"No, no, NO!" Harley screams from the other side of the skating rink. I stand hunched over with my hands braced against my knees, panting. I look up at him from my position.         

     "Amber!" he screams again when he decides I'm not paying attention. I annoyingly glare at him from the middle of the rink. "That was supposed to be a triple toe loop, triple Salchow combination!" I harshly exhale whatever breath I have left. "And what did I do?!?"

     "Triple Lutz, Double Toe Loop," he responds. "From the top!" he announces, signalling me to redo my routine.

      "Ai, some days I wonder why I even skate," I painfully mutter as I sit on a bench, massaging my blistered feet. You would've thought I had done the Iron Man Challenge. Wincing, I start to lace my shoes up, only to be interrupted by Harley. "Amber," he grunts. I look up as I finish the bunny ears on the lace. "We need to talk."

      "WHAT?!?" I scream at Harley. "Why wasn't I informed of this a week ago?!?" Harley practically cowers behind his chair at my reaction. I'm usually verbally (and occasionally physically) aggressive, and at this moment, I'm at my peak. "I figured it would be good for you to get involved with other skaters, and I happen to be buddies with the Russian coach, and we made the deal." My fingers snake up to the bridge of my nose as I process what Harley had just told me.

     Harley had pulled me into his office to talk to me. As I settle into the plush leather chair, he starts talking. "So, I had a small chat with Yakov Feltsman, you know, the Russian coach, and he offered his youngest skater, Yuri Plisetsky to do a pair skate with you." I blink at him, and suddenly explode, which left me at the situation I was currently in now.
 
      "Mom, I'm home!" I call as I slam our door behind me. She must not be home, I think to myself. I jog upstairs to unpack my gear. One, two, three I mentally count with each step I clear. Seven, eight, nine, almost there, with the fourteenth step approaching, I brace myself for the ceremonial leap. Eleven! my feet leave the steep staircase as I soar onto the landing of the fourteenth stair. My knees ache from the sudden jolt, but I shake it off, a grin plastered on my face.

       I enter my room to unpack. I toss my duffle bag onto the bottom bunk of the bed. It lands with a large thump when it makes contact with my blue bean bag. Sighing, I stroke the pony holder that was keeping my long auburn hair out of my face. I massage my head, my hands weaving through the roots. I decide to keep my outfit on from practice: a t-shirt and leggings. I flip onto my bed, and check my phone to see a text from number that wasn't native to America. What the heck? I think to myself as I open it.

      My eyes skim the message in the green bubble, soaking every word in.
SENT AT 5:36
Hey, Cheeseburger, listen up. I don't want to play any pity games at practice. That means NO SLACKING!!! We train hard, and we train for perfection! See you at the lunch tomorrow.
-YP

      So this is Yuri Plisetsky. His message had brought a heavy burden onto my shoulders. I don't know what would happen if I did end up slacking off, but I knew it wouldn't be good. I vowed to myself to practice hard for not only myself, but to prove to Yuri that I may seem sweet, but under that cover, I had quite the bite. And what was up with Cheeseburger?!? I didn't even eat much. I would get answers, but for now, I'd have to wait.

      "What's for dinner?" I ask my mom with my nose dug into my phone, researching Yuri. I watched his performances repeatedly, picking out the flaws and noting the strengths. The amount of strengths easily overpowered the flaws, causing my palms to sweat. There was going to be competition to show who's the better skater, and I was going to win it.

      "No, no, NO!" Harley yells from the side of the rink. My knees wobbled from beneath me, and I collapse on the ice. I rest my sweaty head on the cold ice, gasping at the shavings poke my face. "Please just give me a break!" I wearily beg. "No! Yuri and Yakov will be here any minute!" Groaning, I force myself up off the ice. "Now redo the spin!" I roll my eyes, and skate to the middle of the rink.
      From there, I splay my arms out, slightly separating my fingers. 'Gypsy Rhapsody' starts playing over the speakers, and I push off, beginning my routine.

     "You see, Amber is the prime skater, and she matches your abilities," Harley babbles on to Yakov and Yuri. They arrived nearly fifteen minutes ago, and I wasn't allowed to communicate with them the whole time. Instead, I was pushed to practice my solo routine. As I skated, I was somewhat relieved to know I wouldn't be forced to talk to Yuri. "Amber!" Harley yells as I connect with the ice after doing a single toe loop, and crouching down to spin. I ignored him, and grit my teeth, leaning into the spin a bit more. I keep leaning, smirking as I pick up speed. Just a bit more, I urge myself, and I lean in. Gravity gets the best of me, and I lose my balance.
    
    "Ack!" is the only thing I say before skidding across the ice with great force. Sliding, I land at the wall near Harley and the others.

     "Tch, I'll believe that she's graceful when Hell freezes over," Yuri scoffs, and turns on his heels. "Sorry?" I say to Harley when I see his disapproving expression. "Come on, we're going to lunch," Harley says, and pulls me to my feet.
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AN: Hello! Thank you for reading this, I really appreciate it! This is my first sports anime fan fiction, so I would really appreciate if you give me pointers, and your comments. That's what keeps me going, so I look to you guys to get advice. I'll try to update soon, and I will probably change the title. Anyway, thanks for reading and remember to vote and comment! Have a great day!!!