The Amazing Story Challenge: Day 1

The Amazing Story Challenge: Day 1

Date: March 3^rd, 2016

Numbers: 11, 33, 7

Prompt: “Suddenly able to hear others’ thoughts, a clumsy gymnast receives a very important phone call.”

Medium: Short Story

Stumble

By: Hayley Michelle Trachtenberg

It was supposed to be perfect. The crowd; the lights; the cheers; the single bead of sweat rolling down her temple; her focused blue eyes; the judges leaning forward; and most importantly, her sticking the landing.

It was supposed to be perfect.

What happened instead was a tumble; a fall; a slip; a step in the wrong direction; the cutting off of music; a gasp from the stands followed by thunderous laughter. Emma laid there in hilarious shame, as the sounds of the crowd filled her ears. Of course she had messed it up. 
‘You always mess it up’, she thought to herself, as she buried her blushing face into the mat.
Emma laid there on the floor in indignity; wishing she could melt through the surface and straight into the center of the world to never be seen again. She never should have attempted that back-hand spring. She knew her footing was off. She was never able to stick that landing; never got the stunt perfect in practice. So why had she attempted such a silly feat in the first place?

‘Her. You did it for her’.

She tried to silence the comment in her head.  She tried to shake those thoughts from her mind, but she couldn’t erase them. She would never be able to get Kat Coroskova out of her head. Kat was the reason she tried gymnastics in the first place, despite being god awful at it. Emma’s knees and hands were blackened with countless bruises. Her face was always tinted a sweet shade of pink from constant embarrassment. She hated the way gymnastic made her feel: but she did it for Kat.

            ‘At least she’ll notice me this way.’

She looked up from the floor, scanning the crowd for that smile. Through toothy grins, and guttural laughter, she spotted the smirk she was looking for.

Three rows in. Two seats to the left. Her.

Her freckled face twinkled in a rose pink blush, complementing her mahogany hair and chestnut brown eyes. The freckles on Kat’s cheek, tightened from the grin that graced her face. A small, gentle laugh, escaped her cherry blossom colored lips. To her see her like that, covered in rosemary red, made it all worth it.

Pressing her palms into the mat, Emma finally stood; pushing fallen strands of blonde hair behind her ears. She threw her hands up into the air as if a victory took place, and then quickly walked off.

A mumble followed in her footsteps: a combination of judgement from the panel and snarky remarks from the audience.

“Quite a stumble you had back there.”

Her feet turned into jelly at the sound of Kat’s distinct lulling voice.  

“Don’t worry, you’ll get there eventually.”  

“I’m not so sure of that.” The clumsy gymnast said, as she spoke to her feet, refusing to look into the other girl’s eyes.

“Don’t speak like that! When I first started I was an absolute mess. No one took me seriously. I even chipped my front tooth at my first competition. I just dusted myself off and got back on the mat.”  

“Watch it, Kat. You’re being optimistic again.” She replied with a giggle.

“Well it isn’t entirely unrealistic. Maybe we can practice together next week. I need to train for that big contest near Syracuse, anyway. I can give you a few pointers, and you could give me a laugh or two.”

“I mean… if you have the time….”

“I always have to time to help you Emma. Anyway, I got to get back to my seat before someone steals it. I’ll call you, okay?” Kat patted Emma on the shoulder, turned, and become one with the monotonous crowd in the distance.

“O-Okay…” Emma responded to the air. She looked at the spot where Kat had touched her shoulder.

A wave of happiness washed over her, forcing embarrassment and self-loathing back into the remote corners of her mind. For the first time since the day had started, Emma smiled. She glanced at her shoulder, and she could have sworn, she was glowing.

*…*…*

Of course she didn’t win the competition. The competition wasn’t even over, but she already knew there wasn’t a chance in hell that she would win. The only chance she ever had at coming close to placing was if they had invented a ‘best comedy act’ category in the middle of the competition, just for her performance. She wouldn’t put it past the judges to do so. They were always so cruel in their rulings.

“2 points off for faulty landing.”

“Half a point off for un-pointed toes.”

“1 point down for an uneven bun.”

Their reasoning’s for point deduction got sillier and sillier every competition. Of course, Emma could never say anything to defend herself. Not that she would in the first place. Emma was a girl of little words, and few actions.

Emma would have left the competition by now, knowing that she had totally and utterly failed herself today; but Kat was competing later in the evening. She never missed a chance to see Kat perform.

Kat was the quintessence of grace. Emma often wondered if the girl had any bones in her body, or if she was just completely made of water. She flowed from pose to pose; movement to movement; without it looking like a single stitch of effort was put into it. Kat could fall down the stairs, out the door, tumble into the middle of the road, slip on black ice, skid on a banana peel, and fall face first into the mud and make it look like the most beautiful and graceful thing to ever happen in the history of the world.

It was one of the many things Emma admired about Kat: her elegance, her kindness, and above all: her determination.

She knew Kat was going to win the competition. The other competitors were merely a formality. Kat was Olympic bound, but then again, Emma always had a bias opinion when it came to the other gymnast. The other girls that went after Emma were leaps and bounds ahead of her, but they never came close to Kat. Kat would always be number one, in all aspects of her life.

‘You’re kidding yourself’ she thought as she watched Kat get up to stretch before gracing the crowd with her presence.

‘You’re wasting your time’.

The thoughts of doubt crawled into her mind as she sat in the bleachers.

‘She’s so hot’.

Wait.

Wait…. That wasn’t her thought.

Her voice was meek and low, but this voice was shrewd and masculine. And Emma would never use the word ‘hot’. It was too vulgar for Kat. Words that defined her were beautiful; smart; impressive; the essence of a rainbow on a clear summer day; the first bite of your favorite food; the smell of home when you’ve been away for too long; Kat was too many things to be summed up by the loutish word ‘hot’.  

Emma turned around to find a two men sitting, eating chili cheese hot dogs and smiling to themselves.

“Excuse me, but that’s very impolite” Emma said, uncharacteristically. Normally she would keep her thoughts to herself. If Kat was there, she would have instantly reprimanded them for their comment. But since Kat was still on the side, stretching her never-ending legs. Emma decided to speak, for once in her life.

“…I didn’t say anything.” the man said, between bites of his food.

“Yes you did. I heard you. And I would appreciate it if you didn’t say stuff like that. This is a gymnastics competition, not a beauty contest.”

‘Coulda fooled me. Tits like that aren’t made for gymnastics’

“What did you just say?!” Emma say, standing now, completely facing the man.

“I didn’t say anything, I swear!”  He said, glancing at her as if horns had sprouted from her head.

“Yes you---” Emma stopped herself, turned, and sat back down.

‘He hadn’t said anything…. His mouth didn’t move’.

‘Crazy Bitch’.

And with that single comment, the flood gates of thought let loose.

Every thought in that room rushed into her ears and crowded her mind.

‘Wonder what’s for dinner?’

‘If my daughter doesn’t place…’

‘Did they like my landing?’

‘I’m so nervous I could puke.’

‘I wish I could get that song outta my head!’

‘No wifi? Seriously?!’

‘God, what I wouldn’t give to get some time with that redhead…’

Standing, Emma grabbed her gym bag and ran for the exit.

She needed to get out.

All of those thoughts. Everyone’s horrible, mean, uninspired thoughts….

She brushed past Kat just as she was about to go on. She went through the doors, down the stairs, and headed straight for the parking lot.

The cool November air hit her like a ton of bricks: but she didn’t care. She needed to get out of there.

She could still hear them.

She could still hear all of their words, and if not their words, she could hear the gears in their minds’ moving. Ticking. Grinding. Thinking. It was all chaotic and harsh: a cacophony of thoughts that didn’t belong to her.

She screamed.

Emma never screamed, but it felt like the only thing she could do to drown out the thoughts.

‘Look at her go!’

‘She doesn’t miss a beat!’

‘So much better then that giraffe of a girl that fell.’

‘Think she’s single?’

‘She’s probably a ringer.’

‘Wow, what a beautiful performance.’

She screamed until her tonsils were as red as her face, and then she continued to scream.

            ‘I’m missing it.’

‘I’m missing her!'

‘What’s wrong with me?!’

It felt like blood vessels popping; like something inside of her was going to explode. She clumsily stumbled to the railing and leaned over as if she was going to puke. Every syllable of thought cut into her like a knife, and she just wished it would stop.

And then it did.

Just as suddenly as it came, it stopped. The only sound left was a soft ringing of a phone. She looked down to her bag, at the small left pocket that glowed from inside. She unzipped it, and answered her phone.

“H-hello?”

“Hey, you missed my performance!” Said the voice on the line.

“I know, Kat. I’m sorry, I just… I don’t know. I think I might have had a panic attack… How did you do?”

“I did fine, but I always preform better when I know you’re watching.”

“Stop it, you are always perfect.”

“That’s because you’re always there.”

It took Emma a moment to respond. Luckily for her, she didn’t need to. She felt something bump into her back, and she turned to find Kat, covered in a shiny coat of hard-earned sweat.

“Oh… sorry.” Emma said, too frozen in loving fear to move.

“Don’t be. Em, are you alright…?”  Kat said, stepping closer than she already was.

“Yes... No, I’m fine…. Just a bit cold.”

“Want to head back inside?”

“No, I can’t! I don’t know if…. Sorry, I sound crazy. I just can’t go back in there right now…”

“That’s alright, we’ll sit out here until you’re ready to go back in.” Kat leaned on the railing, her back to the evening sky.

“But you’ll miss getting your prize.” Emma stated, wringing her hands, nervous at their sudden closeness.

“Who even knows if I’ll place?”

            Emma gave her a stern look. “Of course you are going to place, don’t be silly.” She gave Kat a nudge on the arm.

            “There are other competitions. Only one Emma. I have my priorities in check, don’t worry.”  

            Emma leaned back with a sigh.

            …‘She’s so kind’ …‘She’s so close’….

            ‘She’s so beautiful.’

Emma looked up.

Kat’s mouth was a horizon. It didn’t move and yet she heard her voice. She heard her thought…

            ‘She thinks I’m beautiful?’

            There. Again. That voice; her voice.

‘You hear it to…?’

And like that, they stumbled into one another. First a hand on top of another hand; an elbow colliding with another; an eye lash dancing on the other’s check; and lips. Lips finally tumbling onto other lips.

            For once, Emma was a part of something graceful, because she suddenly became a part of Kat.

            And The voices stopped.

The thoughts stopped, and it was just her. It was just them.

Moving.

Swaying.

Stumbling together.