Gymnastics' Perspective

Part Ⅰ

Emily

 I was getting ready for another boring gymnastics Zoom session when my computer said I had a call on Hangouts from someone named Naina. Ever since we started Zoom workouts, we called thirty minutes before each gymnastics meeting. I may be the Miss Goody Two Shoes in front of everyone, but in the house, I unleash my inner Hulk. *roar!! We were stretching together, and I was telling her about how I thought Nicole must feel so lonely, being by herself without her teammates. Ever since Shelter-in-Place has occurred, everything has become more interesting and fun, except gymnastics. School has been great, I get to exercise on the trampoline, go for more bike rides, and finally, I get more alone time and at the same time, more family time. I told Naina about all this that I was thinking, and how much I wanted something fun to happen in this workout. She told me that there was a surprise coming for us. I had no idea what it was. Fortunately for me, the surprise took me aloft.  

Naina

 Like usual, I was doing the Zoom session stretches with Emily before our Zoom call. She was telling me all sorts of things about either hating gymnastics and different things in her life, or loving things. She missed all of her teammates, and she felt especially bad for little 8-year-old Nicole because she had to do conditioning all by herself without her teammates. But for Maya, Chloe, Kaia, and Ariana, she didn’t say a thing about them. I felt bad for them. The team. Broken apart!!! No, that doesn’t sound like a good movie title... I have this thing about making things sound really dramatic. I loved gymnastics though. It was so fun, and even though it was really hard, I still loved the challenges. Sure, I might not be as strong as some, *cough, Emily, cough*, but unlike most, I am very understanding (not to brag). I was really excited about this workout for a specific reason that I don’t think Emily knew about yet. “Today’s conditioning session will have extra hard exercises, but will be all new things.” No!!!!, I thought. “I won’t be coaching you guys today.” Then Coach Kelsey smiled. Not a tiny smile, but the broadest grin. Then she said, “Coach Teri will be coaching you.” Then at that very moment, the Zoom bell rang out, telling everyone that someone had joined the call. Here she is, I thought. And at that very second, Coach Teri appeared.

Maya

 Stretching. Stretching. Stretching. I absolutely hate it. Lucky for me, I don't have any coaches yelling at me to go farther down in all my stretches, especially my splits. I am not flexible at all. Me and Emily. The M&Ms. The only two girls in our team that have Ms in our name. Here is the final statement: We are not flexible at all. Don’t tell her I said that... I may not be amazingly good at Beam, but in the other events, I’m the Queen. The Queen of Bars, the Queen of Vault, and the Queen of Floor. Now, can I get back to Tik Tok? 

Chloe

 These pictures have to be 100% perfect for Coach Teri. Her Get Well card must do something about the trauma that happened to her. She has to get better eventually. I miss her, and all my teammates. I’m stretching and getting farther in my splits each minute I’m in it. Sure it hurts a little, but I don’t want to become like Emily and Maya. No offense to them, and don’t tell them I said that. Yay, perseverance!!!! Why can’t this Shelter-in-Place thingy just stop, so I can get back to the gym and do the fun four events? They’re my favorite part of gymnastics! Hmm. Technically the only part of gymnastics...

Kaia

 I am truly flexible. I can go all the way down in all, I repeat, all my stretches. I love that. It makes stretching so much easier. Back to this story. I was stretching, and then when I went into my right leg split, something amazing happened. I felt so good because like all the other times I stretch, I felt great afterward. No wonder the coaches like to have us stretch. I think this every single time I stretch out my body, by the way. Now in this Shelter-in-place thing, I’m going extra crazy!! The other day on April Fool’s, you do not want to know the prank I pulled on my brother! Not that I wasn’t crazy before. I’m the Crazy Ms. from Crazytown!!!!!!!!! I also have a crazy obsession with boba. Along with Crazy Ms. from Crazytown, I’m also the Queen of Boba Queen! 

Ariana

 Tick Tok. Tick Tok. Tick Tok. Not like a clock. The real, fun app that cool people use. Like me! Me and my Tick Tok buddies, Maya, Chloe, and Nicole. Emily, not so much. Gymnastics is my dream. A great way to show my personality. My older sister is also a gymnast and she loves it too. Her name is Tiana. She’s too goofy for me, kinda like Kaia. Hey, I never even thought about it like that! I like keeping it chill. My best and favorite event is Floor. I think. It changes from time to time. Gymnastics is so fun. I don’t even remember when I started it! But remember, shelter-in-place will go away someday. We’ll all get through it, people!

Nicole

 I’m the cool girl, ya’ll. I like Tik Tok, and that is for the cool kids, like me! Don’t take my size as a way to judge me. Trust me, I bite!! *meow. I have the best cat ever, but I also have a sister that is more annoying than your older sister’s annoying commentary. Sure I’m only 8 years old, but I am the best gymnast ever! Did anyone say I’m sassy yet? Ok, no one did… yet. I am sometimes called the Sassy One by all of my different teammates. I was also really sad and really mad at whoever made me leave my old teammates to join the “little kid” group, or you could call it the TOPs group. I really miss my team with Maya, Kaia, Chloe, and Emily. Now with Shelter-in-place, I can’t see any of my friends. In the workout Zoom sessions, I have to stretch alone and not get to talk and wave hi to my teammates. It sucks to be in this Shelter-in-place thing. 

Coach Kelsey

 Yes, something happened to my best friend, Teri. When I sent out the email to tell the others what happened, I was almost in tears. The email wrote:

Dear Parents, 

 There has been a trauma that happened to Coach Teri. We are all very sad about what happened. In case you were wondering, what happened was that Teri--

Oops. The “paper” smudged. I guess I can’t read it anymore. We’ll just find out when she comes. 

Part Ⅱ

Emily

 Something made me scream. Not a scared scream, but a scream filled with joy. I could finally see Coach Teri again. I guess that was the surprise that Naina was talking about. Before, Coach Teri had a headache, and she had to go to the hospital to get scanned. After that, the bad news came.  

Naina

 There she was. In. The. Flesh. Coach Teri appeared on the screen. She looked very well, considering that she had recently had a horrible brain bleed. She could talk very well, though what she said brought me to near tears. Even though she was able to talk and speak, her words sank my heart. 

Maya

 “Coach Teri!!” I yelled, though no one could hear me. I was muted. I haven’t seen her for a very long time. This was the reason for my yell. Also, she had a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad... brain bleed? Or you could call it a... trauma? Oh, never mind. I give up trying to find a name for this. By the way, this would make a cool Tik Tok. Yup. I’m going to make it a Tik Tok. I can’t wait to see it go viral and get a bunch of likes. 

Chloe

 When I heard the shouts of “Coach Teri!”, I was instantly happy and full of glee. This was because the Get Well card that I made for her actually worked! She is better! Yay! I should text our Gymnast Hangouts group and tell them. I was thinking all this, though I missed the key part of it all. The reason she was there. Sadly, I would soon find out...

Kaia

 Yes!! Coach Teri is back!! Now, will you let me do my victory jump? (Does it.) Ok. Now I’m done with that. “I won’t be coaching anymore,” she says. Then I thought, Now I should do my sad jump. (Does it.) Now I say my sad speech. I unmuted myself and said my sad speech. “I, Kaia, will promise to not be too silly, even though my instinct is to go crazy. Thank you for listening.” I start to mute and then I think of something else to say. “Wait!” I say with a tone of voice that makes the whole “room” go quiet. “I miss you, Coach Teri. I really want you to come back to the gym and coach us once again. Please?” Then, I completely made a fool of myself.

Ariana

 Ok. Kaia made a fool of herself. That is a statement. I heard her say something about wanting Coach Teri to come back to the gym, and then Teri says, “Wow, Kaia, wow. I’m sitting in awe. Don’t worry. I will be coaching for the rest of the year. I will also try to come to all your meets and events. You won’t be missing me.” Then at that moment, I don’t know why, but I just did. I unmuted myself and spoke a sad speech like Kaia. 

Nicole

 This workout, for some reason, had not only the TOPs group, but also the Xcel Platinum and Golds, and levels 6 and 7. Kaia made a fool of herself by doing her victory jump, and then her sad jump, and then her sad speech. Then it was Ariana’s turn to do that. She said, “Coach Teri, I don’t want you to go.” Then she stood up, and started jumping. She said, “Come on, everyone! We are stronger together!” She chanted, “Stay Coach Teri! Stay Coach Teri! Stay Coach Teri! Stay Coach Teri!” Then Emily joined, then Kaia, and then me, then Chloe, then Maya, and one by one, everyone started to chant. “Stay Coach Teri! Stay Coach Teri! Stay Coach Teri! Stay Coach Teri!” Then Coach Teri shushed us. She said, “Guys. Calm down. I’ve made my decision.” We all sighed and looked down to our feet, embarrassed. 

Coach Kelsey

  I was overly proud to introduce the arrival of Teri. I couldn’t believe my eyes when Ariana did that adorable and touching chant for Teri. It was so sweet! It was even more incredible when she had everyone on the call chanting in unison for Teri to stay. It brought tears to my eyes. *sniff *sniff. But what Teri said next converted those sad tears into tears of joy. After she stood up, she took a long pause. Then, I started a drumroll, and everyone joined in. Teri announced with the largest smile I have ever seen in my life, “I’ve made my decision.” Everybody went quiet. “I’m staying!”

Part Ⅲ

Coach Teri

 Laying in my hospital bed, I was really, really tired. I was just told that I had a brain bleed. I was told that I was about to die. I was told that my dream of teaching gymnastics could go away forever. Everything I ever really wanted is gone. I tried to listen, but everything was blurred. I couldn’t see anything. Tears were blocking my vision. I couldn’t speak. I was thinking, What if I could never see any of my friends? What if I can’t ever see my students at the gym again? What if I would lose my senses and lose some abilities? All these thoughts went through my mind. I was going crazy thinking about all these different thoughts, but they all could be true. I was really scared to go on with my life. Then, once I was ready to go home, my husband brought me to our house. I found many cards. The first one was from Emily. I opened it. It was really cute. I wanted my little girls back at the gym to think that I was a fighter. Then I opened Chloe’s. I made my final decision. I was going to stay! For a little. After a few weeks I was really excited to go to the Zoom workout session. I was going to surprise everyone by “secretly” joining the Zoom call. Although I surprised everyone a lot, they gave me a bigger one by bringing tears running down my cheeks. I told everyone that I would only be staying for a little while but go to all the girls’ meets and events. For them, it wasn’t enough. Kaia was the first to make me cry. She said, “I, Kaia, will promise to not be too silly, even though my instinct is to go crazy. Thank you for listening.” I started to laugh. “Wait! I miss you, Coach Teri. I really want you to come back to the gym and coach us once again. Please?” This moment brought my tears running down my cheeks. Although Kaia tried, Ariana made me change my mind. She said, “Coach Teri, I don’t want you to go.” Then she stood up, and started jumping. She said, “Come on, everyone! We are stronger together!” That was how she started the chant, bringing everyone together to plead my staying. All the JO girls, and even Xcel. Every single girl was chanting, saying, “Stay Coach Teri! Stay Coach Teri! Stay Coach Teri!” Then at that moment, I said I made my decision. I would stay until I retire. I would stay at the gym with my best friend, Kelsey. I would stay with my mom Tanya. I would stay with my girls. I would stay with Kind, Encouraging Kaia. I would stay with Amazing, Humble Ariana. I would stay with Energetic, Fierce Emily. I would stay with Calm, Kind Chloe. I would stay with Nice, Bold Nicole. I would stay with Marvelous, Magnificent Maya. I would stay with Noble, Mature Naina. So, at that moment, I made my decision. I would stay.