GOOD AND BAD
TARYN
Life is a mix of good and bad things.
It’s possible to get the best news and the worst news on the same day. That’s exactly what I’m trying to remind Jodie as we carry the first few boxes of our belongings from my car to our brand new apartment in the same high rise building where the hockey team is staying.
“Thank fuck for elevators.” Jodie exhales as the doors close and she pushes the button to the top floor.
The people running the camp have organized things so that the hockey team is occupying the bottom half of the building and the cheerleaders have been assigned to the top half.
“I don’t care what floor we’re on,” I tell my best friend. “I’m just happy that we got into camp. Not having to pay rent and getting paid for the reality show while we train is the best thing that could have happened to us. As long as they don’t charge me rent, they could have given me a cot in the basement and I would have been happy.”
Jodie’s eyes widen like saucers. “The basement? Are you insane? Haven’t you learned anything? That’s where the murderer is always lurking in every horror movie.”
“You’re right.” I chuckle. “Maybe not the basement. But you know what I mean.”
She smiles. “Yeah, I do. And you’re right.”
The elevator dings to signal that we’ve arrived and the doors open.
“I’m just happy that we don’t have to climb ten flights of stairs to move our stuff in.”
I can’t resist the urge to tease her. “Stairs shouldn’t scare you. We just signed up for a grueling training program. We’ll spend eight hours a day learning dance routines, and we’ll need to add cardio and other conditioning to that.”
“Don’t remind me.” Jodie sighs. “But we’ve got this. We’ll both make the top thirty-two. You and I, baby.”
Her confidence is contagious. For a blissful moment, I just let myself enjoy the fact that we passed the intense selection process and got into camp.
Making the team won’t be easy, but I’ll work my hardest to become a Star Cove Shooting Star.
Our new apartment is a replica of the one Colsen and Tucker are staying in on the ground floor.
The rooms have been assigned, and we each open the door with the post it note with our names on it.
“I know I shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Jodie’s voice carries from the room next door. “But I wish we were on the ground floor. All those apartments are right on the beach.”
I drop my boxes on the floor and follow her into her room.
“That’s true. But we get a spectacular view from here.” I open the same full-length window that was in Colsen’s room. Rather than the sand, our apartment has a balcony that overlooks thebeach. Two chairs and a small round table offer a little breakfast nook.
Jodie and I inhale the sea scented breeze, and she pulls me closer, her arm wrapped around my shoulders. “I like it here. We need to work hard to make the team, Tar-Tar.”
I agree. “I’ll do my best.”
My best friend turns around, resting her back against the railing. “This is exactly what we need. A fresh start after…”
She doesn’t need to say it out loud. “After that nightmare back at school.”
“Yeah,” Jodie sighs. “There’s just one thing neither of us could have predicted. I’m sure you recognized Hemlock Beach’s former hockey star?”
“Yeah.”
Everyone saw Nash coming to my rescue after my wardrobe malfunction during my solo. Not just the judges and the girls watching the audition in the auditorium, but also all the viewers watching the live stream from home.
“What are the chances that we would bump into someone from our old college on the other side of the country?”
She’s right. “Yeah, it’s crazy. I asked Nash how he ended up here. Apparently, he wasn’t injured. He had problems with his coach in Hemlock Beach.”
