Balancing Act by Paula Chase

Author:Paula Chase
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

My muscles jerk and twitch as they involuntarily try to follow the commands in my head. I feel like a fool for believing the sincerity I thought I’d heard in her voice at the pep rally, but we’ll never get ready if I don’t let that kind of stuff go.

The air is so thick with concentration that I almost feel the warm hiss as it deflates when I yell, “Good job, Selena,” after her vault. She bows at me and blows a kiss.

“Way to go, Gina,” I shout as she sails through the air in a layout. It gives everyone permission to breathe, and life filters back into the room. Light hand clapping when Nyla sticks her landing from the uneven bars. There’s even laughter when Coach Bet threatens to cut Melanie’s toes off if she can’t keep them pointed. Teasing when Alicia chalks her hands up too much and leaves the corner in a haze of dust.

I stand on the side of the beam, waiting for my turn. Alicia dismounts, twisting once in the air before landing wobbly. I clap and she gives me a halfhearted nod.

This chick, man.

I mount the beam thinking about perfecting my body, aiming for that one day when Coach has no notes for me. It’s not today. But Gina’s “You got this,” shouted from across the room after I finish a shaky beam routine, lights up my confidence.

I’m not the only one gassed afterward. All around the circle, chests heave as we collectively suck the oxygen out of the room and into our lungs.

Power Panthers. We don’t look powerful right now, but Coach is determined we will be by the All-City meet. Her notes unforgivingly home in on the smallest detail. I have one eye on the locker room and bounce like the floor evicted me when Coach finally says, “Alright, good practice.”

I don’t get far before she calls out, “Alicia and Chyna, meet me in my office.”

There’s a collective groan from the team, their faces masks of worry.

Me and Alicia sit in the two seats in front of Coach’s desk. Coach Gee stands between us. His thick, broad chest stands in for the four girls that usually shield me from Alicia’s constant air of annoyance.

Off rip, Coach Bet keeps it real.

“Let me start this conversation from the end. You all are cocaptains, and that’s not going to change,” she says. “Both of you are smart enough to understand that pulling your teammates into an imaginary beef isn’t productive.”

“Imaginary?” Alicia snorts.

“Yes, imaginary.” Coach lasers her with a look. “As in posturing. As in it’s all in your head. As in nobody wins if you blow up the playing field.” The string of definitions revs Coach up. “Nothing you’re doing is giving you more power, Alicia. So let me put it all out there. I didn’t like the stunt you pulled at the pep rally.”

I give Coach a mental fist bump.

Alicia sighs like a deflated tire, stops when Coach Gee clears his throat. He doesn’t

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