golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter one

tuesday, january 6
eliana's hands gripped the high bar as she geared up for her big dismount.

one, two, three...

she flew off the bar, twisting twice in the air before sticking the landing. her hands clenched at the air as a satisfied smile formed
on her face.

it was yet another perfect routine.
she went to grab a drink of water.

ben stopped in front of the building and looked back at the mass of boys behind him. "this is the place, guys."

he pulled open the door, and looked around at the posters of world-class gymnasts, and a banner, reading: "home of world champion eliana dempsey."

the gym was empty, except for one girl.

"ooh, she's pretty!" nick said. ben nodded in agreement. she was gorgeous.

"damn." ben muttered.

"i think she's about to start." sky shushed him. the boys crowded around the barrier separating the gym from the lobby and watched as she walked up to the uneven bars.

she shook out her shoulders and jumped up to the higher bar. ben watched, mesmerized, as she flipped and spun effortlessly. she let go of the bar and twisted, and the boys gasped audibly when she landed perfectly, her feet sticking to the ground. nick started to cheer, and some of the other boys joined in. she turned to them and laughed, taking a dramatic bow, then grabbed her water bottle and walked over to the boys.

"hey, can i help you guys?" she took a sip of her water. the boy with the curly blond hair and pretty blue eyes answered.

"yeah, we're on the newsies tour, and we contacted the owner to use the floor to practice for a while?" ben said.

"you're really good!" nico piped up.

"yeah, it looked like you were floating half the time." josh added.

"that's the goal." she laughed. "thank you."
she turned back to ben. "anyway, newsies? like, chris gattelli choreo?"

"that's the one." ben smiled.

"you guys must be pretty good." she grinned.

"we try." a redhead said, making her laugh. "coach told me about a couple of guys coming in today." she looked at the twentysome teenage-looking boys in front of her. "if i'm honest, there are a lot more of you than i was expecting."

ben laughed. "our stage is under repair, and we're trying to figure out new tumbling passes for some of our songs."

"ah, gotcha." she smiled. "i'm el, by the way." she held out a hand, and ben shook it. "ben tyler cook."

the other boys groaned.

"middle name and everything?" she giggled. ben blushed. "force of habit."

"nice to meet you." she pointed to their left. "just go down this hallway, and the entrance to the gym is there. i'll be here for a couple more hours if you need anything."

eliana left them alone, then took off her grips, threw them into her bag, and made her way to the beam. she stretched out her legs again, then hopped up to do a quick warmup.

ben couldn't help but stare as she went through her routine flawlessly.

"hey, lover boy!" chaz, the dance captain, snapped his fingers at ben. "we're here to rehearse, not gawk at pretty girls."

eliana giggled to herself.

"alright, ready, and...5, 6, 7, 8!" chaz counted off. eliana watched from the corner of her eye as they went tumbling past, combining flips and jumps and splits, all in time with one another. she had to admit, it was pretty impressive.

the blond one, ben, kept looking over at her. when she caught his
eyes on her, she smiled and watched a little twinge of blush come to his cheeks.

ben grinned at her, and sky smacked his arm.

"take a picture, it'll last longer."

"shut up, sky." ben rolled his eyes.

about an hour and a half in, the newsies sat down on the side of the floor to take a quick break, and eliana seized her opportunity.

"you guys mind if i run through my floor routine real quick?"

a chorus of no's and not at all's replied, so she plugged her phone into the stereo and started her music.

ben found himself getting lost in the way that she moved, so fluid, yet so precise.

she took a deep breath and began running into her third tumbling pass: a back tuck to a split jump, back handspring double layout, and another perfect landing.

"jesus." ben muttered.

"she's ridiculously good." chaz said.
eliana landed in her ending pose, and ben strolled up to her.

"what was the third pass you did?" he asked as she grabbed her phone.
she smiled. "that's my signature move." she explained the combination, and ben let out a low whistle. "damn. what's it
called?"

"the dempsey." she replied nonchalantly.

"dempsey?" ben repeated. "that's the name of the girl on the banner." he studied her face for a second.

she giggled. "el? eliana? eliana dempsey?" she pointed to the banner behind her, displaying her name larger than life.

"you're a world champion?" he asked.

"two years running."

"wait, how old are you?"

"eighteen." she answered. "you?"

"wow, same."

"that's super cool." she smiled. the other boys started to get back up and try out new tricks and skills.

"looks like your break is over." she nodded to them.

ben groaned and went back to his rehearsal, and eliana moved on to vault. she didn't spend much time there, as her pass was already solid. by the time she'd finished, it was almost three thirty, and the boys were still there. to pass the time until they left, she went back to the bars and revisited some old routines. ben watched as she floated expertly around the bars, adding in flips and turns wherever she can.

"you know, ben, we are here for five weeks." sky said.
"so?" ben replied.

"so, ask her to get coffee or something. the box is holding a ticket for me, but i won't use it."

ben furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. "okay. it looks like she's almost done."

eliana landed her last routine and sighed heavily. she sat down and started to unwrap her ankles as ben walked up to her. he sat down across from her. "hey."

"what's up?"

"um, i have an extra ticket to the show tonight, if you wanna get coffee, or something and then come see it..." ben trailed off and left his question hanging.

a smile grew on eliana's face. "are you asking me out, ben tyler cook?" she raised an eyebrow.

"i think so, yeah." ben laughed nervously, and eliana grinned. "i guess it's a date."

"um, i would say i have somewhere in mind, but we just got here today." ben said.

"oh, there's a place just down the block. lorelei's coffee and juice press." she said.

"sounds delicious." ben grinned.

"it is." she confirmed. "i'll have to shower, 'cause i'm pretty gross right now, but how about we meet there at 5:30?"

ben nodded. "i'll see you then."

eliana smiled the whole way home.