A Figure Skater's Journey

Chapter 6: Charlie

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          It has been a few months since the Learn To Skate week that Charlie had attended. He was waiting to hear back on whether or not he landed the role of Luke Castellan in the upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians Disney series. He had just gotten back home from school and was getting ready to video call with Sierra as they had planned on doing just a week ago. They had been texting back and forth several times a week and he had decided to video chat with her to see where he stood with her and hopefully to see if she was willing to have a long distance relationship. He made sure that the part of his room that would be in the background of the video call looked nice. Then he sat down and started the video call. It only took about a few rings before Sierra answered. He saw that she was wearing a t-shirt and had her hair up in a single braid.

          "Hey Sierra!" Charlie said cheerfully. 

          "Hey Charlie!" Sierra responded back, giving him a warm smile, "How are you doing?" 

          "Doing well, how are you doing?" 

          "I'm also doing pretty well other than being a bit tired, I had a physically hard practice today." 

          "Good to hear that you're doing well. Do you have any current big competitions coming up?" 

          "Well the nationals are coming up in a few months. But anyways, do you have anything big coming up?" 

          "Well I had auditioned for the the role of Luke Castellan in the upcoming Percy Jackson and the Olympians Disney series and I'm currently waiting to hear back." 

          "That's really cool! I hope that you will get that role!" 

          Charlie smiled at seeing her genuine interest. Then he decided to shoot his shot. 

          "Thanks. So I was thinking that we've been really good friends for several months and I feel like that we've really gotten to know each other since we had met at Olive Garden for lunch." 

          "Yeah?" 

          "I like you. I do admit that at first it was mostly because of your skating talent but now that I've gotten to know you really well, I really like you for being the way that you are. You're strong, passionate, kind, friendly, and very caring. I was wondering if you feel the same way and if so, would you be interested in having a long distance relationship?" 

          Sierra was listening very intently, taking in all of what he had said. She was silent for a moment before she finally spoke: 

          "I figured that this was going to come up at some point. I do really like you Charlie, you're such a sweet person. I did give this a lot of thought and I decided that if you were to ask me about starting a relationship, I would say not yet. I do have interest in dating you but not for a while. You're still very interested in acting and you've got many possibilities as you are still young. Then as for me, I'm still in my prime in figure skating and Coach Taylor talked about the possibility of me going to the 2022 Olympics and I still have many national and world championships left in me as well as the Grand Prix. Many skaters don't retire until their mid to late twenties and I'm not even eighteen yet. Until then, I think we can be really good friends. Does that work for you?"

          "Are you wanting to wait until after you retire from figure skating?" Charlie asked, feeling a bit disappointed.

          "I was thinking like at least until after the 2022 Winter Olympics?"

          "Um yeah that works."

          "I know that wasn't the answer you were hoping for but I think it's for the best."

          The two of them then chatted about a few other things before they said goodbye and ended the video chat. Charlie went and sat down on his bed. He did see what Sierra meant by both of them having potential in their chosen activities. Sierra currently is the world's top female figure skater just at the young age of sixteen and her coaches saw all of her potential yet to show. Then he already had already been a major character in a series and could potentially get another major role. Between Sierra's long and frequent figure skating training and his acting career that would take up a lot of his time, neither of them would have the time that a strong relationship would need. 

          The next day at school, Charlie was getting stressed with the extra homework. He saw that he had gotten a text from his 

          Charlie immediately started dialing Sierra's phone number and pushed the call button. He listened to the phone ringing, waiting to see if Sierra was available to call. 

          "Hey Charlie!" Sierra said, "I don't have a ton of time to talk, what's up?" 

          "I just have some really quick and exciting news to tell you," Charlie said, "I just got off the phone with my casting agent and he said that I got the part for Luke Castellan!" 

          "Wait really?!" Sierra asked, sounding shocked. 

          "Yeah really!" 

          "That's awesome! I'm so happy for you and proud! I have to go but that's just such awesome news! We need to celebrate this later!" 

          "Thanks and yes definitely! Talk to you later!" 

          Then Charlie hung up. The rest of the day went by like a blur and before he knew it, he was back at his home. He saw that he got a text from Sierra about video chatting that night before she went to bed. He texted her back and said that it sounded good and he would see her then. He worked on his homework until he saw that she was calling him. 

          "Hey Sierra!" Charlie said, "How was your day?" 

          "Mine was good, definitely not as awesome as yours since you heard that you got the Luke Castellan role! Congratulations!" 

          "Thanks!" 

          "So what's the next step now?" 

          "Well, I'm going to be taking a flight to Vancouver where the filming will be happening." 

          "Awesome!" 

          The two of them chatted for a while longer before Sierra had to hang up to go get ready for bed. That night Charlie felt very happy now that he got the Luke Castellan role and also because Sierra was very proud of him.