golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter nineteen

thursday, march 12
eliana stepped up to the beam as béla and márta watched her. she smiled and mounted the beam, but béla got up and clapped for her to stop. "no. the mount is not hard enough. you are too good to do that one."
"which one should i do?"
"try the...ah, the straddle press." he said. eliana nodded and jumped down. as she pressed up from a split into a handstand, márta gave her a rare smile. "good, good. back walkover." she said. eliana obliged and looked to the coaches. béla nodded again. "yes. much better. now the rest."
márta stood up and clapped when she dismounted. "very good, eliana. you have improved since we last saw you."
"thank you, coach." she smiled.
"i think you are good to go for today." béla said. "we will see you tomorrow."
eliana grinned, and once she was back in the locker room, did a little celebration dance. sophie came in soon after her and saw her jumping around. "did the károlyis finally compliment you?"
"hell yes they did!" eliana yelled. sophie laughed and high fived her. "you're coming to dinner tonight, right?"
"yeah, we're going to that cute italian place on third?"
sophie grinned. "their chicken parm is to die for."
eliana nodded slowly and gave her a thin-lipped smile. her phone rang, and she picked it up to hear ben's voice.
"whattup, ellie?"
"not much, you?" she smiled. sophie's mouth dropped open and she mouthed "is that your boyfriend?" eliana nodded.
"oh, nothing, just wondering what you're doing tonight." ben said.
"going out to dinner with the team at around..." she looked over at sophie, who mouthed the time.
"around 6:30."
ben made a cute little sound of disappointment. "i wanted to see you." he whined.
"you have a show tonight, dummy."
"well, yeah, but..."
"maybe i'll stop by your room afterwards."
"hmm." ben paused. "i guess that'll work."
eliana shakes her head. "you are ridiculous."
"and you're adorable."
"i'll see you later, ben." she laughed.
"bye, sweetheart." he slipped into his newsies accent as he hung up. she bit her lip and giggled.
"what's got el all hot and bothered?" cally came into the locker room.
"her boyfriend just called." sophie wiggled her eyebrows.
"which one?" cally smirked, making eliana roll her eyes. "ben. the only one i have."
"what a shame. the redhead's cute."
"maybe you can go and date him" she suggested.
"he's way too young for me."
eliana clicked her tongue. "that sucks." she got her bag together and headed towards the door. "see ya later, ladies!"

it was late in the night, and ben had just gotten out of the shower and was brushing his teeth, when he heard a knock on his door. he opened it to see eliana. she smiled at him, her eyelids drooping slightly. "ben!"
"hey, sweetheart." he furrowed his eyebrows as she stumbled into his bare chest.
"ellie, are you drunk?"
"not really. just a little tipsy." she giggled. "cally said that i could have some of her margarita." her words slurred together. she was usually fine with a little bit of alcohol, but she hadn't accounted for the fact that she was twenty pounds lighter than usual. sky peeked out from his bed. "is she-"
"yep." ben sighed. "ellie, you need to go back to your room."
"but i said i would come see you." she pouted. ben laughed as he pulled a shirt on. "i think you need to get some rest."
she frowned and flopped onto his bed.
"how about i come with you?" ben said. she smiled to herself. "okay."
"alright, up you go." he tugged on her hands. "jesus, el, you're freakishly light."
"yeah." she giggled. "i haven't eaten food in two weeks."
ben's eyes went wide, and sky choked on his water. "two weeks?"
"she's probably just out of it." ben tried to convince himself. "she doesn't know what she's saying."
"right." she agreed. "i meant three weeks."
ben shook his head. "come on, sweetheart. we're going back to your room." he scooped her up and turned to sky as he left. "be back soon."
"bye, skybelle!" she waved to him. ben carried her down the hall to the elevator and took her down a floor to her room. once they were inside, he took her shoes off and had her drink a glass of water. she climbed into bed as ben grabbed a wipe and took her makeup off.
"you're cute, you know?" she said.
"yeah?" he smiled and kissed her on the nose. "you're cuter."
she smiled sleepily. "you have pretty eyes, too. i like them a lot."
"i like you a lot." he said.
"did you know that i'm gonna be able to eat pizza after the competition is over?"
"really?" he got up and threw the wipe out. she nodded excitedly. "i'm gonna have ice cream, too."
"sounds like you've got big plans." he laughed. she smiled. "but not until it's over."
"obviously." ben said. she fell back onto the pillows, smiling up at the ceiling. "the károlyis complimented me today."
"on what?" ben sat down at the foot of the bed.
"my beam work. last time, béla told me that i was too fat to be good at beam, but this time he liked it."
ben looked shocked. "that's harsh."
"it wouldn't be gymnastics if they were nice." she said. ben shook his head. "i don't see how they're allowed to talk to you guys like that."
eliana shrugged. "it is what it is." she yawned, stretching out her arms. ben smiled at how cute she looked. "you get some rest, okay?"
she pouted at him. "you're leaving?"
"yeah. it's late." he took her phone and set her alarm for 8:00, then leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "good night, sweetheart."
"g'night, ben." she said sleepily, then snuggled into the covers. ben turned off the light and closed the door.