Chapter 36: Nationals

They did, in fact, go Christmas Caroling, and had a ball. They also took a nice long drive in Sophia's car to look at all the Christmas lights. Sophia's Dad had invited her down for Christmas, but she wanted to go to Warren's again, so they went to her Dad's house for Christmas Eve.

Warren's parents and Sophia's mom got together to buy them each cell phones, with the first year all paid up as long as they stayed within their plan, and under a special "family plan" offer that allowed Warren and Sophia to talk to each other (and Peg, Jim, and Ellen, who got cell phones for themselves at the same time) with unlimited minutes. It was a great present. Warren got Sophia a pair of diamond and emerald earrings, among a few other things, and Sophia got Warren a couple of sharp outfits, along with books and CDs. She promised him something else, but said it would have to wait for his birthday, which was in January.

And, suddenly, it was January, a couple days before Warren's sixteenth birthday, and they found themselves on a plane to Chicago. Jim, unfortunately, couldn't come, nor could Brian or any of the kids-their making it to Nationals had been so unexpected-but Ellen and Peg got the requisite time off from work, and flew out with them. Peg and Warren had gotten a hotel room, and Ellen and Sophia an adjoining one. Bowing to the inevitable, those arrangements were quickly changed. Peg offered to switch rooms with Sophia. Sophia and Warren happily agreed. "This is their thing, they're in a hotel, we both know they're sleeping together, they are both nervous and would be more comfortable with each other. Let them," Peg said to Ellen, who agreed.

On January 8^th, Warren and Sophia were preparing to step onto the practice ice at Nationals for the first time. Their compulsories and Original Dance were to be held in a smaller satellite rink, but the free dance-and this practice, which was a free dance practice-were held in the big main rink. Sophia and Warren were in the second group to practice, and were a bit intimidated while waiting.

They took the ice, trying to shake off the nerves. Unbeknownst to them, a bit of commotion had arisen with the other couples on the ice. They had noticed, unlike Sophia and Warren, some distinguished guests in the audience.

"What the heck are Elizabeth Cushman and Jack Garrison doing watching a junior ice dance practice?" Kim Burlington asked her partner, George Lahey.

"Yeah, and that's Christine Arsenault with them," added Shawna Vickers. Her partner, Evan Podgar said, "Hey, their obviously here to check out the Future of American Ice Dance-you and I or Kim and George over there." All four broke up laughing.

"It's just kind of strange to see them here." Kim said. "By the way, who are those two, she in the black dress and he in the sweatsuit?"

"That's Sophia Daniels and Warren Kelleher. They won Eastern Sectionals, and it's their first year ever competing," Evan said.

"Impressive," said Shawna, "Any good?"

"From what I've heard, they're very good," said Evan. "Very much crowd pleasers. But they're different. Classical ballroom dance influence-their free is all Big Band music-good technique, and a very different style of presentation."

"How so?" asked George.

"They focus on each other. They try to draw the audience in, rather than go out and get them. From what I heard, from a buddy of mine who was at Easterns, is that it's very different but very effective."

Suddenly, the three singles skaters stood up and yelled, "GO SOPHIA AND WARREN!!!" Sophia and Warren looked up, and saw Liz, Jack, and Christine waving at them.

"Hey, look, Soph!" Warren pointed up. Sophia and Warren skated over to the boards, and the threesome came down to greet them.

"Finally get to meet you, Dance Hunk," Christine said, giving Warren a big hug and kiss over the boards. Even Sophia laughed.

"Nice of you guys to come out for some support. We're terrified," Sophia confided, laughing.

"Don't be," Liz counseled. "This is just a practice. Just loosen up."

"And we're glad to be here," added Jack. "Can't wait to see you guys practice that free dance."

The four ice dancers across the ice saw all this, and were amazed. These two nobodies, brushing shoulders with some of the greats of American figure skating? How did this happen?

After making plans to meet the threesome after the practice, Sophia and Warren skated by, and Shawna made sure to eavesdrop.

"It's finally great to meet them in person, after so many internet chats," Warren said.

"Yeah, I think Christine enjoyed it, too," Sophia said with a gleam in her eye.

"You just shut up, Pookie." Then they skated out of Shawna's hearing. She reported what she heard to her partner and the other team.

"Pookie?" Kim exclaimed. "She called him Pookie?? How so terribly precious."

"Look at them," Shawna commented at Sophia and Warren working on some steps. "They skate really close together."

"Bah. Let's see how close they skate together after this", Kim said.

Kim was a consummate game player, and she did a bit of footwork, heading right towards Sophia and Warren. She timed it to end in a near-collision. And it did, sort of, but Sophia and Warren, used to skating during group lessons and public skating, neatly sidestepped the (seemingly) oblivious Kim. Sophia looked back, concerned, and said "Sorry!" thinking the near-accident had been their fault.

Kim just grumbled, and skated over to Shawna. "Shit. Didn't even dent their composure."

"Look at them. Have you ever seen anyone at a practice session at a major competition so happy?"

"Happy to be here, no doubt." George interjected.

One couple was already running through their free, as all the other couples stayed on the ice, as was traditional. Sophia and Warren huddled into a corner, though, not wanting to disrupt the skaters' that were practicing. Kim and George ran through their free, followed by Shawna and Evan. Both were good, Soph and Warren agreed, but had gone for the overly theatrical type program.

Sophia and Warren were next. The other four decided not to intimidate this time-even Kim-but huddled near the boards, because they wanted to watch these couple of unknowns.

As Soph and Warren took their opening positions, Christine yelled out, "Shake that butt, Warren!" Warren just barely managed to stop laughing as the music started.

"They are good," Evan said appreciatively. "Great edges, great knees. Their unison is superb. They skate close together. They've got talent, no denying it."