“I'msoooosorry that I don't think you're sexy in that ridiculous outfit.”
Ouch.I let out a wounded breath. I always hated it when he acted like that—he sounded like a moody teenager talking back to his mom. Having done his damage, Todd stormed out of the room and made for the door. But I stopped him before he slammed it shut.
“Hey Todd.”
“What?”
“I've been thinking about it, and I want to go to that audition after all.”
“What audition?” he snapped back.
“The ice girl audition, obviously.”
Todd didn't reply.
I calmly added, “It's tomorrow evening. I can take the bus there while you're at work, but I'd like a ride home afterward.”
After a long silence, Todd finally answered, speaking lowly, “I told you earlier, Honor. I don't want you doing that.”
“It's somethingIwant to do, though. And I need to find work. I'll call you when I'm ready to be picked up.”
Todd shut the door behind him.
***
Forty, maybe fifty other girls had come to the audition. Despite the impressive turn-out, none of us seemed interested in actually talking to each other. Maybe it was nerves; maybe it was the ugly spirit of competition.
While we waited for the audition to officially begin at 5:00, I did my warm-ups on the ice by the bench—a stretching routine from my figure skating days that I couldn't forget if I'd tried. A few girls seemed to notice that I knew what I was doing and quietly followed my lead.
My heart thudded with nervousness, but excitement, too. I couldn't wait for the actual audition to begin, if only so my blood could warm up. The audition posting said we should come dressed in dance shorts and a sports bra, and I was a little chilly.
Right at 5:00 on the dot, two girls dressed in official Colorado Blizzard ice girls gear came skating out to meet us. One girl blew her whistle, long and shrill, and waved us to gather at center ice.
“Hi ladies! Thank you so much for coming out here today! My name is Madison Sanguinetti, and I'm the captain of the ice girl squad.”
Madison's voice was raspy, but at the same time, bright and cheery. I recognized her, too—with the long, platinum blonde hair, the navel piercing, the long legs and nice butt and big boobs? She was the girl that Todd had ogled at the game last week.
Not that I'd hold that against her. BecauseTodd's gonna Todd. Madison sounded sweet and kind, and it wasn'therfault that she was a babe and Todd could act like a creep.
“And this here is Cora, the assistant captain.”
Cora greeted us with a smile. “Hi girls.” I remembered Cora from the game, too—she'd stood out, with her copper-red hair and a complexion that reminded me of coffee with the perfect amount of cream.
“We're going to start with a skating trial,” Madison continued. “You don't have to be a proskater by any means—but if you can cross-over, pivot, skate backwards? Hey, that's great, show us what you got. It can only help. But really, we just want to make sure you can stay on your feet. If you slip and fall? Sorry! You'll be asked to leave.”
Won't be a problem,I thought to myself. I looked around and noticed some of the girls didn't look so confident hearing that, though.
“Secondly, while you're skating, show us your pearly whites! We want to see your smiles, ladies. Huge, ear-to-ear, enthusiastic, and most importantly,genuinesmiles. A lot of you have backgrounds in cheerleading—great. You know what we expect.”
Some girls nodded confidently. I didn't have cheerleading experience, but I figured it wouldn't hurt me too bad. Because I sure knew how to wear a big ol' toothy smile while I skated.
“Lastly, we'll end the audition with one-on-one interviews with all the girls that survive the cuts. We're only hiringonenew girl today. What I'm looking for is a girl who can skate, smile and wave, and most importantly, follow directions. So listen up and show us your best, ladies.”
One girl?I thought as I looked at the big group of girls around me.Not the best odds.
Madison looked around at us with a smirk. “And with that said, we've got our first round of cuts. The audition postingclearlystated you come dressed in dance shorts and a sports bra. If you didn't read the directions closely enough that you came dressed in something else, you can leave now.”
A number of the girls chuffed with disbelief. No one moved.
