Making the Bar (open)

[Antione Hoefflin]

Antione was sitting at his desk in the gymnastics studio, he was looking at the screen again and again but was still coming up short for any future gymnastic meets. Now that Kitchi was gone, he didn't know if they had a hope in Hades of getting anywhere and unless Grey proved to be as great as his publicity, Blue Ridge would lose it's elite status and there goes any hope of getting any of the Firebirds into Worlds.

Pushing the chair back from the desk, he rose to his feet, hung his jacket over the back of the chair and headed out to the studio. Now that it was the holidays, and without his prized gymnast, the studio was almost dead and Ant knew that he needed to get life back into the studio. Maybe he should have offered to run a clinic on basic gymnastics, but he also wasn't sure how many of the students here would be interested in doing that when they had so many equestrian based clinics available to them.

The coach walked across the studio floor, up to the high bar, flexing his arms behind his back, he bent his knees and sprang into the air, demonstrating the skills of the gymnast he once was. He closed his hands around the bar and then did chin ups, followed by leg lifts and then a couple of skin the cats before going into a simple routine.

[Deleted]

Sam stood in front of her mirror, stretching her arms above her head and standing on the tips of her toes. The fact that she couldn't see all of her face when she stood on her toes bugged her a bit. It seemed as though she was just a tiny seventh grader last year and already she was now a giant senior. She sighed and ran her fingers through her silky blonde hair, trying to decide what she was going to do for the day. Most of her schedule involved messing around with Des and Popeye, but she really needed to go out and do something besides that.

After stringing her clothes around her room, Sam came across a leotard and decided that she might as well hit the gym for a while. She slid on her leotard quickly, which felt awesome to be in since she hadn't put one on in quite a while. Her shoulders wiggled a bit, making sure it sat right as she wrapped her hair into a tight bun. She slipped on a pair of spandex shorts and flip flops after she had concocted a drink and packed an outfit to change into. Quickly she walked out of White Ribbon and made her way to the gym.

When she opened the door, she was that Coach was preforming a routine, which made her grin a bit. It had been a while since Sam had actually seen him do a routine so she slowly made her way to the locker room to drop her bag and shoes off. When she came back she sat down and stretched her legs and moved into the seal pose to stretch her back out. Following this she began finishing up her stretching with a few simple poses and stretches while she decided what she wanted to jump on. 

[Antione Hoefflin]

Antione was half way through his routine when he caught a shadow out of the corner of his eye in the middle of doing a Quast and as he finished the move, he saw a girl heading into the locker room. Although he knew that he could do more of his routine, he also knew that he should be on the ground with one of his girls working on the apparatuses. Doing another few giants, and throwing an Ono into the middle of them, he dismounted with a Tsukahara, managing to stick the landing perfectly - as long as no one noticed the wince he gave when his back protested to the landing.

As the coach looked around the studio, he quickly spotted Samanthat who was stretching out her limbs on the floor. "I see you decided not to head home for the summer, Lawrence." He commented. His normal bark of a voice sounded a little conversational. "What are you planning on working on today?" He instantly thought about the girl's strengths and weaknesses when it came to gymnastics and he could easily suggest where she should start, but he technically wasn't her coach for the next two months, so he knew that he couldn't boss her around. "If I may, the beam would be the best place to start." He suggested. "It's where you are the most comfortable."

Do you mind if I throw Serenity in after your next post? Joel could even bring McKayla in and we could turn it into a mini team practice with a not at all bossy Coach Hoefflin.

[Deleted]

She took a deep breath before opening the door and carrying her bags through the common room of White House. She wasn't sure if anyone she knew was there, or anyone she remembered. She was too distracted, or maybe she was too focused on getting up to her room before anyone stopped her. She couldn't even tell you what color hair the person closest to the door had, all she could see were the stairs that would take her away. With her duffle bag hoisted over her shoulder and a rolling suitcase behind her, Keri made her way near-silently towards the stairs, praying not one of the people sitting on the couches chose to stop her. It wasn't until she was safely at the top of the stairs that she let out her sigh of relief, accepting that she was safe. No questions yet.

She pulled her rolling suit case down the hallway to D10. Home sweet home. Stopping with her hand on the doorknob, she wondered what she would find inside. Would Sam still be there? There was no reason for her not to be, but then again, anything can happen at any moment, and lots of things can happen in five or so months. She knew that all too well. One more deep breath and she'd be good. As the air rushed out of her lungs she turned the door knob and found herself alone in her dorm room which was still full of Sam's clothes, beauty products and pictures as well as some of Keri's old things which she hadn't gotten to bring with her in her sudden departure. "Oh thank God..." She whispered quietly before closing the door behind her and making her way over to her bed.

It was still made the way she'd left it, a bit messy and thrown together. Her pillows which were school issued were placed together slightly lopsided since she didn't care enough to make it neat. Her blankets were rumpled and bumpy since she hadn't smoothed them before she left. Even though things weren't perfect, it still felt amazing to be back. When she'd gone "home" it hadn't been anywhere close to enjoyable, nor had it been welcoming. This room, even though her side was nearly bare besides a few books on a nightstand and a few riding clothes which she hadn't been able to fit into her suitcase, was warm and comforting, like a big fuzzy blanket in the wintertime. She sat down on her bed next to her bags and laid back across it, her feet still on the floor and her head just about hanging off the other end. With her eyes closed and her body relaxed, she let it all sink in. Everything that had happened in the past few months, everything that she'd just fought her way through, was over with. It was time to move past it and get on with her life. It was time to start getting better. No more living on the cusp of death. She had to live her senior year like nothing was going to hold her back.

Keri sat up after a few minutes and decided that she would unpack everything later, but that right then, she needed to find out if there were summer practices for Gymnastics. If there were, she'd go that day. If not, she'd just work out on her own. She'd been gone a long while, but she'd come back from longer breaks than that. She grabbed her gymnastics bag from the closet, right where she'd left it, and pulled out her leotard, changing into it. The leo felt so different now that she'd gained some of her weight back. Some... She'd struggled with it a lot earlier in the year and now that she was no longer starving herself, she'd put on a few of the pounds that she'd lost, which she was determined to turn into muscle as soon as possible. The process of putting on the uniform was also much easier than she remembered now that she no longer wore her cast or sling and since her ribs were all healed up, she no longer felt pain when she raised her arms. She pulled on a pair of black running shorts and a black and grey tank top before hoisting her bag, which was carrying three water bottles, a pair of socks and sneakers if she wanted to run, and extra hair bands in case the ones holding up her bun broke at some point. She slid into her flip flops and pulled her phone off of the bed before running down to the gym.

She walked into the hall to see the a tall and thin blonde whom she remembered very well, aside from the blonde part, and a tall and lean man whom she called coach. She let out a small sigh and walked to the locker room to take off her tank top and shorts and drop off her bag. She needed to start working out again. She'd been in the gym a few times a week while she was gone, but nothing could compare to the workout she got when she was in the studio. She walked out in her leotard and went straight to the mat to start stretching and warming up, as well as collect her thoughts since she knew she'd be asked some hard questions that day.