Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever (unfortunately), own the TV show "Make It or Break It", any of its characters, storylines, or anything in general to do with it.
A/N: This is the first chapter to a multi-chapter fanfiction I will be writing. I have an idea as to how I want this to go, but it will take me a little while to write and update, so please be patient with me. Please review and feel free to leave plot ideas, tips, or any other general pieces of knowledge that may be useful. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy! =)
Gold. It was a color that described Payson Keeler perfectly, one word that described her entire life. Payson was "the golden child", "the golden girl", always "going for the gold." It wasn't something that she could control; she was born and bred to be a competitor and a champion. And now, in the blink of an eye, her destiny as a champion had been shattered.
Payson was the kind of girl who never quit, who worked as hard as she could to be the best that she could. She was the penultimate competitor and had worked for years to prove it. All of those early mornings and late nights at the Rock, the entire 7 day weeks devoted to nothing but bettering herself and preparing for her shot at glory: Nationals.
But somehow, no matter how well we lay out our lives, even the best laid plans go wrong. All it took was a single slip of her hand, one moment in time where she was not as focused as she needed to be, to completely destroy her dreams. As she lay there on the mat, she watched her entire world crash and burn around her.
Now, as she struggled to even get out of bed this morning, the girl who had once felt no pain and no fear felt a tidal wave of both crash down on her. Payson's ability to store her feelings and cast them aside had left her as soon as her career did. Without gymnastics, what did she need her competitive edge for? There were no more competitions left to win or routines to execute or judges to impress: all that was left was the shattered shell of a former champion.
Payson checked her clock. 11:15 A.M. it read. At this time on a Sunday morning, she should have been at The Rock for several hours already, working on her new routine with her new gold medal hanging around her neck. But what should be doesn't always turn into reality.
"Don't I know it," said Payson as she swung her legs over the side of the bed in an excruciating attempt to rise and dress. She winced as she went through every step of what should be, and always had been, a simple and painless process. After dressing in one of her now-daily outfits of sweatpants and a t-shirt, she froze as she heard the doorbell ring. She climbed back in bed, listening to her mother talking to the person at the door.
"Come on in," Payson heard her mother reply to the unknown visitor's unheard statement, "She's usually up by now; I'll just go pop in and see if she's awake."
Payson heard her mother's footsteps halt outside her door, and suddenly realized that she had left her radio on. Kim Keeler didn't even need to "pop in" to her daughter's room to see if she was awake; the sound of Nickelback's newest CD "Dark Horse" did that for her. Kim returned to the door with a smile.
"As I'm sure you can hear, she's got music playing, so I'm almost positive that means she's awake," Kim replied while stifling a chuckle. "Go on back, her room's the second door on the left, or you can just follow Chad Kroeger's voice."
"Thank you Mrs. Keeler," the young man seated in the living room replied. "I apologize for not calling ahead, it's just that I wasn't even sure if I would be able to get over here today and I didn't want you to feel obligated to wait for me or anything."
"It's no trouble at all," Kim Keeler responded. "I'm sure Payson will be happy to have some company. Emily Kmetko and Lauren Tanner haven't been able to come by very often, and Kaylie Cruz hasn't had any time to stop by at all since Payson's been home."
"I'm sure they'll be over as soon as they can," the lad replied. "Everyone loves Payson and prays that she can be the one to beat the odds and compete again."
"I hope so too ," Kim agreed. As the teenage boy walked down the hallway to her eldest daughter's room, however, Kim's thoughts were not on the recovery of her daughter, but on the boy's words. Everyone loves Payson. Those words echoed through her head. By "everyone", did he mean himself as well? Far from what Mr. Keeler's reaction would have been if he was home, Kim Keeler walked back to her laundry-sorting not worried about her daughter having a possible relationship, but positively engrossed in planning Payson's wedding in her mind.
As for Payson, she was wondering who was there to visit her. Her mother had ruled out Emily, Lauren, and Kaylie, and the voice she had heard was definitely male. Sasha? No way, her tough-as-nails coach would be running gymnasts ragged at The Rock this time of day. Carter? Doubtful, as ever since Kaylie had broken things off with him, Payson would barely even waste her breath on that cheating jerk. Who could be walking down the hall to visit her then?
As the door opened and she glimpsed a face, she instantly knew. Payson immediately followed up her initial surprise with a question that she didn't know the answer to, but she wanted to hear his response: "What are YOU doing here?"
