Page 43 of The Favorites
Jane Currer:Ice dance needn’t involve romantic undertones. Brother/sister teams can perform a variety of programs. The implication that they’re disadvantaged is, frankly, insulting.
Inez Acton:Of all the skating disciplines, ice dance is the most invested in traditional gender roles. Even skaters who are clearly queer are expected to pretend like they’re into their partners—on the ice, and sometimes off the ice too. Audiences love a love story.
Ellis Dean:Ofcourseice dance is all about sex! If you can’t picture the skaters banging, truly what is the point?
Veronika Volkova:I was not shocked in the least when I heard about Isabella and Garrett. For Sheila, it was a win-win scenario.
Kirk Lockwood:Splitting up the twins was a shame, but it made sense, I suppose. Now Sheila had two opportunities for her kids to take the gold.
Veronika Volkova:By pairing her children with some of their top competitors, she neutralized the threat of those other teams. And she would be able to drive the twins to greater heights by pitting them against each other—in training, and in competition.
Garrett Lin:I just wanted my sister to be happy. I wasn’t thinking about myself.
Veronika Volkova:It is precisely what I would have done myself in her position.
Garrett Lin:The truth is, I didn’t know what I wanted. But Bella did. She always had.
Chapter 25
“Me, skate withGarrett? You’re not serious.”
“You two looked incredible together in that picture,” Bella said. “And you’re tall enough. His height wouldn’t be an issue the way it is with me. You’d balance each other out.”
Heath and I were fiery and passionate—but as we’d shown in our awful free dance, the fire could snuff out as quickly as it flared. Garrett was the total opposite: steady, calm. Too calm sometimes. I could bring out his passion, he could temper mine. I knew Bella was right. Her brother and I would be an ideal match on the ice.
I also knew Heath would never forgive me.
“Your mother knows about this?” I asked.
After my failure at Worlds, I couldn’t imagine Sheila would want to keep working with me at all, let alone allow me to skate with her prized, perfect son.
Bella nodded. “She knows you and Heath have been having problems.”
Heath and I were unraveling. We had been ever since we moved to LA, and I couldn’t deny it any longer. For betterandworse, we were incapable of keeping our personal feelings off the ice. If we broke up, that would be the end of our athletic partnership too. Heath didn’t love skating. He loved me.
But on the ice, he couldn’t keep up with me. I was skating down to his level, instead of pushing myself to new heights.
“You can still date Heath,” Bella said, “if you’re skating with Garrett.It might even be better—separate the skating and the romance, you know?”
I shook my head. “He’ll be devastated.”
“He’ll get over it.”
He wouldn’t. People had abandoned Heath all his life. Now I was considering doing the same.
Except, I told myself, I wouldn’treallybe abandoning him. We could be together off the ice, like Bella said. We could get our own apartment, the way we’d always talked about.
In a sport like figure skating, there are no sure bets. But skating with a partner like Garrett Lin? That’s about as close as you can get. The endorsement opportunities alone meant I wouldn’t have to worry about money anymore. And neither would Heath. I could follow my dreams, while giving him the time and support he needed to figure out his own.
“Can I think about it?” I said.
“Sure,” Bella told me. “Just make sure you’re thinking about what’s best foryou,okay?”
—
After dinner, Bella took the car back to the hotel. I told her I’d rather walk.
“Suit yourself,” she said. “Don’t freeze to death!”
