The sports complex's giant screen flickered for three seconds that felt eternal before displaying the short program's official standings. Jake Brown's name slotted into provisional second place on the overall scoreboard, a mere few tenths of a point below the leader of the US delegation. For the first turn of the morning in a pre-season tournament, with hard ice and a markedly conservative judging panel, the technical score was an absolute miracle of survival.
In the Kiss and Cry area, Jake remained seated with a white towel draped over his shoulders. His breathing was still rapid, and his violet eyes wouldn't stray from the monitor detailing the element breakdown. The Quad Toeloop that had nearly cost him a severe injury was flagged with a minor deduction for the forced landing, but the subsequent step sequence had received the maximum grade of execution bonus. The judges had rewarded the raw desperation he had poured into his individual transitions.
