Hearts and Armor

Chapter 10: Blackmail

Part 10

Kimberly lay flat out on the beam with her eyes closed. Her thoughts were a whirl of contradictions and confusion. Hurt was foremost in her thoughts and feelings. That her friends, or people she'd considered friends, would turn on her after trying to keep in touch was a blow to her confidence. She'd tried to stay in touch, but no one had ever written her back and so she'd assumed they had better things to do than be friends. It had stung, but knowing they'd cut her off because of her letter to Tommy was a double blow. That they hadn't bothered to ask her side of things was the worst part of that hurt. They were supposed to have been her friends.

She took a deep breath, attempting to clear her mind and get it back into focus. She needed to concentrate. To visualize what it was she was going to do on the beam and then do it. She couldn't afford distractions after this morning and made herself focus. It wasn't easy, but she succeeded in pushing the disturbing thoughts away.

Slowly, controlling her breathing, she lifted her legs into the air. Exerting a careful control over her body, she slowly lifted them up, her hips following, her back curling as her lower body shifted, placing the weight onto her upper back. Keeping her balance carefully, she held the pose, her body straight-up, before slowly lowering her legs down towards her head, practically bending herself in half.

"Doesn't that hurt?"

She gasped at the soft inquiry, wobbling on the beam as her concentration snapped. Strong hands slid around her hips, holding her in place and her eyes flashed open. She'd know that touch anywhere. Carefully, helpfully, they lowered her back to the beam. They dropped as she rolled, straightening to stare incredulously at the man in the gym with her. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to see how you were doing. Kat told me you were in rough shape when you left."

"Kat told you." Kimberly swung her leg over the beam and dropped down to the mat, avoiding his gaze. "Kat means well, Tommy, but as you can see I'm fine."

"You didn't sound fine when you left the control center."

So that was it. She leaned back against the beam, bracing her elbows on top of it as she forced herself to look in his direction without meeting his gaze. "I was just blowing off steam. I wasn't expecting anyone to throw me a welcome back party, but I wasn't expecting all out hostility either."

His expression was still guarded, but she could almost feel a shift in him. "Can you blame them, Kim?"

"Blame them?" She snorted. "They were supposed to be my friends too, Tommy; not just yours. I guess it's true what they say about the tough times showing who your friends really are." She looked away, unable to mask the hurt that revelation brought. "This must be really gratifying for you, huh? I mean, knowing they'll back you up without getting my side of things and all."

Tommy didn't move, but she could almost feel him withdrawing from her again. "If you'd had the courtesy to return their calls or their letters, they might have reacted differently."

She frowned. "Calls and letters? What calls and letters? After I broke up with you my mail almost completely stopped..." she faltered, looking to him uncertainly. "I figured they were too busy to write me after that with the Rangers and everything."

"Adam wrote you every day for a week, Kim. You should have gotten at least one of his letters if the others got lost."

"I didn't get... any..." She stopped, closing her eyes against a sense of betrayal that began seeping into her gut and making her feel cold. It added up. Her coach encouraging her to focus here, trying to curtail her relationship with Tommy, the gradual decline of mail in her box and her assumption her friends were just busy. The additional work outs, the changes in her schedule - the public phone in the dorm. All calls coming through an answering service that was monitored by her coach; the mail being delivered to his office before being distributed so he could pull out anything inappropriate. That Tommy's letters had gotten through to her at all must have been some kind of miracle.