• CHAPTER 1 •
“All right, Starz! Vault work, everyone!” Coach Steele called. He clapped his hands loudly, signaling the end of the break.
On the bleachers, Kayla Meade shoved her water bottle back into her gym bag. “I don’t know why he’s making us do the vault again,” she muttered to her best friend, Chandra Howard. “We’ve already worked on our landings five times this week.” Kayla rolled her eyes.
“Coach is just trying to get us ready for the meet with the Newton Twisters tomorrow,” Chandra said, pulling her hair into a tight ponytail. “Everyone keeps messing up. Except for you, of course.” Chandra grinned at her friend. “I only wish my landings could look like yours, Miss Regional Gymnastics Champion 2010,” she said. “You’re the best gymnast here.”
Kayla smiled a little. “Hey, I can’t help being awesome,” she said, laughing.
Chandra didn’t laugh back. Instead, she just stared at Kayla for a moment. Then she shook her head and got up to join the other gymnasts at the vault.
Kayla slowly trailed to the end of the line. I don’t need to practice, Kayla thought. My landings are always perfect.
She eyed Coach Steele. He was showing Madeline how to keep her back perfectly straight. Quietly, Kayla slipped her iPod out of the pocket of her warm-up jacket. She put one of the earphones in her ear.
Kayla watched as Chandra ran forward for her turn. “Go, Chandra!” Kayla shouted, clapping her hands. Chandra sprang into the air but flipped too late. As her feet landed on the mat, she lurched forward, taking a step out of position.
I would have stuck that landing, Kayla thought. Her routine isn’t even that hard. Quietly, she turned up the volume on her iPod. She nodded her head in time to the music.
“Kayla!” Coach Steele called. “What are you doing?”
Kayla jumped and swiped the earphone from her ear. “Uh, nothing,” she mumbled quietly.
Coach Steele walked over and held out his hand. “I think you’d better give me that,” he said sternly.
Kayla placed the iPod in his palm. She could feel her face getting red.
“You need to pay attention during practice, Kayla,” Coach Steele said, frowning. “You know that iPods aren’t allowed.”
Kayla didn’t say anything.
Coach Steele sighed. “Why don’t you show us your Yurchenko vault, Kayla? I’m sure it’ll be perfect, since you obviously don’t think you need to pay attention,” he said.
“Fine,” Kayla said. She slipped off her warm-up jacket and walked over to the end of the long mat. As she lined her toes up on the starting line, the other girls got quiet behind her.
Kayla straightened her back and ran forward at full speed. She threw her body into a round-off, and her feet hit the springboard with a loud thwack.
She arched immediately into a back handspring and felt her palms smack the surface of the vault table. She pushed off as hard as she could to get the height she needed to complete her post-flight.
Kayla’s body soared in the air, twisting twice before coming back to the ground. With a thump, she landed solidly on both feet, knees bent, arms out to the side.
Straightening her knees, she raised her arms overhead, and then brought them down by her sides. Behind her, Kayla could hear the other gymnasts break into applause. She glanced over at Coach Steele. He was smiling and shaking his head.
“Another good one, Kayla,” he called out.
Kayla grinned. Now maybe Coach would give her iPod back.