Nicole sat on the bench, twisting the sparkling gauzy material of her skirt
anxiously as Annabelle Chen pirouetted on the ice and went into a beautiful
spin. The girl was simply too good for her own good, and she had a head
the size of Texas with that knowledge. Not to mention she was far more
beautiful than Nicole, who was, in her opinion, scrawny and far too tall,
with limp, boring brown hair and a multitude of freckles scattered across a
nose that was a bit too big. Her eyes, blue-grey with a touch of silver,
were the only feature she liked about herself. In her mother's opinion, as
was to be expected, Nicole was a beautiful teenager, the perfect child, if
a bit too inclined to worry over small things.
Of course, Annabelle Chen had the silky, long black hair suited to a Chinese-Korean girl, as well as the almond shaped, dark eyes and the creamy skin, as well as a beautiful smile. She whirled around the ice and ended with a dramatic pose, slender arms arched gracefully over her head. Nicole sighed in envy. Annabelle never jerked in her poses, unless that was what was required for the routine, and she never wobbled or fell. Nicole didn't think she'd ever seen Annabelle fall in the whole six years they'd been in the same skating group, except for the one time she'd had a broken toe from it being stepped on in a movie theatre.
The announcement came over the loudspeaker as the judges announced Annabelle's score. It averaged out to 9.6, a very tough score to beat. The crowd applauded wildly, and Nicole looked up to see a group of boys about her age giving Annabelle a standing ovation, whooping and waving their fists.
"Our next contestant.Nicole Barkovitch, from New Janrie Skating Club." Nicole took a deep breath and stood up, fixing her prize in her mind. If she got over 9 as a score, her mother would buy her the final book in the Protector of the Small series, Lady Knight. If she could just make 9.1, she would be able to discover the final tale of Kel's knighthood.
Annabelle glided off the ice, giving Nicole a smirk as the latter stepped onto the rink. Skating out into the middle, Nicole clenched her teeth and tried to forget it. Lady Knight, Lady Knight, she chanted furiously in her head.
The music started, a low, breathy tune that suited Nicole's dark purple and black costume. She was performing a particularly hard routine, a sorrowful story of a woman whose love had been killed in a train accident, she thought. It was hard to remember. She spun into the first move, but caught a glimpse of those cute boys in the audience, watching her with very bored looks. Her concentration wavered just a bit, and she wobbled in her turn, throwing out an arm to regain her balance. As she righted herself and tried to figure out where she was in the song, she spied Annabelle in the audience, watching her with a look that could only be described as mock pity masking a look of triumph. Annabelle was right, though. After that wobble, she'd be lucky to get an 8.7 for a score.
With this troublesome thought in her head, Nicole's concentration wavered once more, and this time, it fell. It brought Nicole down with it. She toppled over, landing hard on her side with her left leg twisted under her in a most unnatural pose. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. The ice rink whirled lazily around her, and the blur of the audience stood up, deep, sluggish voices making sounds of pity and surprise. The room seemed to darken, and Nicole fell into a welcoming pit of unconsciousness.
************************************************************************
Two weeks later, Nicole could be found in a hospital bed, her broken left leg in a thick cast, covered in signatures and happy faces, suspended from the roof. A smaller cast was wound around her arm, which had been fractured slightly in her fall. Her book, The Realms of the Gods, which she was reading for the seventh time now, had fallen open on her chest. She just couldn't find the strength or the interest, for that matter, to continue reading the story, even though she had stopped at the chapter where Daine had fallen off the cliff and was currently stuck in a spidren's web. She stared at the cover listlessly, at Daine's cocky pose as she stared defiantly at the huge blue dragon in front of her. Even someone trapped in the Dragonlands facing possible death had more options than she.
"Why do I have to be like this?" Nicole demanded of Daine, who of course, didn't answer. Furious, she picked up the paperback and flung it across the room, where it hit a vase overflowing with flowers and fell to the ground, not failing to knock the vase off the table and shatter it. Nicole didn't care. Nothing mattered. She didn't care about anything.
She turned over in bed, or at least attempted to, but the cast hanging from the roof shattered her effort. Growling in a feverish fury, she shut her eyes tight and tried to fall asleep, completely unaware of a strange coppery glow mixed with violet that was emitting itself from her body.
Of course, Annabelle Chen had the silky, long black hair suited to a Chinese-Korean girl, as well as the almond shaped, dark eyes and the creamy skin, as well as a beautiful smile. She whirled around the ice and ended with a dramatic pose, slender arms arched gracefully over her head. Nicole sighed in envy. Annabelle never jerked in her poses, unless that was what was required for the routine, and she never wobbled or fell. Nicole didn't think she'd ever seen Annabelle fall in the whole six years they'd been in the same skating group, except for the one time she'd had a broken toe from it being stepped on in a movie theatre.
The announcement came over the loudspeaker as the judges announced Annabelle's score. It averaged out to 9.6, a very tough score to beat. The crowd applauded wildly, and Nicole looked up to see a group of boys about her age giving Annabelle a standing ovation, whooping and waving their fists.
"Our next contestant.Nicole Barkovitch, from New Janrie Skating Club." Nicole took a deep breath and stood up, fixing her prize in her mind. If she got over 9 as a score, her mother would buy her the final book in the Protector of the Small series, Lady Knight. If she could just make 9.1, she would be able to discover the final tale of Kel's knighthood.
Annabelle glided off the ice, giving Nicole a smirk as the latter stepped onto the rink. Skating out into the middle, Nicole clenched her teeth and tried to forget it. Lady Knight, Lady Knight, she chanted furiously in her head.
The music started, a low, breathy tune that suited Nicole's dark purple and black costume. She was performing a particularly hard routine, a sorrowful story of a woman whose love had been killed in a train accident, she thought. It was hard to remember. She spun into the first move, but caught a glimpse of those cute boys in the audience, watching her with very bored looks. Her concentration wavered just a bit, and she wobbled in her turn, throwing out an arm to regain her balance. As she righted herself and tried to figure out where she was in the song, she spied Annabelle in the audience, watching her with a look that could only be described as mock pity masking a look of triumph. Annabelle was right, though. After that wobble, she'd be lucky to get an 8.7 for a score.
With this troublesome thought in her head, Nicole's concentration wavered once more, and this time, it fell. It brought Nicole down with it. She toppled over, landing hard on her side with her left leg twisted under her in a most unnatural pose. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. The ice rink whirled lazily around her, and the blur of the audience stood up, deep, sluggish voices making sounds of pity and surprise. The room seemed to darken, and Nicole fell into a welcoming pit of unconsciousness.
************************************************************************
Two weeks later, Nicole could be found in a hospital bed, her broken left leg in a thick cast, covered in signatures and happy faces, suspended from the roof. A smaller cast was wound around her arm, which had been fractured slightly in her fall. Her book, The Realms of the Gods, which she was reading for the seventh time now, had fallen open on her chest. She just couldn't find the strength or the interest, for that matter, to continue reading the story, even though she had stopped at the chapter where Daine had fallen off the cliff and was currently stuck in a spidren's web. She stared at the cover listlessly, at Daine's cocky pose as she stared defiantly at the huge blue dragon in front of her. Even someone trapped in the Dragonlands facing possible death had more options than she.
"Why do I have to be like this?" Nicole demanded of Daine, who of course, didn't answer. Furious, she picked up the paperback and flung it across the room, where it hit a vase overflowing with flowers and fell to the ground, not failing to knock the vase off the table and shatter it. Nicole didn't care. Nothing mattered. She didn't care about anything.
She turned over in bed, or at least attempted to, but the cast hanging from the roof shattered her effort. Growling in a feverish fury, she shut her eyes tight and tried to fall asleep, completely unaware of a strange coppery glow mixed with violet that was emitting itself from her body.