Bella tells Katarina that she asked Sheila to invite her because Katarina is talented enough to become a real rival. Bella frames competition as useful rather than hostile: if Katarina pushes Bella, Bella will push Katarina, and both will improve. Their conversation turns to Sheila Lin’s famous rivalry with Veronika Volkova and the coming Bella-versus-Yelena narrative, and Katarina realizes Bella may see her as preparation for bigger battles. Instead of feeling used, Katarina is energized by being taken seriously.

When Bella asks Katarina to name the goal that would make all the work worth it, Katarina first says she wants to reach the Olympics, then admits she wants more: national and world titles and an Olympic gold medal. Bella does not mock her. Instead, Bella treats that ambition as natural and reveals her own even bigger goal—to win so much that Sheila becomes only a footnote in Bella’s record. Katarina recognizes Bella’s unapologetic confidence and decides she is willing to meet Bella’s challenge.

Katarina then dares Bella to swim, and Bella accepts rather than back down. After both girls strip to their underwear and jump in, Katarina discovers the pool is heated, which punctures the bravado of the moment and makes Bella laugh. Floating together in the water, Bella explains that she had not approached Katarina earlier because Katarina has kept mostly to herself and Heath since arriving in Los Angeles.

Bella asks how long Katarina and Heath have been together, and the question sends Katarina into a memory of how their bond began when they were children. Katarina recalls Heath watching her practice, praising her skating, and the easy pull that developed between them long before either of them clearly defined it. In the present, Katarina answers by emphasizing their six years as skating partners, showing how completely their skating and romance are intertwined.

Bella then warns Katarina that the relationship is not secret: Gemma can hear them, Josie likely knows, and Sheila probably knows too. Bella reassures Katarina that Sheila will not throw them out just for being together, but she makes the stakes clear by saying it would matter if the romance started hurting their skating. Bella also cautions that combining romance and partnership can be dangerous, even as she insists she avoids boys entirely because Olympic success matters more. Katarina, who still sees Heath as her soul mate and an asset on the ice, envies Bella’s certainty about her own destiny. The chapter ends when Heath appears from the shadows and calls for Katarina.