Page 16 of Oh, Flutz!

He's trying to get me to laugh again, which almost makes it worse. I might actually burst into tears on these stupid bleachers in front of all these people. It washes over me, the tightness in my throat, the ache burning stronger. For once I wish I had no clue of who I am, what I’m supposed to be doing. Because it feels like, once I cross this line, there’s no going back—to the way things were, to my team and my home. Not only would it make my expulsion official, but it would also be the end of everything I know, and the beginning of something unfamiliar. Something absolutely terrifying.

“Dedushka,” I say, my voice shaking only once before I force myself to calm down. I take a deep breath before continuing. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Yes, you do. You always do.”

I squeeze my eyes as tightly shut as I can, until I’m sure there aren’t any tears coming, and even when the danger’s passed I keep them closed.You always do. You always do.

“It’s late for me, Katya. I’m going to go now.”

Just like that? “Wait, but—”

“Goodbye,moya svezda.Get back to work.”

And then he clicks off before I can protest. Just like that. And with the nickname he always used to call me as a little girl—my star. Always golden, always exceptional. Just like my mother was, before she got pregnant and had to leave her dreams at the door of the train station bathroom stall the test came back positive in. I always had to do it for her. For both of them. Always.

“Katya!”

I whip around, and I see Lian Chen standing at the top of the bleachers, looking down at me with her eyebrows slightly raised.

“Practice starts at eight sharp.”

My loathing for this entire situation must bleed into my expression, because the woman stares me down, a challenge in her eyes. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Dedushka’s voice floats back into my mind.You have something they don’t. Use it.

I may not have brought Baba’s samovar with me on the plane, but I do have my skates, and they’re all I’ve ever needed.

These people have no idea what they’re up against.

Chapter Six

BRYAN

THREE DAYS LATER

This girl is goingto be the death of me, I think, just before I crash to the ice again.

When I open my eyes, the overhead lights temporarily blind me. Then a head of flaming red hair swims hazily into my field of vision, big grey eyes peering down at me.

For a stupid second, I think she’s going to ask if I’m okay, maybe help me up. You know, basic human decency?

“You’re an idiot,” Katya says simply, then straightens and skates off.

Yeah, it’s been like this all week.

People tend to think ice skaters are princesses or something. I’ve been training with these girls my whole life: long enough for any illusions about this sport to get scrubbed out of me, at least, which is how I know many (especiallythose seven-year-old girls that still terrify the bejeezus out of me to this day) are far from being the little angels that they are in performance. And my new partner didn’t earn her Ice Queen title by being a sweetheart, so my expectations weren’t exactly high—but I’m starting to think Katya Andreyeva is even less chill than she seems on TV.

I groan, trying to sit up without snapping my whole body in two. “Nice. Here I was thinking your insults were basic.”

A laugh echoes across the ice, and she switches to backwards just so I can see her shit-eating grin before she launches into what might be the biggest triple Axel I’ve ever seen, floating down so lightly you’d think she really was an angel, if it weren’t for the two middle fingers she’s flashing me.

“Like that,” she says once she’s done, skidding to a stop next to me. “What, you can’t do it?”

I clench my teeth. “Yes, I can.”

“Then prove it.”

I hesitate, and she smirks.Damn it.I need to learn how to keep my face straight. Maybe I should ask Lian for tips. “See? I have no need for insults. You’re pathetic enough without me wasting my breath.”

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