ONE: Vanessa's POV
January was coming to an end and I was ready to compete nationally. Yes, I, Vanessa Rochester was competing in the winter Olympics this year. I was ready, pumped, with my support team standing beside me; my coach, Molly; my mother; and my father.
They expected the Olympic gold medal from me. They had won theirs many years ago as ice dancers, and now it was my turn.
My third birthday present had been my first pair of figure skates. My sixth was my first pair of professional competitive skates. My parents constantly pushed me harder to be a better skater, and, honestly, that's all they cared about. Every year since kindergarten I had passed through school by scraping up D+s. I didn't care about my school work and neither did they.
Once I began the sixth grade, my coach began to pull me from school for practice time. Now I was in eleventh grade and I was competing in the Olympics.
Now, I'm sixteen, the youngest competitor since Valerie Kathryn won the gold eight years ago. I walked slowly down the exit ramp of the plane, letting my feet softly hit the soft Egyptian soil where this years Olympics would be held.
My hand was clutched around my Züca bags' handle while my butler carried my bags, just steps behind me.
I inhaled the dusty air before stepping into the limo before my parents and coach. We waited silently as my butler stepped into the front with the limos' driver to direct him to the hotel we were to stay at.
We got out once we were stopped in front of our fancy five-star hotel. I pulled my Züca behind me, not bothering to wait for anyone else. I walked into the cooled hotel and walked up straight to the receptionist.
"Gloria Rochester," I said, giving the girl my mothers name.
She nodded. "Suites eighty two, three, and four." as she handed me the keys.
"Thanks," I muttered, handing my mother the other two sets of keys, keeping room eighty-two for myself.
I turned on my heel and headed for the elevator. My butler was just behind me with my bags.
I looked at the panel before hitting the number eight. There were eight floors to this building with ten rooms on each floor; with the exception of level eight, of course. Suites were naturally bigger than the average hotel room, of course, giving them more space, so instead, there were only five rooms on this floor.
"Miss," my butlers voice pulled me out of my aimless thoughts. I straightened my shoulders and stepped out of the elevator. I took a left and then a right and then a left, arriving at my new suite. I stood my Züca in the middle of the room and decided to explore.
My bedroom was off to the left, a kitchen was straight in off of the living room, and a small dining room to the right. The bathroom was to the right of the kitchen and I had my own bathroom off of my bedroom. And the best part of my suite; my balcony; with a hammock laying off to the right.
"Perfect," I whispered. I went into my bedroom to find my bags placed on my bed and my butler was nowhere in sight. He was good at his job.
One by one, I placed my bags and suitcases on the dresser top and opened them all up, giving me a clear view of what lay within.
I fell back onto the bed to rest as the front door opened.
"Vanessa! It's time to go get a feel for the rink you're to compete in," Molly walked into my bedroom. I sat up immediately, rummaging through my suitcases to find my warm-up outfit; my Alice Springs, Australia Skating School warm-up outfit. Alice Springs, Australia tank top, yoga pants, and warm-up sweatshirt. I dressed silently and quickly before pulling my hair into a high pony-tail and putting on my make-up; smoky black eye-liner smudged on top and a thin line on bottom with mascara and lip-gloss. Simple, yet still looking good.
I gave myself a quick once-over and sighed as my eyes landed on my impressive cleavage. I thought of how all of my skating outfits had to be specially fitted for them to fit my form correctly. It sucked. I knew only one other skater in the world like me, and it was Valerie Kathryn.
She was an extremely famous, and, of course, beautiful Russian figure skater who had competed in the winter Olympics eight years ago at the age of sixteen and won the gold.
I was suddenly nervous as stepped into the rink with my Züca in tow behind me. I followed Molly silently, and, once we'd reached my private prep room, I stepped inside to put on my skates. I slid on my guards and nearly walked into somebody in my haste.
"I'm sorry!" I exclaimed, dropping my iPod as I looked up and jumped backwards in surprise.
"It's alright," Valerie Kathryn smiled at me. "I'm Valerie Kathryn," she held her hand out. I shook her hand before introducing myself.
"I'm Vanessa Rochester." I stated.
"Nice to meet you. Your coach, Molly, had contacted me about you and I've decided to become a part of your support team." Valerie stated.
"Thank you, Miss Kathryn." I smiled to hid my astonishment.
"Call me Valerie," she waved away my gratitude. "Well, times-a-wasting. Let's get onto the ice," she said, her Russian accent flowing thick.
I quickly scooped my iPod off of the ground and headed towards the ice. I pulled off my guards and skated to the other end where an iHome was visible next to a CD player. I placed my guards and water in the space available next to the layers and stuck my iPod touch into the iHome.
Molly appeared next to the player, nodding at me, telling me that she had it. I skated to the center and got into position. 'All I Need' by Within Temptation flowed through the speakers as I gracefully made my way through my artistic program. As the song faded from the speaker, I ended an then skated over to Valerie.
"Any advise?" I asked.
"Only two things. Remember to keep both knees bent during power pumps and to keep your back straight during them. That's all I noticed. You bend your back just slightly during the pumps. Otherwise, you're pretty good." she smiled.
"Thanks," I said as I pivoted to go practice. I pulled my normal power pump and realized as sh told me, my back was slightly bent and my leading legs' knee was too stiff. So I experimented. I straightened out my back and bent my leading knee and found myself going faster off of power pumps that I ever had.
I skated back to Valerie with a grin on my face. "Thank you so much!" I exclaimed.
"You're welcome, she smiled. "Now run through you program and try that." she said. I nodded and positioned myself in the center of the rink and began as 'All I Need' flowed through the rink once more. I completed my program, keeping my power pumps in mind. As soon as it ended I found myself standing next to Valerie with a huge grin on my face.
"You've got potential. You could definitely be a threat to the competitors who have done this before." she told me.
"Really?" I asked. She nodded and stepped off of the ice. I followed suit and met Molly so she could give me my iPod, guards, and water.
"Go take your skates off and get your Züca. Let's go home so you can rest up for the opening ceremonies tomorrow."