2 Weeks 6 Days

Two Weeks Six Days
Sunday

Kay

All I could think as I pulled up to the gym was ‘We’re so dead.’ We were not going to perform well at States if what happened yesterday kept up.
Livvy had set us up at our worst events. She must have been pissed by the way our last practice had gone. But it happens every year, so it shouldn’t have taken me by surprise.
At least I was with Viv. But today, I was thinking it wasn’t the best thing. She was as pissed as Livvy. Maybe more. And it was really hard to make decent conversation when Viv was constantly swearing as she went over her routine. “One…two…three…pose…jump… [sound of Viv falling onto the mat] shit…I hate Livvy…fuck her…” Not exactly the most comforting sound.
I couldn’t concentrate. Beam was hard enough without the distraction of the stream of profanities that were now pouring out of Viv’s mouth. Finally, I had to do something I was dreading: ask the very annoyed coach for a favor.
I walked over to Livvy as slowly as possible. “Um…Livvy? Can I please move somewhere else? Vivi’s getting on my nerves.”
She laughed. We both knew the swearing would continue for the rest of practice. “Sure. Why don’t you join up with Nicole and Manda on floor? Have them help you with your tumbling passes. The real point of having you and Viviana together on beam was to isolate her. I never expected you to last so long.”
Nicole and Manda welcomed me instantly, smiling sympathetically. We got to work and chatting at the same time.
After the first fairly productive practice in the last couple of days, we all went home to catch up on homework. That is, except for Bethie, who was already ahead. Because of the time-consuming practices, all of our grades were suffering. Only Bethie had straight A’s. Manda and Layla and Nicole got A’s and B’s, but the rest of us had to struggle to not fall below C’s.
So when I got home, it was natural for me to being the mountain of homework I had. But I wasn’t thinking about the essay I had due in English the next day, or the history paper that had been due Friday. My mind was still filled with gymnastics. Blowing off both sleep and work, I called Manda.
“Hey Manda, it’s me. You wanna come over, study or something?” I asked, trying to sound up-beat.
“Yeah, sure. But I have to get something done. I have this HUGE project on the polar bear due Thursday,” she replied.
Even though it was pretty late, my mom didn’t hesitate to call me downstairs when Manda showed up. My parents were used to it.
We worked away at our homework for awhile in silence. Then I asked her a question that had been bothering me.
“Manda? Do you think things have been a little tense at gymnastics?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“There just seems to be more tension between everyone.”
“You know Bethie and Viv are always at it.”
“Well, that’s not really what I mean. I would be worried if Viv didn’t blow up at least once a day. I mean more between…friends. Like Nicole and Lindsay. Viv and the world. Even Layla and Livvy keep snapping at each other.”
“It’s totally normal. Just like all the other years. It’s only a few weeks before States, so everyone’s just nervous.”
“I guess…” I let the subject drop, but it didn’t dismiss the uneasy feeling I had in the pit of my stomach.