Animal Ribbons

Chapter Seven: Goat

"Wake up Sienna!" Connie hisses, shaking me violently. When I show no attempt at moving she decides to kick my back.

"Ouch!" I snap. "What was that for?"

"Sorry sorry sorry sorry!" Connie bites her lip nervously.

"But your phone was ringing and you weren't responding to anything else," she explains. I shrug my shoulders whilst nodding my head. I'm a very deep sleeper.

Connie hands me my ancient Samsung; it's so old it doesn't even have a touch screen.

"You need a new phone," Connie mutters, but I choose to ignore her.

"Hello?" I say into the chunk of plastic after checking the time(5:09.)

"Is that Sienna?" a familiar male voice asks. "No, it's the queen of England, Sienna sold me her phone over the internet," I snap sarcastically. I am not a morning person.

"Of course it's me, Dan" I add, acknowledging my caller.

"Sienna, we have a problem!" He launches into an explanation without me getting a word in. "Sure, go ahead," I mutter. Connie chuckles.

"Mallory pulled out of this years major team competition due to a broken ankle and we can't enter without another person." I bite my bottom lip and swallow. "You know I can't..." I begin to protest. "You'll be able to do the routine backwards by the end if the week," he promises sincerely, as if that were the problem. I shake my head, even though he can't see me. Connie looks at me worriedly. She signals for me to hand the phone to her.

"Hi," she says into the phone, "I'ts Connie, Sienna's best friend." "Um, hi?" Dan says, "what do you want, Connie?" he asks wearily.

"Sienna will fill in for Mallory," Connie announces. Traitor, I mouth at her, before frantically shaking my head. I can't go back to gymnastics, I just can't. She just does't understand.

"Kay, thanks!" Connie says before hanging up. She hands me my phone.

"You need to face your fears," she says sternly, but comfortingly. I shake my head, burying my face into my palms, moistening them. I mumble something like; "you don't understand."

"No, I don't," she says seriously."But I'm going to help you get over this unknown fear. To start, you are going to get your skinny butt to that gym by half past five." I wince.

"This isn't a good idea," I protest weakly, but Connie cuts me off. She marches into my house and comes back with a fluro green lycra singlet with a cross-over back, and some black bike-shorts of the same consistency. I reluctantly get changed and Connie forces me out of the tent. I shiver in my skimpy outfit, and, after stuffing my bare feet into my trainers, I make my way to the gymnasium.

Connie wraps one of her strong, calloused hands around my wrist, so I can't run away, and leads me like a dog to the building I hoped I wouldn't have to go to again after yesterday. Dan is waiting outside the gym, with an anxious look that turns to surprise as he sees Connie frog-marching me up to him. He clearly doubted my attendance today. Fair enough. I would have as well, as the only reason I'm here is that I have a very persuasive best friend.

Dans talking, except I can't hear him over the buzzing in my ears. It's a good job Connie's leading me because I can't see past my blurred vision. I guess you could say I'm a little nervous.

"Bring her here!" I hear a sharp but sweet voice instruct. Heather? What's she doing at the gym? My vision slowly returns to normal. Sure enough, Connies mum is standing a few metres away from me, her brown hair tied into a ponytail.

"Sienna, honey?" she asks tentatively. "You okay?" I nod, though I'm really not.

Someone leads me over to the floor are of the gym, though Im not sure who, and I know that I have to do a routine. I pose with one hand on my hip, the other by my ear, and plaster a fake grin onto my face. Someone turns some music on and I roll my head. I gallop a couple of steps, before launching myself into a series of front handsprings, finishing with a front somersault. I runaround in a large circle before abruptly jumping into a back-tuck. I go down in the splits, and roll over, holding that position. I get up and finish in the same position as the one I started in.

Three people clap, and I salute to them, like they're judges at a gym comp. Connie walks up to me.

"Wow!" she gushes.

"I didn't know you were that good! When Heather said you were great at gym, I didn't believe that you would be that fantastic!"

"Thanks," I reply, before thinking about what she said.

"How did Heather know?"

Connie covers her mouth, like she's said too much. She looks to words her mum, for support, or reassurance, I don't know.

"Dan is a family friend," Heather says, but notices the unbelieving look on my face. "You don't believe me do you," she says. I shake my head. "Nuh-uh."

"You know that place Connie took you last night?" she starts.

"I thought that was a dream!" I exclaim, and everyone laughs. Heather shakes her head.

"Goggle Glade. Remember it's name?" I nod.

"All those people, Connie and myself included, even Dan was there, well, we're not people, as such. And neither are you. We are Goggles." She looks at me apprehensively, like she's scared of what I might say.

Excitement bubbles up inside me, and I do a row of back handsprings. This is amazing! Though the name...

"Goggle isn't a very magical name," I say.

"No," Connie agrees. "I'm so happy that you're a Goggle, Sienna! Being a Goggle is so cool, it's like looking at the world through a pair of glasses when you've grown up with blurry sight."

Her eyes grow wide.

"I can't wait until you start you're training!"

A/N: Cliffhanger! Sorry about the lack of updating, but now that schools started again, I don't have much time to write.😢

Also, thanks for reading! Remember,

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