Intertwined - Tangled series (Overprotective famous brothers)

Olympics Selection

Alisha

Atlanta, Georgia. That's where I had been for the last few days, at the national gymnastics training camp. With something like 200 girls were us 13 girls, elite gymnasts, who had given their life to one day. Today.

I was up at seven am, ready for the day. Some girls were already at the gym, stretching and flexing out a little, joking around here and there. Samantha and I walked in to find Lauren already conditioning and joined her in. There was no time to waste, especially not on this day.

The crowd started to fill in as we made our way to the dressing room, getting ready for the day. As opposed to the usual thousands, today was a closed door event. There were limited number of media passes, which were given out only to the ones related to sports news. Paparazzi was not entertained one bit, and to make sure that the USAG rules were followed, Mike put out a security detail outside. Others were immediate families of the gymnasts, the other young girls who were training at the facility and, of course, the coaches and staff.

"Hey, Salman begged and pleaded to get you this." one of the assistant coaches handed me over a bag. Before I could ask what exactly was happening, she left the dressing room. Curious, I opened the bag to find one of the most beautiful leotards I had seen. The one I had been gushing about a few months ago, wishing I could wear it to a special performance. I had enough leotards, but I could never stop at what I had. It was always just that one leo that I needed. And my brother had gone ahead and gotten me what I needed.

Hello, Pixie. Well, I can't meet you, and that's a bummer. But love, I can assure you, I will be cheering the loudest. And I know you'd never wear that leo to a selection process, but just this once, for me? I know the crystals are no competition to the shine that you've got, but give them their fair chance.

I love you. But if you don't qualify, I'll disown you.

Salman

I dropped the bag and took a closer look at the leo in my hand. It did look like the stones were shining a lot more than they usually did. So, when Salman meant crystals...he'd meant real, authentic crystals. The ones that would cost thousands of dollars with this quantity.

"Well he sure loves you." Lauren had read the letter and was standing in front of me, grinning. She had a spray ready in her hands, and I knew what I was supposed to do. I slipped on the leotard and she used that spray to stick it to my body, so it didn't roll up anytime during the competition. I did the same with her, and we sat down to do our hair and make up.

"This is, crazy beautiful." I whispered, looking at myself in the mirror. I had to admit, I had never felt so drop dead gorgeous in a leotard. There were crystals all over the sleeve, white and flawless. But what stole the show were the peacock feathers, in blue and green crystals, going down from my neckline to the right waist and also scattered around the left sleeve. To go with the leo, I put on sparkling blue ombre eyeshadow, and left everything else to minimum. My hair was in a braided up do Malaika had taught me ages ago, and the glitter spray set them perfectly.

"You show them girl!" Sam came running to me, hugging me tight. We went on to hug our team mates and friends, most of them who we'd known for our entire lives. We'd passed through most stages of gymnastics together, faced meets together, against each other. We'd gotten caught staying up late after curfew watching High School Musical together, and we'd set the bar of eligibility into the Olympic team high. Here we were. Five of us, and two others as replacements gymnasts, would go to the Olympics. The others would have to give up their dream, or wait another four years.

"You guys, no matter what happens next, I will always love and support you." I hugged Sam, Lauren and the other girls tight.

"Except I'll make Voodoo dolls of you and break your legs if I'm not chosen." Sam told me and I laughed, feeling the pressure disperse. Just a few more hours, and we'd know if there as any need of black magic. A few more hours of this life long suspense.