from the outside and it didn’t seem like she was going to slow down. It wasn’t long until everybody stood in disbelief watching Danni actually lap Allison who was second. I knew she was really good, but that was just amazing. The race ended and I looked up at my coach to find his jaw hanging open. “Um, if I’m correct coach… Danni just lapped Allison, Allison who is the third ranked skater in the U.S. And judging by the time on your clock, she just beat the fastest time of the South Korean skaters.” Coach continued to watch Danni glide on the ice and nodded his head.
“We need to get her ready for championships. Alright folks shows over, time to hit the gym.” The arena started to empty and Danni was still in the middle of the ice completely out of breath. I slowly made my way towards her as she looked up.
“Well…” I put both of my hands on her shoulders to prepare her for the good news.
“You’re in.” She seemed star struck.
“I’m in?”
“You’re in.”
“I’m in? I’m in. I’m in!!” She started jumping around and threw herself into my arms and would you believe it, she gave me a kiss on the lips.
Ok, ok, not a kiss, more like a peck on the lips that lasted maybe .2 seconds. I didn’t really have time to recover from it because the next thing I knew she was running out of the arena screaming at the top of her lungs saying that she needed to train even harder. So there I was, standing in the middle of the ice alone with my fingers on my lips.
Apolo don’t overanalyze. That meant absolutely nothing, you can’t even call that anything. It was nothing, nothing. I didn’t know whether to laugh out of joy from getting a peck or to cry for knowing that I may never get anything more than that.
Whatever it was, it was a lovely .2 seconds.
Authors Note: So? You still enjoying it? Hope so. Don't forget to leave feedback por favor!
