The Gymnast

Part 10

"Bye Ana!" Sharon shouts from the open car window as they drive off. She and Olivia dropped me off at my house, and I quickly go inside. It's already 6:30, so I don't have much time left to read before dinner.

"Ana, dinner is in two hours!" my mom calls after me as I run upstairs. I flop onto my bed and grab my book. I'm currently reading The Selection by Kiera Cass, and I love it!  The characters are so interesting and I love the plot. I hope to someday write as well as she does.

My only hobbies other than gymnastics are reading and writing. I don't have time for much else, but I make time for those two things. Reading lets me escape into a perfectly sculpted world that another author created, and writing lets me escape into a world I can control. I use reading and writing to distract myself from problems that are going on in my life or just for fun.

Today, I definitely need a distraction. 

I spend a full 2 hours reading before my mom calls me down for dinner. My little brother, Sam, just got home from tennis lessons. He's 8 years old, and he's really good at playing guitar and tennis. We don't fight a lot, we actually get along well and play together a lot.

We make small talk at the table. Honestly, it's painful for me to listen to. My mom and dad talk about work and Sam pipes in once in a while with a few words, which my parents ignore.

It takes about 30 minutes for the four of us to finish our chicken and rice, and when we finally do, Sam and I run to my room as quickly as possible.

"Can we watch a movie?" Sam asks excitedly.

"Yeah, sure," I say. I put a movie on my laptop and get coloring books and pencils. Whenever we watch a movie together, we always color too. I have a coloring book that Sophie gave me for my birthday last year, and I recently bought one for Sam. I use gel pens, and he uses colored pencils.

We only get about 30 minutes into the movie before my mom calls Sam to bed. 

"Bye buddy. See you tomorrow," I say and ruffle his hair.

"Bye!" he exclaims and runs to his bedroom.

I try to read again, but thoughts about gymnastics flood my head. I decide to listen to music while I read to try to get the thoughts out of my head, but it doesn't help. I keep worrying about the meet on Saturday. Today is Tuesday night, so I only have 3 days of practice left. I keep thinking about how inconsistent my skills have been lately, even though today was a good practice.

I finally realize that I need to go to sleep since I have an early practice tomorrow. I brush my teeth and change into my pajamas.

As I lie in bed, I remember the argument I had with Sophie, and I start crying again. Doubts fill my head. Why did this have to happen, and right before a meet! Are we even friends? Were we ever friends? Maybe she didn't think I was her best friend when I thought she was mine, I think. These thoughts fill my head, and for over an hour, I lie in bed miserably, crying my eyes and heart out.

Crying always makes me tired, so I end up falling asleep curled up in a ball in the middle of my bed.