Gold Medal Winter

by Donna Freitas

  When she exits the rink, her lungs are heaving and her cheeks are flushed.

  Before she enters the Kiss and Cry, I give her a big hug. “You were amazing, Meredith. Those triple axels were so high!”

  She looks at me a little guiltily. “I should have told you about them.”

  But I smile back. “It’s okay, and no, you shouldn’t have. Then I would have had to tell you about my amazing quad sal — and that I’m totally nailing it tonight.”

  Her eyes get wide, then she starts to laugh. “May the best skater win.”

  I nod. Then Meredith joins Coach Danson in the Kiss and Cry to wait for her scores. It’s the first time I’ve seen him in a long time.

  Meredith doesn’t have to wait long.

  The crowd gasps.

  Her scores are really high.

  High enough by a tenth of a point to knock Mai Ling into second.

  Meredith squeals. Coach Danson picks her up and twirls her around. At least when she wins, he’s nice.

  As she heads into the Mixed Zone where the press is waiting for her comments, and where they’ll film her watching me on the ice, she’s literally biting her knuckles. She takes her hand away long enough to look at me and say, “Good luck, Espi.” Then she disappears through a door into a frenzy of camera flashes.

  “Going last is intense,” I tell Coach, trying to remember to breathe.

  “Going last means you know exactly what you need to do. So go out there and do it.”

  “You got it,” I say, and skate to the center of the ice.

  The crowd hushes.

  Just before the first bars of my music sound through the arena, I hear a few familiar voices.

  “Go, mija! I love you!” This from my mother, obviously.

  “Esperanza Flores! America’s Hope for Gold!” This from Mr. Chen.

  “Break a leg, Esperanza Flores!” This from Jennifer Madison, who I am sure means exactly what she says.

  I almost roll my eyes. But instead I just block her out.

  Then I hear one last, “Go, Espi!”

  It’s Danny’s voice.

  By the time the first notes float through the speakers, I’m smiling wider than ever.

  I feel like I can do anything right now.

  And that quad sal in my program?

  Let’s just say I nail it.

  “Espi!”

  Coach Chen is actually jumping up and down when I come off the ice to the Kiss and Cry. I’ve never seen her do that.

  The crowd is on their feet too, screaming so loud I can’t hear anything. I put my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.

  “I’ve never skated that well in my life,” I say when I look up again at Coach Chen.

  “You skated like your life depended on it,” she says.

  “I skated like an Olympic gold medal depended on it,” I correct.

  Coach laughs and pulls me into a hug. “I’m so proud of you. You’ll definitely medal. We just need to see how much the judges reward you for that quad sal. And those two triple axels. You got so much height on all your jumps!”

  “Honestly, the more I skated, the more it felt like I was flying. The jumps almost got easier as I went along, so by the time I got to the quad sal, I knew I was going to make it.”

  “It showed, Espi. It really did.” Then Coach looks over at the judges. “Here they come.”

  My scores flash all at once.

  Then a split second later the total comes up.

  Dios mío.

  “You did it, Espi!” Coach Chen is screaming, tears pouring down her cheeks.

  But it takes me a minute to realize what she means. “I did it?”

  “You won the gold!”

  Excitement surges into my heart and chills run through my body. I lean into Coach as she bounces me up and down in a hug. “I can’t believe it,” I say.

  “Believe it, Espi! You’re an Olympic gold medalist!”

  “We are,” I say with a smile. A sense of peace floods through me, followed by joy.

  So much joy.

  When it’s time for the medal ceremony, Meredith comes over and gives me a giant hug. “Congrats, Espi. You deserve gold after that quad sal.”

  “Thanks, Meredith. It was really close, though. It could have been either one of us. Congrats on the silver.”

  She nods. “I’m happy it will be the two of us up there.”

  “Me too,” I say.

  We stand there, arm in arm, until she has to go out onto the ice to accept the silver and climb up on the podium.

  Then, finally, after all this time, it’s my turn.

  The elevator doors open into the arena stands.

  I step through and look around the crowd, trying to locate my mother, my phone to my ear, where Libby and Joya are practically bursting my eardrum from all their screaming.

  “You did it,” Libby is yelling.

  “I’d like to think that those lovely star earrings you’re wearing helped,” Joya says, which makes me laugh.

  “Thanks, guys,” I tell them, my heart swelling so big it feels like it might burst. “I couldn’t have done it without your support.”

  “We know,” Joya says, all matter of fact.

  I turn one way, then another, still unable to find my mother or Luca or Mr. Chen.

  Then to my left, someone cries, “That’s Esperanza Flores!”

  And suddenly, I’m mobbed with fans.

  “Can you sign my program?”

  “Will you autograph my T-shirt?”

  “Over here!”

  “No, over here!”

  “Me!”

  “Me!”

  “Not her! Me first!”

  I’m totally surrounded. “Um, guys,” I tell Libby and Joya. “I’ve got to go. I’ll call you tomorrow. Love you,” I say, and click END.

  Pens and notebooks and various articles of clothing are thrust in my direction. The only way I’ll make it to the other side is to wade through the mob. Good thing they’re friendly. I smile and hug and sign and sign and sign.

  “Thank you, Espi!” says one little girl.

  “I want to be just like you some day,” says another.

  “I’ve never seen anyone jump like that,” says yet another, her voice filled with awe.

  By the time the crowd dwindles, there are tears rolling down my cheeks at all the emotion of the day. I wipe my eyes with the back of my hand, and when I look up again, the people I came to see are waiting for me.

  “Mamá,” I cry, and leap into her arms, almost knocking her over.

  “I knew you could do it, mi hija preciosa, hermosa, bonita.”

  “I’m so excited you were here to see it.”

  “Oh, me too, mi cielo. Me too.”

  When I hug Luca, I whisper, “Thank you for coming with her,” into his ear.

  He nods, but he’s too teary to talk.

  I hug Mr. Chen next.

  “No right angles today, huh, Espi?” he says.

  “All smooth, like a circle,” I say back. “I’m glad you’re here. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

  Finally, I get to my new friends: Tawny; Meredith, who’s standing with her parents; Mr. Morrison; and Danny.

  My smile turns to a grin. So maybe one of them is more than a friend.

  The four of them surge forward. Meredith and Tawny talk over each other as we hug. “We’re going to have to be on the Today show, like, the second we get back,” Meredith is saying.

  “Rockefeller Center all to ourselves,” Tawny cries.

  “I’ve never actually been to New York City,” I confess.

  Meredith rolls her eyes. “That explains why you need a wardrobe makeover.”

  “I do not!”

  Tawny smiles. “Um, you kind of do. We’ll take you shopping.”

  As they plot what stores we should hit first, I turn to Mr. Morrison.

  “Nice height on that quad, Espi.”

  I smile. “Thanks for your support.”

 
This whole time, Danny has been waiting patiently at the back of the group, but now he steps forward. “Hi, Espi,” he says.

  We don’t hug. It’s like, now that we’ve kissed, we can’t touch each other in front of other people. But I see a medal hanging around his neck. “Congratulations on winning gold,” I tell him.

  He grins ear to ear. “You too.”

  “I bet you’ll be busy celebrating with the hockey team tonight.”

  “I might go for a while. But I have other ideas about celebrating.”

  My eyebrows go up. “Oh?”

  He nods. “You up for it?”

  Tawny and Meredith are pretending not to eavesdrop, even though they totally are. “Definitely,” I tell him.

  I’m about to say something else when I notice Hunter out of the corner of my eye. He’s alone, but it’s obvious he’s looking for someone. I go up and tap him on the shoulder.

  He spins around. “Oh. Hi, Esperanza.”

  “Congratulations on medaling, Hunter.”

  “Oh yeah. Thanks.”

  There’s a little silence.

  “Really? Is that all?”

  He looks annoyed. “Well, what were you expecting?”

  A little congratulations, I think to myself.

  “Nothing,” I say. “Never mind.”

  Hunter can barely even look at me. I wonder if it’s because I won gold and he only got the silver. When his eyes finally focus on me again, I say, “You’re one of those guys who’s easily emasculated, aren’t you?”

  Confusion crosses his face. “Emascuwhat?”

  “Look it up.” I point across the stands. “There’s your girlfriend over there glaring at you. See you on the Today show, Hunter. I’ll be with the gold medalists,” I add, even though it’s a little obnoxious. I just can’t resist pointing that out.

  Then I walk back to the place where my family and friends are waiting for me. I give Danny a quick peck on the lips.

  “Awwww,” Tawny says.

  Luca puts his arm around my mother like it’s no big deal. My eyes get wide, but I don’t say anything.

  “Believe it or not,” Luca says. “I found an Italian place just outside the Olympic Village that’s supposed to be delicious. I was thinking we should go.”

  “I’m up for that,” Mr. Chen says.

  “Me too,” Coach says, appearing from behind everyone.

  “I’m in if my parents can come ,” Meredith says.

  I smile at everyone. Then I look at Luca. “I think that’s a great idea. The chicken parm will never be as good as yours, though.”

  Luca starts blubbering again.

  “He’s a sensitive man,” my mother says. “Very emotional.”

  “I’m famished,” I say. “Everybody ready?”

  I get a chorus of yeses in answer.

  “Good. Let’s go.”

  “What are you thinking right now, Esperanza?” the reporter asks at the end of the morning press conference the next day.

  I hold out my medal to the camera and take a deep breath. “That this gold should really go to more than just me. That if I could copy it, I’d give one to all the coaches and the rest of my teammates from the United States, because they’ve earned it. That if there are any other figure-skating-loving Latina girls out there with Olympic-sized dreams, that this medal is for them too.”

  I look into the camera. “I wouldn’t have survived this without my best friends, Libby and Joya, who are watching this from home and who are as good as gold at heart. I never, ever could have done this without the most incredible, generous coach in the entire world, Lucy Chen, a gold medalist in figure skating herself. And if they gave out gold to parents of athletes, my hard-working, amazingly supportive mother would definitely be first in line.”

  My mother smiles through her tears when I say this. She’s just a few feet away by the giant cameras, with the rest of the people I care about, who are sharing this moment with me.

  I grin and make my final announcement. “And for anyone out there who likes Italian food, come to Luciano’s Restaurant in the great state of Rhode Island for dinner. My gold medal will be on permanent display there, thanks to the kind support of my career by its owner. And if you do come by, maybe we’ll get a chance to meet. I’m there all the time.”

  The reporter seems surprised by this offer. “I bet you’ll have a lot of takers on that one.”

  “I hope so. And the chicken parm at Luciano’s is worth the trip, medal or no.”

  This makes Luca laugh. He wipes his eyes and puts his arm around my mother.

  The reporter laughs too. “One last question, Esperanza,” she says.

  “Sure.”

  “Are your Olympic days behind you?”

  I shake my head. “No way,” I say to her.

  Then I look from Coach to Luca and from Luca to Danny, then from Danny on to my mother, as they’re all beaming back at me.

  “I’m just getting started.”

  First I want to thank Rachael Flatt, the 2010 US National Champion and member of the 2010 Olympic team, for all of her help with this novel. Rachael, your generosity and willingness to talk on the phone and answer all of my email queries, big and small (and while you were finishing out your year at Stanford!), was so important in making Esperanza’s story both accurate and fun — and I am so grateful to you for this. I also want to thank the two skating vetters and veterans, Sarah S. Brannen and Tim Koleto, for their technical expertise. Any mistakes in the book are my own. I should also note that United States Figure Skating is actually excellent at getting family visas for the Olympics — I just made Mamá’s case a dramatic exception.

  My gratitude goes to everyone at Scholastic for their support of this book — from acquisitions, to copyediting and production, to the Book Clubs and Book Fairs. Thank you to my wonderful agent, Miriam Altshuler, of course, and especially to Cheryl Klein, my tireless editor. Cheryl, I can’t imagine another editor who would take on an ice skating novel with as much glee — it’s so much fun to work with you. Lastly, thanks to Daniel Matus for being a fantastic model for Danny — no wonder Esperanza falls for him.

  Growing up, Donna Freitas loved to skate at her local rink, Thayer Arena in Warwick, Rhode Island. While she never quite mastered jumping, she could do a mean hockey stop, and spent lots of time after school on the ice with friends. She brought all the pleasure of those skating memories to Gold Medal Winter.

  Donna is the author of four young-adult novels, and a big fan of all things figure skating. She divides her time between Brooklyn, New York, and Barcelona, Spain.

  Text copyright © 2014 by Donna Freitas

  All rights reserved. Published by Arthur A. Levine Books, an imprint of Scholastic Inc., Publishers since 1920. SCHOLASTIC and the LANTERN LOGO are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Freitas, Donna.

  Gold medal winter / Donna Freitas. — First edition.

  pages cm

  Summary: Esperanza Flores’s place on the United States Olympic figure skating team has come at the expense of an injured skater, so in addition to the pressure of sudden fame and outsized expectations Espi has to deal with the resentment of her teammates — and their efforts to sabotage her routine.

  ISBN-13: 978-0-545-64377-1 (hardcover : alk. paper)

  ISBN-10: 0-545-64377-5 (hardcover : alk. paper)

  ISBN-13: 978-0-545-64378-8 (pbk. : alk. paper)

  ISBN-10: 0-545-64378-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)

  [etc.]

  1. Women figure skaters — Juvenile fiction. 2. Winter Olympics — Juvenile fiction. 3. Competition (Psychology) — Juvenile fiction. 4. Figure skating stories. [1. Ice skating — Fiction. 2. Winter Olympics — Fiction. 3. Competition (Psychology) — Fiction. 4. Dominican Americans — Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.F8844Gp 2014

  813.6 — dc23

  2013029144

  First edition, January 2014
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br />   Cover art © 2014 by Steve Rawlings

  Cover design by Elizabeth B. Parisi

  e-ISBN 978-0-545-64473-0

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