Break the Fall by Jennifer Iacopelli

Author:Jennifer Iacopelli [Iacopelli, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2020-02-18T00:00:00+00:00

Sierra Montgomery 44.1

Daniela Olivero 43.9

Audrey Lee 43.8

Jaime Pederson 43.6

Chelsea Cameron 40.5

There isn’t enough time to think about what this all means. I’m in fourth going into the last rotation, but floor is a strength for literally everyone else and a major weakness for me.

I’m up first, and “Moon River” pumps through the gym’s sound system, but in my head it’s the London Philharmonic playing their hearts out, and I’m a dancer onstage captivating the entire audience as I waltz through my routine. After days spent steaming about dance-through after dance-through, my muscles are singing at the opportunity to not only dance but tumble through this set. There’s more power than I remember having a few weeks ago in each of my tumbling lines, so much so that I bounce out a bit from almost every landing. It costs me precious tenths, but part of me doesn’t care. I know this routine is beautiful, and the judges know it too. That’ll help as they put their pencils to paper.

I’m at my final tumbling run, a simple double back, and I land perfectly, chest up, knees cushioning but not too bent, and I raise my arms in the air to salute quickly—too quickly—and my back spasms.

The music is wrapping up, and I manage to perform my ending pose despite the tremor of pain. It wasn’t intense—the same as the last one—but it was there. It’s gone, but that wasn’t a fluke. The cortisone is wearing off.

I try to reel in my breathing as the other girls surround me for high fives, fist bumps, and an awkward side-hug with Sierra where she turns her head completely in the other direction, like she can’t even stand to look at me. The feeling’s pretty mutual, actually. I used to envy Sierra for her creamy skin, blue eyes, and blond hair that wouldn’t be out of place on some perfectly boring teen soap, but now? Her face makes me want to punch it. Hard.

The score takes longer than the other events—there’s more to look at in a floor routine than any other apparatus—but after a minute, with my breath finally coming at a normal rate, a 14.0 is posted, followed by my total all-around score.

57.8

Right around where I was at trials.

It was good enough to get me on the team last time, but now? Who knows.

I fall into one of the chairs and cringe at the jolt the abrupt contact sends through my back.

Careful, Audrey.

“Hey,” I call to the USOF trainer, “can I get some ice?”

“You okay?” Dani asks, sitting down beside me. She has some time to kill. She’ll be up last in this rotation.

“Yep,” I say, not really able to manage any more than that.

Dani reaches out and holds my hand as the trainer arrives to help me wrap the ice around my torso, and I’m back on the dock this morning, holding her hand while she talks about Gibby and what he did to her, what he put her through.

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