IN BED THAT NIGHT, Katie couldn’t sleep. She was tired from chores, from her therapy appointments, and from skating, but her mind wouldn’t stop racing. That, on its own, was familiar enough. She’d spent plenty of sleepless nights worrying over competitions, scores, music choices, a lift they couldn’t get right in practice. More recently, she’d worried over Brendan, the cows, the rest of her life, and her inability to stop worrying. But this wasn’t her anxiety plaguing her.
She’d made a mistake in listening to the song Brendan had picked for the program he absolutely wasn’t asking her to skate with him. Now she couldn’t get it out of her head. And so she was lying here, her headphones on and the song on repeat, imagining what they would look like if they ever did do that routine together.
