“Two weeks?” I scream, shocked.
“Yeah, right, they’ll be ready for regionals!” Ivy calls out sarcastically as everyone laughs.
“Quiet down, everyone,” Coach Kirsten commands. She is no Ms. Jackson, who would have been blowing the heck out of her whistle. Coach Kirsten turns her attention back to our hodgepodge team. “I think you guys might be able to compete in speed, but your numbers have to be really impressive for nationals.” She has no idea how good I really am at speed. “And if you want to go for freestyle, well, you’ll have to put a routine together pretty quickly. Do you think you can do that?”
“Yes.” “No?” “Maybe.” Again, clearly we’re not on the same page.
“We’ll be ready,” I say, faking confidence.
“Okay, good,” she says, “I look forward to seeing it.” She’s being nice, but I don’t think she believes we can do it. She turns to the group. “And that goes for everyone. We’ll help you with compulsory if you need it, and speed. If you’re competing in freestyle, which three teams are, remember you’ll have to come up with your own two-minute routine. The coaches are only here to supervise freestyle. So you and your team captain will have to decide on everything. Music, costumes…”
Two weeks keeps ringing in my head! It was hard enough teaching Melissa and Sally compulsory. Now a whole routine in two weeks!
“Kayla, we can’t come up with a routine in two weeks,” Sally practically cries. “What are we gonna do?”
“We can’t quit,” I say. “Quitters are losers.”
“I’m no loser!” Melissa exclaims.
“Let’s rock!” Tina adds. Sally takes a big breath as I grab her hand.
“Come on,” I encourage them. “We’ve got work to do!”
It’s a week before the regional competitions and we’re still at the camp practicing. Every morning I look around to see if I can spot Charlie, but I don’t. I begin to think he left or maybe I just keep missing him. Then again, Sally and I have been so focused that all we do is head straight to the gym and hit the floor with Tina and Melissa. We’re learning our strengths and weaknesses. Melissa is an awkward jumper, but now she’s a strong turner. Tina is, well, she’s rhythmic but still jumps with her earbuds. I guess since she lives with younger siblings, she might be in the habit of tuning people out like I do at my house just so I can do homework. Or maybe it’s her way of getting focused. Whatever the reason, the earbuds or anything that could catch the ropes makes me nervous. She’s got to be able to hear us when she’s jumping. I don’t know how, but we’re going to have to get her to jump without them. Either way, Tina’s cool and she’s doing really good.
We’re going over some of the simpler tricks, like pop-ups, push-up jumps, cartwheel entries, and hopefully a flip if we can even try it. Demonstrating to Melissa and Tina isn’t hard; it’s getting them to not be afraid to get hit by the ropes, which happens a lot, that is. One thing is for sure: we’re not getting much attention from the coaches, especially Kirsten. We’ll get a “Keep it up, girls!” from one or two of them, but that’s it. They’re not hounding us like Ms. Jackson and her crew back in Brooklyn would, but some help would be great. I think the coaches are putting all their hopes on the Belles. Well, we’ll see about that.
But the only way we’re going to beat those double Dutch divas, the Belles, is if we put together a crazy freestyle routine that no one can touch. And if it takes all weekend to start putting something together…Hmm…I don’t know. And as much as I hate to admit it, the Belles are really good. But there’s no time for doubt; we have to just get to it. Right when I think we can finally move on, the counselors call us together after lunch.
“Okay, everybody!” A redheaded counselor runs through the gym doors and shouts into a bullhorn. “Today we’re giving you guys a break.” Really? We can’t stop now! A nerdy guy counselor takes the stage and looks around at everyone.
“In the words of Muhammad Ali,” he says, “ ‘I hated every minute of training, but I said, Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.’ ”
“But no rest is worth anything except the rest that is earned,” the redhead adds. “And you guys have worked hard and earned a day of fun!”
“So for the rest of the day…wait for it, wait for it,” the nerdy counselor jokes. “You guys will have arts and crafts!”
Everyone looks around and chuckles at each other like, What? Seriously? Do we look like babies to them? We don’t have time for arts and crafts. We’ve got a double Dutch routine we have to put together. While everyone clamors over the counselors’ orders, I get an idea.
“Hey, guys,” I say as I stand and face Sally, Tina, and Melissa. “Why don’t we leave and practice at Sally’s?” They give me this look like I’ve gotten on their last nerve.
“Slave-drive much?” groans Tina.
I guess they’re right. Maybe the time off will be good for everybody who’s ready, but we aren’t. I sulk as our coaches gather the double Dutch teams to follow the other teams across the courtyard into the cafeteria. Sally nudges me.
“Look!” Sally directs her focus to the other side of the courtyard. It’s Charlie! He’s back! I haven’t seen him since our football game in the park. Where has he been? Was he sick? Was he hiding from me? Was
