Gymnastics at its Finest

Chapter 27

Liv and I start walking towards beam with a new motive. I already knew we had to beat them, but this time it was more than just getting higher scores than them. It was about proving how much we've improved, and that we're happy we left.

Liv's best event is beam, so obviously she's lined up to go last. Mattee is lined up to go second to last, and I'm right before her. Mia is right before me. I'm not competing my standing Arabian on beam or my full-in on floor. I'm competing my handspring layout series, side aerial, punch front, leap series, and double full dismount. I warm up one skeleton (skills without the dance) and one dismount. Beam is by far the event I get most nervous on for competitions. My heart is practically beating out of my chest and my palms are super sweaty. Before I know it, I'm up by the beam and facing the judges.

Mia did a great routine with a stuck landing on the dismount. She gets a 9.6 with a smile on her face. She's definitely improved a ton on beam since she's gotten here.

Now it's my turn. I start thinking to myself. "Mickey, you have improved both physically and mentally since you came to this new gym. You know what you're doing because you've done it over a thousand times. This is nothing for you. Just take deep breathes and focus on what you are doing. You can do this."

The judges salute me and I begin my routine. Beam routines are often just a "get through it" kinda thing for me, but this time it's more than that. I'm proving myself to my new team, as well as showing the old team how much I've improved. I dance to the end of the beam to do my series. I stand with my arms by my ears, and jump for the handspring. When my feet find the beam I push as hard as I can through my ankles to do the layout step out. I land the series with a very slight bobble and finish. I get through my leap series, stick my side aerial, make the punch front without a problem, and prepare for the dismount. I do the round off, and begin twisting off the beam. I land on the mat and my feet don't move. I stuck it.

I salute with a smile and run over to Rachel, who gives me a hug and a high five. I look over at the score board and see my score, 9.475. I smile. Not too bad.

Mattee is lined up to go next, and she salutes the judges looking as confident as ever. She does her series without a problem, makes her standing Arabian with the slightest little bobble, and sticks her leap pass. She makes the dismount stuck like a knife into the ground, salutes to the judges, and walks over to us like it was nothing. She gets a 9.7. I knew she would pull through.

Liv is, well, let me just say she was amazing. Every skill was better than the next. She sticks the dismount like it was nothing and salutes to the judges with a smile. I run over to give her a hug and glance over at the score board.

She looks over at the score board and sees her score. 9.85.

"Oh my gosh, good job Liv!" I say.

As we head to floor, our old team is looking at us with a new expression. This expression is more like awe than anything else. I nudge Liv and get her to look over there. We both wink towards our old team and receive quite a few death glares, but I honestly don't care. This day is going better than I ever thought it would.