Chapter 51: Making A Name For Themselves

The weekend after Sophia and Warren got back from the Junior Grand Prix, John Vassar had his annual Christmas party. Four days later, it was Christmas Day. Even though she had more of a family this year, Sophia still went over to Warren's for Christmas. It had become "what she did" for Christmas, and she enjoyed it.

They had won money with their skating. Although they were saving most of it for college and the like, they did spend a little more on this Christmas than they usually did. Sophia got Warren a twelve-string acoustic guitar, among some other stuff. Warren bought her some great outfits, the usual pile of books and CDs, and a pearl necklace.

"Oh my God, Honey, you didn't have to do this!" Sophia exclaimed when she opened it.

"Yes, I did. One of the reasons I got this was very specific. Your Free Dance costume for Nationals *needs* this. It will look fantastic."

"You're right. And, after all, we are skating to String of Pearls, right?"

Nationals were in the middle of January, in Providence, RI. Sophia and Warren arrived on a Saturday evening, and quickly settled into their hotel room. Practices would start on Sunday.

Sophia and Warren had always approached their ice dancing with no illusions. Their win at the Junior Grand Prix had come as a complete shock, and they expected the good fortune to end at Nationals. They were practicing about 15 hours a week now, and that was a considerable increase over the past--and they were still on the ice half the time as their competition. They referred to themselves as the "part-time scrubs" of ice dancing. When people asked them what their hopes for their first senior Nationals were, they joked "Top Ten." Which sounded reasonable, until the questioner was told that there were only ten teams entered. The US never had a lot of senior dancers--that's why Warren and Sophia hadn't had to go through regionals and sectionals this year.

Seriously they thought, maybe, they could get into the top six. Sharon Nicholas and Steve Coleman were the defending National champions. Marie Beauchamps and Victor Anders were the defending silver medallists, and Linda Bowers and Kurt Mullins the bronze. Then there were Allison Kingsley and Ed Forberg, bronze medallists two years ago, who had missed last year with an injury. Last, but not least, were their friends, the defending junior national champions, Vickers and Pogdar. Although they had beaten Shawna and Evan at the Grand Prix final, they *did* consider that a fluke.

The ten teams were split into two practice groups. Sophia and Warren had Nicholas/Coleman, Beauchamps/Anders, and Kingsley/Forberg in their group. Sophia and Warren had the second practice group, but showed up for the first, sitting in the stands, watching the other couples. They shouted greetings at Evan and Shawna.

One of the things that was best about Nationals was seeing all their friends. Jack Garrison hadn't arrived yet, but Liz Cushman and Christine Arsenault quickly joined them in the stands.

"You two dragged your asses out of bed at 7 am to watch dance practice?" Warren teased them.

"What, and pass up the opportunity to see the First Couple of Ice Dance perform a tango? Perish the thought," Christine replied.

This was an original dance practice, so Warren and Sophia would be practicing their Piazzola tango. They watched the first group, applauding their encouragement to Evan and Shawna, and then went below and put on their skates.

They hadn't realized it yet, but their win at the Junior Grand Prix had created a bit of a buzz about them. Most of the judging panel plus a lot of the TV people were in the stands, and Sophia and Warren were one of the reasons why. The first thing these observers noticed was what they were wearing.

This was *not* a good thing. The tradition of practices at major competitions held that, even though it was only a practice, you dressed almost as well as you did for the competition. You were being watched. However, as Warren and Sophia always joked, theirs was "a budget operation." Sophia had exactly one decent practice dress--and she was saving that for some of the later practices. She took the ice in her usual practice attire--a black leotard with black tights. Warren, for his part, was wearing blue sweatpants with a grey "St. Michael's' Prep Athletics" tee shirt. They knew this was going to happen, but they didn't much care, nor did they have the money to throw around on practice dresses. Leotards and tights were cheap. Their practice clothing etiquette faux pas did not go unnoticed by the people in the arena--especially their competition.

Sharon Nicholas was pointing it out to her partner, Steve Coleman. "How wonderful. They must think that they're still taking a little cruise around the Oceanview Ice Rink."

Steve agreed, as did Marie Beauchamps, but, Marie's partner, Victor Anders, protested. "I think it's great. I think they've got guts. It's practice, wear what's comfortable."

"But what about how you *look*?" Marie asked him.

"They look fine," Victor insisted. "She, especially, looks better than fine. Assets like those don't need accoutrements."

"Oh, really?" Marie asked.

"Really. That girl could show up in a burlap bag and still stop traffic. You ladies are jealous, face it." Victor was laughing. Marie skated away from him in a huff. Victor grinned at Steve, and then skated away to catch up to his partner.

Sophia and Warren were the last in their group to run through their program. They watched all the rest, and agreed that Nicholas and Coleman were the class of the group, but as for the rest...

"We can compete with that," Warren whispered to Sophia.

"You're right."

When they took their starting positions, there was still a bit of a buzz about what they were wearing. That stopped pretty quickly when they started skating.

Victor turned to Marie halfway through Sophia and Warren's skate, and said to her, "We're in trouble."

"Huh?" she replied.

"You watching this? We're in trouble."

"They're not *that* good."

"What, exactly, are you watching? They are definitely that good. Look at the speed. And where in hell did two seventeen year olds that practice part time learn how to tango like that? We're in trouble, Marie, I'm telling you."

Victor's foreboding only increased that night, after he had seen Sophia and Warren practice their Glenn Miller free dance.

The compulsory dances were the first part of the competition, held on Tuesday night. There were two different dances, but every couple did the same steps to the same music for each of the two dances. This was the hardest part to judge, because the differences between couples were often miniscule. Because of that, reputation counted for a lot. Sophia and Warren ended up the compulsories in fifth place, with Nicholas and Coleman first, Kingsley and Forberg second, Beauchamp and Anders third, and Vickers and Pogdar fourth.

The next night was the original dance, the tango. They knew they skated it well, but were absolutely shocked when they ended up in third. They were third overall, too, behind Nicholas/Coleman and Kingsley/Forberg. Victor Anders' foreboding were being justified, he and Marie were fifth. But both they and Shawna and Evan, who were in fourth, were in shouting distance of the bronze medal.