Amanda

I took a deep breath and prepared myself to step onto the Floor. I had my new, blue striped leotard on, my hair placed in a tight ponytail, a small amount of makeup on my face. Coach motioned me to go. I took another deep breath.

As soon as I stood up and walked over to my starting point, cheers erupted from the crowd that was here for the Field Sports Club. Smile. I plastered a smile across my face and lifted my arms to greet the judges. I got myself into my position and waited for the music to start. Be sure about your moves. I thought every single step through before doing it. Round off, back handspring, back handspring, back tuck, round off, 360 turn, lift arms.

Before moving onto the next part of the routine, I danced the steps Coach had taught me. I glanced at the crowd, hoping to see my mom there, not seeing her, I hid the disappointment from my face and continued with the routine. Aerial, round off, bridge kickover, back handspring, round off, back handspring, lift arms. I lifted myself up with my hands to a handstand position. Letting my legs fall, I ended up doing a bridge before dancing some more. Get ready, I thought, First Moors in a competition, you can do it. I made a round off and a back handspring before launching onto the finale. Launch backwards. Two flips and two complete twists in the layout position. I was the first in the club to fully make it without breaking anything in the process. When my feet made contact with the ground, pain shot slightly through my right leg. I steadied myself with my hands in front of myself before lifting my arms once more, just as the music came to an end. I heard Coach shout a 'Yes!'.

I walked out of the Floor breathing heavily and with a wide smile on my face. Riley ran over to me and hugged me.

"That was amazing! You did it!" she congratulated me, "Look at your score!" I glanced up to the score board, seeing a ten, my smile, if possible, grew even wider.

"Oh my god! I didn't think I would have a ten, I was super nervous!" I replied. Coach walked over to me.

"Great job, Amanda!" I thanked her. I sat down on the bench as Riley prepared herself for her turn, which was after the gymnast on the Floor finished her routine.

"Okay, that was pretty cool," I heard a voice behind me say. Turning around, I saw a pair of blue eyes looking down at me. He was sitting on a chair in the first line of the bleechers, staring casually at the gym.

"Brown," I replied emotionless, "What are you doing here?"

"Um, I'm a member of this club, and I can go wherever I want to," he said, I just looked at him disgustingly, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Whatever," I said, before focusing my attention on the Floor.

"What's your problem?"

"I don't have a problem," I replied, still looking at the girl doing her routine.

"Yeah, you do," he said, "You're acting all weird and not even looking at me."

"I'm not in the mood for this," I said, before standing up and walking over to Coach. I asked her if I could go use the bathroom, since my next routine was in half an hour. As soon as she agreed, I walked over to the changing rooms. But when I was reaching the door, I hit something, or, in this case, someone.

"Seriously?" I muttered, "What?"

"What's wrong with you?" Noah asked.

"Just, leave me alone, will you?" I replied, "I told you I'm not in the mood for this." When I saw he wasn't answering, I made a shot for the door, but he blocked me again.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"For you to tell me what's your problem," he said.

"Stop it," I said, "Go spend some time with your girlfriends, whatever you want from me, I'm not going to give it to you." I pushed him out of the way and managed to get inside the changing rooms. Why was I so stupid? Thanks to Riley, I have my eyes wide open now. Noah was trouble, and I swore I would have nothing to do with it after I broke my leg.

After drinking some water and going to the bathroom, I walked outside to meet Riley in time for her turn. She was just starting when I sat down, and fortunately for me, Noah was nowhere in sight.

As soon as she finished her routine, I glanced at the score screen. Ten! As she was walking out of the Floor, I ran over to her and congratulated her. She smiled and thanked me.

"Oh hey, look! Isn't that Hailey over at the bleachers?" she suddenly said. I followed her gaze and indeed there she was. Waving frantically at us with a huge grin plastered across her face.

"Hey!" she shouted.

"Oh my god," Riley said, turning pink. I just laughed.

"You gotta love her." We walked over to Hailey who had literally run over a couple sitting down and crashed into an empty seat as she fell.

"Hey dude," she said casually to me, placing her hands behind her head.

"Hey, bitch."

"Hey Riley, so I guess you got to meet Amanda before I told you she was here," she turned to Riley.

"Yeah, why didn't you?"

"I was going to, but I forgot."

"Talking about forgetting," I started, "Why didn't you tell me about Noah being a player?"

"Well, I thought you would make a cute couple," Hailey replied.

"We're not together and never will," I said firmly, "How could I have been so stupid?"

"Because you sometimes are stupid," Hailey said, I glared at her, "I was just kidding, jeez."

"Anyway," Riley said, "He didn't even recognize me, guess it was because I dyed my hair."

"Wait, what?" Hailey asked.

"I slept with him and the next day found him with another girl," Riley explained.

"Oh my god!"

"I know, right?" Riley replied. I looked at the giant clock on the wall and widened my eyes.

"I gotta go, guys," I said, "My turn is in ten minutes and Coach will be furious if I turn up late."

"You go ahead, I'll help Hailey catch up on my story," Riley said, "My turn is in twenty minutes." I nodded and walked down to the benches assigned for us. Coach saw me and told me I should start getting ready. I grabbed my grips and put them on. Uneven bars routine, you can do it, Amanda. The most difficult of the three. I heard my name being called through the speakers as soon I took another Ibuprofen since I could feel my headache from this morning coming back. I placed the small bottle back in my bag and tried not to run over to my starting position in front of the uneven bars. If you could do a Moors, you can do an uneven bars routine, I told myself, don't worry.

I lifted my arms and then placed them in front of me. I jumped and grabbed the small bar. After about two minutes of twisting and turning, I let go of the high bar, doing a perfect full twist and landing neatly on the floor. I took a step before finally stopping. I lifted my arms and grinned.

I got out of the way since another gymnast was about to start her uneven bars routine. As I was taking off my grips, I looked up at the score. I knew I didn't perform it perfectly, so I was not surprised to see a nine-point-three on the screen.

"You did it great, Amanda!" Coach said, "Don't worry about the score, we both know that was a difficult routine." I nodded and smiled. Riley was on the beam performing, so I took a sip of water and sat down on the bench. My last performance would be on the balance beam, as soon as Riley finished, another gymnast would go, and then me. I was super nervous since the beam had been a real struggle when my cast was taken off. I had to regain the strength and balance to not fall, and even after practicing for months, I still was afraid of falling.

You might think it's stupid to be a gymnast and be scared of the ground, but the beam had been one of the reasons I had broken one of my bones. I instinctively touched my right leg, remembering how the pain had shot through it as soon as I landed. I just looked down at my lap and thought about that dreadful night. Shivering, I grabbed my phone to check for any new messages. Only one from Mom.

*•*
To: Amanda
From: Mom

Hey honey! Sorry, I couldn't make it, I'm super busy with work, I promise I'll go next time!

It's okay, Mom. I'm doing good so far, this wasn't a really important competition anyway.

I'll pick you up right after you finish, okay? Then you can tell me everything about it.

Okay, Mom. Coach's calling me. Bye, love you!

Love you too! :)
*•*

I turned off my phone and walked over to Coach.

"Okay, Amanda," she said, "Remember what I told you. You'll do great! I know it!"

"Thanks, Coach," I replied. Coach Johnson was a very enthusiastic woman. She had short, blonde hair and big green eyes. She had competed before, but having a child ended her career. Coach had been competing to go to the Olympics when she found out she was pregnant, she continued doing gymnastics until her doctor forbid her to continue.

I arrived at my starting spot as soon as the girl landed perfectly and lifted her arms. She smiled as she watched her score appear on the screen. Nine-point-eight, it was going to be hard to do better than that if I was still afraid of falling. I lifted my arms and placed them on the beam, lifting myself up and doing a handstand before turning around and falling in a bridge.

I made air splits and jumps until I arrived at the right side of it. I turned around, lifted my arms, and made two back handsprings before doing a back tuck. I landed neatly on the beam. After jumping and tumbling, I prepared myself for my exit. As I was about to jump out of the beam and finish my routine, I glanced at the audience one more time. When you're up in the beam, you forget everything and everyone, you forget the audience. But when you go back to reality after landing, you suddenly realize how much people were looking at you. I scanned the crowd for any familiar faces, not really thinking I would find one, but I did.

And that's when I saw him. My heart stopped, my breathing stopped, my eyes locked on him, his eyes locked on me. Out of nervousness, I launched an aerial. Everything was in slow motion. Me in the air, about to land. My foot touched the beam and went the other way. I slipped and fell slowly.