Description

Mia St. Clair was the sixth Girl of the Year. She was released in 2008. ## Personality Chapter 1: The Beast and Me Mia first begins with a statement that she didn't mean to run over Vanessa with the Beast (though she's probably not the first to want to) and flashes back to how it began. The Beast, the ice-resurfacing machine, broke down before the replacement coach for Mr. Nelson arrived. The new coach would take over the Lucerne Skate Club and teach Mr. Nelson's former students, including Mia. Mia wonders why Mr. Nelson ever bothered with Mia as all he did was point out Mia's mistakes, and she speculates that the new coach will send her to the assistant coaches after she sees her skate. The rink's superintendent, Bob, was trying to fix the Beast (which he dreams of souping up to race against other resurfacers) and Mia was helping. Mia then explains that she does some volunteering work with Bob to keep her skating lessons as her parents already work hard to afford lessons for Mia and her brothers. Bob tells Mia to sit on the resurfacer of the Beast so she can turn it on when he asks her to. Mia looks at the other skaters on the rink and notices Vanessa Knowles, a dark-haired, blue-eyed fellow ten-year-old whose parents could afford everything and who expects everyone to move out of the way for her. She also sees her best friend Anya, who has skating in her blood and is a more experienced skater than Mia, but is still at the same level as Mia as she always messes up at tests or competitions. Bob asks Mia to turn on the Beast and as she does, it starts to work. Vanessa skates up to the machine and tells Mia to "Get that monstrosity out of here." The Beast, however, starts to move slowly forward and Bob tells Mia to put the brake back on. Mia didn't touch the brake, so she stated she didn't know where it was. Bob tries to go after the machine but slips on the ice. Vanessa starts to panic and tells Mia to get out of the way. Mia turned the wheel left, but Vanessa also skated left. Suddenly a woman jumped beside Mia and turned off the Beast. She tells Mia that's what Mia should have done when they hear a frightened squeak and a thunk. Mia looks over to see Vanessa lying on the ice with her eyes wide open. Mia gasps as she thinks she killed Vanessa and the woman jumps down to check her pulse. Vanessa sits up right away, however, and tells Mia she's going to have her arrested for hitting her. The woman firmly tells her that the resurfacer has already stopped, but Vanessa is too afraid to halt and runs into it. She tells Vanessa she's just fine and Vanessa asks her who she is. The woman introduces herself as Emma Schubert, the name of the new head coach and the name of Mr. Nelson's replacement. She and Bob shake hands and Coach Schubert asks who Mia is. Mia introduces herself and Coach Schubert asks why Mia was on the resurfacer. Bob explains Mia's job and Emma tells Bob that only employees should be using equipment. Bob and Mia explain Mia's volunteer work, but Emma tells Bob not to let Mia use the Beast again. The new coach then introduces herself to all of the skaters on the rink and tells of her plan to asses everyone's skills over the next few weeks. She then gives a motivational speech, saying that she will make everyone a great figure skater and that the student's toughest competition will be themselves. After she concludes, she tells Bob to get the Beast off the rink before another accident happens and asks Mia if she has anything else to do. Mia tells her yes and runs off, happy to make her escape after starting off on the wrong foot with her new coach.