"Nicky."

The elite gymnast was staring into space.

"Nicky!"

The elite gymnast continued to stare absentmindedly into space.

"Nicky Russo!"

Finally, the elite gymnast seemed to hear his coach's voice.

"Yeah, Sasha?" he asked, walking towards him. "Is there…anything you need?"

"What I need is for you to focus. You messed up on all your landings today; something that doesn't happen often. Is there something wrong?"

Nicky shook his head. "No coach. Today was just a bad day for me. I'll be up and ready for tomorrow's practice," he said lightheartedly, a fake smile on his face.

Sasha seemed to take it. "Well, make sure you get plenty of rest then. I'll see you tomorrow."

Walking back into his office, Nicky took this chance to escape from the gym and into the fresh air.

It wasn't true really. There was something very wrong and he knew it. Payson. Payson Keeler. That was what was wrong. After she had told him she met a boy, he just couldn't bring himself to focus. Even when he was hanging out with Kailey (which usually brought him some consolation), he couldn't get their previous meeting out of his head.

Flashback

"Okay, time for a break. I have to go see ahh…I mean I need to go outside for a breather," Nicky said to Kailey, rubbing the back of his head nervously. He wasn't nervous of what he was doing but more of what he was going to do. "Well, uhh, see you later."

With a last wave, he jogged over to his locker to throw on a sweater and grab a red box of chocolates in the shape of a heart. He had had the box custom made with Payson's name on the top of it.

Walking casually outside, Nicky immediately saw the Keeler's car. Suddenly nervous, he decided to stuff the chocolates into his pocket until later.

"Hey, your mom told me you were out here," he said, leaning his arm against the mirror.

"Oh." Pause. "Hey." Another pause. "How's it going?"

There was something different about her; like she had weirdly lost her drive for everything, lost that excited energy that usually surrounded her. No, he must be imagining it, there was no way Payson Keeler would give up on anything.

"Pretty good. How's high school treating you?"

"Great. I'm making lots of new friends," she replied, smiling a little more genuinely now.

"Yeah?" he asked. He felt relieved and strangely happy when she smiled, but then again, it always had this effect on him.

"And I met a guy. "

Smiling even more. This time, instead of feeling relaxed, he felt a deep pang of jealousy, something he wasn't used too.

"Oh, well, that's cool," was all he could muster. It was sort of lame; the great gymnast Nicky Russo disappointed that the girl he liked had a boyfriend. When did he begin to worry about all that stuff?

"Yeah. It's great not having to worry about the no dating rule. I can whatever I want."

Suddenly, her mom got into the car, smiling and everything. When she saw Nicky, she immediately looked at Payson.

"Am I interrupting?" she asked, a little surprised that her daughter was actually talking to a boy.

"Nope," she said, a little to surely in his opinion.

"I have to get to school," she whispered to him.

Nicky wanted to scream "No! Don't go! I like you! I even bought chocolates for you!" But instead, he just simply stood there and nodded.

"Okay. Well, ah, I'll see you later." With a slight wave, she was gone.

Nicky was left there. Alone, standing with a big box of chocolates with his crush's name engraved on it in pretty, golden letters. Looking at them, he could feel the pain of rejection, of despair. Throwing them away in the trash can, he walked back into the gym without a second glance.

It wasn't fair. It really wasn't! Was attending high school changing Payson? And who was this new guy? What did he look like? Was he popular? All these thoughts swirled into his mind as he made his way out of the gym and into his car.

He had made all these sacrifices for her. Illegally bringing her Cortisone, going to a party just to see her, throwing away his practice time, it was all for her! Then why—why did she just brush him off like that? Was it because she wasn't a gymnast anymore and thought she wasn't good enough for him? Suddenly, the scariest thought came into his mind—was it because she had seen him with Kaylie?

No, there was no way that could be. Fine, he admitted it, he had been spending a lot of time with her recently, but that didn't matter! He had no feelings for her besides simply being friends!

It was sad the way things had turned out. He no longer knew what to do, where to be. His whole life was like a huge, giant puzzle with all the pieces scattered around the floor. He couldn't concentrate on his life, he couldn't concentrate on gymnastics. What would prove to her that he actually did really care?

Nicky Russo loved Payson Keeler, but she just didn't seem to understand anymore.

So...do you like it? I was kinda disappointed that there was almost no Make it or Break it fanfiction...so here I am. Maybe I'll add another chapter to this explaining Payson's feelings on this? Review?

Bella xoxo