I could not stop writing this chapter. As an ex-competitive figure skater, the events of the Olympics swirled around my mind. The story needed to be told and even though the names, places, dates had been changed the Olympics 2022 inspired this story.

Darla

"She is the best skater in the world right now. She has both technical and artistry and I'm very excited to see her short program next week. But for the team event tonight, she blew it out of the park," a famous commentator said on the TV. "Luna Trova is what we all live to see. The world is watching, and they cannot get enough of her."

There was a time when I watched this commentator in the Olympics myself. I was probably seven, and he stole the show, he was amazing, beautiful, talented. He made me want to try harder and now he was telling the world that I was the best, that I was a once in a lifetime skater. It made my heart soar with excitement.

"Luna, are you in there?" a knock on the door came, forcing my attention to turn away from the TV.

"Yeah, I'm here," I said as I turned the tv off, knowing that my coach Alyona would want me to stay away from it. It was just news, just drama, she told me, but I couldn't stay away. This news was about me, I was the best skater in the world, that was what everyone told me. I had spent 13 years training for this moment, skating since I was three to get here, to the Olympics.

The door opened to reveal my coach Alyona for the last five years. She was the one that found me training in a small down in Wisconsin and convinced me and my family to move to Michigan. My parents gave up their life because she promised us I would be the best in the world, and we believed her. After all those years of training, look where it got me, here, to the Olympics.

She smiled at me. "Were you watching replays of the team event?" she asked, her Russian accent still strong even though she had lived in the US for at least a decade.

I nodded shyly, unable to hide the lie. "I couldn't stay away."

Instead of telling me I shouldn't like she normally did, she just smiled. "Your program today was flawless. I'm proud of you."

Her words of affirmation lit a fire within me. She rarely complimented me and it made this night even better than it already was. She was proud of me and the work I put in. The whole US was proud of me, I gave them gold, the first gold medal of the games. All eyes were on me, and I knew I couldn't let them down.

"So I just wanted to check in with you about practice tomorrow. You should be on the ice by eight."

Practice ice times were already memorized, I knew when I should be there, but I would still let her tell me. I let her tell me everything because it got me this far already. "I'll be there."

She beamed at me as her phone rang. She pulled it out of her fur coat and answered with a hello. Quickly, her smile fell off her face as she started talking in Russian. "I'll be back later," she told me as she walked out of my room to tend to the call.

With a sigh, I got up from the bed and looked at my reflection in the mirror. My heavy competition makeup still hung on my face, reminding me what I just went through. At 16 I never thought I would be the best in the world. My long program was always my strength and tonight, I showed that. The world would not forget about Luna Trova, not any time soon.

In the commotion of the skate and the events afterwards, I just managed to change from my competition dress. Everything else remained, telling a story of what I would never forget. Knowing I should go to bed soon, I carefully I pulled my brown hair out of the tight bun I wore, causing it to fall around my face.

"I did a good job today," I said to my reflection.

All the sacrifices, all the missed friendships, empty social life, calorie counting, injuries, were for this moment. It was all worth it to be here.

Any girl when they start skating will say their goal is to make it to the Olympics however very few ever make it. It takes grit, talent, regimen to get where I am. I made it to the top goal at only 16, there was nothing better than this. The world saw me and looked up to me as the best skater. The Olympics was the ultimate goal, and I just gave the US the gold for the team event. Everyone said I would get gold in the single ladies' skating too, I knew I would if I skated a clean program, which I always did.

To be the best, you needed to be calm in moments of competition. That was why so many of my friends didn't get to where I was, they didn't have the collative nature I had. They crumbled when the spotlight was on them, but I was made for it. I was made to perform, and competitions were my outlet to show the world what I had.

I smiled, feeling like I was on cloud nine. This was a dream I didn't want to wake up from. Quickly, I washed my face from the makeup I wore and looked at the mirror again to see my fresh face, erasing all aspects of the competition from my face, but the gold medal was beside the TV to remind myself that this wasn't a dream but the best life I could be living.

"Luna, are you still in here?" Alyona asked as she walked into the room.

"I'm here," I said as I walked out of the bathroom to show I was getting ready. With my parents already back in their hotel, Alyona was the only one around to make sure I would get into bed and I was sure she wouldn't leave until she saw with her own eyes that I was under the warm covers.

I wasn't the only one that Alyona coached that made it to the Olympics, one person from the France team and one from the Ukraine team was under her belt. She also had one other American she trained, but I didn't want to mention her much since we weren't that close for many reasons. She was one of the best coaches in the US with her years of experience. Everyone that had skill wanted to be coached by her but she was selective. You had to meet a certain set of requirements to be on her team.

I had been coached by her for just as long as some of her other top students. I was her favorite student though because I did everything she asked without question, unlike the French girl she struggled to coach or the American who cried often after Alonya spoke her harsh honest words.

But even though she had other students, she paid the most attention to me. Maybe it was because I was the youngest, or maybe it was because I was the best. Regardless of the facts, I liked being the center of attention from all angles.

"Are you getting into bed?" she asked as she crossed her hands over her chest, looking worried, it was probably because of the phone call she took.

"I'm getting into bed now," I said as I climbed into bed and pulled the sheets over my body. Now I just needed to calm myself down enough to sleep. Tomorrow I would train and wait until next week for the single lady events. It was just like any other practice. I would get out there and wait until it was my time to skate. With a deep breath, I smiled at her as she stared at me.

"Good."

She still looked worried, and I wondered what was on her mind. "What was the phone call about?"

"You."

Her single word response caused me to raise my eyebrows in surprise. If the phone call was about me, then why did it make her worried? I got gold, there was nothing to worry about. She knew I would get gold again, the whole world knew it. "And what about me?"

"Your drug test came back positive."

Suddenly I couldn't breathe. Those words instantly crushed me as I knew what that meant. I broke the rules. Drug tests should always come back negative, that is the conditions for skating. Breaking it meant that they could take everything away from me just as quickly as I got it. Fear instantly replaced my joy. I swallowed the golf ball I had in my throat and frowned silently at her.

"I am working on it though, don't worry Luna. This is all a misunderstanding; I am sure of it," she said quickly, trying to avoid me having a meltdown.

A misunderstanding. How could this be a misunderstanding? Drug tests were always right, there was nothing I could do about it, unless they lied and wanted me off the podium.

"Luna, I don't want you to worry, I want you to get up early for practice ice and skate. You will be ok. I will get to the bottom of this."

I nodded, although I didn't know what she could do. "Which drug test?" I asked, although I could have guessed which one it was, the last one which was done just three weeks ago.

"The one mid-January."

"Ok," I said, not able to find the strength to respond to more than that.

"Please Luna, calm down. This will be nothing."

I wanted that to be true, but I wasn't sure. I knew what drug tests meant for the sport, for the Olympics. This could destroy me. A positive test would crush me and my Olympic dreams. Just one test could throw all my work away, just like that.

Suddenly I wanted this day to be a dream, to be nothing but a nightmare because it was turning into one. For a dream I didn't want to wake up from, that was all I wanted to do now.

Alonya sat on the corner of my bed and sighed. "Breathe Luna. Everything will be fine." Although she didn't look confident in this statement.

The words broke me down to nothing. Breathe, I could do that. I took a deep breath, although it didn't help as my mind filled with doubt and worry.

"See, there you go." With that, she got up from the bed and left the room, leaving me to worry the rest of the night on my own.