Grant runs a hand through his messy blonde hair, slightly damped with his sweat. “Alli, this stunt is impossible with her.”
“I can’t do this stunt with you either.” Cassie barks, rolling her eyes.
Coach Miller wedges between the three, both hands on her hips while holding her clipboard, “Cassie, you need to sit out.”
“What?” Cassie huffs in disbelief, “I didn’t mess up the stunt, Grant can’t catch me!”
Coach Miller puts a hand up to stop her from continuing, “Enough! I’ve already switched your base groups twice.”
Cassie looks shocked and her eyes start to well, “What are you saying?”
“I’msaying,” Coach Miller glances around the gym, taking in the team’s attention on them, “you are out of the stunts and baskets.”
“But Coach, I’m trying really hard–”
A lifted hand stops her mid-sentence, “Cassie, I love your effort and drive. But we’ve spent too much time practicing this section each practice.”
She’s not wrong. Our practices last around two hours three times a week and we’ve spent a full hour on this section every practice, leaving very little time for the other groups to run through their sections.
Coach Miller surveys the room, her emerald eyes landing on me. The moment she sees me, I know what’s thinking and I don’t know if I should run or hide. Or both. “Serena, get in here.”
Reluctantly, I make my way over to the group, feeling like I’m under the spotlight at a spelling bee and my word is “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.”
“Yeah, coach?”
Coach Miller nods her head towards Cassie’s old base group, consisting of Grant and a junior named Thom. “Try the stunt and the basket toss.”
Remember when I said I was anxious earlier about losing points? Yeah, double that anxiety now. I’m not a flyer or a stunt girl by any means. Maybe when I was younger and only weighed 90 pounds, but I’ve grown since then.
“Did I stutter?” Coach Miller’s voice cuts through the air, reminding me that I’m being put on the spot.
“But I don’t know the counts,” I protest.
Alli steps forward, slipping into captain mode. “I can teach you, it’s not hard.”
Damn, maybe I should have ran for it.
I inhale deeply, and my gaze accidentally drifts upward where I lock eyes with Tyler, who’s still watching me from above. I can’t tell if our conversations are reaching his ears, but I can tell he knows the gist of what’s happening when his expression reflects concern, mirroring my own. He offers me a reassuring nod:You got it.
“Okay.” I walk over to the group and let Alli teach me the counts of the section. We go through a few practice runs to help me grasp the rhythm.
Twenty minutes pass and Coach Miller claps her hands. “Alright, let’s see this.”
Alli shoots me a comforting smile, “You got it.”
Grant clasps a hand on my shoulders, “You can do this. You’re the best on the team. If anyone can do it, it’s you.”
I nod, letting my group know I’m ready. Alli and Coach Miller count us off as I prepare for the lift to get me up in the air, which I execute messily but works for my first time. Nailing the mid-air spin, we smoothly transition into the basket toss section. Despite my nerves, I execute the kick-full basket toss, accepting any imperfections as part of the learning process. I see Coach Miller from the corner of my eye nodding her head in approval, a sign that I’ve impressed her.
“Cassie, you’re out of the stunt and basket toss.” She looks at me, “Serena, you’re in.”
“But Coach–”
“I don’t want to hear it, Cassie.”
“You’re seriously makinghertop girl? I’ve been on the team for two years and it took me forever to even get here. You can’t just swap me out with a newbie.”
“I can, and I did. You’re still in other important parts of the routine. We need to hit zero, and in order to do that, I need Serena in this part. I’m sorry,” Coach Miller asserts, her decision final. She then turns her attention to me and my new base group. “Keep practicing,” she instructs before addressing Alli, “keep an eye on them.”
