against the mat (a gymnastics love story)
28 parts Ongoing Eighteen-year-old Elise Rousseau-Bianchi has grown up in the shadow of greatness.
The daughter of tennis legends Selene Bianchi and Aurélie Rousseau, and part of a family where every cousin seems destined for glory, Elise chose her own stage: the gymnastics mat.
She's disciplined. Quiet. Controlled.
Until Scarlett Hayes walks in - confident, magnetic, and already whispered about as the next Olympic star. Their rivalry is instant, electric. Every glance feels like a dare. Every routine, a war. And every stumble threatens to unravel Elise's carefully built walls.
But rivalry isn't the only weight Elise carries.
Her twin Amara is storming toward tennis superstardom. Her little sister Élodie shines on the ice. Her cousin Elio, the golden boy, is already everyone's favorite. And Elise? She's still figuring out where she belongs - on the mat, in her family, and in her own heart.
In a world where medals glitter like promises and family secrets run deep, Elise must decide:
Will she let Scarlett break her down?
Or will she discover that sometimes, the fiercest battles are the ones that make us whole?
Rivalry. Legacy. First love.
A coming-of-age story set against the pressure of international sport and the weight of a family name.