don't lie to me

Chapter XI

Three people walked over to the mat soon after I sat down to stretch. They introduced themselves as Charlotte, a sixteen-year old with black hair and gorgeous nearly-black eyes with thick lashes who liked to go by 'Charlie', Heidi, a fifteen year old with bright blond hair and honey-colored eyes, and Marcus, Heidi's incredibly fuckable twin. The twins were hilarious and Charlie, despite being the shiest, had an incredible eye roll and 'that was a terrible joke and I shouldn't be laughing at it so I am mad at you' face. Turned out that Charlie was a sidebase with Heidi as the main and Marcus backing it. As it turned out their flyer had recently moved to Vietnam with her grandparents so they needed a flyer for elite stunts and someone to partner with Marcus for a one-man, and I- provided I made the team- would fill that spot.

After chatting and getting to know each other for a while the coach, who introduced herself as Coach Gabby, led me over to the head coach of the level 5 team, Coach Jordan. We had the typical respectful small talk before he left me to warm up my tumbling before he evaluated me. I had had all of the necessary tumbling for a level 5 team for a while so it didn't take long for me to deem myself ready. I got Coach Jordan who followed me back to the spring floor I had been at a few seconds early. It was only then that I noticed a balcony that held an incredibly attentive Leonardo looking into the very soul of the man who stood next to me. Coach Jordan gained my attention again once he started explaining what passes and standing tumbling he wanted to see. It was all pretty standard so it didn't take long for me to finish it. Despite my being completely out of breath and feeling like death, I had managed to cleanly land everything and smile through. Coach J, as I was told to call him, beamed proudly at me and congratulated me, but when I looked up at Leonardo he looked sickly pale.

I was given five minutes to catch my breath and grab some water, during which time Charlie, Marcus, and Heidi took the opportunity to join me by the lockers where I had left my stuff.

"Holy shit girl, you were amazing! I would've died if Coach made me do that much tumbling in a row, but here you are standing before us- alive and well. Actually, 'well'  is a bit of a stretch given the speed at which you are drinking that water, but still!" Heidi's unique form of 'good job' nearly broke my eardrums, but after taking a quick recovery I was able to blush and thank her for the almost-compliment.

Marcus only chuckled at his sister's enthusiasm, but gave me a wide smile of his own. Charlie gave me a shy thumbs up, but I may have appreciated hers the most as it seemed the most genuine.

"Now we are almost certain you will be on our team and can be our new flyer. Seriously, I can't imagine you tumbling that good and not being able to stunt." I blushed again, blaming winter for making me so pale. Despite what I'm sure was meant to be humorous and reassuring, my chest got tight at his comment as I thought about every negative possibility and their consequences. What if I turn in my knee and fall? I won't make the team and Leonardo will definitely freak out and not let me cheer anymore!

As much as I tried to calm my racing thoughts there, I had to quickly excuse myself to the restroom to try and prevent a panic attack. I didn't have them often, but I was a bit of a perfectionist and the thought of having something I loved taken away from me in a minute because I made a mistake was freaking me out.

A couple of deep breaths and a fake flush of the toilet later and I was ready to rejoin my new friends. I splashed and dried water on my face and adjusted my ponytail for good measure before finally exiting the bathroom. That meltdown had thrown me off a little, but I was back on track and well rested and hydrated enough to have my stunting assessed.

Heidi quickly greeted me by letting me know that Coach Jordan was ready for us. I apologized for being late, which was quickly forgiven and dismissed, before he let us warm up, standing nearby for if anything were to go wrong. He told us what we would be doing which was mostly just standard elite stunt components, but I would not be doing any one-mans