I cringe. I’d forgotten about the picture of a cast I saw in his feed a few months ago. “How long have you been out?” I ask, motioning to his knee.
“Four months. I’ve been doing PT for a bit now, and the doctors cleared me to surf, so I’ve been doing that until I’m good to go on hard surfaces. If I decide to come back at all.”
My ears perk up at that. “You’re not sure if you’re …” My phone buzzes in my tracksuit pocket. “Sorry.” I glance at it fast.
It’s from Gibby.
Celebrate tonight, but remember what I said.
My eyes fly around the room wildly. Emma, her parents, and mine are in the corner, along with Emma’s agent. Sierra and Jaime are with their parents, everyone talking over one another, probably about how they should have made the team instead of the rest of us. Chelsea is with her boyfriend, looking like the rest of the world doesn’t exist. Dani’s near them, checking her phone just like I did. Maybe he texted her too?
“Everything okay?” Leo asks, bringing me back to reality. Or maybe the text is reality and this part is something else, something I shouldn’t be doing.
Then Dani clicks at her phone, pockets it, and turns to Chelsea and her boyfriend saying something that makes them both laugh.
“Yeah.” I shake my head and smile. “Everything’s fine.”
“No worries. Listen, do you want to talk somewhere a little less … in the way?” he asks, motioning toward the far wall. It’s glass and leads out to what looks like a balcony.
“Absolutely.”
San Jose isn’t the most picturesque city in the world, but like any other city, it lights up at night, and it’ll always hold a special place in my heart. It’s where my dream finally came true.
I lean my arms on the wrought-iron railing and turn to him as he comes to stand beside me, the warm air swirling around us.
“So, you were saying, about coming back?”
He shakes his head. “Yeah, Beijing is still two years away, so …”
“You still have some time.”But not a lotis what I don’t say. It takes months to get back into competitive shape at the elite level. I had surgery almost two full years ago, and it took until this past April for me to get back into real competition form. Overall, it took a little under eighteen months.
“Yeah. I’ve been rehabbing in my mom’s gym, but I’ve been thinking about maybe going to school instead.”
“Where?” College has always been part of my plans, but since the Olympics would have coincided with my graduation year, it’s been on the back burner for a while.
“Stanford.”
“Really? They recruited me heavily before I knew I wouldn’t be able to compete, but I’ve always thought maybe I’d go anyway to study, I don’t know, something that’s not gymnastics. Do you think you’re going to go?” I ask, finally cutting off my own ramble and feeling my face flush.
Calm down, Audrey; let the boy get a word in.
“I don’t know. If I go in the fall, I won’t be able to train, so …”
“That’s a big decision.”
He nods. “Yeah, it is.” Then, after a long pause, he says, “What about you? Any plans after the Olympics?”
I cringe. “I really try not to think about it.”
He snorts. “I get that. Retiring at seventeen is not really a thing most people do.”
“Exactly.”
“Audrey, are you going to introduce us to your friend?”
For once I’m wincing and it has nothing to do with my back. That’s Dad’s voice, and Mom is probably with him. What’s the protocol for this? He’s probably going to freak. I turn to face them, totally not sure what I’m going to say, but then Leo is striding toward them and extending a hand to my dad. Their handshake is firm and quick, and the next, with my mom, is the same.
“Mr. and Mrs. Lee, I’m Leo Adams. It’s nice to meet you both.”
