Dreams and Realities

I take a deep breath, attempting to soothe my buzzing nerves. I glance at my left, and immediately see my mom, waving and cheering me on. I glance to her sides, but I don't see who I'm looking for. I'm not surprised.

Focus, I tell myself. I need to focus. Pushing Harry, Zayn, Niall, Louis, and Liam from my mind, I stare at the floor ahead of me. Taking one last breath, I assume my beginning position to show the judges I'm ready. With the first string of music, my muscles come to life. Without a second though, I start to twirl, spin, jump and leap. From a flip to an aerial to the splits, my routine goes like clockwork. Being careful not to step over the tape, I take my position for my final run. With my legs pumping, I hurdle high and straight, imagining a straight line like Coach Brady taught me. Round off, flip-flop, and finally my layout with a 360 degree turn, landing right on the edge to the last twinge of my music. Perfect.

I dismount to show I'm finished, then smile and wave to the audience. My mom has tears streaming from her eyes, she's so happy. I walk off the floor to my team, who cheers and offers me high-fives. My best friend Sarah, who already performed and got a 7.6, gives me great big bear hug. "Congratulations, twerp. You might actually beat the Dragons!" she tells me. The Dragon's are the competition, and one of the best teams on the Junior Division. "But with a score like that, Thomson, we might be able to beat them," my coach tells me. Weird how it seems she can always read my mind... well, she does know everything about me. I turn to the scoreboard to see what the judges gave me... 8.9! That's the highest floor score today!! I start jumping up and down with my team, so excited that we actually have a chance to go to state. Just one competition...

"You did so good today, honey!" My mom says to me in the lobby. It took about five minutes for me to get out of the gym itself, so many people were coming up to congratulate me on my stunning performance. Thank God for the privacy of the locker room's, right? "Thanks, mom. I'm really glad you came," I said. The boys never make it anyways... "Oh, sweetie, I wouldn't have missed it for anything! This has been such a big deal for you these past few months." My mom replies, giving me a hug. I wrap my arms around her waist, always being comforted by her warmth. As I pull away, I notice a crowd has gathered around a bus. Looks like they're here, I think as I walk to my brother's tour bus. Of course, they're signing autographs and taking pictures, they don't even notice us at the edge of the crowd. About 15 minutes later, when everyone has left to go celebrate or go home, Niall finally notices me. "Ella!" He shouts, running up to me and lifting me into the air. I love when he does this; it always makes me laugh. "I'm so sorry we weren't here to watch you, love, but with the concert... " he trails off, setting me down and looking at me with those sad, guilty eyes I've seen too many times. Harry, Louis, Zayn, and Liam all come over, with the same sad looks on their faces. I'm hurt so much by them every time, and I'm not the forgiving type... "It's fine, you guys, really. It's not a big deal." I say, plastering on a smile and giving them all hugs. Works every time. "Don't worry, El, we'll definitely be there next time. We promise," Louis says to me. I just nod. As we get on the bus, once again, I know that this is a promise they won't keep.

Notes

Hey guys!

So I wanted to write something a little different, so I though-why not write about a family? I really can't wait to write again because the story line for this is gonna be amazing, but for me it's late and I really need to sleep... but don't worry! I'll write the 2nd chapter tomorrow. Love you all!!!