Chapter 14: Surfin' USA
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"So, tell me how it's going? I want all the dirt, Meggie." Donna threw herself down on Megan's sister's bed, totally annihilating a collection of beanie babies. Kelly would have a fit! But she didn't say anything to Donna though. This was the first time Donna had ever been interested in coming over to Megan's house. Megan was not going to spoil this inaugural visit by being rude. Donna reached under her and pulled an Erin Bear out from under her spine, and for one absurd moment Megan was reminded of The Princess and the Pea. Donna would make a great Princess. "Well? Come on, dish!" Donna said.
Megan wasn't sure exactly what dirt Donna was talking about. Megan and Cody were finally getting to have full practice sessions, at decent hours in the day: an afternoon session, which they shared with Gina Logan, and a morning session which they shared with two junior level dance teams. It was helpful to say the least, especially the ice dancers only session. But, she admitted to herself, there was nothing yet to gossip about. Cody treated her like a kid sister. "Well, our Original Dance is coming along fine, I love waltzing with Cody." She blushed a little when she thought what it felt like to have Cody's strong arms around her. "We're portraying a young frontier couple who are just starting their lives together."
"Um," Donna said. "Yeah, he's such a wonderful dancer. No matter what partner he's with, he can make her look good.... hey, can I borrow some of this nail polish?" She reached to the nightstand and started shaking a bottle of opal polish.
"It's Kelly's." Once again, Megan worried whether or not she was a good enough partner for Cody. Was Donna trying to hint around the fact that she thought Megan wasn't talented? She looked at herself in the three-sectioned mirror that topped the vanity table she shared with Kelly. Sometimes she just felt so blah looking. Dirty blonde hair that was totally flat no matter how much time she spent in steam rollers; hazel eyes that changed with the color of her outfits; and a bump in the center of her nose--yep, she was boring. Compared with Donna's shiny thick blond hair, big long-lashed green eyes, and beauty queen lips, Megan might as well fade into the wall. She frowned at her reflection and sighed.
Donna looked up at the noise. "Do you have a nail file?"
Megan pulled one out of the drawer and tossed it at her. It was so cool being Donna's friend. She'd been kind of lonely when Robert left, but Donna had been so nice recently. Not that she hadn't been nice before--but now she seemed more interested in hanging out. "So do you want to do something? Watch a video?"
Donna shrugged. "I don't know. Practice was a killer today, I'm not into moving right now." She carefully shaped her index finger into a perfect oval, and then held her hand up to the ceiling to look at it.
"Oh, I know exactly what you mean. We've spent all morning on the compulsories--I hate not knowing which dances we'll be doing at which comp and we totally suck at the Paso Doble--and all afternoon on the Original Dance. My legs are killing me." The extra ninety minutes of practice time they had now that the hockey teams were gone, made all the difference between being sore, and being in pain. Megan took a look at her legs, which appeared overly pale and pudgy below blue flowered shorts.
Maybe I should go on a diet?
"Well, I'm working on a triple lutz-triple toe, and it's only about thirty percent right now," Donna said. "Way too jarring. I think I've squished my back bone." She put the emery board down and unscrewed the cap to the nail polish. "Oooh, this is a nice shade." She glanced over at Megan. "You have practice with Gina Logan, don't you?"
"In the afternoon, yeah. Mr. Griffin is so creepy, I don't know how she stands it." Megan remembered the way he sat in the second row, his hand clutching the cane, his concentration totally on Gina. That thought was followed immediately by the memory of how Gina had actually said something to make him smile. Megan would have bet the man didn't know how to smile.
Donna carefully stroked the brush across her thumb. "He is kind of weird. But he won the Olympics in 92; he probably could be a decent coach. What kinds of jumps does he have her doing?"
Megan shrugged. "I haven't been paying that much attention. Triple flip. Triple toe?"
Donna sat up quickly. "Combo?"
"No. She can do a triple flip and a triple toe--separately. She's got a triple toe-double toe, band I've seen her do a beautiful triple loop-double loop." Megan did remember that, because Gina's loop jumps seemed to float across the ice. "She has a salchow too. And she has this really neat spin. Kind of like the ladies' half of a pairs sit spin." Megan could remember more now that she thought about it.
"I don't get it. How does she do that?" Nail polish forgotten, Donna stared at her with intent interest.
Megan stood up, pushed the little brass stool out of the way, and demonstrated. "Ok, she starts out with a sideways leaning layback. She holds it for a while, and then she sort of slides so she is leaning sideways, and then the whole spin sinks into broken leg sit spin." She fudged the slide so she was now on the carpet with her leg bent out next to her. "And somehow, I'm not sure how she does it, as she's spinning, her leg moves behind her so she's spinning in a really deep lunge position."
Mid demonstration she collapsed. "Ow. That is NOT easy. Rug burn!" She glared at the blue shag that she had always hated anyway. "Actually, maybe it's more like she spins around on the front of her toepick at the end."
Donna stared at her for a long time. "I always thought that when Cranston did the broken leg sit spin, he looked like a dying bat." She shrugged. "Anyway. What about the triple lutz?"
Megan painfully got to her feet. "I didn't see one, but I wasn't really paying attention most of the time. I noticed the spin for sure, 'cause its so different. Besides. I had to notice, because when Gina first did that spin, Cody stopped cold and stared at her." She hoped that Cody didn't like Gina in that way. It wasn't fair. Gina got to live with Cody. She had every night to work on him.
"Well, Gina's sort of pretty, if you like those kinds of looks." Donna arched her back and stretched for a moment. "I think I know what we can do now--is your geek brother home?"
"No, he's at computer camp." And Kelly was scouting a gym in Texas. They way everyone was talking up her little sister, you'd think she was the next big thing in gymnastics. Geez. Her parents were so into her sister--and brother--that Megan might as well not even exist.
"Is his computer here? Or at camp?" Donna asked.
"It's here. Why?" The computer was another sore subject with Megan. Michael got a new computer, while Megan had to practically beg for new skates.
"My agent said that several people were wanting me to designate their website as my Official website, and I don't want to have to go all the way down to the Cyber Cafe look at them all. Where is the computer?" Donna hopped off the bed with more energy than she had had a few minutes earlier.
"Next door--in his room." Megan led the way, thinking that she'd actually rather go to the Cyber Cafe. It sounded like fun.
The door to Michael's room had a sign with a big green dragon, which breathed the fiery words, "Enter and die." Donna ignored the sign and went right in. Megan hesitated a moment as if the really was a fire-breathing dragon within-too many years with her big brother had taught her to avoid annoying him unnecessarily. "Donna, Michael is really fussy about his stuff."
"Don't worry. I won't break anything." Donna went straight for the desk and sat down in front of the computer. Megan held her breath as Donna started flipping switches and clicking little picture thingies, but nothing exploded. Donna smiled. "Good, he's got his passwords automated."
Megan heard the familiar dial tones and mechanical whirring that she often heard coming from Michael's room late in the night, so she assumed that Donna actually did know what she was doing. "How did you learn this?"
"Oh, there is always some dork at the Cyber Cafe willing to lend a hand," Donna said. She typed in something and then the picture on the screen changed to a picture of Donna executing a spiral. "This is the website of my biggest fan, Peter Novak. He keeps it really updated, and if there are new sites up, he'll have the links."
Sites? Links? Megan regretted not paying any attention when Michael gushed about his computer. She watched as the little white arrow suddenly changed into Donna's head and floated about the screen. Dizzying. Megan blinked for a moment, and then looked back at the screen to see a headshot of Donna, with the words, 'Donna Delmonico-all the way to Salzburg, 2002.' Wow! Megan knew that Donna was an early favorite for the Olympics, even though they were still nearly four years away. So many people had gone pro after the Worlds, that Donna, Russia's Kira Dyakonova, and China's SuZhen Li (or was it Li SuZhen?) were the only three from the top ten who were still eligible. But it was sort of surprising that anyone other than the skaters themselves was already looking forward to Salzburg. Megan's attention began to drift as Donna started moving from page to page. She sat down on Michael's bed and swung her heels back and forth. There was nothing exciting to look at in here. A jumble of Star Trek Action Figures and ship models obscured most of the useable surfaces. There were boring posters of various star systems on the wall, and Megan doubted that Michael would ever know what to do if faced with a bikini poster. Probably calculate the gravity force on the model's breasts. Remembering her hostess duties, she asked, "Do you want anything to eat or drink?"
"Oh that's so sweet of you Meggie-I would love a Diet Sprite." Donna said. "I'm just reading the guest book signatures, you'd be really bored 'cause its all stuff like, 'Donna rocks' and 'I love you Donna'."
Megan trotted downstairs to the kitchen. She grabbed a couple of sodas from the refrigerator and then snagged a bunch of Oreos for herself. Halfway through the fifth cookie, she remembered that she should be dieting, so she threw out the rest of that Oreo and put the rest back into the jar. Feeling slightly guilty, she returned to Donna, who now had a completely different thing up on the computer. "What's this?"
"This newsgroup discusses figure skaters and figure skating," Donna explained. "It's basically a bunch of fans, although some of the people who post here are ISU judges. It's a good way to see what the audiences think of your skating. Here, see this group of messages?"
Kiki's 3X-better than the men?
"So everything under that topic is about Kiki's triple axel?" Megan asked.
"Supposedly, but about halfway through they'll drift into talking about something else and forget to change the title," Donna said, as she scrolled down.
"Kiki does have a great axel. Robert and I sat in the third row at Lalique last year and she was clearly higher than the boards. Do you think she'll still do them now that she's gone inel?" It would be a shame if Akiko Kikusawa stopped pushing the technical envelope. Megan would never say it to Donna, but she though that Kiki was probably one of the best skaters ever.
Donna shrugged. "Who knows. She's Olympic Champion, she could take a nap on the ice and people would throw flowers at her. But if you wanted to talk about it, you could post a message here and I'm sure they'll discuss it with you."
"How?"
"I'll show you in a minute-let's look through the topics first and see what else is going on." Donna began reading the headings dramatically, sending Megan into fits of the giggles.
Westin and Katsanis -What's Wrong With Nikolai?
COI Review--Tucson
Donna D is such a hottie!
Donna read the message, giggled, and then said, "I'll have to find that kid and send him an autographed photo. What a sweetie!"
ISU Open format incomprehensible.
DO NOT FEED THE TROLL!
"What's a troll?" Megan asked. Just listening to Donna read all the titles...too funny!
"Someone who posts nasty messages or rumors just to get a response," Donna said. "Its kind of funny watching everyone scramble to defend their favorites. A couple of weeks ago there was a long argument about whether or not Li SuZhen is anorexic. That kind of thing. Should I read more?"
"Oh yes," Megan said. "This is a hoot!"
Official Ryan O'Connor Fan Club
TROLL DERBY, cast your votes now!
Cody Niell is skating with WHO?
It's N-E-I-L-L, Can't anyone spell here?
Megan gasped. "Wait... wait... go back to the one about Cody skating with who? What does it say?"
Donna read the first message. " Well it looks like Cody Neill is on to partner number six. How long will this partnership last? Is Megan Kincaid the magic number or is Cody doomed to fail again?" Donna took a deep breath. "Well that wasn't so bad. It was more about Cody than about you. Someone replied, let me read it. Actually, Megan Kincaid is a fine ice dancer. She's the tallest partner he's had yet, I bet they'll look really nice together on the ice. As for her past partnership with Duras, Megan was the backbone of that team. She's not terribly dramatic, but she's very fast, nice edgework. I think this new team, on paper at least, will do quite well. There... that's not such bad criticism." She clicked on another message.
"What else?" Megan was almost afraid to ask.
"Just one more, but it's this person who never says anything nice, nothing to bother with." Donna covered the screen with her hands.
"Let me see!" Megan begged.
"I really don't think-- oh ok. Someone posted that the only place Kincaid and Neill would be going is the fat farm. But like I said, this poster-Ginger Grant-has a reputation for saying nasty things."
Megan gulped as the Oreos congealed in her stomach. Fat.
"But it's just a troll. She just says stuff like that to piss people off. No one really believes that stuff." Donna scrolled a bit. "You see, later on she calls Kira Dyakonova a slut, and here she says that Etienne is illiterate. And come on, it's just a bunch of people with computers, it's not like they're the ones who choose the international teams. It's not like this is such a big deal."
"Do you think I'm fat?" Megan looked down at her thunder thighs and knew the answer already.
"Of course not. Sure, you're a bit curvier than the average skater, but who cares-it's not as if Cody is going to throwing you anywhere. As long as you wear dark skating dresses, hardly anyone will even notice! Please. Do not listen to that troll at all. She probably weighs a bizillion pounds and only posts because she's stuck in her chair." Donna turned back to the computer screen. "Forget it. Come on. Let me show you how to post to the Kiki discussion. We'll just use your brother's screen name-Spock1701."
Donna showed her how to create a post, and Megan -or, rather, Spock1701-- wrote a really nice review of Kiki's jumps. Then Donna took over once again. "There, the article is up already. Let me show you how to start a new thread." She clicked another button, and then typed in, Does anyone remember Gina Logan?
"What are you doing?" Megan hissed even though there was no one else home. For some reason it felt like they were committing a crime.
"Well, Gina is so quiet, she'll never tell us how good she used to be. This is the best way to learn about her skating career. Cody said she won Junior Worlds-I'm curious about her, that's all," Donna said as she began typing. Megan watched over her shoulder as a short message appeared: *Hi people. Just another 'whatever happened to' question. TIA."
" 'Tia?'" Megan asked. "Is that your online name?"
"No, it means thanks in advance. Oh, something else. Don't ever write a note in all caps. It's considered shouting." Donna sent the message, and then caught a glimpse at the computer clock. She shrieked. "Six forty! Oh my gosh it's late, Meggie. I have got to get going." She leaped out of the chair quickly. "This has been all kinds of fun, but I have a date tonight. I'm audi."
After Donna left, Megan decided to go out for a run. She felt hyperconscious every time her thighs jiggled.
Fat!
The word echoed through her head with every slap of her feet on the pavement. A truck drove past, and the boy sitting in the bed barked at her. Megan suddenly felt a thousand percent worse. Donna had apparently just been humoring her. She hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings.
Sure, you're a bit curvier than the average skater, but who cares-it's not as if Cody is going to throwing you anywhere. As long as you wear dark skating dresses, hardly anyone will even notice!
Curvy equals fat. Fat people wear dark clothes. Donna hadn't come out and said it in so many words, but clearly, she agreed that Megan was fat. She was just too nice to use the word.
Megan ran until her legs were hurting, and then she limped home. Great. She'd probably get shin splints and then where would her skating career be?
Well, Cody will be free to find a nice thin partner!
She took a shower, and examined the pockets of fat all over her body. Fat... and still blah looking, she decided. She wrapped her pudgy body in a terry robe and headed back to her room, but stopped when she passed Michael's room. They'd left the computer on and hooked up to the net. Good thing she'd noticed, because her brother sure would have.
Before she turned it off, though, she checked the newsgroups again. Perhaps it just masochism, but she wanted to know how many other people thought she was fat.
Nobody.
Ginger Grant's message had been ignored.
Good. What does a Gilligan's Island fan know about skating anyway.
Spock1701 had had a couple responses to the Kiki string. The people were very nice and one poster had also been to Lalique and had seen the jumps from the other side of the rink. It was kind of cool to be talking with other people about ice skating. Certainly no one in her family seemed to care.
Further on down a few people had commented on the Gina Logan question, including the same woman who had been to Lalique.
Oh, she had so much potential. I saw her at Junior Worlds in 91 and was just astounded. Beautiful jumps, strong spins, and her blades rarely made a sound on the ice. Great dancer too-her program was a Gershwin medley and I've seen few people since skate that well to Fascinating Rhythm.
Megan wondered if this woman-Joanne47-was a judge or something. Another person mentioned that in 92 Gina Logan had been entered in Skate Canada, when she'd crashed on a lutz in the short program (really badly, it looked like a painful fall). She'd stumbled through the rest of the short, splatted out the long, and had never competed again. I think she just up and quit, the writer claimed. Too bad, she was really good.
The next message, from Ginger Grant, wasn't so nice. Oh well. Here today, gone tomorrow. Gina Logan's probably in some looney bin somewhere. I heard she had a total nervous breakdown. I doubt anyone will ever see her again.
"Ouch!" Megan said out loud. Poor Gina. Nervous breakdown? Gina didn't seem crazy-well what did this Ginger Grant creature know anyway? She could have made the whole thing up just from reading the two previous posts. Angrily, she felt around the back of the machine until she found the switch that turned it off. Still, Ginger Grant's words continued to burn into her brain.
Nervous breakdown... I guess there are worse things than being fat.
Text Copyright © 1999-2000 Karen Frank
