Shoot for the Team

Chapter 5: Recovery

Five stitches in the forehead and a broken wrist later, I sat in my room alone and bored. Just thinking about the accident made the pain worse. I was home, not at school, and definitely not at practice. I had stayed home from school yesterday, too. I just thought about practice that was going to happen in four hours. And school that was going to get out in an hour. And my friends who had no idea where I was.
I sat there and thought about nothing in particular. I just emptied my mind. I sat there and let my brain be empty. An hour passed. Maybe two. Then I decided to go downstairs.
"Mom," I said sweetly, "Can I go to practice?" "What? Why would you want to do that?" she answered. "I'm feeling better, and it's not like I'm gonna jump. I just wanna see my friends. They cheer me up."
My mom hesitated. "Ok," she said. "But there's no way your jumping." "Thank you thank you thank you!!!" I said. I went back upstairs to change and pack my bag, which I admit was a little bit difficult with my big pink cast on my left arm. I ate dinner, and then my mom drove me to practice.
I got there a little bit late. When I walked in the door, everyone was sitting in the center of the room, and Coach Melissa was taking.
"Julie!" called Rosie. She ran over to me and hugged me. "Are you ok? What happened?" Then a crowd of people came around me. "Oh my gosh, are you ok?" Asked Lexi. "Does your wrist hurt?" asked Cara. "What happened to your forehead?" questioned Emmie. "Give her a little space," said Coach Melissa. "Your ok, right, Julie?"
"Ya." was all I could manage to say. This was unlike me. Usually I would show off my injuries, almost be proud of them. It was a way to get attention. But this was different. This accident had changed me. It hurt too much to show off.
"I fell off my bike," I said, which made me feel more like my old self. "My chains fell off, and I went flying off my bike into the bushes." "Well, we all hope you feel better," Coach Melissa said. "Now come join our circle."
Coach Melissa started talking about the show, and suddenly I felt sick to my stomach. For the last two days, I had completely forgot about the show. Would I still be able to be on it? How would I jump? A million more questions popped into my mind about the show.
"Ok, so go practice your routines," Coach Melissa said. I got up with the rest of the team. I couldn't practice, so I went over to Rosie and asked to see her routine. I'm always practicing my own routine, but it wasn't until now that I've never asked Rosie if I could watch her routine. To be honest, I don't think I had ever asked anyone to see their routine.
"Can I see your routine?" I asked Rosie. A smile appeared on Rosie's face. She seemed really happy, and kinda shocked. "Ok, great!" she said in a cheerful voice. "Will you give me advice?" she asked. "I don't think it's as good as yours." Rosie was always pretty humble about her routine. And everything. She was one of those humble people. She and I were so different, it was funny. She was shy and sweet and I liked to be the center of attention. She had beautiful dark, long, straight hair and dark eyes, and I was a blondie with big blue eyes. It was funny how different we could be, but we were such good friends.
"Of course, but I don't think you need my advice," I replied. I watched her routine. And it was amazing. Almost flawless, and really hard, too.
"I have only one bit of advice for you," I said. "Look up and smile. Your routine is amazing, be proud of it."
Then something occurred to me. Rosie was super friendly with me, but she was shy with new people. "Rosie," I said in a calm voice, "Are you afraid of being on the show?" I asked her. "Kinda," she admitted. "Well, I'm not really afraid of being on TV, if that's what you meant, even though I am kinda shy. I'm just afraid that it's gonna break up the team. The last thing I want is to get in a fight with you."
I thought about what Rosie had said. Poor Rosie. She lived in a broken home, her parents divorced, with her mom, and her sister had turned 18 last year and left. They didn't know where. She was just gone. I knew how much this team meant to her. Her family was already broken, and she didn't want the same thing to happen to our team.