Tara had a serious “I told you so” face on, but she had enough of a self-preservation instinct to direct it at the gym floor rather than at Coach.
“Are you?” Coach said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Good. Then maybe you and your friends back there wouldn’t mind going into the wrestling gym and bringing back their extra mats so we can get to work in here. And while you’re doing that, you’ll be missing our warm-up, so when you get back, I’m thinking you should do double push-ups, triple crunches and ten extra laps around the gym.”
Now it was the girls’ turn to snicker.
“Crunches?” Daniel said.
“I don’t do crunches,” Joe said.
“You do now,” Rincon said. “Crunches are key. We have to build up your core strength for stunting. I think the guys will be doing at least a couple hundred today, am I right?” he asked, looking to Coach Holmes for confirmation.
A couple hundred? This guy meant business.
“Sounds good.” Coach Holmes smirked. “You didn’t think you were joining a Brownie troop, did you, Healy?”
Silence. My neck prickled with heat on Daniel’s behalf.
“Did you?” Coach repeated.
“No, Coach,” Daniel said loudly.
“Good. Now, the four of you. Go,” she said.
The guys scrambled up and loped down the bleachers past us. From the uniform slump of their shoulders you might have thought they were surprised and disappointed to learn they were actually going to have to work out. Had they thought they were joining a Brownie troop? What did they think we did all afternoon? Trade beauty secrets? Wait until our first trip to the weight room. These guys were in for a serious wake-up call.
“Told you she’d whip them into shape,” Chandra said under her breath as the other girls whispered and giggled. Coach slid a no-nonsense stare our way and everyone instantly clammed up.
“The rest of you, push-ups,” Coach said firmly, narrowing her eyes. “ Now .”
“How much longer are we going to do this?” Terrell said softly.
“I think it’s kind of fun,” Sage replied flirtatiously.
She kicked up her feet and jumped off the third bleacher into Terrell’s arms. He caught her effortlessly, with his arms and hands in perfect position, which wasn’t all that shocking, considering we had each practiced it at least fifty times under Coach Rincon’s watchful eyes. Phoebe went next, jumping into Joe’s outstretched arms. On the other side of the gym, Tara and Coach Holmes worked on teaching some of the new girls a few of the more popular cheers while Chandra and the others went over basic all-girl stunts. Of course I, like Sage, enjoyed being right where I was, no matter how repetitive the activity. Because when I stepped to the end of the bleacher, Daniel was waiting for me.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready,” he replied with a smile.
I jumped up, locked my legs and came down right in his arms.
“Perfect!” Rincon said.
Couldn’t have agreed more.
Daniel smiled and placed me down on my feet. Jaimee was just about to do her jump with Steven when Rincon clapped his hands.
“I think we all have the cradling position down,” he said. “Let’s—”
“I could do it in my sleep,” Terrell said, not so quietly. Sage giggled and touched his arm. Unbelievable. She was flirting with Terrell. Right in front of her ex-boyfriend, who also happened to be her current boyfriend’s brother. What was it with this girl? It was like whenever she was around guys, she developed boyfriend-related amnesia.
“Terrell, is it?” Rincon said.
In the background the rest of the girls started up the hello cheer, their voices and claps echoing through the gym.
“Yeah,” Terrell said.
“Good. Terrell, you and your partner will be
“Are you?” Coach said, crossing her arms over her chest. “Good. Then maybe you and your friends back there wouldn’t mind going into the wrestling gym and bringing back their extra mats so we can get to work in here. And while you’re doing that, you’ll be missing our warm-up, so when you get back, I’m thinking you should do double push-ups, triple crunches and ten extra laps around the gym.”
Now it was the girls’ turn to snicker.
“Crunches?” Daniel said.
“I don’t do crunches,” Joe said.
“You do now,” Rincon said. “Crunches are key. We have to build up your core strength for stunting. I think the guys will be doing at least a couple hundred today, am I right?” he asked, looking to Coach Holmes for confirmation.
A couple hundred? This guy meant business.
“Sounds good.” Coach Holmes smirked. “You didn’t think you were joining a Brownie troop, did you, Healy?”
Silence. My neck prickled with heat on Daniel’s behalf.
“Did you?” Coach repeated.
“No, Coach,” Daniel said loudly.
“Good. Now, the four of you. Go,” she said.
The guys scrambled up and loped down the bleachers past us. From the uniform slump of their shoulders you might have thought they were surprised and disappointed to learn they were actually going to have to work out. Had they thought they were joining a Brownie troop? What did they think we did all afternoon? Trade beauty secrets? Wait until our first trip to the weight room. These guys were in for a serious wake-up call.
“Told you she’d whip them into shape,” Chandra said under her breath as the other girls whispered and giggled. Coach slid a no-nonsense stare our way and everyone instantly clammed up.
“The rest of you, push-ups,” Coach said firmly, narrowing her eyes. “ Now .”
“How much longer are we going to do this?” Terrell said softly.
“I think it’s kind of fun,” Sage replied flirtatiously.
She kicked up her feet and jumped off the third bleacher into Terrell’s arms. He caught her effortlessly, with his arms and hands in perfect position, which wasn’t all that shocking, considering we had each practiced it at least fifty times under Coach Rincon’s watchful eyes. Phoebe went next, jumping into Joe’s outstretched arms. On the other side of the gym, Tara and Coach Holmes worked on teaching some of the new girls a few of the more popular cheers while Chandra and the others went over basic all-girl stunts. Of course I, like Sage, enjoyed being right where I was, no matter how repetitive the activity. Because when I stepped to the end of the bleacher, Daniel was waiting for me.
“Ready?” I asked.
“Ready,” he replied with a smile.
I jumped up, locked my legs and came down right in his arms.
“Perfect!” Rincon said.
Couldn’t have agreed more.
Daniel smiled and placed me down on my feet. Jaimee was just about to do her jump with Steven when Rincon clapped his hands.
“I think we all have the cradling position down,” he said. “Let’s—”
“I could do it in my sleep,” Terrell said, not so quietly. Sage giggled and touched his arm. Unbelievable. She was flirting with Terrell. Right in front of her ex-boyfriend, who also happened to be her current boyfriend’s brother. What was it with this girl? It was like whenever she was around guys, she developed boyfriend-related amnesia.
“Terrell, is it?” Rincon said.
In the background the rest of the girls started up the hello cheer, their voices and claps echoing through the gym.
“Yeah,” Terrell said.
“Good. Terrell, you and your partner will be
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