golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter eighty-seven

"ben, let's go!" glenn called from the front door. "i don't think el would take you missing your flight well."
"coming, coming." ben grabbed his bags and jogged our the door, locking it behind.

"are you in the airport?"
"oh my god, el, shut up!" lola grumbled. ben laughed at the voice offscreen. "good morning, lola."
she muttered a response.
"yeah, we're in the airport." he said. "you wanna say hi, dad?" he turned his phone a little.
"oh, hi, mr. cook!" eliana smiled.
"eliana, for the hundredth time, call me glenn." he laughed. "how are you? feeling good for tonight?"
"i'm feeling great. yesterday was really solid, so i have a little margin of error for tonight."
"that's awesome." he grinned, and ben took his phone back. "i've been freaking out all week. i could barely watch your routines yesterday, i was so nervous."
"what, you think i was gonna suck?" she teased.
"never." he laughed. "just worrying, as usual."
"now boarding flight 344, new york city to san jose, california."
ben frowned. "alright. that's us. i'll see you soon."
"aren't you gonna wish me luck?" eliana raised her eyebrows. ben scoffed. "as if you even need it."

ben and glenn slid into their seats just as the gymnasts marched out of the tunnel.
"there she is." ben pointed, smiling uncontrollably.
"phoebe sinclair of san francisco, california! and finally, eliana dempsey, chicago, illinois!"
glenn snapped a quick picture as she waved their way, and ben cheered as loud as he could. as soon as the gymnasts were introduced, there was a twenty minute break for them to warm up.

"do you see márta?" eliana muttered to peter and lola.
"i haven't seen her yet." lola said.
"i don't see her either."
"i'll look around." peter said. he walked away to talk to another coach, then came back. "i don't think she's here."
"what do you mean, she's-"
"team coordinator márta karolyi!"
the tiny romanian woman gave a curt nod to the crowd before taking her usual seat at the team selection panel.

eliana steadied her breathing as she mounted the beam. she landed her arabian and launched into an aerial series. she wobbled on her second one as she landed, and only one foot landed on the beam. before she knew it, she hit the mats. eliana sighed and got back up. she shot peter a look, and he nodded to her with a small smile. she jumped back onto the beam and continued her routine.
"beam score of 14.5 for eliana dempsey."
she sighed and pulled her jacket on.
"hey, you're okay." peter crouched down next to her. "you're still leading."
"it was such a stupid mistake." she shook her head. "i'm pretty sure i've messed up everything in my beam routine but that."
he laughed. "that's probably pretty accurate. but, no use in stressing about it now."

the crowd's cheers were deafening as eliana beamed, her last landing perfectly stuck. after saluting the judges, she turned and waved up to ben and his dad.
"eliana dempsey on the uneven bars, with a score of 16.545!"
ben sighed with relief as he smiled at her.
eliana stared up at the scoreboard, where she was still in the lead. sophie was close behind her, and she was just finishing up her floor routine. she came off of the mats and looked up to the board. her score flashed right next to her name, and it placed her a point and a half behind eliana.
"and that's it, ladies and gentlemen. our panel will take a few minutes to go deliberate, and we will be back soon."

eliana's whole body seemed to go numb. she and lola walked side by side to the back room, where all of the gymnasts gathered. they waited for what felt like hours, until the door suddenly opened, and márta came in, followed by two men carrying eight sets of jackets and pants. the gymnasts immediately stood and lined up, tallest to shortest.
"i am not one for speeches. and i know you want to know. all i have to say is that the decisions were very difficult." márta said, looking around. she glanced down at a tiny slip of paper in her hands. "the three alternates will be mackenzie quaker, jenna wyndham, and phoebe sinclair."
eliana's eye twitched at the mention of phoebe's name.
"the five of you who will be going to rio are..." márta continued. "cally federline, lola sanchez, sophie hannigan, grace york, and eliana dempsey." she gave them a small smile. "congratulations."
the gymnasts who didn't make it were led out of the room, and lola and eliana immediately hugged each other. "we fucking did it!" lola yelled.
"we did!"
"what did i tell you guys?" cally laughed, though she was smiling just as much as the rest of them.
"girls." one of the men knocked on the door. "it's time."

ben bounced his leg up and down. "what is taking them so long?"
"relax, you know she's on the team." his dad said.
"yeah, but i want to see it." he laughed.
"ladies and gentlemen, this is usag president mike waterford."
ben rolled his eyes.
"it is my honor to introduce the five ladies who will be representing the united states at the rio olympics. 2015 beam and vault world champion, sophie hannigan!"
sophie held on to her flowers, and waved to the roaring crowd.
"the reigning olympic all-around champion, grace york!"
grace wiped tears away from her eyes.
"making her first olympic team, lola sanchez!"
the crowd went wild as lola waved and laughed.
"the second member of the fierce five, olympic gold medalist cally federline!"
cally smiled knowingly.
"and, finally, three time bars, floor, and all-around world champion, the princess of the bars, eliana dempsey!"
eliana beamed as she ran across the floor to the other members of her team. she searched the crowd again, and locked eyes with ben. she blew him a kiss, and he pretended to catch it.
"also joining them, the alternate athletes, makenzie quaker, jenna wyndham, and phoebe sinclair!"
there were tears streaming down jenna's face, and eliana wiped them away before pulling her into a hug.
"ladies and gentlemen, your olympic team!"