White & black

Chapter 2

So if u want to know this I kinda what I picture Meredith to look like
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We meet each other when she moved from Manhattan, New York to Colorado Springs, Colorado and started doing gymnastics at my gym Altitude Gymnastics. At our gym whenever you move up or just start at our gym no matter how many or how little people you know on your team you share 7 things. These 7 things include your first and last name, if you have a nickname, age, birthday, grade, school, and your favorite thing to compete (floor, bars, beam, or volt). But Eleanor decided she would share 8 things including all of those and every where she had ever lived. She didn't tell anyone she was gonna do this but she ended up telling us basically her whole life story. She said

"Hello my name is Eleanor Rose Parsons, but don't call me Eleanor call me Ellie because I won't respond to you if you call me Eleanor. I am 15 years old with a birthday of November 17, 1999, I am going into 9th grade, my favorite thing to compete is bars. I know that's supposed to be all that I say but I'm gonna share more about myself because I think that it's interesting and probably different from all the rest of you. I was born in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and stayed there until I was 3 then we moved to Seattle, Washington when I was 8 we moved again to Manhattan, New York and finally we moved here to Colorado Springs, Colorado. We moved from Myrtle Beach to Seattle because my dad had an affair so my mom left him and brought me, my older sister Riley who is now 17, my older brother Jason who is now 15, and my two little siblings Ana and Alex who are twins and now 12. We moved from Seattle to Manhattan because of my moms job as a fashion marketer. Then finally we moved here because my mom is getting remarried and her fiancé lives here." Eleanor finished very matter of factly. From that moment on I knew that Eleanor and I would be best friends because I am very much like her having a very different childhood from the average American and also that she wasn't shy about anything. So after we all said hi and introduced ourselves to her, my coach Elle assigned us our starting spots for the day. Eleanor and I got assigned bars to work on first. So as we were going over I said

"Hey my name is Meredith Hunter just call me Meredith and I want to be friends with but under one condition."

"And that is?" She asked jokingly making me know I would be best friends with her anyways.

"That I call you Eleanor not Ellie." I stated

"Absolutely not." Eleanor replied.

"Ok fine but don't expect me to help you with anything then." I said trying to sound serious.

"Ok fine only because you have long blonde hair which is something that I've always wanted." She replied about to laugh her head off.

"Sure that's why" I said laughing by then. But I secretly thought to myself why would she want my ugly long blonde wavy hair when she has this beautiful long dark brown straight hair, plus her face every feature about it is perfect she was absolutely gorgeous. "Do you want me to show me my routine first or do you want to do some stuff first?" I asked.

"How about you show me yours first." She responded.

"Ok but don't expect me to do it very well, I can never get my Hecht Transition, I always loose my grip after I grab the bar." I said getting very frustrated at the end.

"Let me see and I can maybe help." She responded.

"K thanks! But I don't know if there's much you can do to help but go ahead and try!" I said hopefully. I got up on the bar get through the beginning of the routine and into my Hecht transition I felt the bars on my finger tips but fall to the ground after. As I stood up I just looked at Eleanor before saying "See I just can't do it, the bar just won't stick to my hands, it's not there."

"Meredith you are looking at it wrong, you're looking at it in color. Look at it in white and black. So instead of multiple colors and multiple distractions look at it like the bar is white and everything else is black. So you can only see the bar and that is the only thing that you can touch, the only thing that exists in the moment." Eleanor said a little to adultly.

"Eleanor?" I asked.

"Is there a problem with me? Do I have something in my teeth or something?" She asked totally joking.

"I'm pretty sure the saying is you're looking at it black and white, as in look at it in color see the whole thing from a different view. Also you said white and black not black and white." I responded very confused.

"Why'd you think I was referring to that?" She asked.

"Because that's what almost everyone says." I responded in that duh voice.

"Ok fine that is what I based it off of but when ever somebody said that to me I would always over think it for example when my dad left us looking at it in black and white makes me think about how he didn't want my wonderful mother, he didn't want any of my siblings, he could care less about how we do, he didn't want to watch us grow up, but mostly that he left me. Trust me that hurts. Then in white and black he's the bad thing, the black and my family and I are good thing, white. So why should the bad thing be said and thought of before the good thing? So I think of everything as white and black. It's the same with the bar routine. The bars are the good thing and everything else is the bad thing." She responded. That is the first time Eleanor told me to not think of something in black and white. But instead to think of it in white and black.  To this day I live by that saying, I even have a picture of it hanging on top of my desk "look at it in white and black -Eleanor Parsons" I like to think that saying would have became famous if she would've told enough people. My life is better when I look at it in white and black and that is all because of Eleanor Parsons.