Pucking Fantastic

Chapter 11: Most Popular Girl

Hiya! Enjoy this chapter! The song for this chapter is Ellis' long program music.

I took a seat on the hard plastic bench in the locker room and shivered, thinking about how I had been so cold recently and couldn't warm myself up. I took out my jump rope and willed myself to stand up from the bench even though I lacked motivation to even move from the bench I was sitting on. Even with a full night's sleep and the competition hours away, I felt tired and worn out.

Breaking me from my thoughts was a voice that I knew too well. "Somehow I knew you would be in this locker room," Cami said with a smile as she rolled her skate suitcase behind her.

I smiled at Cami, who was already dressed in a blue bedazzled skating dress. Seeing her reminded me of her program from the night before. It could have been better, but it could have been a lot worse. "That was a good short program you did yesterday, Cami."

She sat next to me and said, "the program was a little shaky."

I knew that, but it wasn't like she fell or made any major mistakes. "But you're going to take that and learn from it. You're going to kick some ice for your long program today."

"Could you tell I was shaky?"

"I could tell. But you have to remember that I skate with you all the time. I know you better than any of those judges. You need to relax. You've done that program like a million times, so there's nothing to be afraid of."

She nodded, and for a moment, there was silence. "My dad isn't here," Cami said finally with despair in her voice. "He was too drunk the day we left to join us. And my mom isn't here to watch me today because she has some big meeting to go to."

I saw the pain in her eyes making me realize that just like me, she just wanted to be noted. She trained so hard and she wanted to be seen for that. But I saw her, I knew how it felt to be over look. Maybe not to the extent she went through, but at least I could relate just a little. I wrapped my arm around her and squeezed in silence. She didn't need to be told that everything was fine, she just wanted to feel important, and she was, to me.

"I'm so tired of being ignored, by everyone. I'm constantly being overlooked and I just want people to see me for me," Cami said with emotion as her eyes welled up with tears.

Most times, I couldn't quite understand her predicament. I had both parents present; I had a mother that would do anything for me. But I did feel like my brothers overshadowed me and with my dad often not around to help mom out, I just felt a little forgotten. I knew I was loved and that my parents would move mountains for me, but it was hard to grab attention when my parents were already so busy with their lives and Paulo's and Jaimie's. "I'm sorry. You know, I don't think my dad saw my short program, either. I'm not sure if he'll even come today."

Cami wiped her eyes and took a deep breath to cool herself down, knowing she had to pull herself together. She couldn't let others see her as weak, they would use that against her. We were in the open ocean here and there were sharks everywhere. "What would I do without you, El?"

I shrugged with a slight smile. "I don't know honestly." My phone buzzed, causing me to pull away from Cami to look at the time. Panic shot through me like lightning as I realized I had only 25 minutes to warm up. I thought I had more time, but I couldn't waste any more of it. "I got to go and warm up. Talk to you later."

"Of course. I'll be watching your program like a hawk. Remember, I'll be cheering the loudest," Cami said with a smile as I walked out of the locker room with a jump rope in hand.

I quickly found a silent place to jump rope and started off slow, jumping to a catchy song I had playing over my phone. Before long, I was jumping at a quick pace. After ten minutes, I knew I had enough time to stretch then get my skates on.