The Favorites
by Layne Fargo
Contents
Chapter 58
Overview
On the night of the Olympic free dance, Katarina feels physically sore but mentally locked in after a strong original dance, and she readies herself for the performance that could give her everything she wants. The mood shifts when Heath is missing backstage and everyone around Katarina seems evasive. Bella's urgent insistence that Katarina look at something on her phone signals that a new problem may disrupt the pair at the most critical moment of the competition.
Summary
As Katarina and Heath prepare for the Olympic free dance, coach Lena gives them a blunt send-off: they should skate well and not embarrass her. Because they will skate last, Katarina has time to work through her usual stretches and steady herself. Katarina is still sore in her legs and hips from the original dance, especially in her inner thighs, but she takes confidence from having hidden the pain well enough to earn a season's best and put the Russians behind them.
In the dressing room, Katarina gets fully into character for the program. Katarina applies dramatic makeup and puts on her dress, then carries out the beaded choker that Heath needs to fasten. The necklace and costume reinforce the concept of their free dance: a Dracula-inspired story in which Katarina plays an ancient, dominant vampire and Heath plays the younger man under her control, culminating in a blood-sharing union.
Heath's own costume is much simpler, so Katarina expects him to already be waiting when she comes out. Instead, Heath is nowhere to be found. Katarina starts searching the backstage area while holding the choker, and the atmosphere immediately feels wrong because skaters, coaches, and staff seem to avoid meeting Katarina's eyes.
Genevieve Moreau briefly looks at Katarina, then turns away and whispers to another skater, which makes Katarina think people are still discussing the disastrous interview. Katarina dismisses the gossip and tells herself that once she and Heath become Olympic champions, everyone will have something else to talk about. Her confidence in the result remains intact even as the social tension around her grows stranger.
Then Bella Lin comes out of the restroom, not yet fully ready to skate with Garrett. When Katarina asks whether Bella has seen Heath and then asks Bella to fasten the choker instead, Bella interrupts with visible anxiety and an apology. Rather than answering directly, Bella says Katarina needs to see something on Bella's phone, ending the chapter on the brink of a revelation just before the free dance.
Who Appears
- KatarinaPrepares for the Olympic free dance, manages pain and nerves, then realizes Heath has disappeared.
- Bella LinApproaches Katarina anxiously backstage and insists she look at something on her phone.
- HeathKatarina's partner, expected backstage before the free dance but mysteriously absent.
- LenaTheir stern coach, who sends them off with a characteristically harsh pep talk.
- Genevieve MoreauA competitor whose evasive glance and whispering add to the uneasy backstage atmosphere.