Chapter 2

I hadn't been to "the barn" since I was about 8-years-old.

"The barn" was what Aunt Paige called the building where she taught gymnastics, cheerleading and tumbling.

She talked Mom into letting me take class when I was in kindergarten and I took lessons for about three years. I never really told anyone, but I could still tumble, do cartwheels and handstands.

That is until I showed I could tumble during gymnastics tryouts.

"My gosh, Janice, it's seems like he's grown!" Aunt Paige said when we walked into the building.

"Come on Aunt Paige, we just saw you guys a month ago," I said.

Truth of the matter, we really didn't see Aunt Paige or my cousin Claire a whole lot even though they lived only about a half hour away.

Mom called her the other night to let her know about me making the Spring Hill High School team. Aunt Paige was thrilled I would be following in her footsteps just like I followed in Mom's when I played field hockey.

"Did you know Phoebe Mills and I were on the same team in high school?" Aunt Paige asked.

"I didn't know that," I said.

"You need to tell her you're Paige Blake's nephew!" she said.

Aunt Paige was a former state champion gymnast. She went south and competed at the University of Georgia, where she was an All-American and an NCAA champion.

She was a pretty good coach, too. A couple of her former students made the Olympic team. Several of her students competed in college.

When she found out I was going to be competing in gymnastics, she offered to coach me each Sunday along with my cousin Claire, who was in the sixth grade, and a friend of her's named Willow, who was in the fifth grade.

"Janice, remember when Lucas was little I promised you that I wouldn't teach Lucas girls stuff?" Aunt Paige said. "Guess what Lucas, you get to learn girls stuff every Sunday!"

Mom rolled her eyes.

"I'm beginning to get used to it, Paige," she said. "Lucas, I'll be back to pick you up around 5."

"Before you get started, let me lead you over to the boutique," Aunt Paige said.

The boutique was a little store Aunt Paige set up in "the barn" where she sold leotards and other gymnastics warm up clothes.

"Your mom said you needed practice leotards," she said.

I nodded my head yes.

She picked a few off the rack that she guessed were about my size.

"You can go in there to try them on," she said. "This will spare you the embarrassment of having to go to a store to get some."

I actually appreciated that.

"Mom, he should try one of those floral print ones," Claire said as she walked into the boutique with Willow.

"Um, that's Okay," I said as I went into the changing room.

I picked out a couple of blue ones, a red one and a black one.

"So you found some you like?" she asked.

"I found some that fit," I replied.

She then asked me if I had my dance belt on under my spandex shorts.

I nodded my head yes.

"Well, then go back in and put one of them on and join us out in the gym," she said.

I gave her a strange look.

"Your Mom said because of the uniform rule, you're probably going to have to wear just the leotard when you compete," she said. "You might as well get used to wearing one."

I didn't argue. I put on one of the blue ones.

With the dance belt, I didn't show too badly.

But I still felt a little exposed, especially when it didn't quite cover as much of my butt.

Claire whistled when I walked into the gym.

"How does it feel to have a leotard on, cuz?" she whispered.

"I feel like I'm naked," I whispered back.

"I know the feeling, but you'll get used to it," she whispered.

We spent the first hour of practice working on vaulting.

Claire and Willow did their regular work. Aunt Paige then had them demonstrate simpler vaults and had me repeat them.

I think I did okay, although I nearly landed on my head once and leaded on my butt quite a few times. I ran into the vault a few times as Aunt Paige tried to show me how to tumble onto the vault.

Next up was the floor. I watched Claire and Willow do a couple of complicated routines. They worked on adding elements to their routines.

We started with simple tumbling and handstands. We also worked on adding a few dance steps, some I already knew from ballet.

"The challenge will be the string it all together," Aunt Paige said. "I want to surprise Phoebe. I want you to be able to have a floor routine ready when you have your first meet."

I was allowed to take a break when Claire and Willow went to work on the uneven bars. I pulled on a t-shirt and shorts over my leotard and watched them both do some amazing things on the bars.

I have to admit it actually looked like fun. But I also wondered how a boy could do the uneven bars without...well you know..."pulling a groin."

"Alright, it's time for beam work," Aunt Paige said.

I was always amazed watching the girls on the beam. They had to be fearless doing flip, turns and other moves on something that high up in the air that was only a few inches wide.

Both Claire and Willow took their turns on the beam. They took a few spills as the worked on more complicated moves.

"Okay Lucas, shorts and T-shirt off, it's your turn," Aunt Paige said.

"Um...my turn?" I said. "Aunt Paige, I'm only going to be competing on the vault and the floor."

Aunt Paige shook her head and smiled.

"Before we are done, you're going to be able to compete on all four apparatus," Aunt Paige said. "We're going to work on making you a complete gymnast."

She showed me a simple way to mount the beam. She also had Claire and Willow demonstrate simple moves I could do sitting. She then made me stand up and try to walk on the beam.

I wobbled, but was able to walk the length of it. I slipped and fell off a couple of times, but I was able to turn around, which was a minor victory.

"Good job today," Aunt Paige said when Mom came and picked me up.

"I've got a little something to give you," she said, handing me two tubes with rolled up posters inside.

"They're of Nastia Luikin and Shawn Johnson," she said. "They won gold medals at Beijing. I figure there has got to be room on your wall for them along with Peyton Manning and Lebron James."

####

"You're not hurt are you?" Beth asked as the picked me up from the floor at the roller rink.

"Uh, no, just my pride," I said. "I might have a bruise on my butt after we're done, but I'm beginning to get used to bruises."

"I've been meaning to ask how gymnastics was coming along," Beth said.

"It's a challenge," I said. "A lot harder than field hockey, and field hockey isn't easy."

"I figured that," Beth said. "I'm amazed you're doing it. I can't wait to see compete in your first meet."

"Well, how's basketball coming along?" I asked.

"Pretty good," she said. "Coach Collins wants us to play an uptempo game this year. We've been working on our pressure defense.

It was Beth's idea to go skating. With our schedule, neither of us got a whole lot of free time. Basketball was an every day commitment, just like gymnastics. She also managed to squeeze in a few dance classes, including the one we took together on Saturday morning.

And she was trying to teach me how to couples skate, which was a bit of a challenge since I was trying to make a leap from doing the robot.

"You'll get the hang of it," she said. "You're one of the most coordinated boys I know."

"Thanks," I said. "I think I've got an amazing teacher."

I tried to tell her how beautiful she looked. I loved how the light bounced off her hair, which made her look angelic.

She had a reputation for being a tomboy because the played football, basketball and softball.

But she was amazingly graceful. I saw that in dance. And I was seeing it on the roller rink floor.

But she reminded me a lot of Gina Lenetti in how she could switch from being an amazingly beautiful, graceful girl, to being a tough minded competitor.

I saw that side of her when we took a break and played pool and ski ball. She revelled at beating me in both, but she didn't rub it in too much.

I actually liked that side of her.

She stole a kiss from me after she beat me for like the 50th time in pool.

"Lucas Lacy, did I ever tell you you are a beautiful boy," she said.

"No I don't think you have," I said. "Is that a good thing?"

"Oh, yes...yes it is," she said. "And I love how those earrings look on you. You should wear them more often."

I had worn them only once, at the field hockey banquet. But for some reason had the urge to wear them again for our little date.

"I'm glad you noticed," I said.

"I love it when you wear pretty things," Beth said. "You need to wear them more often."