“And what are you doing out of bed?” A matron caught me as I was sneaking back to my dorm.
“Is there a rule against being out of bed?” I asked.
She raised an eyebrow, “Curfew is at 11. It is 11.30, my dear. And I might add, a girl dressed in all black, with muddy shoes, is incredibly suspicious.”
“I promise I’m not in some gang. I wasn’t up to any trouble I-I was on a date,” I lied.
She shrugged, “You’re a new student, I presume. Last warning, but I guess it is better finding you here than in the boys’ dorm.”
I excused myself, “Thank you. So glad you understand.”
Close call, I’d need a better excuse next time. Or I could just expand the tunnel so it’d lead to my dorm room. I’ll just have to double my efforts at training and cut short the time so I’d make curfew in the nick of time. I’d thought being out of bed past curfew was the biggest rule you could break at a boarding school. I giggled at the thought of Filch would yell, “Students out of bed!” in Harry Potter books.
I snuck back into my dorm and found Rayna still awake and on Skype with Mia and Alexa down the hall.
“How was it?” Rayna chirped.
I grinned, “I’m on probation for two months, but now I get to train!”
“I still can’t believe you’re an elite gymnast. You seem so... normal!” Mia said.
I laughed, “We are normal!”
Alexa rolled her eyes, “Yeah, it’s totally normal to be as flexible as you are.”
“Hey, you’re a cheerleader! You’re flexible too!” I fought back.
“Not to the extent I can do a front split leap! We do toe touches, but that’s basically it!”
I shrugged, “We start from young, so it isn’t that impressive, really.”
“Guys, it’s getting late. Long day tomorrow, for us all,” Rayna cut in. As soon as the Skype call ended, Rayna started interrogating me, as per usual.
“How was it?”
I shrugged, “It’s been awhile. I’m beat!”
“Did you get caught by the matron?”
“Yes, oh my goodness I had to say I was on a... date!” I blushed.
She started laughing, “I bet Jeremy wouldn’t mind being your alibi if he could score a date with you.”
I rolled my eyes, “Oh come on. You know he and Alexa are having a thing!”
“They had a thing! It was flirty but nothing came out of it! He obviously moved on! He’s flirting with you like crazy! Why did you think Alexa was such a bitch to you at first?”
I shrugged, “Even if he did like me, I have a boyfriend.”
“I don’t mean to burst your bubble, Savannah, but long distance relationships hardly work; especially when one of them is attracted to the hottest guy on campus.”
“But Wes understands me. Jeremy just thinks he does. He’ll never understand the kind of pressure us pro athletes get.”
She raised her eyebrow, “Don’t be too sure.”
I tilted my head in confusion.
“Before Jeremy moved to JBA, he was an Olympic hopeful swimmer.”
“Jeremy? When?” I had so many questions.
“Slow down! I told you you’re attracted to him!”
I rolled my eyes, “It’s just nice to know there’s someone here who knows what I’m going through.”
“You wouldn’t believe the unbelievable amount of people that gets shipped off to boarding school because their career went south.”
“My career isn’t south, yet,” I mumbled.
“I didn’t mean that; I meant their parents, coaches or teachers thought it did. I think a lot of them have more to them,” she smiles encouragingly.
I know she’s just being nice but I couldn’t help think whether or not she was right.
“So tell me about Jeremy’s career.”
“I think he’d rather tell you about it. Heart to heart talk maybe?”
I knew she was just pushing me to get closer to him, but I really did want to know. I loved Wes and I wasn’t about to cheat on him. I just need a friend who knows what I’m going through.
I sent Jeremy a Whatsapp, asking him to accompany me to the gym tomorrow so we could talk, and so I could probably get away with the excuse of being on a date more realistically.
He enthusiastically replied with a smiley face and a yes.
I wanted to tell Wes about gym today, so I called him.
“Hey baby,” he answered with a sleepy voice.
“Hey, did I wake you?”
“Nope, just got out of practice and I’m incredibly tired. What’s up, baby?”
“So my friend’s godfather is Coach Jr! You remember him right?”
“He’s a women’s coach, but yeah I remember him.”
“He has a gym here and agreed to coach me for two months! See how I progress and if I do well, I can come back, Wes.”
“Oh Anna, you don’t know how much that just made my day.”
I blushed, “I miss you... and your touch, Wes.”
“I miss you too baby,” he said. I could tell forcefully. He wasn’t one to express in words, more with actions, but with our distance, I could tell it’s been hard on him.
We talked for about an hour about gymnastics, mostly about my lowered degree of difficulty on all apparatuses. He updated me about the girls in the Olympic boot camp.
“I better go, babe. Long day of practice tomorrow,” he said finally.
I sighed, “Olympic boot camp we were supposed to cherish together.”
“We’ll both be competing at Rio in 2016, baby. Many more boot camps to come,” he said trying to lighten the mood.
We said our goodbyes. I thought about it for awhile. Was that my only future with Wes? Gymnastics is all we talk about.
But I do love him, and he loves me. I should at least give him the benefit of the doubt that we’ve been focused on gymnastics because our roots lie there and we could work as a couple outside gymnastics.
I was exhausted. Rayna practically dragged me out of bed in the morning. I didn’t even care that I looked like absolute crap. I dragged myself to homeroom to meet with Jeremy and Alexa.
Alexa and I have a newly found relationship. I grinned at her and she immediately pulled me into a hug.
“Savannah! Good morning!” She said.
Jeremy looked stunned, I smiled and mouthed, “I’ll explain later.”
Mr Patrick entered the room. He looked rather pleased.
“As predicted, Ms Savannah Greene’s super secret has been revealed. Thank you, Alexa,” Mr Patrick said.
I rolled my eyes.
“So, Savannah, would you like to properly introduce yourself to the class, or shall I?”
I know Mr Patrick is a man, but damn he is a bitch.
I gave him a sarcastic smile and went up in front of the class.
“Hey guys. So to please our beloved teacher, I’ll give you a summary of my life. I began being homeschooled after the 5th grade when I became serious in my discipline; artistic gymnastics. It’s not the one with the bloody ribbons, balls and shit, but the one with the beam and bars. Last year, I brought home 4 Gold’s, a Silver and a Bronze at the World Championships. I got the Gold for All-Around; Team with Team USA, beam and the uneven bars. I got silver for the floor exercise and a Bronze on vault. I was an Olympic hopeful, but I didn’t make the cut for London 2012. My coach and mom reckoned it was because I peaked at the World Championships. Mom tried to put me back in public school, but I got expelled because I cut school and went to the gym, so here I am.”
He smiled and said, “Joining Jeremy who was also an Olympic hopeful.”
Jeremy rolled his eyes, “Mr Patrick, that was ages ago.”
Alexa turned back and gave me a wink and an eyebrow raise.
Mr Patrick turned his attention to the class and finished up homeroom with a couple of announcements.
Before Chem, I headed to my locker to grab some books. Jeremy was standing leaning on the locker next to mine.
“Sup, Jeremy,” I greeted casually.
He tilted his head, “Why don’t you like me?”
I was caught off guard. “What do you mean?” I asked in utter confusion.
“It’s like you like me too but, sometimes you hide it. Screw all this flirting around. Savannah, I really like you.”
My eyes widened. That was the bravest thing anyone has ever done to me.