golden girl (b.t.c.)

chapter thirty-three

tuesday, july 21
eliana sat in the locker room of the toronto gym, thinking over what ben had said to her the day before. she knew that the video alone could get him suspended, at least. but that was temporary. and, even if he could end up getting fired, was she ready to tell the world about her experiences with tanner easton? he was, quite frankly, a monster. he had been manipulating eliana for years, even before she officially made it to team usa.
eliana's thoughts were cut short when she heard sniffling coming from the other end of the locker room. she looked up to see lola sanchez, the girl who had won gold on beam over the weekend. her head was down against the lockers as she cried into her hands. eliana had been there, so she quietly walked up to the younger girl and laid a hand on her back. "hey."
she looked up at eliana. there was an angry red mark on her cheek.
"lola, right?"
she nodded.
"what's going on?"
"it's nothing, i-"
"i've said that enough times to know it's a lie." eliana let out a tiny laugh. "you can talk to me."
lola sighed and brushed the tears from her cheeks. "coach easton, he-he's always hated me, for some reason. he-" she gulped a deep, shaky breath. "he hit me today."
"he what?" eliana's eyes widened. lola looked like a deer in headlights as she looked around the locker room. eliana sighed. "why don't you get changed, and you can come back to my hotel room so we can talk some stuff over?"
lola slowly nodded in agreement. she changed into shorts and a t-shirt while eliana grabbed her bag. the two walked down the street to the hotel and into eliana's room. lola sat down on the edge of the bed and fiddled with a bracelet on her wrist.
"water?" eliana asked, then tossed her a bottle. lola took a drink and relaxed a little bit. "so, did-did coach easton...you know...to you too?"
eliana shook her head. "it's never gotten physical."
"then what did he do to you?" lola cocked her head curiously. eliana sighed. "do you remember when i fainted during nationals?"
lola nodded.
"coach easton forced me to cut weight. i only weighed 96 pounds, and i passed out from malnutrition."
"it was his fault?" she asked.
"yeah."
"i thought i was the only one." she said. "i-he was getting mad at me for messing up my vault a couple times in a row, and he started yelling, and then he just slapped me. right across the face."
"oh, lola, i'm so sorry."
"there's even a mark from his wedding ring." she pointed to a little indent in her cheek. "i just want him gone, but there's only two of us, and we don't have proof."
eliana chewed on her bottom lip. with lola's story and the video, there was a good chance that coach easton would be fired. eliana wasn't sure if she was ready, but she wasn't about to let another girl be physically abused again. although they had met only moments earlier, they shared something, and eliana was willing to fight for lola sanchez, even if it meant finally sharing her story.
"actually, we do." eliana said. "we have proof."
"we what?" lola's eyes widened.
"my boyfriend and his friends came to pick me up from practice yesterday, and one of them caught him yelling at me on video."
"well, tell him to come over!" lola beamed.
"alright, alright." she laughed and pulled out her phone to call ben.