The next morning, I woke up, refreshed, from my “long”
night of sleep.
I bolted down the stairs as fast as one can bolt with a
broken wrist. Alex and my Mom were waiting for me at the breakfast table. I sat
down breathlessly and poured my cereal.
“Kerry, this morning I got a call from the gymnastics coach
and he wanted to know how you are doing,” my mom informed me. Fine, Mom. Tell
me what the real reason is, I thought.
“He also indicated that you were interested in trying
Rhythmic Gymnastics as we discussed. He referred me to the Head Coach at his
gym, Ksenia Afanaseyva. She was apparently the 1984 Olympic Champion for the
Soviet Union. She sounds excellent.” My mom was a bookkeeper for a manager of
Apple, and very exact and precise. “What do you think?”
“Umm yeah I met her. She seems, uh, nice.” I stammered,
remembering my exchange with the Coach the day before. “I can’t exactly do
Rhythmic Gymnastics in a cast, though….”
“Oh yes you can!” Alex pointed out. “You can always do
strength and conditioning. Do you think…. Do you think…. Well, do you think you
can climb a rope?”
“Alex, I really think I can’t do it in this cast.”
“I bet you can. It just requires upper body strength.”
“And guess what! I just broke my wrist!!” I exclaimed, as
my dog came up behind me and started licking my empty bowl.
“Stop it!” My mom hated when he ate table scraps.
“Anyway,” I said as I went to the kitchen and got a new
bowl, “She wasn’t exactly the nicest person in the world…. She was really
snippy with me and she was like “I don’t have time for you right now,” and she
left me stranded.”
“I see,” Mom said slowly, “Maybe we can find a different
coach for you. Though I doubt they have any more Rhythmic Gyms in town. And it
would be quite a struggle to get you to one gym in the morning and Alex to
another one. But with Coach Chip resign-“ She stopped, realizing she had said
something that she wasn’t supposed to. I was fascinated. Coach Chip resigning??
That had to be what she meant. What else would “resign-“ mean?
“I’m full!” I announced, “I’m going to Ana’s house.
Ta-ta!!!” And with that I sailed out the door without another word. I kept on
sailing right down the street to Ana’s house. I rang the doorbell. I did a
double take. The doorbell was Ana’s FLOOR MUSIC!!! Ana’s parents were so
serious about her gymnastics. Ana flung open the door, scaring me. She saw my
open mouth and said: “What?”
“Oh, nothing,” I said, embarrassed. “Oh, by the way, I
like your doorbell.”
“Oh, yeah. I tried to keep them from doing it, but they resisted.” She rolled her eyes and then
grinned. “So what’s up?” She asked.
“I have some uhh, news.” I was about to tell her and then
I realized: Ana would be really upset that the gym was closing. That was
probably why my parents hadn’t told Alex.
“SO DO I!!!!!!!” She practically screamed.
“Omygosh what are you so excited about?”
“I qualified elite!!”
“OH!! Congratulations!! I’m surprised Alex didn’t tell
me!”
“Well,” said Ana sadly, “She wants to do college; she’s
working on a scholarship for UCLA. So we won’t get to go to Nationals together.
;-(
“You made it to NATIONALS?”
“Yes, through the elite qualifier.”
“That’s awesome! Congrats again!”
“Thanks. Now what’s your news?” I decided to tell her.
There was one other gym in town.
“I have a new piece to add to our mystery at the gym,” I
said reluctantly. “I’m pretty sure Coach Chip is resigning.” I braced myself.
Ana’s face crumpled. She ran into her room and I could hear her burst into
tears. I just knew I was going to get into trouble with her strict parents.
Great.
