Shoot for the Team

Chapter 7: Ms. Menville

Coach Melissa told us that our director, Ms. Menville, was coming to check out the team. She just wanted to see us at our "natural state of jump rope fun" as she put it. I couldn't wait for her to come. She could see how cute I was and what a great jump roper I was and what a little movie star I was and how I could be the star of the show.
But my cast. My mom still wouldn't let me jump. My doctor had said I was fine, just stay away from hard tricks and gymnastics. But my mom, my mom didn't want me to get hurt again. She felt bad that I got hurt the first time, and my dad had got mad at her, too. My dad wasn't home much, though. He was an international businessman who worked for a medical company, and was all over the world and flew out and in constantly. I barely got to see him.
Anyways, I wasn't going to let my mother's overprotectiveness get the best of me. I knew I could get permission to jump.
And I did. I told my mom how much jump rope meant to me, and how I really wanted to be in the show. "Jump rope is my life," I told her. "I want this more than anything." I guess that did the trick, because two days later, I was getting ready to practice. I knew that Ms. Menville was coming today, so I spent extra time to put on a cute outfit, do my hair, and even through on a little makeup (only a little though, so my mom wouldn't notice. I put more in my bag to do in the bathroom there so my mom wouldn't know).
I got to practice early, and there were a lot of people. I went into the bathroom, and to my surprise, Lexi, Cara and Annie had set up a little makeover station. Lexi went around adjusting people's outfits and teaching them how to do a perfect jump rope smile. Annie went around doing people's hair in beautiful braids and cute ponytails and tying them off with ribbons. Cara went around with the makeup bag and applying lipgloss and blush. We didn't look over the top fancy, but we did look extra cute and pretty.
By the time the girls were done with me, I looked adorable. I had on a pink t-shirt and short purple shorts. My hair was in 2 pig tails with pink ribbons, and my lips were sparkly pink. And I wasn't the only one who looked cute. Everyone looked great, then someone's watch beeped, and Lexi yelled, "6 o'clock! Time to get jumping!"
We all walked out of the bathroom to see a beautiful skinny woman walk in wearing a professional looking yet stylish suit. Her wavy black hair hung down over her shoulders. She looked very happy to see us.
"Why, what a lovely bunch of precious little girls I have here. And oh, what a cute little boy!" she said, patting Jake on the head. "You must be very proud of your team," she said to coach Melissa. "I am indeed," Melissa replied, "They have been working very hard lately, and have quite a show to put on for you today." "I'd love to see it," she said. "But first, would each of you introduce yourself, tell me how old you are, and how long you've been jump roping?" she asked.
We got in age/height order, and then we started going down the line. "I'm Summer," Summer started. "I'm 17 years old, and I've been jumping for 10 years." "I'm Sierra," Sierra continued. We continued down the line with Savanna, Annie, Lexi, Cara, Jenny, Emmie, Leia, and Rosie, and Ms. Menville occasionally asked us questions, and complimented our outfits and looks. For a partial second, I was nervous, but then my nervousness went away and was replaced by my movie star attitude. "Hi, I'm Julie!" I said in my cute voice, "And I'm 10 years old. I've been on this jump rope team for almost 2 years. " "My goodness!" Ms Menville said. "Did you break your arm jump roping, sweetie?" she asked. "No," I said, feeling kind of ashamed, "I fell off my bike." "You must be mighty brave to keep jumping," she remarked. "She is!" said Rosie, surprising me with her non-shyness. "She's the bravest person I know!" "Well I hope your arm gets better," she said, and she moved on to Jake.
Ms. Menville watched our whole practice. I do admit, she seemed impressed by what she saw. She especially kept her eye on me and Jake, I noticed, and on the triplets. At the end of practice, she told us, "I'm very impressed with your jump rope team. In fact, I want to bring me niece, and maybe her friend, too, to come see your team, and to learn from you guys. Is that ok?" she asked. "Of course!" coach Melissa replied. "Come bring her anytime. And what do we say, team?" "Thank you Ms. Menville!" we said in unison. "No, thank you!" she said. "I can't wait to come back with my niece. You guys did an awesome job."