World of Ice

Chapter One – We're Moving

Maddy stared out of the car window. Droplets of water skidded across the pane of glass after the shower of rain. Huge oak trees dotted along the roads, their canopies shading the road and the traffic of cars that whizzed past, from the glaring sun that hung high above the cloudless sky. Trees, buildings and people became a messy whirl of colors as her dad stepped on the accelerator. Ignoring the butterflies that were fluttering in her stomach, she watched the blurred scenery till her eyes watered, before settling comfortably back on the black leather seat and closed her eyes.

"Maddy, Trace, we realized that this may seem a little too sudden and a little rush. But Dad and Mom took quite a while (which we found out was only like… three days?) to make such an important decision. We've thought it through, looking at it from every single angle and considering every single detail, so we hope you all will also accept it," my dad explained nervously as the whole family sat at the dining table for the family meeting.

My brother and I glanced at each other with a worried expression. Dad and Mom were seldom this serious. The last time they actually had such a meeting, they were considering quite seriously, mind you, to send ME to off to army. Trace and I could only gape at them like freaking idiots with our jaws dropped right down on the floor and eyes popping off their sockets when they told me I could get a beautiful tan and more abs in the army camp.

"Well darling, you'll make such a WONDERFUL officer! Everyone loves a woman army officer! It's SO TOTALLY cool!" Mom was practically hovering above me persuading me with all the 'advantages' of being in the army.

"Yeah, maybe I will even save the emperor from an evil assassination and bring honor to the Evans family," I rolled my eyes, quoting from the show 'Mulan'. Trace snickered, while Dad and Mom ignored me and persisted.

Ridiculous? You haven't heard it all. The TRUE reason for wanting to pack my bags and send me off to war is so that they could actually adopt an adorable kitten they fell in love with at the pound, considering that I was an obstacle since I am ALLERGIC to them. Holy mama. They chose a CAT over me. Maddy Evans, you're SO unloved, I groaned.

Now, we silently made a prayer, and turning back to them, we braced ourselves for anymore absurd situations.

I swallowed a lump in my throat. "Okay Dad. We're ready. Shoot."

"Well you see… we're moving."

.oO0Oo.

We're moving. We're moving. We're moving. The sentence had since stuck in her brain and had been ringing constantly in her ears, even now, as she sat glumly in the car zooming towards their new home. For the past few weeks everything was a blur. Their attempts at protesting were futile and had gradually changed to begging. Finally when both realized that the decision could not be undone, they had turned to worrying. It all seemed so unimaginable, leaving their old and familiar lives behind and starting afresh. Trace, captain of the school's basketball team, was horrified and totally devastated at the prospect of leaving and ditching his team behind. But was persuaded (very reluctantly) when their parents informed him he could enter the all famous sports school near their new home, while Maddy could have a chance in getting in the country's best ice dancing team. (Did I ever mention that my parents were geniuses? Trust them to dangle carrots like we're donkeys.)

Okay. I am a donkey. As upset as she was to leave everything behind, she was thrilled at the prospect of having given a chance to audition for the team she had always dreamt of. They were her idols, and now she had a chance to become one of them. Clutching the letter of recommendation written by her previous coach, she felt a surge of excitement coursed through her blood.

"I can't wait to see our new home!" Her mom squealed with delight. "Don't you, hun?"

"Definitely! I'm sure the kids feel as exhilarated as we do!" He chuckled and took his wife's hand. "Don't you, Maddy?"

Maddy looked over to her brother's side. Trace was sleeping with his 'Michael Jordan' cap pulled low over his face. She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, sure we do. Definitely excited."

Trace snored.

.oO0Oo.

A/N:

Yayy! The first chapter, of my first story at Fiction press. :) Well as you all know, this is a story about ice-dancing. I got this craze to create this story after the Winter Olympics in Italy. Here I would also like to congratulate the Russian couple for clinching the champion award in the ice dancing segment. They were totally fabulous! -grins- Anyway back to the story, I know NUTS about ice dancing. I'm really sorry to say that and some of you out there would be like "Then what the hell does she think she's doing writing an ice skating story?!" Oh well as I have said, it was an obsession started on the television. Besides I am trying really hard to know more. Reading guides, asking around for information and everything. BUT I won't really be able to get everything right, since ice-dancing is really not a popular sport from where I'm living. So throughout the story, I'm afraid there would be parts whereby it's purely fictional. X apologies. Though I still hope you all will still give my story and I a chance. Hehe.

Read and review! Thanks :)