The next day was singles and pairs.
Singles heats take forever. There are like 1000 competitors and there are only six stations per heat and over a hundred heats. Its nice to be close to the begging or in the middle. I was heat 103.
I was really nervous because I was the last one on our team and so everyone would be watching me. I'm usually a spotlight hog and not afraid to get all of the attention. My only fear was that I would throw up on the floor in the middle of my routine.
We warmed up first thing in the morning and then I went to watch some routines. I watched Lilah, who was near the begging, and then I watched Jake. They both did really well.
As the day went forth, I kept watching routines and getting more and more nervous. Mine was really close! Only 20 heats away, which meant that I would have to check in in 16 heats.
I was freaking out when Emmie walked up to me.
"You look really nervous, Julie. Calm down. You'll do great. Let's go buy a soda or something."
"Thanks," I replied and we started walking over to the concession area.
We were about half way there walking behind the bleachers when I tripped on my shoelace. I fell on my face and when I looked up I saw the most good looking boy that had ever come within 10 feet of me. He offered me his arm to help me up. I must have stared into his bright blue eyes for minutes before I actually took his arm.
"Hi I'm Trevor." he said once I was standing again.
"I'm... Julie," I said and blushed. Oh my gosh I couldn't even look at him.
"This is my friend Andrew," he said, introducing the boy next to him. Andrew was also cute, but not as cute as Trevor.
Then I suddenly remembered that Emmie was standing right next to me. For the last two minutes it seemed like me and Trevor were the only two people left in the world.
"This is Emmie," I said, and I saw that her eyes were glued on Andrew.
"We were just gonna go get sodas," Emmie said.
I wasn't gonna miss out on a chance to hang out with a cute boy.
"Wanna come with us?!?" I blurted out a little too loudly.
"Sure," Trevor answered and smiled at me. The four of us started walking to the concession area.
The whole way there I kept taking side glances at Trevor. He had dark hair and the most amazing blue eyes. Every now and then he would glance back at me and smile.
I guess that the quiet was a little too awkward for Emmie so she started some conversation.
"What team are you guys from?"
"Where from the Jumpin' Jaguars from Florida," Andrew answered.
"Wow that's far away," Emmie replied."
"What about you guys?" Trevor asked.
"Where from the San Diego Speed Skippers. We live like 2 hours from here," I said.
"Lucky! You guys didn't even have to fly here!"
"Nope, I just loaded up my car with my bags and Gatorade and drove here." I replied.
"How old are you guys?" I asked.
"We're both 13," Andrew answered.
"I'm 13 and Julie's 12," Emmie said.
By then we had reached the concession stand.
The line was pretty long, but i didn't mine because I just talked to Trevor while Emmie talked to Andrew.
We reached the front of the line. Emmie ordered and payed and so did Andrew and Trevor.
"I'll have a large coke," I said.
"That'll be $2.65," the lady behind the counter replied.
I took out my bag and dug around for my wallet, only to realize that I had left it with my mom in the stands.
"It's ok, I'll pay for her," Trevor said and smiled at me again. Was he flirting with me? I really hoped that he was!
We talked more on the way back and soon we reached the practiced area.
"I have to go check in," I said.
"I'll go with you! And watch your singles! What heat are you?" Trevor asked.
"103. Thanks, that would be great!"
We walked over and I checked in a couple heats early.
"Trevor," I said and looked him in the eyes, "I'm nervous. I don't know if you noticed, but I'm kinda sick. Actually, more like really sick. What if I, you know, throw up on the floor?"
"It's ok. You'll do great. And if you blow it, you have 5 more events. I did my routine with 4 misses this morning. And I smiled and had fun. If you do throw up, smile and keep going. The judges will give you extra points for trying!"
He smiled again.
"Now go wow your crowd! I'll be cheering in the stands. And remember, have fun!"
I ran out to the floor with a huge smile on my face. The station that I was in was station 3, the station in the middle, facing the crowd.
I see Trevor cheering for me, and my mom, my dad, my brother and sisters, and my teammates. I was so happy to see everyone there.
The buzzard buzzes, and I start my routine. I nail my triple under combo, my hardest part, and smile through the majority of it. Then I go throw crossing. I have one miss, but pull out of it quickly and keep going.
I start my dance combo, but my feet start moving out of control and I am suddenly doing power. I start with a cartwheel, then splits, then pushup, then slits again. I do a rope release and catch it. I suddenly start coughing uncontrollably and my mind went blank. I did another rope release but dropped the rope. I started doing more dance. I do a third rope release and catch it and catch my rope on my foot. Only two misses.
I smile at the judges.

***

I got to relax while everyone else did pairs.

That night I didn't place for singles, but I kinda knew that I wouldn't, because there were like 60 girls in my age group. Joey got 2nd in his age group, and Jake did too. And Sierra got 6th place and made it on to grand nationals!

The next day was double dutch and group routine.