Why was I feeling like that?
The festival had been mind-blowing, and the four of us were as thrilled as we were tired. We had also signed contracts with a couple of companies to use their stuff in our upcoming tour, which honestly was pretty nice. I should have been ecstatic.
And I was, until Giulia told me she wouldn’t be able to meet me that weekend.
Now I was just in a bit of a ‘meh’ mood. One of the things that I was looking forward to was meeting up with her to tell her all about the stuff that happened during the festival. But if she was busy, then I guess there was no helping it.
I don’t usually let girls get to me like she does. How does she do it? Is she a witch of some sort? Has that “Gigi’s usual drink” been laced with a love potion of some sort? I found my thoughts constantly going back to her, even though we barely knew each other, apart from the few times we’ve been together.
Zack was in a great mood, though. The new gear we were getting from those two contracts was honestly all he could talk about. It surprised me, then, when he invited me out on Friday afternoon.
“Hey, sis,” he called me. I wasn’t really his sister, not by blood, but I called all three of the guys ‘bro’, so he took to calling me ‘sis’. Go figure.
“Sup, Zacks?” I looked up from the magazine I had been reading. We were going to be featured in that at an upcoming edition.
“Got any plans for tomorrow?”
I shrugged. “I was planning on going to the Paiste store to check out the new cymbals. And maybe hit the studio to practice. Tom’s got a new groove thing going that I wanna work upon.”
“So you’re free, right?”
I glared at him, but decided to let it slide.
“I suppose I can go to Paiste on Monday. What kind of boring party you want me to drive you to?” Honestly, when Zack was acting like that, it usually meant that he wanted to get wasted at some boy’s place but also to have me sober by his side to tow him back to safety.
“You insult me,” he faked outrage. “Actually, miss smartass, I got us both tickets for the arena tomorrow, and I want you to come with me.”
“The arena?” That surprised me, it was usually Tom or I who bought us tickets to stuff like that. “What concert is it?”
“It’s not a concert.”
“Then… what?”
He fumbled. “Look, I love watching the Olympic games, and I know they’re still a couple of years away, so I really wanted to watch something like that in the meantime. I saw that the Arena was hosting this and I thought, hey, why not?”
I raised my eyebrows at that. Zack was interested in sports? Since when?
He handed me a pair of tickets. I inspected them for a moment.
“Gymnastics…?” Okay, that was weird. What kind of prank was that? “And it’s the Women’s division, even. Are you really interested in watching that? You’re not pulling my leg?”
“Course not,” he just told me, snatching the tickets and stashing them away in his pocket. “I have a legit, honest-to-goodness interest in the sport. So you’re coming?”
I shrugged. “Fine by me. I’m not paying you back for the ticket, though.”
“Thanks sis, you’re the best. And don’t worry, the tickets are on me, this time.”
He went away, beaming.
Okay, seriously, what the hell is going on with Zack? Who does he think he’s fooling? He doesn’t like sports, I know that much. Zack’s the kind of guy who watches soccer for the players and not the game, I doubt he even knows the rules. And women’s gymnastics? That was really out of character for him. He even paid for the tickets himself. Seriously, there was something going on there and I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
Still, at least I wouldn’t be bored on Saturday.
—
The event we were coming to watch would start at about six in the evening, or just after nightfall. It was a regional entry-level contest, which meant that only a few of the competitors had sponsors, and the tickets were rarely sold out.
Zack had gotten us two really good seats, on one of the first rows, which would allow us to watch the performances almost from the same viewpoint as the judges. That just went to show how invested he was in the sport. Since when did he have such a passion for gymnastics? That was something I had not heard of yet.
We sat down and he began to talk about a lot of stuff, except gymnastics. That got my mind thinking again about how this sports thing was out of character for him. Maybe he was interested in one of the judges? I wouldn’t put it past him to be there just to fawn over a crush.
After a while, the performers started to walk in from the backstage area. A narrator announced them as it was their turn to perform. They each had to work through the same four events, starting with the vault, then bars, beam and floor. My knowledge of the sport was limited enough that I couldn’t tell exactly where each athlete lost points, apart from the obvious slip ups, so the whole grading system was a mystery to me. Still, every one of them had a different technique, a different routine, and perhaps even a sort of individual creativity, so much so that it actually made me wonder if this was really entry-level or if they had printed our tickets wrong and this was actually the pro league.
I was watching it all with some interest, and I just rolled my eyes when I realized Zack was just doing stuff on his phone instead of paying attention to the whole thing. He really hadn’t come there to watch it, what’s with that “honest interest in the sport” bullshit, eh? I wasn’t going to complain, because he was paying for it and it was really cool to watch, but I’d definitely have to grill him later for his real intentions.
One of the athletes had just finished her floor sequence. Out of the three that I’d watched that far, she was the one I enjoyed watching the most. And sure enough, she got a rather good score from the judges.
Another girl walked up to the stage area, readying herself to run for the vault. And for some reason, she looked remarkably like Giulia.
I nudged Zack. “Hey,” I asked him, “doesn’t that girl remind you a l—”
I was interrupted by the narrator, who announced the girl’s name.
“Next on: Giulia Belladonna.”
My chin dropped.
Have I misheard?
I saw the girl look around at the crowd, and stop when her eyes met mine. She beamed, knowing that I was there watching her.
I was shocked! Honestly, what are the odds?! To think that—
Then it dawned on me. I looked at Zack, who had his cellphone camera pointed at my face.
“You KNEW!” I accused him, before I started to angrily punch his right arm repeatedly. “You sly conniving asshole… But how?!”
Zack said nothing, he just laughed at my indignation.
I shook my head, and smiled. I saw that Giulia was still smiling at me. It seems that they had plotted this together, and I fell.
Giulia’s eyes turned back to the task at hand, and she started running. Suddenly, it was as if my heart was being squeezed inside my chest. I couldn’t breathe. I was scared. Scared that she’d make a mistake, or fall and hurt herself… but it seemed that my worries were unnecessary. She executed the task with ease. I couldn’t tell if she was losing points or anything, but what I could tell was that she looked confident, relaxed, and perhaps, happy.
The bars were next. She chalked up her hands, and reached for one of the bars. She began to swing, moving so graciously that my heart could have screamed. And even though I couldn’t tell if she was doing anything wrong, I felt surprisingly excited and proud to see her do all of that in front of my eyes.
She was applauded when she finished that event, and I, of course, applauded her with the rest of them. Then she moved on to the balance beam. She got up on it, and I could tell that this one made her nervous. At first everything seemed to be going okay, but after a leap I saw her very nearly trip and fall. My heart ached, and for a moment it felt like that would be the end.
Her eyes met mine, and I could tell that she was a lot more nervous than I was.
I gripped on Zack’s arm.
Giulia looked up again, away from me, and tried her leap a second time, landing on the beam perfectly this time. Suddenly I could breathe again. And I honestly don’t remember the last time I’ve been so nervous. It was completely different from when I performed with the guys. Because if I actually fumbled up and made a mistake, they were there to pick up the slack. And if we all made a mistake and couldn’t continue the song, we could just laugh about it and keep on playing anyway. The crowd rarely judged us for it.
Not this.
Here, one small mistake could spell the end of the contest for Giulia.
I was so relieved when she was finished with the balance beam, and could get down to the floor. Everyone applauded her, but I saw it in her face that the slip up had affected her, not to mention her score. She no longer held the same confident smile from the beginning of the competition. I wanted to call to her, to let her know that everything would be alright.
Somehow, I think she knew. She sought me with her eyes once more, and I could notice that a part of her tension was leaving her. Suddenly I realized why she and Zack had schemed for me to be there. This was important for Giulia. I acted as her safe haven, someone she could seek out in the crowd to find encouragement. I understood that, and nodded at her, smiling. A simple gesture, but for her, a crucial one.
The floor event was starting. Music played in the background. I saw Giulia move around the square carpeted floor as if she belonged there. I could tell that there were specific routines all athletes were required to perform, but when Giulia did them, there was this uniqueness to them, this fluidity which tied each of her acts together in a string of perfectly synchronized actions.
Like dancing, I realized. And that jogged back memories of Giulia leading me on a slow dance to the sound of blues in her living room, that night. I felt my chest tighten and my heart pound fast, as I watched Giulia move across the floor in a complete trance.
I knew what that feeling was, and I knew that I was in trouble.
The performance ended with the loud roar of applause. Would it be boasting to say that there might have even been more clapping for Giulia’s floor event than what the previous competitors got? I don’t know, maybe it was just me, or maybe the sound of my heart beating inside my chest merged with the claps so that they became an indistinguishable mess of admiration and gooey feelings.
The judges presented Giulia her final score. She had gotten a good score for the first two events, and lost points significantly at the third one. Her floor event, though, got her an almost perfect score. Overall, that wasn’t bad, at all. She might even make it to the top three.
Giulia, of course, realized that too, and I saw her begin to skip in place and cover her mouth with her hands, looking overjoyed.
And in that moment all I wanted to do was to hug her and plant a tender kiss on her lips.
That, of course, would have to wait.
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