The Favorites: A Novel(49)
Ellis Dean: If only Heath and Bella had stopped there.
Chapter 31
Following our defeat in Tokyo, all I wanted was to fast-forward to Nationals in January, when Garrett and I would have the chance to defend our title and redeem ourselves.
Unfortunately, Sheila had volunteered all the Academy’s senior ice dance teams for a charity gala on New Year’s Eve. I can’t even remember what the cause was—whales or children or something else in perpetual need of saving—but we were to be the night’s entertainment, skating an exhibition show on the beachfront ice rink at the Hotel del Coronado.
The hotel was impressive, like a Gilded Age ocean liner run aground on a stretch of pristine island sand right off the coast of San Diego. When we arrived the morning of the event, the place was still decorated for the holidays, with string lights tracing the turrets and, in the two-story lobby, a Christmas tree tall enough to brush the polished ceiling coffers.
Their skating facilities, though, left something to be desired. The rink was a temporary structure, set up every winter for tourists to stumble around in rental skates while sipping spiked hot chocolate. Without any shade from the California sun, the top layers of ice softened until it felt as if you were trudging through slush.
After the preshow practice session, while most of the other skaters seized the opportunity to lounge on the beach or explore the resort, I retreated to my room, exhausted. We’d left LA at daybreak, and my seat on the chartered coach had offered an entirely too clear view of Bella leaning against Heath’s shoulder while he listened to the iPod she’d bought him for Christmas. Instead of flying home after the NHK Trophy, the two of them had stayed in Japan for the few weeks leading up to the final, sightseeing and doing who knows what else together.
I didn’t want to think about it. But I also couldn’t seem to stop.
The elevator in the hotel lobby was an old-fashioned birdcage contraption, operated by a stooped, gray-haired man wearing a uniform complete with little round hat. As he dragged the metal accordion gate closed, he whistled a cheerful rendition of “Auld Lang Syne.”
“So you’re one of the ice skaters?” he asked.
I nodded. He switched to whistling the Olympic fanfare.
“You going to the Olympics?”
“I hope so,” I said.
The polite, humble answer—the one I’d been trained to give in interviews so I didn’t come across as an entitled, egotistical bitch. But I knew damn well I was going to the Games.
Despite Bella and Heath’s unexpected Grand Prix triumph, Garrett and I were still the top ice dancers in the United States. The U.S. National Championships served as the de facto Olympic trials, but for us, they were a formality. Two American dance teams would compete in Torino, and we would be one of them. My childhood dream coming true at last.
Only it was no longer enough for me.
I’d spent years aching, yearning to compete at the Olympic Games. Now that I was well on my way, simply competing didn’t feel sufficient. I wanted to go to the Games as reigning U.S. champion. I never wanted to stand on a silver medal step again.
The elevator arrived at my floor. The attendant shuffled over to retract the gate. And there, in the corridor, was Bella, her fist raised to knock on the door to my room.
“Hey,” she said. “There you are.”
“You were looking for me?”
This was already the longest conversation we’d had since the day I found out she was skating with Heath.
“Yeah. I was wondering if…”
She trailed off, twisting her fingers together. I couldn’t remember ever seeing her so unsure of herself. I have to admit I enjoyed it.
“Some of the girls were going to get ready together in my suite,” she said. “You’re welcome to join us. I mean, only if you want.”
Like most things with Bella Lin, the invitation might have been an olive branch—or it might have been a trap, ready to bite the second I let my guard down.
I decided to take my chances. I could bite too.
“What time?” I asked.
* * *
—
I heard the noise from halfway down the hall—overlapping voices, girlish giggling, and the grooving bass of a Beyoncé song.
I stopped outside the door, clutching my makeup case against my abdomen. For a moment, I considered fleeing. I didn’t know what was behind Bella’s sudden friendly overture. But I knew if I backed down now, she’d win. Again.
The door was propped on the swing bar. I arranged my face into a pleasant expression before pushing it open the rest of the way.
“Kat!” Bella broke into what I hoped was a genuine smile. “Come on in.”
As Garrett’s partner, my days of staying in shabby budget hotel rooms were long gone. Still, I couldn’t help comparing my standard room to the Lins’ deluxe suite, with its white-shuttered picture windows providing unobstructed views of the sun dipping into the Pacific.
Everyone had gathered in the sitting area. Josie Hayworth was squeezing a cotton candy pink Lanc?me Juicy Tube onto her pursed lips. She and Ellis hadn’t been invited to perform, but no doubt her senator father was on the guest list, which meant they got to enjoy the free food and open bar with none of the pressure.
The other three—Amber, Chelsea, and Francesca, who went by Frannie—I knew only in passing. I’d made myself scarce around the Academy, dead set on avoiding Bella and Heath or anything else that might distract from my goals. The girls were all young up-and-comers, recently qualified for the senior level. Their entire futures ahead of them—though I knew, after witnessing several years of churn, most of them wouldn’t make it to next season.