Special Tutoring

Broken.

"How is Mai? I came as soon as the competition was over. We had to wait till the winners were announced."

My ears pricked up at Emily's voice, but my eyelids felt too heavy to lift open. I wanted to wave to her, to let her know I could hear her, but I lacked the energy to even wag a finger.

"She woke up disoriented just now. she kept thinking that she is supposed to be at the cheerleading competition and that my parents were not letting her. So she became quite hysterical, begging them to let her take part. She refused to believe us that the team has performed already. In the end, the doctor had to give her a shot to calm her down."

"Poor thing. Best that she has some time to rest. She was so badly injured, and if she found out that we came in last, she'd be even more upset."

We lost!? It was expected, but still... last place...My fingers twitched, though what I really wanted to do was bawl with disappointment.

"Qin, I am sorry I did such a terrible job catching her and she broke her leg."

"Emily, don't blame yourself. You caught her before she brained herself on the mat. It was terribly unlucky that she hit your shoulder when she fell.  Did you get anyone to look at your shoulder? It must have been painful for you too."

"Yeah, that's the other reason why Mrs Carter and I are here. We are getting the doctors to have a look at it. At first I didn't really hurt, and we applied some ice on it but it is starting to hurt quite a bit now. Still, I should have taken greater care in spotting her so that she wouldn't had fallen so badly."

"Emily, we were in the audience. You tried your best. If anyone's at fault, it's Amy's."

"Ehm," I could hear the hesitation in Emily's voice. "Speaking of Amy, she wants to visit Mai."

"Why?" Qin snarled. I had never heard her so protective and angry before. I wanted to tear. "To  finish off my little sister?"

"She said that her bases stumbled, so she lost her balance. She didn't mean to let go of Mai's hand."

"We were there, Emily. They just tottered a bit. I may not understand cheerleading, but I don't think you need to use both your hands to stabilize yourself just because the people below are wavering."

"Maybe her self preservation skills kicked in. I don't think Amy is that kind of person. She might be emo but she would never do anything to harm her best friend."

"I used to think that too, Emily.... I don't know what to say, after all her shenanigans and bad blood with Mai."

"Speaking of bad blood, what happened between Mai and Amy?  It's like they became enemies overnight."

"I am sorry, Emily, but it isn't my place to say. You'd have to ask either Mai or Amy. Anyway my whole family's too upset now. I don't think it is a good idea for Amy or her family to show up anytime soon."

"Alright I will inform her ....Qin. Do you think Mai's leg will heal in time for captain tryouts? I can help hit her routine if she can't do it herself. I know the steps by heart and I am not trying out for captain. So there shouldn't be any conflict of interest."

"Thanks Emily for the offer. It will mean a lot to Mai but I think that the captain tryouts is the least of our problems right now. Mai pulled her thigh muscle less than three months ago and now she broke her leg with a mild concussion. My parents may not even allow her to continue cheerleading. They are convinced that it is a dangerous sport."

"Oh. That sucks."

"No doubt. They are talking about pulling her out. I asked them to go have dinner at the cafeteria. They need a break too."