I heard the door open, so I forced myself to slide out of bed. I heard her stumble in, swaying back and forth, definitely drunk. I swiftly made the bed, smoothing the wrinkles, and flipping over the pillow I had been asleep on moments before.

I slid fluidly into the shadows, and they welcomed me like an old friend, hiding me. She would unleash her rage on me at the slightest provocation. I curled up in the widow seat in front of our only window, turning so the rising so would act as an alarm clock.

I woke up at dawn and forced my self to get up. I slipped into our kitchen to make breakfast. I started the coffee maker and put a couple pieces of bread in the toaster, though I knew I wouldn't get either of them.

The smell of coffee woke her up. She walked into the kitchen area, and I tried to stay as small and unnoticeable as possible, trying to let the comforting shadows that protected me at night hide me during the day as well. I knew it wasn't working. There weren't enough shadows here to protect me.

She poured herself some coffee. She let out a string of curses when she spilled a bit on her hand. I slid further into what little shadows there were. They weren't hiding me though. She stalked over, and I tried to ignore the pain that came. Crying only made her angrier. Finally, rage spent, she went back to her food.

I slid out of the kitchen and examined the damage. There was a fist shaped bruise on my leg that would be impossible to hide in my leotard. I hated lying to Ms. Christy, but I couldn't tell her she was abusing me. She would assume I was lying, and think I lied all the time. It always ended up being my word against hers and adults believed other adults over kids.

I grabbed my gymnastics bag and ran out the front door, heading straight for the gym. Several of the shop keepers and cafe owners that opened early greeted me. I lived in one of the slightly better parts of the Haven, though that may change soon with how much she was spending on her nightly outings.

I got to the gym just as Ms. Christy unlocked the door. There was about two hours in the morning where she would teach me privately. She said that the only price I had to pay was thanking her when I made it to the Olympics. We walked in and I ran to the locker room to change.

I got the heavy theater makeup I had gotten from the store's free sample section only a few weeks before I applied it to the bruise already showing on my leg after getting into my blue leotard. I turned my leg in the light, making sure that while the makeup concealed the bruise, it didn't show up.

It was several hours after Ms. Christy had opened the gym doors. She had been working with me on a new floor routine, and then a new balance beam routine. I had hopes of winning the sectionals, though I knew I would never be able to get the money to go to state. That competition was all the way in Metropolis, and you had to pay for your own food and the bus ride over.

"We have a guest teacher here today," she said, "this is Richard Grayson. He's one of the few people in the world that can perform a quad." We all gasped at that. I was slightly less shocked than the other girls, since I was getting closer every day to being able to go the move myself, but I was still amazed that someone so good at gymnastics would bother to come to a tiny gym in Blüdhaven.

Richard Grayson was a little under average height with a slight build, which was perfectly good for gymnastics, with black hair, and bright blue eyes. He was smiling brightly at us.

Ms. Christy said, "He agreed to assist each and every one of you with your uneven bars routine. You can work where ever you want until it's your turn. Katelyn and Hanna, I'll help you two with your floor routine in a minute or two."

I headed towards the beam, hoping to iron out my new routine, but Ms. Christy came over to me and said, "Zara, I want you to work with Richard first."

I nodded. I headed towards the uneven bars, hoping that no one would notice the slight limp.

I put on the grips started chalking my hands in the bowl. Richard asked, "What's your name?"

I replied, "Zara."

He said, "It's nice to meet you. So, how long have you been doing gymnastics?"

I replied, "Since I was three." The truth was I had hid in the gym after the first time. Ms. Christy had found me and taught me some gymnastics moves to help calm me down. I spent more time in the gym than I did at home. Ms. Christy said I was a natural. I took to the air the way a fish takes to water.

He said, "That's about the age I started." I found myself trusting him. He seemed like an honest guy. I had gotten pretty good at reading people since my she started hurting me. It was how I knew when to avoid her, though mornings were never a good time. It was my fault for being in the way.

I stepped up to the uneven bars and started my routine. All the pains of the morning disappeared and a smile broke across my face. I was flying. I loved the feeling when gravity seemed to relinquish its hold on me, just like I loved the comforting feeling of the shadows. Unfortunately flying usually brought a spot light on me, so I couldn't combine the two.

I finished my routine with the triple flip, though I really wanted to try the quad, I had a feeling it would be counterproductive to try to pull it off right now, when I could feel so many sets of eyes on me. It would be during the hour that Ms. Christy was filling out paper work when she let me work on my gymnastics by myself that I would manage to pull off the move.

Richard said, "Your a natural." I smiled shyly and blushed at the praise. He said, "In fact, with a bit of practice, I bet you'll be able to pull off a quad." I flushed further.

I said, "I hope so, but I'm not sure."

He said, "Just tuck yourself tighter during your dismount, and you'll have it."

I nodded and went up on the bars. I switched to the higher of the two, and did a couple of giants to build up speed. I felt the moment when I needed to release, and my momentum flung me into the air. I tucked my body tight, and did four neat rotations. I even managed to stick the landing. I gasped in slight shock.

Richard said, "Good job Zara." I heard applause, and turned to see my dad standing there I smiled brightly, glad that he got to see my first quad.

I felt some of the other girl's glaring at my most recent achievement. They would probably harass me while they could, but there was only so much they could do when I arrived hours earlier and left hours later.

Ms. Christy said, "Alright, Shay, you can work with Mr. Grayson next." Shay glared at me as she walked towards the uneven bars. She despised me, since I was the only person that challenged her. She was the best after me. I just smiled back. I still felt the euphoria that came with flying on the uneven bars.

I removed the grips and brushed the remaining chalk off of my hands. I went over to the balance beam, but instead of working on the routine Ms. Christy and I had worked on together that morning, I decided to do moves that made me feel like I was flying. It was harder on the beam, but with lots of aerials and other harder moves I soon got the same rush I felt when flying on the bars. I spent more time off the beam than on it, and it actually felt more relaxing then my sleep the night before had been.

I was only slightly aware of several of the younger girls watching me. We didn't have enough kids to stagger the classes, so the older kids and the younger kids had to compete for time on the equipment. I dismounted, and the younger kids broke into applause. I blushed again, and wished the gym wasn't so well lit, so I could slide into the shadows.

I felt the sweat pouring off my body, so I went over to my bag to grab a towel I wiped the sweat away, double checking to make sure that the makeup hadn't come off, and being careful not to wipe it off.

I did a bit of homework that had collected over the week, and waited for one of the pieces of equipment to open up. I didn't even hear Richard walk up to me, which made me jump almost a full three feet in the air. I hated it when people snuck up on me. I didn't notice my leg rubbing against the bench I had been sitting on, leaving a scar in the heavy makeup and a tan line on the bench.

He saw my leg and asked, "When did this happen?"

I almost sighed in relief at the safety of the question. I replied easily, "This morning."

His next question ripped that sigh from me, "Who did this?" How he could tell it was a who and not a what was beyond me at that moment.

I stuttered for a moment, not sure how to answer. If I told him the truth, he would just assume I was lying just like every other adult I had tried to tell. If I lied, than he would probably be able to tell that, just to insure I couldn't have more than one nice adult in my life. Ms. Christy had come to suspect that my home life wasn't perfect, but as long as I didn't say anything that relationship would continue. Somehow the few adults that had believed me always ended up avoiding me or going missing.

I made up my mind and said quietly, "It was my mom." The truth hurt. A single tear slipped down my cheek before I could force back the rest. One person knowing was more than enough.

Richard's voice softened, he asked, "Does your dad know?"

I said fighting back tears, "I don't know."

Richard asked, "How long?"

I replied, "Since I was three." I remembered that first time with utmost clarity. It had been one punch to the ribs, but that one punch had opened the door to so much more. It was like she couldn't stop hitting me. Sometimes she would smile in the same way she did when she got her fix. Like hurting me was just another drug she was on.

Richard said, "I can make it stop."

I said, "No, no one who believes me is ever able to stop it. They stop talking to me altogether most of the time. Everyone else takes her word over mine."

Understanding showed in his eyes. He asked quietly, "Is that why you keep it a secret?"

I nodded still fighting back the tears that threatened to show.

Richard said, "I promise I'll help."

I nodded again, not really believing his words. There were several others that had made that promise. All of them had failed. Why should I get my hopes up now?

He went back to the uneven bars, and I took control of myself before heading over to the floor to practice my routine on it with Ms. Christy. She didn't notice the pain I hid behind a fake smile. Flying calmed me down, but I wished I could fly away from my mother like birds do.

I'll only continue if someone asks me to. This is my first OC story, and I don't really think it's that good.