Lindsey: Love & Intrigue – Chapter 2
Starting on April 12th I started sharing the initial chapters of Lindsey: Love & Intrigue, my award winning debut novel. Lindsey is a Young Adult (YA) Romantic Thriller. To read Chapter 1 please go to: https://www.kimberlykolb.com/lindsey-love-intrigue-chapter-1/
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Enjoy!
Lindsey
Love and Intrigue
Kimberly Kolb
2. Gymnastics: First practice.
Although I’ve been competing in club gymnastics since I was six years old, for the longest time I didn’t think I would ever enter this locker room as a member of the high school gymnastics team. When we moved, one reason we picked Emit, Michigan, was because there’s a good gymnastics club in town with a great coach. I’ve been a level ten gymnast for the past three years, which is the highest level of competition before you enter the elite ranks. I’m not good enough to be a contender at the elite level, so years ago, we decided that I wouldn’t move to an elite training schedule, but instead would remain a competitor in “club.” Sometimes I wonder if I could have made a run for it, but the reality is that you have to give up so much and I would not really have been a contender at the international level anyway. Elite girls typically work out thirty-five to forty or more hours per week. As it is, I’m in the gym about eighteen or twenty hours a week. Deciding to stay at the club level was the only choice I’d had to make in gymnastics until I was getting ready to enter high school.
When you get to high school, gymnasts face a tough choice. For most girls, you either leave the club you’ve trained and competed for since you were little and join the high school team, or you stay at club and give up the opportunity to be part of a high school sport. Virtually all the good clubs won’t let you do both. I’m sure this is always a hard choice, but I think it was especially hard for me because we moved here in eighth grade, so I had only one year at my club. I knew joining the high school team would have been a great way to meet a bunch of girls, maybe even gain a few friends, but then I got to know Coach Dave and Jennifer.
Coach Dave is a great coach. We first met at a summer gymnastics camp years before I moved to Emit. Now he works to make me both a better gymnast and a better person. Not only has he improved my technical skills, but he’s made me a much more confident gymnast. He invests so much of himself into the team. The first time Coach Dave met with my parents and me, he wanted to know which colleges I was interested in attending. I was in seventh grade. Needless to say, my parents were ready to sign up. The only drawback to his club was that it’s across town from our house and in an industrial park my folks would rather I not hang out in.
Jennifer is really the first person I met in Emit. When I came to visit the club, Coach Dave asked her to show me around. She’s a level ten gymnast as well, but since she is one of the oldest juniors and I am the youngest, we’re in different age groups the way they split up club meets, so we’re usually not in direct competition. Having become friends while working out together almost every day, I’m thankful we don’t compete against each other often. I have always hoped that if we did in a big meet, we would still support each other, but I’m sure the competition would put pressure on our friendship. We are completely different gymnasts. Jennifer is more muscular and powerful. Most people describe me as graceful, and I’m clearly more of a slight gymnast. When I was younger, Mom made me take eight years of ballet, which I think I whined about before every practice. But the truth is she gets credit for any level of grace I bring to the sport.
So I decided, much to my parents’ delight, to stay at club through high school. I’m not one to cry much, but I did have a few bad nights when I was trying to make that choice. But once I made my decision to stay at the club, I never looked back. What’s the point? Freshman and sophomore year I competed in club, and as it has been since the first day I stepped into a gym, I loved every minute of it.
Then at dinner one night about a month ago, Mom says that Coach Dave had offered to allow Jennifer and me to compete on the high school team for our junior year, on a trial basis. I was shocked and so excited! Mom had already talked to the high school coach and he agreed to Coach Dave’s proposed schedule, so we could give it a try. Our schedule would be Monday, Friday, Saturday, and some Sundays at the club, and Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in the high school gym. Since high school doesn’t practice on Fridays or the weekend anyway, we would only be missing one high school practice a week. Coach Dave also said we could only work out with the high school team from the beginning of school through the high school state meet. Hearing that both coaches had come to an agreement and that I could be part of a high school team, I practically burst with excitement.
I was thrilled that I would get to be in a high school sport and meet more girls in my high school, and now the kids at school might actually find out what I do all the time (as I’m hardly ever free after school). Club gymnastics teams only compete in USGA events and high school teams compete exclusively in the high school meets, so there’s no inherent conflict in representing both teams, but most coaches just won’t let you work out anywhere but in their own gym. Coaches have that in common with lawyers—they like control.
This was huge. As soon as my parents told me, I ran to call Jennifer, who had apparently just found out as well. We were both so excited we were practically screaming at each other on the phone.
As I change in the locker room, I’m excited and a bit nervous as this is my first high school gymnastics practice. The few clubs I’ve been a part of all had a specific format for both daily warm-ups and workouts. Clearly at this point, I have no idea what the protocol here will be. I came by the gym once before with Mom to meet with Coach Parker, but no one was in the gym at that time so I haven’t even seen the other girls work out. Granted, I’ve been going to high school here for two years, but since I never thought I would be able to join the high school team, I never really paid much attention to their workouts. I did go to one of the high school meets my freshman year, but honestly, that was more to check out the talent level. Needless to say, I was shamelessly pleased that I knew I could beat anyone on the team in a competition.
Carrying my grips in a small bag, I enter the spacious gym. There is not much to hide behind when all you are wearing is a leotard. The gym overlooks the basketball court below, and is shared by both the boys’ and girls’ teams. I see most of the girls are already stretching out on the floor. The entrance I came in is just up the stairs from the girls’ locker room, and is close to the two sets of uneven parallel bars. I set my grip bag down on the floor near the first set. I assume some of the girls are freshmen as they seem to be wandering around the gym a bit.
Stepping over some stacked mats, I walk self-consciously over the floor exercise mat to sit and stretch near the other girls. The chill of my reception is not entirely unexpected, but still a bit disappointing. I try a slight smile when I make eye contact with a few of the girls. Most smile back, but that is the extent of our greeting. Elizabeth, a clear member of the Fab Five, whispers something to Peggy. I can only guess what it’s about, but I’m confident it’s not good. Oh, well. This may be your gym, but we’re on my turf.
Thankfully, Jennifer comes in next and sits down next to me.
“Hey, Lindsey. Hi, Peggy. Hey, Elizabeth.”
“Hi, Jennifer,” I reply but am drowned out by Elizabeth. “Hey, Jennifer. Welcome to high school gymnastics,” Elizabeth responds, and then, like it’s an afterthought, adds, “You, too, Lindsey.”
“Thanks,” I say cautiously as the words were kind, but the tone was a bit acid.
“Well, we do warm-ups as a group, and we all do the same stretches together—okay?” Elizabeth says.
“Sure,” Jennifer replies after looking at me; I had nodded.
Coach Parker walks in and calls all the girls to the floor for an initial meeting.
“Hello, girls. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Coach Parker. Welcome back to all our returning gymnasts, and welcome also to all the new faces.” So here we are. Day one. First practice. Coach Parker continues, “Freshmen, don’t be intimidated. There’s a lot of talent in the room, but everyone had a first day in the gym. We will all do warm-ups together, and then I will split you up for our workouts. At the end of practice, we will all come back and do strength training as a group. Okay? Well, then, why don’t we have one of our seniors lead the warm-ups? Let’s make it a great year!”
Warm-ups are uneventful except that I feel like Elizabeth and Peggy are scrutinizing everything I do.
When we’re done warming up, Coach Parker returns to the floor to talk to the team. “Okay, ladies, I’d like to start with varsity vault. Let’s have the JV team and the freshmen go with Coach Wilson to beam. Jennifer and Lindsey, come with me and show me where you want the board set.”
Jennifer and I have an agreement with Coach Dave not to throw anything too risky in the high school practices and competitions as he can’t be here to spot us and we shouldn’t really have to in order to place in any of these meets. Generally speaking, the better gymnasts stay and compete in their clubs. Jennifer should really be my only competition. Given this agreement, practice is pretty easy and runs relatively smoothly.
At five thirty, Coach Parker whistles, which is apparently the signal to stop working out and come back to the floor for strength training.
“Okay, as I said earlier, for all you new girls, we spend the last twenty to thirty minutes of each practice stretching and doing some strength training. We’ll have the varsity team take turns running this part of our workout. Who wants to go first?”
“I will,” Elizabeth announces. “Let’s start with thirty V-ups.”
Rolling my eyes, I stretch my legs out so that I’m lying on my back ready to do the exercise, which requires you to lift your legs and upper body at the same time so you look like a “V” at the top of the exercise. It quickly becomes apparent that whoever is leading the strength training doesn’t need to actually do all the exercises, but rather judges the rest of the team on how well they are doing each movement.
Elizabeth tells a sophomore that she needs to start over because her legs were bent.
“Great job, Peggy!” Shock.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Lindsey. Those legs look bent. I think you need to start over,” Elizabeth says in a sickeningly sweet tone.
I know my legs were straight, and I know she did this just because I was almost done. Oh well, a few more V-ups can’t hurt.
All in all, practice is good. I’m always very focused in the gym, and even if I wasn’t, there’s rarely time to chat with my teammates anyway. Plus, I can already tell that Coach Parker is excited by what Jennifer and I add to his team. Knowing that he is pleased helps me relax a bit.
Copyright © 2013 Kimberly Kolb
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-8790-4 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4759-8791-1 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4759-8792-8 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013907555
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