Balance (Off Balance 1)

“Since the coaches gave us tomorrow off, we were thinking about hitting the sand and having a beach day. Did you want to come?”

I paused. “What do you mean we have off?” I couldn’t afford to take off time.

“Listen, we don’t question our rare vacation days, we use them wisely. A bunch of us are hitting the beach tomorrow and some of our friends outside the gym are coming too. I’d love for you to join us.”

I bit my lip. Reagan would be there. After the way she treated me, the last thing I wanted to do was spend any extra time with her. That being said, I missed the beach and normalcy.

“Sure. What time?”

“We’re going early to get in as much time as we can. So about eleven?”

“I don’t know where any beaches are here. Can I meet you guys so I can follow?”

“Of course. Want to come over to mine and Hayden’s place and you can ride with us?”

I smiled big. “That sounds like a plan.”

Holly turned to leave, but I stopped her. “Hey, Holly?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for inviting me.”

Her smile reached her eyes. “Anytime.”

I SHOULD’VE KNOWN better, read between the lines. Any time a coach gave time off, they pushed and worked you to the extreme first. I was talking boot camp drills made for Marines kind of extreme. At this point, rest sounded like a better option tomorrow instead of beaching it. Even death.

“Why are they doing this to us?” I asked Holly after doing standing tucks, back and forth across the floor. I climbed the rope in a pike position until my muscles ached, walked across the floor in a handstand multiple times, executed front walkover front tucks until I was dizzy, and performed so many press handstands on beam I’d lost count. And that was only the beginning. We did standing dismounts off the vault, body tension exercises and sprinted until we saw stars in our eyes. We still had bars to work. We’d been at it for hours. Conditioning to the eighty-seventh million power. My stomach muscles were hardened with soreness and I was on the verge of vomiting. There had been no time to think of anything else other than what my body was being put through.

Holly shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

“I bet he’s fighting with his girlfriend,” Reagan chimed in and I turned to look at her.

“Who, Kova? What do you mean?”

Reagan gave me a droll stare. “Have you not noticed his behavior today? He’s been mean and nasty all day, more so than usual. I overheard Madeline tell Kova to calm down and he fired back at her. I actually got scared when he did. I’ve never seen him speak so harshly to another gymnast, let alone a coach and it surprised me. That’s how you know something isn’t right.”

I had a sinking suspicion I was the root of his issue.

“Yeah, but Madeline isn’t any better,” Holly added, giving her a sideways glance.

Reagan agreed. “Let’s just hope this torture session will be over soon. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll be able to stand.”

Three hours later, we were allowed to leave. My entire body was in shambles and I couldn’t remember a time when I just wanted to crawl into bed and die. My back, arms, and legs hurt. Everything ached so badly.

The worst part of today? My right calf blazed with a searing heat like it was on fire when I ran for miles on the track outside. The pain in my leg was intensifying by the day, but today it made its presence well known. I was close to complaining to the coaches but instead I popped some Motrin and dealt with it. Hopefully an ice bath would help.

Pulling into my complex, Hayden followed closely behind. After he saw me limping, he’d offered to come over and help. I told him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted and suggested an ice bath.

Dropping the bags of ice at my feet, I dug into my pocket for my keys and unlocked the door. I looked over my shoulder as I pushed the door open, “Thanks so much for helping me, Hayden.”

“It’s no problem,” he smiled, holding two bags of ice in his hands.

We walked into my place and I flipped the lights on. He brought the ice into my kitchen and placed it in my sink in case it leaked.

“I suggest making some tea first.”

I paused, pursing my lips together. “Tea?”