The next morning the girls had practice time at the gymnastics facility several blocks away. They walked carrying their gym bags, eager to get on the mats. Jessica started them all on the standard stretching exercises. She reminded everyone that no one was to mount any of the apparatus without a spotter. She then flipped on the boom box with the custom cd with the songs that they each liked to work out to. The girls finally lined up for the vault. Jessica remained at the vault, adjusted the springboard and stood aside as spotter. Their first vault was a simple handspring with a front pike. Regina went first and saw out of the corner of her eye the gym door open and their escorts from the previous night. She lost concentration, lost speed and only managed to hop over the vault. "I can't practice with them watching" she whined. "It's so distracting, Fuji is so cute and such a gentleman," she crooned. Rachael groaned, "could you maybe stop thinking of boys and more about gymnastics. Lord knows you're the one that needs this practice the most." Regina glared at Rachael. "Yeah Miss Perfect, I can't wait to be half as good as you are" she replied sarcastically. Jessica stepped forward immediately. "Stop, we are at practice, so practice. You've had an audience before. If you had been concentrating rather than watching what they were doing, we wouldn't be wasting time here. Now get back to work!"
Jessica walked over to the balance beam where coach was waiting. She took off her sweats as coach instructed her on the exercises she was to practice. Jessica chalked up. She concentrated on the beam and shut out everything around her before she did her unique mount. Standing at the side of the beam, she placed her hands flat on top of it, swung under the beam and back up to a press then into a handstand. Finally doing a walk over to her upright position. She did multiple back flips and a punch front. She gracefully turned and made her way back to the end of the beam. Once there she did a front flip and landed straddling the beam. She made another V press to a split then swung her body around to the prone position. Her chin on the beam she slowly arched her back and brought one leg back until her toe touched the beam over her head. She came back down and let one leg hang off the beam then went into another press into the upright position. She did a few balance maneuvers (spins & jumps). Back at the end of the beam she turned and prepared for her dismount. Three back flips into a front pike salto. Landing with her knees slightly bent she stuck the landing. It was then she heard Ashley "woo hooing" and clapping. She grabbed her sweats and jogged back to the bench to don them, high fiving her teammates. Ashley practiced her uneven bar routine. Such a small girl doing such physically draining exercises surprised a couple of audience members. When Ashley hit the high bar with her stomach muscles taking the full brunt, someone groaned. Ashley dismounted, releasing a second too quick and landed on her behind. She stood up immediately and bowed to the crowd, announcing that this new landing was being tested for future meets. Jessica busted up laughing with Ashley joining her. She whispered to her friend "you think they bought that?" Jessica nodded vigorously but the word "no" came out of her mouth. Another round of laughter ensued as Jessica threw Ashley's sweat jacket to land on top of her head.
Before long it was time for lunch. The girls all ordered salad with grilled chicken. Jessica happened to be sitting next to Inui this time. He told her he enjoyed the gymnastic routines and said something about becoming paralyzed if he ever tried to bend his body in some of those positions. Jessica laughed and picked up her napkin and wiped a bit of sauce from his bottom lip. As soon as she had done it, a frozen look came over her face. Blushing profusely, she apologized "I'm sorry, I don't know why I did that!" Inui blushed himself but smiled. "What comes next for you Jessica?" "Well, college" she said " some gymnastics but more for fun than anything else. I will be majoring in chemistry, most likely in the field of Pharmaceuticals." "Interesting" he said, "I'm somewhat of a chemist myself." Jessica leaned closer, all ears now. "I'm trying to make the ultimate vegetable/protein drink." "Trying being the keyword" added Roam from across the table. " I haven't had much luck with it, but my trials have become motivational on several levels". He glanced around at his teammates and they blanched. "So, you plan on making sports drinks?" "No, actually I was accepted at a school for a two year accelerated program in Statistics." Inui told her. "Wow, that's terrific, you must have a head for numbers." Inui beamed. "What school were you accepted at" Jessica asked. "Oxford, it's far from home, but it's only for two years, and I will still visit on breaks." Jessica's jaw dropped open a bit. "You say that matter of factly, like it's no big deal. Oxford is a very prestigious school, and very difficult to get into I might add, Mr. Just Inui." Jessica smiled at him as she recalled their introduction, how he had minimized himself, as he did just then. Inui smiled back at her. "I was speaking with your coach, it seems the meet's roster leaves a lot to be desired. I will be translating it and will put it in a format that you all will be able to understand. I should have it ready for your review tomorrow." "Arigato. I look forward to seeing you again." (I'll be counting the minutes, to see you smile at me again,) thought Inui