Becoming A World Champ

Chapter 33

The plane had just landed, and Eliza, Peyton, and I were literally screaming and jumping up and down. Eliza and I have never been to Worlds before, so this was the newest and coolest experience we've ever had. Peyton, on the other hand, has been multiple times, but has never competed with this particular team before.

Laughing, we walked over to the baggage claim to find our luggage. When a cluster of suitcases with ironed on Cheer Athletics logos appeared around the corner, I knew we had found our stuff. I reached over the moving belt to grab my own luggage and pull it over to me. The rest of my teammates did the same until none of our luggage was left on the belt.

"Alright, I know what you want to do," Coach sighed, reaching into his back pocket for his iPhone. We looked at him, confused. "Go ahead!" He insisted, motioning towards a clear area in the airport. "Go ahead and stunt!"

"Oh!" We all realized in unison. I found my stunt group, and Matt walked over to me. He looked extremely adorable with his Cheetahs Worlds tank on and a pair of black athletic shorts. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and embrace him. I wanted to smell his cologne and feel his strong arms wrap safely around me. But I couldn't because of my choice to break up with him.

Matt made no eye contact with me. Instead he just stared at the ground, and grasped my foot in his hands. Coach stood in front of all our stunt groups with his phone in hand, and began to count. "5-6-7-8..."

Matt and my other base lifted me up and pushed me into an extended heel stretch. I pulled through into a bow and arrow, then tic tocked into a scorpion. From my scorpion, I bent my leg below my chin, and thrust my leg out into a scale. Lastly, I dropped my scale so that I was in a two-legged stunt, then I tucked myself in a ball and came down face first.

"Awesome job to Summer and Peyton's group! Although we could use a bit more emotion, Summer." I nodded and tried to absorb his corrections. "Peyton, beautiful job! And nice flexibility, as always," Coach laughed, leaning in to give Peyton a hug.

"The other stunt groups did well too, but remember kids, this is Worlds. We are here to win. This is war. You have to get your head in the game and think straight- or else your stunts will fall and your tumbling won't stick. Just believe in yourselves, all of you, because if you weren't capable of doing this routine, you wouldn't be on one of the most well-known teams in the world. Hands in!" Coach yelled, and we reached our hands in to a circle.

"World Champions on three!" I yelled, not being able to contain my excitement. Coach looked at me, a little shocked from my outburst, but happy all the same. He nodded at me and together we counted, "One, two, three! WORLD CHAMPIONS!"