On the Flip Side, Chapter 8

Kacey winced in pain. She was in tears as we all ran to her side.

"It appears to be a fracture," Coach Mills said as brought some ice to put on her ankle.

"What are we going to do, we've got the regional meet on Saturday," Jessi whispered to me.

I shrugged my shoulders. We had enough all-arounders.

But Kacey was one of the competitors on the beam.

"You're going to be okay, Kacey," Coach Mills said as a trainer picked her up and carried her to the training room.

"I'll call her parents, coach," the trainer said. "Then we'll take her to the clinic."

We were silent after watching our teammate being carried out of the gym.

"We need to get rid of these long faces," Coach Mills said. "We've got a lot of work to do between now and Saturday."

The regional meet was the most important of the season so far. The top two teams went to state.

We were the favorites, but there were three other really good teams competing.

"A wobble here, a fall there, and we'll be sitting our butts home," Coach Mills once said.

"Ok, Lu, I need you over at the beam," Coach Mills said, looking in my direction.

She'd never called me that before. At least I thought she was talking to me.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" she asked.

I walked over to the beam. I had been practicing all season with Aunt Paige at "The Barn."

Shelley had also been working with me on the beam at practice.

"Get up," she said, and then gave me instructions of what she wanted me to do.

"It's a simple routine," She said. "Shelley's been telling me of your progress. We need a margin of error on the beam at the regional. Congrats Lu, you're that margin of error."

I felt more like error than margin. I slipped. I fell, twice.

I remember watching a movie about skydiving once. "Why would anyone want to jump out of a perfectly good airplane" was a line in the movie.

I was thinking, "Why would anyone want to do flips and turns on a beam just a few inches wide and about four feet off a perfectly good floor?"

Somehow, I managed to stay on the beam and had an Ok landing. I was a bit wobbly throughout the whole routine, and didn't exactly stick the landing...but for me it was pretty good.

"Way to go Lucy Lu," Coach Mills shouted. "That's what we need out of you."

"Lucy Lu?" I asked.

"She calls us all nicknames," Shelley said. Just ignore it.

*****

"Give me the towel!" I shouted, almost in tears.

"Luke, I'm sorry," Beth said. "I really don't know why I said it."

"Well it hurt, it's insulting," I said. "No one likes to be called really small. I know its small."

"I was just being honest, really, I'm sorry," Beth said. "It's small, but I do think its really cute."

"That's not helping," I said, grabbing the towel.

"Oops, Luke, that didn't come out the way I meant it," she said.

The remark? She said no wonder I could pull it off in a leotard and a dance belt, because my "package" was well..."small, really small."

How did she know? Let's just say Beth has this way of talking me into things.

Beth the artist wanted to paint "a nude." So hear I was sitting on a hay bale up in her grandfather's barn, buck naked. Well, except for the towel she just tossed me.

I started looking around for my clothes.

"Luke, I really am sorry," she said. "Please, give me the towel and lets start over."

I agreed and calmed down, well as much as I could sitting naked on a hay bale.

"Besides, you have the absolutely cutest butt of anyone I know," she said.

"Please stop it!" I said.

But deep down I actually took it as a compliment.

"That's why I can't wait to see you take your warmups off at meets," she whispered as she put a flower in my hair.

"Beth, I'm doing this for you," I said. "Can you do me a big favor?"

"Which is?" Beth asked.

"Will you be my date at the Les Amies Winter Formal?" I asked.

"I was going to ask you if I could be your date," Beth said.

"Gina knows where we can pick out a tux and a dress," I said.

"Which one of us is going to wear which?" Beth asked.

"I dunno," I said. "Maybe we can do it the normal way this time."

"Oh you're spoiling all of the fun!" Beth said. "Besides, how normal can it be? You're the sorority sister."

"You have a point," I said.

*****

Mom wasn't actually thrilled with our "uniform" for the regional meet.

Dominque's mom was chairwoman for the American Cancer Society's Think Pink campaign in the fight against breast cancer.

She purchased pink, spangly leotards for the meet.

I might have made it worse by painting my nails _ hands and feet _ pink in solidarity with the rest of my teammates.

The regional meet was at Abingdon High, and it was packed.

"Which one is the boy?" the Abingdon coach asked Coach Mills during warmups. "I can't seem to tell."

"That's Lu over there," Coach Mills said. "He hasn't hit that testosterone growth spurt yet. And since he let his hair grow long, I couldn't tell the difference if I didn't know him."

Our first event was the vault. No real pressure.

I posted an 8.3, and it counted toward the team score.

We led after the first two apparatus', which also included the uneven bars, the only one I was sitting out. Marie keeps insisting she's going to teach me when I go and visit her at the lake this summer, that is if we can ever sneak off from dad.

Of course, I still don't know how I can compete in that without hurting my...well....package, no matter how small Beth thinks it is.

Our third event was the floor. It's become my favorite event. I was a bit wobbly, but did okay. I posted an 8.4.

Dominique owned the event as usual, scoring a 9.7.

We led by the slimmest of margins heading into our final event of the day, the beam. We could win the meet. We could still finish third or fourth, season over.

Since I was the lowest seed on the team, I went first. It's a lonely feeling standing on that beam and looking around. I tried not to be nervous, but it didn't work.

I slipped off the beam in the opening steps. I got back, but fell again. And for a third time as I did my dismount, falling flat on my butt.

In field hockey, I was the tough guy. Not in gymnastics.

Maybe I've been around girls way too long. I started crying on the mat.

I didn't stop when I got to the bench. I felt I let my team down.

It didn't help that Jessi had a fall on the beam as well.

"We're not going to finish first," Coach Mills told Kylie and Shelley. "We're going to have a hard time holding on to second."

Then she walked over to the bench where Jessi and I were still weeping.

"Listen to me, both of you," she said, sitting between us and putting her arm around both of us.

"I'm proud of you both," she said. "You're middle schoolers. You did okay. And Lu, this was your first time to compete on the beam. Don't be so hard on yourself. Besides, this isn't over."

She was right.

Shelley and Kylie both did well on the beam. We held on to second place.

Abingdon won.

"Are you Lucas," Abingdon's coach asked after the meet.

I shook my head yes.

"I just want to say I'm very impressed," she said. "And to be competing on beam, you're very brave. I don't know of any other boys who would even come within five feet of a beam, let alone get on one."

That made me feel a lot better, as did Coach Mills' words after the meet.

"The top eight teams in the state get to compete for a state title," she said. "We are one of those teams. Abingdon won tonight, but we can beat them. We beat them during the regular season. We can beat any team there."

She made a point to talk to me as I got into the car with mom.

"Don't let it bother you," she said. "You've got the first time out of the way. You'll do better at state."

I had a surprise waiting for me when I got home.

A basket was sitting on the front porch filled with DVDs and candy.

"There's a note," mom said.

It was from Marie.

"Wished I could have been there, kiddo! Competing on the beam for the first time is a big deal. If you guys make state, I'll be there! Love Marie.

*****

I looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a black tux with a stripped tie.

"You look nice," Beth said.

"Thanks!" I said. "I may also try that one over there."

"Maybe you should," she said.

"You don't think this is the one?" I asked. "You said I looked nice."

"You do look nice, but maybe that one isn't the one, you know?"

I knew what she meant. It wasn't quite right.

"Why don't I try some of dresses on and see what you think," Beth said.

I agreed.

She tried on four. She looked good in all of them.

But still, they didn't seem to be her.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" Beth said.

She was eyeing a tux near the wall.

I grabbed the blue dress she was holding.

"You go get the tux," I said, "I'll try this number on."

We both laughed.

The tux she originally tried on wasn't her either.

And the dress wasn't me.

But she tried on two more tuxes before she settled on one she really liked.

Me, I melted when I saw it.

Lavender. Shoulder bearing.

It was saying come on, try me!

And try it, I did!

"Oh my God!" Beth said as I modeled if for her.

"You look dazzling!" she said.

"I know, I know," I said. "I want it, I want it. But what will mom say?"