Chapter 11- Hailey
Colby looked his dad straight in the eye, then tipped his hat and walked right past, looking back at me with sad eyes.
"Well, I tried." His dad said in a cocky voice, then turned and walked to a beat up pick-up truck.
"Ugh, his dad is SUCH a douche bag. He doesn't care enough, he does this every time. Colby stopped giving him chances." A girl who had been talking to Wilson said as she sat next to me.
"Really?" I asked, turning to her.
"Yeah, I'm Jazmyn, by the way."
"Oh, Wilson's girlfriend?" I asked, remembering Colby had told me about them when we went to the Country Club.
"Yeah! So how do you know Colby?"
"I just moved here from New Jersey, we moved in the house next to his."
"Oh! He's such a cool guy! Are you going to Westbrook?"
"Yeah, I am."
"So, Wilson tells me Colby won't shut up about you."
"Really?"
"Yeah, I bet he likes you."
I smiled and looked over to him. I needed some girl friends, I liked being with Colby and everything but a girl needs some gal pals in her life.
"Hey Hailey, Hey Jazmyn." A voice said from behind me.
I turned to see Colby's friend Carter and a girl next to him.
"Hey!" I smiled, making room for them to sit between me and Jazmyn.
They sat down and the girl looked at me and smiled.
"I'm Rachelle." She smiled.
"I'm Hailey." I smiled back.
"Carter told me you are a gymnast."
"I was back in New Jersey but I haven't started up again since I moved."
"I'm a gymnast too, you should come with me to practice one day. I'm sure my coach would love to give you a try-out and then you could be on the competitive team with me!"
"Are you serious?" I asked, freaking out a little.
"Yeah, she's really nice and I'm sure she will give you a chance."
"When is your next practice?"
"Tomorrow, do you have a leotard and everything."
"Yeah, I have everything from my old team back in New Jersey."
After the baseball game I decided to text my mom and see if all my new friends could come over for a pool party and a little celebration for Colby's team winning their game. She said that it was fine. After I asked all of them if they could we skated to my house. When we got home Rachelle and Jazmyn came over to borrow a bathing suit while the guys went to Colby's to do the same. Good thing we were the same size. I put on my pink and white polka dot bikini and gave Rachelle my green and blue striped bikini. I gave Jazmyn a black one with yellow and pink zebra stripes all over it. Once we were done getting ready we all headed downstairs and into the laundry room to get some towels. When we got outside the guys were all laying on their backs and talking.
I threw my towel to the side and ran to the edge of the pool, where I jumped in. I was followed by everyone else, except Jazmyn who was laying on her towel, tanning.
I looked up to the back door to see Tyler and Rebecca watching us. I half swam/half ran to the steps and ran over to them. I was about to hug Becky, then realized I was soaking. She laughed and pulled me close to her anyways. She smelled like home, back in Jersey.
"I brought you some Waldorf's." She smiled, referring to my favorite candy. They only sold it in New Jersey and my stash was running out.
"Yay!" I laughed.
"Hails, introduce us to all of your friends." Tyler said running his hands through his shaggy hair.
"This is Rachelle and Jazmyn," I said, gesturing towards the two girls who were now both laying on their towels, looking through magazines, "And the guys in the pool are Colby, Wilson, and Carter."
"Nice to meet you all, you wouldn't mind if we joined you, would you Hailey?"
"No, of course not!"
They both went inside and I ran back to the pool and jumped in.
"You don't get tired do you?" Colby asked, swimming over.
"Nope, not really." I laughed, then dove down into the water and swam under him. I swam to the diving board, then got out of the pool and stood on it. I ran and did a front-flip of of the end. I splashed into the pool and rose above the surface to hear an applause coming from the door. I looked up to see Brad. My smile faded and I went back under water quickly. Great, they're back too. When I came back up he was inside again. I sighed a sigh of relief and got out of the pool, laying on my towel. Becky and Tyler came out of the house and walked over to the hot tub, where they sat and watched. We swam until it was dinner time and my mom brought out a big plate of hot dogs and we all stampeded. We got back in the pool until it was dark, then Carter, Wilson and Jazmyn had to leave. I invited Rachelle to spend the night and Colby was just hanging out. I changed into a black tank top and light blue athletic shorts. I let Rachelle borrow a pair of my boxers and a t-shirt. Colby had ran home and changed into a pair of white basketball shorts and, as usual, no shirt. He walked into my room while me and Rachelle were listening to music and painting our nails yellow.
"Ew, it stinks in here." Colby waved his hand in front of his nose and flopped onto my couch.
"It's called nail polish." Rachelle said, sticking her tongue out at Colby.
"Like, eh-mah-gawsh." Colby said in his girliest voice.
I laughed as I finished the second coat.
"So is this all girls do at sleepovers?" Colby asked.
"No. We talk about boys and watch romantic comedies and read magazines." I answered.
"That's all?" He asked, confused.
"No, we do alot of other random stuff too."
"No video games?"
"Sometimes."
"Whatever."
"What do guys do?"
"TV, video games, chill."
"You don't talk about girls?"
"Yeah we do."
"Does Carter ever talk about me?" Rachelle asked, hopeful.
"Like crazy, we can't get him to shut up."
"Really?" She smiled, excited.
"You like him?" I asked, blowing on my nails.
"Yeah." She blushed.
Colby laughed to himself and jumped up from the couch.
"So, Hailey, I haven't seen you do any gymnastics." He said.
"Would you like me to show you?" I asked, standing up.
"Yes, I would enjoy that." He smiled.
I stood up and stretched out a bit, then went into a back bend. I did a walkover and stood.
"No flips?" He asked, unsatisfied.
"No mats." I smiled, cracking my knuckles.
"I see. I want to come with you guys tomorrow."
"You can if you don't have baseball." Rachelle said, blowing on her nails.
"I will be there."
"What should I wear?" I asked Rachelle, walking over to my drawers. I opened the one that held all of my leotards. I pulled out my favorite, it was pink and black zebra striped with spaghetti straps.
"You have so many!" Rachelle gasped, running over to me. She began digging through the drawer, looking at every single leotard I owned.
"I like that one." Colby said, pointing to the zebra one I had folded neatly in my lap.
"Me too. It's my favorite."
"Oh my gosh, this one is so cool!" Rachelle held up a black spaghetti strap leotard with neon paint splatters all over it.
"You can have it, I don't really like it."
"Why not?"
"I just don't."
"Oh, well I'll take it."
I was so tired from swimming today and I wanted to go to sleep. Colby left after Rachelle and I had picked out a movie. He wasn't really in to the chick flick idea. I set up the couch as a bed for Rachelle, then lay in my own bed while we watched the wonderful romantic comedy. I looked across the yard into Colby's room to see him watching me. I looked closer, freaked out and happy at the same time. He sat there and him simply waving made my heart skip a beat. I waved back, then went back to watching the movie. I slept like a baby that night, and when I woke up I felt refreshed and ready to show Rachelle's coach my moves. After Rachelle woke up we went downstairs to eat breakfast. Becky had made pancakes. She was a great cook. After we ate, we went upstairs to get ready. I threw my hair into a messy bun and slipped on my leotard, along with black cheer shorts and a hoodie from Brahm's, my old gym. I took a duffel bag from my closet and put my hand-grips and a water bottle in it. I slipped on some flip flops and we went outside to wait for Rachelle's mom. Colby wasn't waiting outside and he hadn't texted me so we assumed he couldn't come. I had to admit that I was upset. I was looking forward to spending time with him and showing him something I was good at. Finally, a dark blue mini van pulled up and we climbed in. Rachelle's mom was a young, Hispanic woman. She was very pretty but looked very stressed out. I guessed why when I saw the back of the van was filled with car-seats.
"Hi Hailey, I'm Camilla." She smiled, revealing perfectly straight teeth.
"Hi, how are you?" I asked, using my best manners.
"To be honest, I am pretty stressed. I have to drop you guys off, then go pick up the boys and take them to swim and the baby is at my mom's house."
"How many kids are there?"
"Five, Rachelle is the oldest, then the triplets; Greyson, Isaac, and Jonah, and then the baby, Juliette."
"Wow, that would be stressful."
She laughed as we pulled up to a big grey building. The sign on the front read Piccardo Gymnastics Academy. I remembered the name from somewhere, probably a competition.
"Thanks for the ride!" I waved as we walked inside. Rachelle led me through a maze of equipment to a locker room. We set our bags down and then she led me to her coach's office.
"Coach Peggy?" She called, knocking as she walked into the small room.
"Yes my dear?" She answered, a southern twang escaping her red lips.
"This is my friend Hailey."
"Nice to meet you Hailey, what can I do for you today?"
"Hailey just moved here from New Jersey and I was wondering if you would be willing to let her join our team."
"Well, welcome to California. We do have room for a few more girls on the team, but I will need to see what your capabilities are."
I nodded, excited.
"Do you have a leotard with you?"
I nodded again, lifting my sweatshirt.
"Okay, why don't you come with me while we wait for the rest of the girls to arrive?" I handed Rachelle my sweatshirt and scurried along behind the coach.
"What gym were you with in Jersey?" She asked, turning down a hallway.
"Brahm's."
"Oh! How wonderful! You must be good then, I hear they are pretty strict there."
"Yeah," I laughed. We walked into another room. There was a set of basic equipment for the girls competition.
"Do you remember your beam and vault routines?" She asked.
"Yeah, most of them at least. I left right before a competition."
"Oh, that's too bad. Now, just take your time and do your best."
I nodded and walked to the beam. I put my hands in the chalk. I smiled as I felt the familiar texture again. I mounted the beam and began. I went through my routine pretty slowly, remembering each step as I went along. I dismounted to hear applause coming from Peggy.
"You, are special." She smiled, her bleached blond hair blowing as the fan was right behind her.
"Thanks."
"I don't even need to see you vault, you know what you are doing."
"Does that mean I can be on the team?" I asked, anxiously.
"If you're parents are okay with it yes. I can't let you practice with us today because they haven't signed the waiver, but if you can get them to meet with me tomorrow, around noon, I would be happy to discuss it with them."
"Okay, I'll see if my mom can make it."
"Okay sweetie, you are welcome to stay and watch the girls practice."
I nodded and followed her back to the other room where about twelve girls were sitting on the floor mat, stretching. I gave Rachelle a thumbs-up, then went to the bleachers and sat down.
I looked at my phone and saw a text message from Colby.
-Thx 4 leaving w/o me. :(
-Sorry...I didn't think you were coming.
-Well I'm out front can you come get me?