A/N: The reindeer asked me to send their love to you! They're all up and flying, ready for Christmas and you're to thank. I really do appreciate all the feedback. I'm glad you're all enjoying it.

-XX-

My Only Wish

Chapter Three

Riding in the car with Nicky is awkward to say the least. He isn't very talkative and Payson assumes that's because Kelly does most of the talking. They opt to take her car because he didn't put his snow chains on last night before he came over and Denver got fresh powder throughout the night. Payson agrees, but insists he drives since she has no clue how to get to Denver Elite from here. Nicky calls her lazy and Payson narrows her eyes convinced it's a somewhat Kelly Parker-like reaction and Nicky even looks somewhat convinced.

As they drive through the streets that have children playing out in the snow-covered driveways, Payson tries her best to ignore the uneasy silence. She keeps her mind busy, commits every turn, street sign and landmark to memory so she'll know how to get back to Kelly's house when need be.

It doesn't take long before they pull in front of the ominous Denver Elite that stands there like an ivory tower with a gigantic patronizing sign, the letters all large and bold. Nicky parks in the spot that's reserved for Parker and he shuts off the engine. He pulls the key out of the ignition and holds it out to her. When Payson goes to grab the keys, Nicky playfully pulls it up and out of her grasp.

"So are you going to tell me what's going on now?" he asks. "What's with the deer in headlights expression and you not talking my ear off like you usually do?"

"Nothing," she says. "Can I have my keys now?"

Payson tries to sound impatient, but it comes out whiny if anything. Perfect.

Nicky sighs and still refuses to give her the keys. "Is this about me talking to Kaylie at the Christmas party last night? I already told you that it was just mind-numbing small talk. I thought I made up for it with last night."

Oh God. Nicky's a slut. Payson never thought he was the type to use sex to get his way. He's like one of those doctors on that TV her mom is always watching. Payson's starting to think she never really knew Nicky Russo at all.

"I'm fine," Payson says tightly.

She quickly reaches up to snatch the keys out of his hand and she's surprised when he lets her. With her gym bag slung across her chest, Payson takes a deep breath, gets out of the car and walks into Denver Elite. She quickly goes to the locker room and curses when she doesn't know the code for the lock on the door. Luckily, there's an extra leotard in her gym bag and Payson quickly changes into that.

"Hey Parker! Parker, wait up!" a voice calls out to her. Payson keeps walking until she feels a hand on her shoulder and it nearly makes her jump free from her skin. Oh if only that were possible.

Payson looks up to see a lean boy with the most amazing bright blue eyes looking down at her. He has a nice smile that shows off every one of his pearly teeth and hair so short that it's barely there, but every cut is clean and even. He's dressed to train with the addition of a thin gold chain hanging around his neck and a diamond earring hanging on his left earlobe.

"Parker, you missed it last night!" he shouts excitedly. "We might have messed up spiking the punch, but we did sacrifice one of our pot brownies to, as you say, liven up that funeral. That annoyingly perky blonde Rock woman from last night? Totally stoned. Knocked over that tree. Freaked out, all sweaty and kinda hot, waving her hands in front of her face and asking about Inception."

So that's why Summer seemed more out-of-it than usual. She should have guessed Denver had something to do with it.

"That's horrible," Payson says.

"I know, right?" the boy chuckles. "It was awesome. You would have been proud."

Payson frowns. Is Kelly Parker really as awful as she seems?

"Hey Parker, why isn't your hair up in its usual buns things?"

Payson brings her hand up to smooth down the brown tresses. She at least brushed it while she was in the locker room and luckily she found a hair-tie in the pocket of Kelly's gym bag. She just thought she'd put her hair up in a ponytail and get to work. How could she have forgotten about those ridiculous devil horns…err…buns?

"I, um, wasn't feeling it today," Payson replies. She really has no idea how to even begin to get all of this hair up into those two little buns atop her head. She lifts her hand and motions to the elastic band around her wrist. "A ponytail will work fine."

"Changing it up. Nice." The boy grins.

"Joseph." A familiar voice catches both of their attentions.

Payson looks over and her breath catches in her throat when she sees Marty walking towards them. He looks exactly the same as he always has, dark hair cut short and his skin it's typical tan. Payson hasn't talked much or even been around Marty since he abandoned them to come work here at Denver Elite. The boy beside her, Joseph, automatically regards him with a big smile.

"Sup coach," Joseph says. "That was some party last night, wasn't it?"

"No comment," Marty says, looking down at his clipboard. "Joseph, why do I have to remind you to take off the jewelry everyday? Has it honestly not sunk in yet?"

"Coach, jewelry, really?" he furrows his brows. "I'd rather you call it bling."

"Joseph…"

"Uh-oh," the boy says, giving Payson a wink. "He called me Joseph. What am I getting blamed for now?"

Payson does not understand why everyone gets so weird about being called by his names. It must be a Denver Elitist thing.

Marty just clears his throat. "As I was saying, Joseph, for today I've got you doing isolation rotator training then working on your transverse, sagittal and frontal planes. That should help in stabilizing your shoulders. You know your limits, kid. You fully dislocate your shoulder and you can kiss your career goodbye."

Joseph scoffs. "Really supportive, Marty."

"Hey. You know it's the truth," Marty says. "You know the statistics. Less than 1% of young children who begin gymnastics training make it to the Olympics. When did you start? When you were seven? Wanting it isn't enough, Joey. You need to know your body, know your limits and if you aren't up to it, tell me now so you can go enjoy your brownies elsewhere."

"They weren't my—"

"And you think you're going to prove me wrong?" Marty ask.

"Yeah. Yeah I am," he replies. With a grudging expression, Joseph stands a little taller and stomps off across the gym, removing the gold chain from his neck as he does so.

"You played him," Payson says, looking over at Marty, her once-idol.

"Well, not everyone is as mentally strong and independent as you, Kelly," Marty explains. "For some people like Joseph, they can't push themselves to be the best so they need someone else to give them that extra shove. Now, I don't want to hear any lip from you today, Parker. Start working. With Christmas coming up, we need to take advantage of all the practice we can get. I'll be making rounds. When I get to you I want your Full-In and Full-Out perfected separately before you even attempt a Full-In Full-Out."

That's what Kelly's been working on? Damn.

That's when Payson remembers that Kelly is a power gymnast where every move is executed with strength and precision, focusing less on grace and artistry. Payson feels a little thrill at the prospects of getting to go full out again. Pulling her hair put into a tight ponytail, Payson heads over to the trampoline. She jumps up and down, over and over, getting a feel for the way Kelly's body moves. Payson has to adjust her movements and calculations to Kelly's height and weight distribution, but soon she gets a feel for it.

Payson trains like she would before the accident and before puberty caught up to her and her body went through so many changes. On the trampoline, she alternates between doing a full and back and full and back, developing an air awareness for the skill. There's no Sasha or her mom to watch and fret. It's just Payson and the trampoline. It feels amazing to be able to do things like that again.

After an entire day of practice, Payson feels tired, but satisfied. She feels so empowered like the gymnast she once was, the girl who was a shoe-in for the title of National Champion. Exhausted and ready to return home (or at least, to Kelly's home for now), Payson is looking forward to finally concentrate on what's going on with her.

Marty tells her that he appreciates how she trained with such control, especially over her mouth (he makes it sound like a joke, but Payson suspects it's true) and Payson smiles genuinely as she walks out. Before she even unlocks the car, Payson gets hit in the face with something cold and taste strongly of strawberry. There's giggling and Payson wipes the back of her hands against her eyes, feeling the cold, thick milkshake drip down into her shirt.

The giggles become full-blown laughter and Payson sees two girls standing in front of her.

Payson feels her anger mounting. "What the hell was that for?"

"Oh, don't look surprised, Parker. You got exactly what you deserved," one of the girls sneers angrily. She's a petite blonde with bags beneath her eyes and a nearly hysterical look on her face. "How could you tell Marty? It wasn't any of your business in the first place! You are such a bitch all the time! Just know that we're done putting up with your bullshit. No one's going to care how great of a gymnast you are, not anymore. Now you're just a rat."

The girl storms off angrily and doesn't even give Payson a chance to reply.

The second girl, looking amused and twisting a lock of her massive, curly brown hair around her finger, just laughs and walks away, more of a cool strut than an angry march like the first girl.

And she thought Kelly was horrible just to the Rock girls. Apparently she's even horrible to her own.

Without any more thought, Payson gets into the car and drives away.

As great as training was, Payson needs to get back in her body and her life stat.

-XX-

Driving through the streets of Boulder, Kelly can't help, but glare at everything she sees out the window. Her elbow is resting against the door and she continues to chew on her nails. She doesn't understand why she hasn't woken up from this horrible, horrible nightmare yet. Kelly shuts her eyes and pinches her arm, but every time she reopens them, she sees the dull surroundings that characterize Boulder, Colorado, and she still hears the oldies playing on the radio.

"This music sucks," Kelly says. She reaches towards the radio, but Kim just smacks her hand away and gives her a warning look. Kelly gives her a dark look right back, just daring Kim to touch her again and see what happens.

"Payson, we always listen to Christmas music before Christmas," Becca says. "It's tradition."

"For the love of God, would you quit it?" Kelly says irritably, looking over her shoulder at the blonde girl sitting in the backseat. Becca just stares back with an innocent expression, but Kelly doesn't trust it for a second.

"Wow, someone's grouchy this morning," Kim says exasperatedly. "Is everything okay, Pay?"

"Like you'd believe me if I told you," Kelly scoffs. "Oh wait, I already did."

"Must be all her hormones making her crazy again," Becca says.

Kelly glares. "Or maybe it's the little brat nagging the crap out of me."

"Payson!" Kim scolds. "What has gotten into you?"

Kelly just stares back out the window. She's done trying with these people.

The second they pull up to the Rock, Kelly doesn't even wait for the car to stop before she pulls on the latch of the door and gets out. As she slams the door, Kelly can feel Kim and Becca staring after her. She doesn't know why they make her feel so self-conscious and aware of herself. Kelly says what she thinks and if people can't take that then it isn't her problem. She doesn't know why she feels so bad after what she said in the car.

Whatever. It isn't like she cares about what they think. She doesn't even know them.

Her mind is so scattered and Kelly convinces herself that once she gets in the gym and works out all this frustration and aggression and fear then she'll be ready to tackle this, whatever this is, with at least a clear head. When Kaylie Cruz waves her over, all cheery smiles and pink everything, Kelly just gives her a glare and walks in the opposite direction.

Usually girls hate other girls when they feel threatened by them. Kelly Parker had never felt threatened by Kaylie Cruz. Kelly had been convinced that Kaylie initially attracted so much attention because of her parents' collective fame. It was always more about pedigree than performance. Kaylie had always let her personal life take priority over gymnastics. She had been distracted by all that drama with her boyfriend and Lauren Tanner that she wasn't supposed to be a true contender.

Payson Keeler was a different story. Every time Kelly looked at Payson, she would get this terrifying feeling in her gut because Payson Keeler was the frontrunner of all frontrunners. With the buzz about Payson prior to Nationals and the way Nicky had been so taken with the blonde from Boulder, Kelly had been nervous. Payson could have taken everything from Kelly and it had the potential to be an epic battle.

That's why Kaylie Cruz coming out of nowhere and nabbing that National Champion title took everyone by surprise. The pretty little princess with her fantasy world got the happily ever after and that just goes to show how unfair the world can be. She even almost had Nicky, but then she threw him back, which was a stupid decision, but one Kelly secretly squealed over. Kaylie rejecting Nicky pushed him back to Denver, back to Kelly so in some way the universe managed to balance itself out.

After changing into a leotard, Kelly goes to stretch in an isolated part of the gym. Emily Kmetko, Kaylie Cruz and Lauren Tanner are on the other side of the mats, giving her odd looks. They waved her over, but Kelly just turns up her nose. They're the last people she wants to talk to right now. That's about as much self-control as she can muster right now.

Though she's curious to know what they thought of the Christmas party last night and the Denver takeover, Kelly knows she needs to get centered and she can't do that listening to them bitch about their oh so dramatic lives. Slowly coming to terms with the fact that she's lost her mind completely, Kelly just needs to focus her head on one thing at a time despite the crazy brewing in her head. Right now that one thing is gymnastics, something she kicks ass at.

Kelly Parker is all about setting goals and one of them happens to be perfecting a Full-In Full-Out before Christmas. She feels so close to nailing it. With a little more practice, she's sure she can get it.

As Kelly stands and starts making her way across the gym, Sasha intercepts her. Like everyone else in the Colorado gymnastics community, Kelly has heard the rumors. She's seen the pictures that were way too good and clean to be Photoshop. As he stands in front of her, Kelly looks at him warily. If he even tries to touch her, she's calling pedophile.

"Morning Payson," he says. Kelly doesn't reply. "So what are we working on today?"

"My Full-In Full-Out," Kelly says proudly. It might be an overshot for Keeler to achieve, but Kelly doesn't see herself doing anything else.

Sasha has a horrified look on his face and Kelly gives him one right back. Last she checked Keeler is his prized gymnast, his favorite out of the entire Rock community. She thought he'd be ecstatic she was trying something so ambitious.

"Payson," he says quietly. "Remember what we said about working on being an artistic gymnast? Now what's going on with the floor routine you're working on?"

Kelly's face pales. Did he just say artistic gymnast?

"Eww," Kelly says. She wrinkles her nose at the very idea. All this time, over in Denver, she had been thinking that Keeler pulled some secret, experimental surgery miracle and was somehow going to come out on top. Now she's hearing that Payson has switched her aesthetic? Now that's just sad. Then again, Keeler is the girl who stuck around the gym even wearing a back brace. Someone has reached a new low.

"An artistic gymnast?" Kelly laughs bitterly. "I'm surprised Keeler hasn't slit her wrists yet."

Sasha's forehead wrinkles when he hears her words.

Shit. Kelly really needs to work on filtering.

"Payson, I thought we've all come to terms with what it means for you to continue gymnastics," he says calmly. Kelly is instantly annoyed. She doesn't need someone to coddle her. She needs a coach to push her and call her a loudmouth and tell her to work.

"Thanks for the input, but no thanks," Kelly says. "I'll be doing trampoline work."

Kelly starts to walk away, but Sasha grabs her arm and it doesn't sit well with her. Kelly violently yanks her arm away and narrows her eyes. The look on Sasha's face is one of alarm as he puts his hands up to show that he means her no harm. He looks confused as to why she's acting this way, but that isn't much different from everyone else at the Rock.

"Payson, you've come a long way and the last thing you want to do is undo all that progress," Sasha says. "You've been doing amazing things and you should continue to do so. To jeopardize that now would be wasteful. I know you and you know I'm right."

Kelly shakes her head. "You don't know me. At all."

"Payson…"

"I quit," she says, throwing her hands up and backing away. She must have said it pretty loud because a number of heads turn to look in her direction. "Didn't see that one coming now did you? How well do you know me now, coach?"

Not even waiting for his response, Kelly turns around and walks away. This time he lets her.

This situation is absolutely ridiculous. She's Kelly Fucking Parker. She isn't going to be caught dead out on the mat, trying to be a dancer or ballerina or some form of lesser athlete. That's bullshit. She's a gymnast. Everything is sharp and fast, not slow and graceful. She's going to go at it hard or go home. She has way too much pride to be told what to do especially something that disrespects her skill level. She was the National Champion prior to the Kaylie Cruz Fluke and there's no way she's forgetting that.

After going back into the locker room to pull on a sweater and sweats, Kelly sees Sasha and Kim conspiring. Kelly's first thought was to go steal Kim's keys and take a trip to Denver. If she's stuck in Keeler's body then what happened to her own? That question is eating away at her and if Kelly isn't going to train then she at least needs to finally figure out what's going on.

Seeing the concerned coach and worried mother talking, Kelly makes a beeline for the door. The last thing she needs is for them to double-team her with some psychoanalysis crap. Kelly manages to effectively evade them for the better half of the day. She finds different spots where she can go to sit and try to work things through in her head. She needs to come up with some sort of gameplan, but Keeler's lack of transportation is a problem.

Kelly goes outside, hoping some fresh air will do her good. She paces through the slush on the ground and pays no attention to how the cold is affectively numbing her fingers, her cheeks and the tip of her nose. Coming up empty, Kelly growls irritably and slams her fist into the side of the gym. A shockwave of pain runs from her knuckles and up her arm. Her teeth chatter and she can't stay quiet any longer.

"Son of a bitch!" Kelly shouts, shaking off her hand.

"Hey, Keeler, watch that hand! Those are the money makers!"

Kelly looks over and sees Austin Tucker smirking back at her. He isn't wearing workout clothes, but instead, his heavy, leather jacket and a red scarf around his neck. He starts shuffling closer, dragging his feet through the dirty snow. All Kelly can think when she looks at him is how Nicky complains just as much about Austin Tucker as she does about Kaylie Cruz.

Pressing her back against the gym and staring up at the light fading in the sky, Kelly does her breathing exercises yet again, trying to calm herself down. She feels Austin's curious gaze. God, he's probably going to try to talk to her. This is the last thing she wants. She's been successful at avoiding people Keeler could possibly consider her friends up until now.

"Keeler, don't cry…"

"I'm not going to cry!" she shouts angrily. "I do not cry!"

"Well, you're obviously upset about something," he says. "Is it anything I could help with?"

Suddenly, when Kelly looks over at the male gymnast, there's a gold light outlining Austin in her head. He could be her only chance. At this point, Kelly isn't too picky about who helps her as long as she gets the answers she so desperately craves.

"Do you think you could give me a lift to Denver?" she asks, sounding so much nicer.

"Well, I have a few things to do beforehand, but sure. I don't see why not," he replies. "There's one catch though. I don't have my car. Just my bike."

"Are you retarded?" Kelly snaps. Forget about being nice. "It's snowing for God's sake!"

"Fine. Damn. If you're going to be a baby about it, we can take my bike back to my place and take my car to Denver," Austin says. "It's backtracking, sure, but ask, Keeler, and you shall receive."

She narrows her eyes. "Why are you helping me?"

Austin just shrugs. "I don't like when pretty girls cry."

"Barf," Kelly says. "Does that crap actually work on anyone besides Kaylie Cruz?"

Austin chuckles. "So do you need the ride or not?"

"Yeah," Kelly replies with a newfound fire behind her eyes. "Sounds perfect."

A/N: I hear if you leave a review, come Christmas morning Zane Holtz will be under your Christmas tree with a red bow on his head. It's just a rumor, but you totally should, you know, review anyways. ;) 12 more days!

xoxo