"Wake up," A voice said into my ear. I turned over in my bed, pushing my head further into my pillow. Ignoring the person who would not stop trying to get me to wake up. 5 minutes later, I began to peer my eyes open and glare at the person.
"Seriously," I groaned and shoved the pillow into the person, my brother's, face.
"Yeah. Now get up," He said, throwing the pillow back at me. I continued to glare at him.
"I thought you said you wouldn't bother me," I huffed at him. Falling out of bed. Well I do it every morning. It's more like I let myself fall/slink out of bed before I get dressed.
"I'm not bothering you. I'm just being annoying," Lou stated, while I rolled my eyes at his back.
"Now. You're going to get out of my room and LEAVE ME ALONE," I said pushing him out of the door and locking it right after. I turned around and pulled on my practice leotard, before heading the detangle my head of tangled hair and to brush my teeth in the bathroom. I also pulled on flip flops and my team USA shorts and t-shirt over my leotard.
By the time I unlocked my door, it was around 10. We had to be at practice by 12, then we would have a 3 hour practice and get ready for competition, which meant stretching, stretching, getting dressed, doing a little bit of make-up, pulling hair back, and more stretching. I pulled my hair into a generic high ponytail and put on some chapstick before breakfast was laid in my hands.
"So, I don't hate you but I have to ask. What are you doing here today?" I asked, because it was annoying. No. It's really weird because it's not something I would expect. I told him I didn't hate him but it doesn't mean he can come here to practice and everything.
"Misty asked me to help out today with spotting in practice and stuff but she said it would help us repair our relationship," Louis said. I nodded, giving him that one before I began to eat breakfast, it was okay. 2 waffles with syrup on it with some bacon. I give him credit though. He's not one to make breakfast for anyone and I'm pretty sure Mckayla probably just put it on a plate and sent him over here.
I inhaled the food quickly and tossed the paper plat into the recycle bin before heading into the kitchen. There seriously wasn't anything to do but stay here since it gets all confusing with touring places while having to compete. They didn't want anyone being late, so I had to stay in the Village or head over to North Greenwhich Arena to get a head start. Not that I wouldn't mind but I kind of wanted some down time. It seemed all the other girls had left, Gabby was probably still asleep. They stayed up later watching more Marvel movies. Some people here have an obsession with Thor, being shirtless. Just saying.
Once I looked around, I found two pieces of bread and put them in the toaster while getting out butter. I, on the other hand, knew how to cook while my brother can very easily let toast burn to a crisp. I ate the other two pieces of toast to gain more calories to burn today.
"I could've made you something. You know," Louis said. I raised one of my eyebrows at the comment.
"Mhmm," I said, rolling my eyes at that.
"Harry's been teaching me how to cook," He fired back.
"How's that been going?" I replied. Knowing that it probably wasn't. I'm pretty sure being crazy and hyper runs in the family and none of us can sit still for long. Gymnastics is a good way to get rid of the energy fast. I know that Louis likes to run around and fool around a lot so.
"Fine. I can't cook but I can heat things up," He smiled.
"There. A lot better. We should probably get going. There's going to be tons of traffic trying just to get to the Arena," I said.
"Yeah. Get you're stuff. I'll be out here. Waiting for you," He said, our conversation becoming awkward. It's weird. Being this awkward with someone whose known you all you're life is really weird. You don't know what to do since most of the time that's never happened to you. I quickly ran and got my stuff. Which was still in my bag from the Team Finals and pulled it over my back.
"Let's go shorty," Louis said, seeing me come out of the room. We quickly moved out of the little apartment into the parking, where his car was parked and I crawled into the passenger seat. It was all ticked out. Everything perfect. No scratches. The radio was up to date and worked amazingly. The inside cleaned perfectly.
I felt a little weird siting in such a new, expensive car. It even smelled like a new car. And it looked way too modern for my liking. It didn't even feel lived in. I just sat there leaning my head against the glass because what else is there to do, while waiting in traffic.
"This is really awkward," Louis said.
"No, thanks captain obvious," I retorted, very sarcastically. Rolling my eyes and playing with my nails. It wasn't much but I didn't want to keep an awkward conversation going on.
"So. How's school?" Louis asked. Obviously trying not to be awkward but not succeding.
"I've finished with school and plan to get a scholarship for gymnatics for a university in the US," I answered him. I was the only girl that finished school on the team but I went to a different type of school system than they did. I saw him nod out of the corner of my eye. See, this is why I didn't want to spend time with him and sort of mad at him for. I hadn't seen him in a while because he was always in London and seriously that made our relationship really weird and awkward. It wasn't fun like it used to be. And if I wanted to see I had to go through the process of all this crap on when and where so bodyguards could be there. It wasn't something that interested me because I wanted to be able to see my brother without the worry of crazy fangirls chasing after us. Plus, with him going on tour I never really got to see him.
Louis seemed to understand that I didn't want to talk at the moment and turned on the radio to BBC and guess whose song was playing. I sighed in my mind. I didn't mind the song, it's just gotten annyoing. Seriously, I've heard that song so many times that a math teacher could make a math problem on a test about it and everyone would know it wasn't exaggereated. (A/N: This actually happened to me during class, it was really werid).
"You're turning heads when you walk through the do-oor," Louis began to sing.
"Seriously," I said and raised my eyebrows at him.
"It's my song. Seriously," He smiled back at me. Continuing to sing the lyrics and when we came a red-light, he stopped and began to dance around the wheel. Causing me to burst out into laughter.
"It's green," I said after a few seconds and he quickly moved.
"Maybe I should pay attention to the street," Lou commeneted.
"I think it would be the best," I agreed with him though I knew it wouldn't change his seriously reckless driving. That's something that he's been doing since 16 and I'm not going to be the one who's going to change the way he's driving. I don't think he would like me very much for doing that. He doesn't really like being wrong, though nobody really does. The song finished and continued on to their second single.
"Do they play your music on replay?" I asked, because this was seriously annyoing.
"I believe so. It annoys me. I like that it's a single and everything but I hear it so often. Every radio station that I go to to listen to music is playing What Makes You Beautiful, when all I want is to listen to some music other than what I hear on everything else," He grumbled.
"I'm glad I'm not the only one that believes that," I replied, thankful that sometimes Louis found it annyoing too that his song was played a lot on the radio. It feels right that he should feel like that. No offense to him. The song quickly finished and I quickly pointed out that we had to turn right but Louis already knew that unlike some of the other people who have taken us to practice.
The lot was filled with the girls in the all-around. Waiting to be let in for podium practice and to set up for the night. We were all to be kept there in the O2 the entire day for practice, to get ready for competition and then the competition. We wanted it to start on time. Louis parked the car and I stepped out, with him following in tow, walking to Aliya. She probably knew why we weren't being let in.
"Aliya. Do you know why we aren't being let it?" I asked.
"No but I think it's because they're setting up the cameras for the live footage. That's what I heard," She replied.
"Thanks. Oh and good luck," I replied, offering her a smile. She smiled back. She was such a good friend and so very nice. Not a diva like NBC makes her out to be.
"Good luck to you too," She smiled at me. I nodded my appreciation. Today was a big day. It would change each and everyone of our lives even more and it could either be good or something that we didn't want. Every single person here wanted to be crowned the 2012 Olympic All-Around Champion with all our heart.
"What's going on?" Louis asked, once Aliya and I had stopped conversing about late podium training.
"There's just cameras being set up that are taking a while. It's bound to happen," I explained. It was, there's too many people trying to get rights to interview, film, and watch us. It was crazy. I let my bag drop, lightly, to the ground next to me and shook out my shoulders. While lightly tapping my toe in annyoance to how long it was taking but soon enought the doors opened to us. Everything was clean and go to go for the night.
I was lead to a changing room with Gabby (who had arrived right before the doors had opened and missed the long waiting time) by Skylar, while Misty took Louis off to who knows where. The dressing room was pretty large. It fit two tables for make-up, hair spray, glitter, and other things that we apply to make ourselves look pretty. There was a couch, along with wall outlets, a television, and a few chairs scattered around the room.
Skylar set out to get the make-up out and ready for when we would being the application of it while Gabby and I began to change into our podium training leotards because we would be filmed during podium training too. I strapped on my bag and waitied to be lead to the Arena. It would still be in the set-up stage where everything was crazy, but at least not all the competitors came at once. It was little groups of us at a time. There were 6 of us in each group for the all-around. In my group was Gabby, Aliya, Viktoria, Deng Linlin, and Huang Quishan, and of course me. Everyone came when they had to come and some came early; and warmed up while we did routines. It was normality here.
The two of us were lead to the Arena, the cameras were all set up and there were some announcers here to watch us and compare us to see how we would do later tonight in competition. Misty sat on a chair with her knee being iced and Louis stood next to her, a tag around his next. I set my bag next to them and waited for Misty to give me instructions.
"We're starting on bars today. Louis is spotting you now and during the competition and will be on the floor because I hurt my knee. I will be there too but they are allowing this and it will be the best. Plus, it will give good publicity and Simon's happy about that. No complaining. Either of you," She said and glared at the two of us. I rolled my eyes lightly while grabbing my grips.
"I don't need spotting on floor. Just bars. Nothing more," I replied lightly. I quickly rubbed the chalk all over my hands, then pulled on the grips up onto my fingers before rubbing chalk onto the leather part that covered my hands.
I waited by the low bar. My hands crossed while I waited for Louis to take his sweet, precious time to come and spot me.
"You have to be ready quicker than that," I replied harshly. I'm allowed too, him taking too much time could be the difference between a gold and a silver medal. I quickly jumped and did my kip, releasing up to the high bar, before doing my one handed spins. Then came my spotted skill. Just a ginger but I got so much air that someone needed to watch me. I hit it before going down to a pac salto and coming back up to the high bar.
"Finish," Louis spoke while I did my final giant and released into my double front- half twist dismount.
"Patience. It's not a timed event," I replied, jumping off the podium.
"Be nicer to your brother. He's trying his best," Misty said and gave me a look.
"I'll try but he has to get back into the way things go around here. I'm not looking for any dedcutions in life or in the gym," I replied and stuffed my grips in my bag.
"Nice routine. And for the record, you should look on getting more height. I don't want someone here to tear their ACL," Aliya told me.
"Thanks," I replied. Aliya Mustafina was nice and kind, not a diva. Everyone says she's a diva but she wants to win; like the rest of us here. You cannot consider a girl who made an amazing comeback in less than a year, to be here at the Olympic games, and want to win not act like she should have the final word in what she does and what she doesn't do in her routines. It's bullshit. Useless, needless bullshit.
I hiked the bag up my shoulder and procceded to vault. My rotation tonight would be vault, beam, bars, then floor. I slowly chalked up for this event and stood at the end of the runway. I focused my sight on the vaulting table and ran. It's a lot slower for you than it is for the cameras. No one ever tell the people watching that what seems like 19 seconds to them feels like one or two minutes for us. I did my roundoff and pushed my feet down on the springboard as hard as they could go, then blocked off the table. You feel every little thing that you do when you do it in this world. If you do something wrong, you know it within seconds.
I landed wrong but nothing happened. I got lucky.
"Don't you try that again. We seriously don't need you to go and break an ACL before the all-around," Misty yelled at me, she was. I mean I could have broken my ACL in a second and my Omypic carrer would be over for the next 4 years. Not a good way to go out of an Olympics.You want to go out of a gymnastics Olympic carrer like Nadia Comeanci. Not like some other gymnsats that went because of paralysis or tore and broken bones or ligaments.
After that practice went quick, like all of us wanted. The air was strung up with the stress of how tonight would be and everybody was jump and jittery. I couldn't keep still. It was the night of my lifetime. If I win this gold medal, I could be considered a great in the world of gymnastics. I would be remembered by younger gymnasts and people would say, "I want to be like that gymnast. You know, the one that won the 2012 London All-Around,".
The team that would be on the floor of the podium was all crowded around in our little room that we got here in the arena. I had only on my team USA pants and was stretching. The only thing that I could do to make sure that I had splits. You got a deduction for not hitting splits if you do a split jump and if you're at the Olympics; that's a deduction that you don't want to get.
I sat up out of my splits and stood up; shaking out my legs.
"Boo," Mckayla whispered and then blew on my neck. I'm very ticklish if you blow on my neck. DO NOT BLOW ON MY NECK! I started to squirm while she blew on my neck.
"Will you stop that?" I asked.
"Never," She replied. Her eyes bright with mirth. I rolled my eyes at her. I walked away from her and headed towards Gabby.
"Ari," Louis yelled heading towards me and then he picked me up. It was nice that he was being like a brother to me but I didn't need this distraction at the moment. I'm very stubborn and don't like this. Any of this. It just feels fucking awkard. Really awkward.
"Step me down. Please," I begged because he was taller than me and the floor is hard. That would be bad. A cracked ankle or a broken arm. I would hate that.
"Fine," He huffed. Of course, he is very, very sassy and stubborn. We all are. It's normal being a sarcastic person.
"Louis. Set her down," Misty sighed. She had finally realized what she got herself into. She should have noticed earlier. We are both very hyperactive, if you will. And of course, we will get into fights and tease each other. He is my older brother and I'm supposed to be an annyoing little sister.
"You two will not start this until the end of this Olmypics. Okay. None of this shit all over again," Misty begged. Rubbing her eyes. I smirked at Louis and he smirked back. This was going to be fun.
"No. Do not do that. Please, just stay calm and be ready to head out soon," Misty said, sitting facing the TV. She wasn't even looking at us.
"How the hell?" Mckayla asked. I laughed at her shocked face.
"She knows us too well," I empahsised.
"Out. We have to head out onto the floor. Get everything and make sure you leave nothing," Marta said and I grabbed my stuff; then I quickly depositited it into Louis's open arms.
"I am not your servant," He grumbled.
"No. You're not but I'm about to compete and that is pretty heavy," I replied.
"Shut up. It weighs," Louis began.
"The two of you need to stop fighting over petty things. Just shut up," Misty said, stepping between the two of us. I rolled my eyes but understood. Gabby rushed towards me and quickly pulled me along with her. The two of us continued on. Following Marta and leaving the rest behind.
"Can I talk to your brother?" She asked. I stood, looking at her.
"When can you not? He's my brother. You can talk to him. You won't die," I said slowly.
"Yeah. But he's LOUIS TOMLINSON, from One Direction. Like, it's really weird," Gabby said.
"Here. Gabby. Wait a second," I replied. I turned around, looking for Louis and spotted him, rushing towards us.
"Louie," I called, and he speed up. Wow, someone wants to make me happy.
"Okay. My friend is afraid to talk to you. Can you tell her that no body guards are going to teleport in the middle of an Olympic Games and take her away for talking to you?" I asked.
"Gabby. Nothing is going to happen to you. As for my baby sister. I'm not so sure because she is evil," My brother joked.
A/N:
This is mainly a filler chapter. I know. I really don't like them either when I read fanfics but I will update this weeked? Hopefully. I'm applying to another high school and have to take a stupid ISEE test that is 5 hours long and so this is what I've come up with for now.
The chapters may not be as long because of all this stuff but I have Winter and Thanskgivng break soon and so they will!!
Kissies. <3
~secret1dluver.