Hey guys, I'm back for the second part. Hope you like it! Three things to know about me are:

1. I sometimes have a pottymouth.

2. My fanfiction obsessions change very quickly.

3. My music taste ranges from old, classic Maroon 5 to lesser known artist Cameron Mitchell (who just so happened to be on the Glee Project).

Yet again, I don't figure skate in real life, so bear with me.

…

I don't remember falling asleep, but I must have at one point, because I woke up at 8 on the day of the competition.

I was in an up-tight, annoyed always kind of mood. This was the type of day that I would grumble about everything. Nothing would be uplifting today. I had already made up my mind.

I went to the kitchen and made myself a bowl of oatmeal, not speaking to my mom or brother. Cody could care less, I knew. But my mom was generally concerned. I shrugged it off and went to my room to change.

My first performance was the advancement portion. I was skating to go to the next level in the rink. For that, I was skating to "Reaching for Heaven." I would wear a costume that was long sleeves with a sparkly red top. The skirt flowed out smoothly from the waist with sparkles (2). For the second part, which was to compete for a spot on a national team, I was skating to "Don't Stop the Music." For this, I would wear a black halter-top leotard. Sequins sparkled all around the piece and around my waist were long black feathers for a skirt (4).

I put these into my bag and my skates, makeup, and everything else I needed for the competition. I wore some soffe shorts and a Queen's rink t-shirt. With my sneakers on my feet, my mom took me to the mall.

The usual chaos of the competition was in the air. Girls scurried around with shouts of "Where are my skates?" and "What if I mess up?", as well as "Good luck!" and "You'll be great." I was all too familiar with this process. I walked over to my coach and check in, and she wished me luck. I knew I wasn't her only student competing today, but I had a feeling she really wanted me to win.

I checked the program to see when I would be skating. I was going to skate fourth for the first half (advancement) and first for the second half (competing nationally). I stretched, warmed up on the ice a little, and changed into my first costume.

This was my mom's favorite, as it made me look graceful. I did my makeup in the bathroom. A volunteer offered to do my hair, and she did milkmaid braids on me. I looked in the bathroom mirror, took a deep breath, and headed for the sidelines to wait.

When I got to the section reserved for skaters, my skater friends greeted me. They told me the usual pep talk, and I watched the first performance.

The girl competing was good, to say the least. Her toe loops were impeccable, but her landing for her double lutz was shakey. When she was done performing, I clapped alongside the others.

The second girl to skate was one I had never seen, so I looked through the crowd to see any familiar faces. I saw my mom and brother, but what surprised me was that someone with a familiar blob of dark hair sat next to them. I shook it off. After all, who else would come see me?

Before I knew it, my coach was shaking my shoulders, telling me to go into the rink. I stepped onto the ice with full confidence as they introduced me.

"Our next skater is Kimberly Crawford from right here in Missouri," the announcer said.

I skated around once as the crowd cheered, then took my stance for my routine (1). My first jump came up and I performed it well until the landing. How could I let that happen? I fell. I FELL. They might not advance me because of that! Tears started sliding down my cheeks. I took a breath and continued.

I stepped out of the rink and wiped the tears that fell from my eyes earlier. My coach and other friends congratulated me, and I smiled. A great comeback was better than nothing at all, right? I went to the locker room to change into the second costume. Before I could reach it, my mom came to me with a giant hug.

"Honey, you were incredible!" She said, beaming. I thanked her and hugged back. I was proud to make her this happy.

"Good job, Kim," Cody said. Sure, he wasn't into the whole skating thing, but I'm glad he came and supported me. "Your friends were impressed too."

I looked at him, puzzled. "What friends?" I then laughed at how stupid I sounded. Cody joined me, but then answered.

"Your karate friends came," he explained.

"WHAT?" I asked, panicked. "Who told them?" I looked around frantically. Not only did they see me as a girl, but also falling on the ice.

"Yeah… about that… I did," Cody explained sheepishly. "Sorry!"

"You are so dead," I warned. "I have to go change. This isn't over!"

I stalked into the locker room with one question on my mind. What did they think?

Well, there were two possibilities. One, they could hate it and laugh at me and never speak to me again. I hoped it wasn't the latter. I could picture Jack laughing, and Jerry teasing me. He'd call me something stupid and wouldn't leave me alone about it.

Two, they could accept me… but that didn't seem likely. They didn't seem like the type of people who would like figure skating. I sighed and pulled on my second outfit.

"Kim?" Someone asked. "Can we come in?"

"Sure," I replied, unenthusiastically. I went to the sink and reapplied my makeup. From the mirror, I saw Jack, Jerry, Rudy, Milton, and Eddie walk in, nervous. I think they were afraid that there would be other girls in here.

"Yes?" I asked, monotone. I tried to focus on putting on my blush. It didn't work.

"You're incredible! That triple loop and triple lutz! Absolutely genius!" Milton gushed, running over to me. Unfortunately for him, he tripped on someone's duffel bag and fell. I smiled and he dusted himself off and gave me a big hug.

"Thanks Milton," I smiled. The others were grinning from Milton's incident too.

"Well? Are you guys here to insult me or congratulate me?" I asked, feeling more myself.

"You were so good!" Rudy said.

"The best!" Eddie added.

"Better than all the other girls!" Jerry replied.

I smiled and thanked them.

"We gotta go. This is a girl's room, after all. Good luck!" Milton said, and the others followed. Well, all except Jack.

"What?" I asked, walking up to him.

"I was coming here to say 'good job' and 'good luck,' but that dress is way to distracting," Jack said, wide-eyed.

"Shut up," I said, grinning. "Give me a hug and then get lost. I have to go skate."

He smiled and opened his arms. I wrapped my arms around him and sighed. We were a good team, no matter how much we argue. And this, readers, is when I finally realized that I wanted to be here, with Jack. He really was the perfect guy for me. I think he tried to pull away, but I didn't get the hint until he cleared his throat.

"Oh… sorry," I said, looking at my skates. I blushed a deep red.

"Don't be," Jack replied. He tilted my chin up and leaned in to kiss my forehead. Well, it was more of a peck, actually. I think we were both too nervous for a real kiss. When he pulled away, he looked at me in a way I had never seen. It was a soft, happy, truthful expression… kind of like love. "Go kick some butt."

I smiled back at him and nodded. We both came out of the locker room with newfound confidence.

Just then, a fellow skater named Callie grabbed my arm. "Jeanette Greenwich dropped out, so your performance is before intermission. And that's next!"

I got pulled to the ice, not even getting to say 'thanks' to Jack. I stepped back onto the ice for the my second performance. Showtime. The announcer introduced me again.

As I skated the crowd went crazy. They loved every move, and I could feel the aura of the rink sink in. Confidence spread throughout my body like wildfire, and I skated like there was no tomorrow (3).

After that amazing performance I watched the rest of my friends compete. There was a lot of tension as they came down to the end of the showcase. The announcer told us that we would find out who won another day.

I walked around to the other skaters, congratulating them and smiling. My mom bombarded me with hugs and Cody apologized again for telling my friends. I accepted and gave him a hug.

Ironically I had karate in half an hour. I decided to hang around the arena for twenty minutes till I had to go.

I went back on the ice, and saw only a few people left. Jack was sitting in the front row, watching me. I waved as did he. The others probably went to the dojo.

Just then, I saw some hockey players, who probably practiced on this rink too approach me.

"Wow, you were incredible," one said. "I'm Jake." He wasn't that bad looking from what I could tell. It was kind of hard to see him though, under the uniform. He took off his helmet and revealed his blond hair and green eyes. He smiled.

"My name is Kim, and thanks," I smiled. I hope Jack was watching. My dress wasn't the best to wear around guys. Especially ones I didn't know. A few of Jake's friends walked over and checked me out. I smiled, but wished Jack would come and help. I looked over and mouthed a quick "help!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Jack coming. His eyes were narrowing at the other guys. Thank goodness!

"Hey Kim," he said loudly. He put an arm around me and I blushed slightly. "Can I talk to you? Alone?"

The hockey players said bye (unhappily, I might add) and Jack gave me a piece of paper. I looked at it and saw he had his number scribbled down.

I turned to face Jack. "Yes?"

"You were incredible… again. There is no way they won't take you," he said, honestly.

"Thanks," I said. "But you do know, if I do win, I won't be able to see you as much. It's a national team."

"I know," he said, holding one of my hands. "We'll make it work."

I nodded and there was a pause. "Can I ask you something personal?" I questioned after a minute. He nodded. "Is this dress too much?"

"It's not very… Kim…" he offered. "But from a guys' point of view, you look smokin' hot." He laughed.

"Is that a guys' point of view or yours?" I asked flirtatiously, grinning back. I nudged his shoulder with mine.

"Both. I am I guy, aren't I?" he said. I laughed and we walked back into the rink, hand in hand.

…

Ice Princess - Reachin' For Heaven on Youtube- Performance 1

h t t p : / / w w w . t h e i c e d r e s s c o m p a n y . c o . u k / p r o d u c t s / I c e - S k a t i n g - D r e s s - ~ - - R ed - L o n g - S l e e v e - S p a r k l e . h t m l -Dress for performance 1

2009 Sasha Cohen - Please don't stop the music (SOI) on Youtube- Performance 2

h t t p : / / a w e s o m e d e s i g n s . b l o g s p o t . c o m / 2 0 0 8 _ 0 8 _ 0 1 _ -Dress for Performance 2

Okay, folks. Thanks for sticking around and not blowing me up :P

Let me know how you liked the story and the ideas above. Thanks!

-AM