Take One for the Team

Chapter 13: Lost

I woke up to the sound of my mother's voice.
"Wake up, Julie," she said and shook me. For a moment I was tired and didn't want to get out of bed. I looked at the clock. 5:45 AM. Sooo early.
But then I remembered where I was. It was Regionals day!
I got up and put on my uniform as fast as I could. I put on my shoes, put my extra jump rope shoes in my bag, and started heading out the door.
"Wait!" my mom yelled so I waited. "I have a present for you." I waited a moment and then she returned with a plastic bag. I opened it as quickly as I could get my hands on it and saw that it was a pair of team warmups!
"How did you-"
"I have my ways," my mom said.
"Thank you thank you thank you!!!!" I exclaimed. And I hugged her.
"Your welcome," she said. "Put them on! It's cold outside!"
We walked out the door. It was chilly out there! But it was also sunny. We walked down to the lobby for free breakfast.
We waited in line for the buffet. Once we got our tickets, we went to go find a place to sit. That's when I saw the triplets!!! I ran over to them and hugged them.
"Summer! Sierra! Savanna! It's so nice to see you guys!"
"You too Julie!" Sierra replied.
We went over to the buffet and I grabbed a some cereal, an omlet, bacon, a banana and a cup of orange juice. I knew I probably wouldn't eat all of it, but I didn't want to compete hungry!
Soon Annie walked down and joined us for breakfast. Everyone else stayed at a different hotel, but there were still five of us from our team. I saw some jumpers from other teams too. One of them walked over to our table.
"Nice uniforms speed skippers!" she said.
"Thanks," Summer replied. "We finally got new ones."
Summer and the girl talked for a while and I started to feel nervous. I hadn't been to regionals in two years. Would I qualify in anything? How many people would be there? Would I be good at all compared to the other competitors?
"So, are you excited, Julie?" Sierra asked.
"Yas," I replied. "And kind of nervous."
"You'll do great. What's your favorite event?"
"Definitely singles." I replied. "This is the first year I'm really confident about my routine. I practiced it a lot. And it was so much fun! I think I can qualify if I don't have a lot of misses."
"Do you want to show us your routine later? We can give you advice." Savanna said.
"That would be great, thanks!" I replied.
I ate so much food for breakfast. Breakfast of champions!!!
After breakfast my mom took me to the car and we put the gym address into the gps. My mom followed the directions: turn right, go straight for 5 miles, turn left, right, right again, left. we ended up in a small neighborhood nowhere near the gym.
"Mom," I said, "I think we went the wrong way."
"But I followed the gps directions!" she said. "Can you check the address?"
I looked on the email and checked the address on the gps. 622 South Timber Street.
"Mom! Turn around!" I yelled. "We went the wrong way! It's South Timber Street! Not North Timber street! We're supposed to be 15 miles the other way!"
"Are you kidding me!" my mom yelled. We pulled over. "Here! Call someone! Tell them we'll be late."
"Who?" I asked.
"I don't know!! Melissa, Lexi, the triplets, someone!!!"
I quickly dialed Coach Melissa's number and she didn't pick up. To be expected. I called Summer, and she didn't pick up either.
They must all be practicing I thought. I dialed Lexi's number. Much to my relief, she picked up.
"Hi Lexi! We drove the wrong way and won't be there for fifteen minutes. Can you tell Coach Melissa that we're running late?"
"Sure," she replied.
Luckily, we didn't get lost this time and found the gym. It took us a while to find parking, and we ran as fast as we could to the gym.
I opened up the doors and paused a moment before I went in. This was it. Regionals.