A Figure Skater's Journey

Chapter 2: Charlie

          Sixteen year old Charlie Bushnell had just recently finished filming for the movie "Diary of a Future President". While he was looking through TikTok one day, he came across an edit of a figure skater who was around his age. The video showed her doing a quad loop jump during the 2016 World Championships along with the caption of "Sixteen year old Sierra Tracy is a legend in women's figure skating". When the video finally showed a closer view of Sierra's face of her standing on a podium, Charlie's heart fluttered. He thought that she was cute. He then decided to look her up more. He found that she had a YouTube channel where she was posting various skating videos. He clicked on the most recent video she had posted just a few days ago: 

          "Hey everyone! In case you aren't familiar with who I am, my name is Sierra and I am currently the youngest female figure skater to land a quad jump in competition. I have some exciting news for all who are interested in skating or are currently skating. My skating school is once again hosting our annual summer training camp but we have added two weeks for two new programs. As usual, the first training camp week will start on Monday May 30th and the rest of the programs the following weeks. We will be adding the free skate levels as well as the basic levels so we will be open to those who have never been on the ice as well. In a week from this video, the registration forms will be open but we only have a limited amount of spots and I have the links to the registration forms in the video description below. The summer training camp programs will give you the opportunity to work with the top skaters and coaches here in the U.S. no matter your skill level. For those in the basic levels, you will have the option to only register for certain days if you do not wish to attend the full week. I hope you see you there!"

          The video then ended. He could hardly believe that there was a chance to actually meet her. He was both interested in learning how to skate as well as he wanted to hopefully meet her and get to know her.

          "Hey Mom," Charlie called out.

          "Yes Charlie?" 

          "Are we busy during the week of June 18th?"

          "I don't think so, why?"

          "I just saw this really cool opportunity to learn how to ice skate and the top skaters and coaches from the U.S will be the ones teaching and it's going on during that week."

          Silence. Then his mom appeared in his room.

          "You want to learn how to ice skate?" his mom asked, giving him a confused look.

          "Yeah, it's not like the chance to be taught by the best skaters and coaches will come up very often. Most of the top athletes and their coaches usually don't offer this kind of a chance to those who aren't really good at the particular sport." 

          "What's the cost?" 

          "It's $150 for the whole week or just $25 per day." 

          "Well, it would make more sense for you to do the entire week rather than only staying for a few days worth of lessons. I'm guessing that there's a registration process?" 

          "Yes, I found the link to the registration form which opens in just a few days." 

          "I'll talk to your dad and see what he thinks." 

          "Okay thanks!" 

          Then his mom left the room. Charlie then looked through Sierra's YouTube channel and watched some of her videos. She had several different playlists which included skating tutorials, Q & As, skate care, training tutorials, and videos of her skating. He found a video of Sierra messing around at the rink with another blonde haired girl, the two of them were doing a short dance and afterwards were laughing before the video was stopped. From what he could tell, she seemed very free-spirited and friendly. 

          "So have you made a decision on whether or not I can do the week long ice skating lessons?" Charlie asked, "The registration forms open tomorrow." 

          "We decided that we will let you travel for that," Charlie's dad said, "However the only possible issue is that neither your mom or I may have the availability to travel with you and stay for the entire time. We talked about it and we decided that you are old enough to try to travel alone as you have really grown and changed the within the last year. Are you comfortable with that?" 

          "Yeah I would be comfortable with that." 

          "Okay then that sounds good. Can you send me the link to the registration forms so that we can get you signed up for the skating lessons when the forms open? I suspect that we'll have to fill it out since you're not yet eighteen." 

          "Yes, thank you!" 

          "We looked at the flight options and there's a good flight out of Los Angeles to the closest airport to the ice rink and then you can take an Uber from the airport to a hotel. That flight leaves here on June 16th at ten in the morning. Then afterwards there's a flight on June 24th that leaves at ten in the morning. We then found a Holiday Inn that is within walking distance of the ice arena that looks like a decent hotel." 

          "Sounds good, thank you so much! I love you Mom and Dad!" Charlie said, giving each of his parents a hug. 

          The next day, his parents got him registered for the week. 

          "Alright, we got you registered successfully," Charlie's dad said, "And we got your flights, hotel, and uber all booked so you should be all good to go." 

          "Thank you!" Charlie said, smiling. He couldn't wait for that week to come!