To Catch A Star

Chapter Six

The first week had come and gone relatively quickly and now was the dreaded weigh in. Nervous energy was palpable at breakfast, barely a murmur other than the quiet chatter of the trainers. Record books were clutched in hands, knuckles almost white with their grip and some were even sporting pale, almost green complexions.

The scales, front and centre, seemed to almost glow, as if a spotlight was pointed on them.

"Right guys, we're going to do this in alphabetical order".

Alexa said cheerily from beside the dreaded equipment.

"When I call your name pass your book to Joe and come on over to me. To make this a little more fun, you can state your name, age, country and tell us something about yourself!"

She bounced and clapped her hands together excitedly. At the side of the room AJ and Liv sported the same smiles obviously thinking that this was a great idea. Dean/Jon looked amused, whereas Seth notably rolled his eyes.

"Andi, you're up!"

Andi's head shot up, blush already prominent on her face. She glanced to her now-support, AJ, who gave a big smile and an encouraging nod. Slowly, she made her way to give Roman/Joe her book. He took it and gave her a warm smile. He also appeared to give one of the trainers a somewhat smug look... What was that about?

"So... what's your name, age and location?"

Alexa asked gleefully. Andi looked at her as if she had gone mad. There were chuckles heard around the room, Alexa was having way too much fun with this.

"I... I'm Andi, I'm 33 and I'm from England"

It was slightly stuttered out but it was loud enough so people could hear her. She was ready to bolt, public speaking was a nightmare to her. Alexa continued,

"And tell us something about yourself, Andi".

Oh, dear god! Andi looked at AJ desperately. She had not signed up for this! AJ cradled her arms, rocking them from side to side whilst mouthing a name. Oh, Oh!

"I have a daughter. Her name is Rosalie".

"Oh cute! Show me some pictures later! Right, on you pop!"

Alexa gestured to the scales. Andi got on quickly. The sooner she did, the sooner she could hide at the back of the room again.

"Fifteen on the dot Joe"

Roman/Joe wrote in Andi's record book, stamped it, then started scribbling on a note pad. After a few seconds he announced,

"Congratulations, that's a nineteen-pound loss. Keep it up!"

The trainers started to clap, which prompted the trainees to do the same. Andi darted across to get her book before scurrying to the back. As she passed the trainers, she heard Dean/Jon say,

"Congratulations fellow shield member"

Andi blushed beet-red. That was why Roman/Joe lookedso smug! She crossed her arms over her tee in embarrassment.

The rest of the day went by rather quickly compared to the morning weigh in. They were all quickly whisked away to a shorter-than-normal Nutrition class, focussing on how to eat in a way that would keep the weigh off. Learning about protein, fat and fibre-rich carbs to help them with their journey's.

After lunch they would be learning the six core punches in kickboxing (jab, straight right hand, left hook, right hook, left uppercut and right uppercut), then putting them into practice safely. This turned out to be rather entertaining due to Dean/Jon's puppy-dog enthusiasm and AJ's absolute exasperation. It was equally as funny when you thought about how Dean/Jon absolutely towered AJ in height.

Andi was in good spirits as she made her way to the gym after dinner. She got on the stepper and placed her phone on the holder. But as she was about to get her headphones out, she noticed the flood lights on the track turn on. She could just about make out who the runner was and decided to forego her wrestling for a little while to watch. She decided it was more motivating to watch Seth running this time round.