The Cherry Trees

Chapter Four: 2014

"Anne, that's it. I need you out of this house," my mom said. I looked up from the book I was innocently reading on the couch in the corner of our living room.

"Love you too, mom."

"Seriously, Anne. Just choose a sport or something. Please. You could do soccer with Lexi. You could play basketball or volleyball or do anything you want just please, I need you to find a hobby."

"I have a hobby. I like to play with Lexi and sit around the house," I said honestly.

"Anne, I'm serious. You need to get out of the house and play something."

I sighed, giving up to my mom. I hated doing things. I didn't want to play a sport. But really, what could I do? I was a kid, and my mom pretty much controlled me.

"Fine."

Satisfied, my mom plopped down on the couch beside me, and she opened up a huge brochure from a nearby recreation center.

"Now, let's see what you would be interested in," Mom said, flipping through the pages. "Any type of dancing?"

I shook my head quickly.

"Seriously? No ballet, tap?"

"No!"

"Anne, you are impossible."

I stuck out my tongue, and my mom resumed flipping through pages. "How about basketball?"

"No."

She returned to the book before finally gasping. "Gymnastics!"

I was about to shake my head in protest when I thought about it. It couldn't be bad. I thought it may even be fun to flip and do handsprings and stuff.

"Okay," I said, hoping I wouldn't regret my decision.

"We have to go register you and then I will take you out shopping for your leotards," my mom said.

Lexi snickered next to me.

"What's so funny?" I asked, punching her knee.

"You have to wear a leotard."

"You have to wear smelly shin guards and spiky shoes and socks that come up to your knee!" I cried.

"They're called cleats."

"Whatever."

Lexi snickered again, and I just rolled my eyes, ignoring her. We pulled up to the building, a large brown one with tile flooring and little classrooms. In the center there was a glass window that read "REGISTRATION" above it. I looked around the building, a little confused.

"Where is the gym?" I asked my mom.

"It's in the other building, we can go see it after this, if you want to."

"Okay," I said.

After my mom gave the lady behind the window her personal information and signed me up for the class, which I would be taking every Monday and Wednesday, we walked over to the other building. When we walked in, there was a large front desk, and next to it there was a long glass window that showed the huge gym behind it. Lined up on the front desk were a ton of gymnastics trophies. I peered through the window, and looked at the scene below me.

There were people of all ages in groups, lead by an instructor. The kids were doing all sorts of things. On the large carpet floor, there were eight-year-olds doing handstands, splits, and front rolls. On the bars, teenagers were flipping and throwing themselves to other bars. The balance beams had kids jumping and landing and performing cartwheels all down them. The whole place was full of energy and it looked like it would be really fun.

"This is what you chose to do?" Lexi asked me, taking in the scene.

"Yep. Get used to it."

"Anne? You ready to go?" my mom called.

"Sure." Now we had to go find some leotards. Yay.

"Actually," my mom said, stopping in her tracks.

I looked over to what caught her eye, and I saw tons of leotards lined up on some tables that had been pushed together.

"Look at these!" she said, holding up a purple one.

I wandered over to her and started sifting through the sea of stretchy colors, looking for a few suits I would actually wear.

By the time we left, I had received endless comments from Lexi making fun of me, along with about 6 leotards. I liked them all, for a change. I had gotten the purple one my mom first found, a blue kind of tie-dyed one, a silver one, a sparkly pink one, a black one with hearts on it, and a plain old turquoise one. Overall, I was pretty happy.

And to my surprise, I was also kind of looking forward to gymnastics.