CHAPTER 4
The next afternoon, Gabby made sure she was at the rink on time. As she pushed open the big doors, she immediately spotted Coach Pearce, bundled in her huge puffy parka.
“Hello, Coach Pearce,” Gabby said as she walked over.
Coach Pearce pointed at the bench in front of her. “Sit, Gabrielle,” she commanded.
“Uh, actually, I prefer Gabby,” Gabby said. She hadn’t wanted to correct Coach Pearce the day before, but now that she was officially her student, it was probably okay.
“Please don’t interrupt, Gabrielle,” Coach Pearce said.
Gabby’s eyes widened. Coach Pearce definitely had a different style of coaching than Coach Stone. Gabby sat still on the bench, her back very straight as she listened.
Coach Pearce paced in front of her. “I have some ideas for you, Gabrielle,” she explained. “As you may know, the regional competition is coming up in just a couple of weeks. I think you could do very well if you practice hard enough.”
She paused and stared at Gabby. “We’ll focus on footwork and spins. For now, your jumps will be a single flip, a single toe loop, and a single Salchow,” she said. “I’m sure you can handle that.”
Gabby nodded. All of those jumps are easy, little ones, she thought with relief. Coach Pearce hadn’t mentioned any high-level jumps, like the double Axel. I wonder why, Gabby thought. She didn’t have time to think about it more, though. Coach Pearce was already shooing her toward the ice to begin her warm-up.
* * *
Gabby had never skated as hard as she did during the next two weeks. She was drenched in sweat at the end of every practice. Every day, she worked on her routine for the regional competition.
Some of the moves were hard, especially the flying spin, which she’d never done before. But Gabby was pleased that she hadn’t had any trouble so far. She’d even done a slightly harder jump — a single Axel.
Coach Pearce hadn’t said anything about doing a high-level jump since the audition. Gabby tried to forget about it. But in her heart, she knew she would have to do at least one double jump to compete at the juvenile level. Still, every time that thought came up, she shoved it aside. Coach Pearce was the coach — she knew what she was doing.