Thanks so much for all the reviews I have been getting! I went from 1 lone review to 6 so I'm really excited!
To anonymous (Chapter 1 Review): Thanks so much, I tried to make their rooms fit what we saw on the show as well as add stuff that I felt complimented their personalities. And thanks for the NYU comment. I feel like New York is the perfect city for Kaylie
To AllieB0524: Thanks for the review. From what I've seen of whats on your favorite stories list, you seem to really like Emily's character. She may or may not be in this story
To anonymous (Chapter 3 Review): I can't believe I forgot about Kaymon/Daylie when I wrote that stuff in Chapter 2 lol. To answer your question, yes there is a chance of Kaylie/Damon … depending on the results of the poll in my profile.
To Majors Darlin: As I explained in the PM I understand why you feel the way you do about KayAus, everyone has different opinions. Not sure if I will have them in my story since I find it hard to write about couples which I don't like but I'll take it into consideration. And it will be a probably not to the Payson/Sasha but I will take Payson/OC into consideration.
To Evelina: I loved Nicky as well! I loved the chemistry they shared together and the couples was so much better than Payson/Nicky who were too alike to be interesting. I love the opposites attract couples so Kaylicky is one of my favorites.
Onwards with the story!
Friendship was something Kelly Parker never really understood. She never realized what she was missing until that fateful day when Kaylie Cruz (aka She-Who-Got-Everything-Handed-To-Her-On-A-Silver-Platter, as Kelly liked to refer to her in her head) said "I don't think I could have won Nationals without my friends" and Kelly had thought in her head, thinking that it was because Kaylie was weak and that was why her gymnastics talent (or lack thereof) wasn't good enough to win. But nothing could escape that nagging feeling that this could be something to fill that void she felt.
She was never one to have pictures of friends. She never really let anyone in, she didn't have even one friend (As much as Kelly wanted to roll her eyes and punch Austin Tucker in his pretty-boy face, even she had to admit that he was right; Tessa was just her "bootlicker"). Instead of friends, she has followers, people to surround herself with but who she never really let in emotionally. When she saw Kaylie Cruz's room (a room which looked like a Pepto Bismol bottle exploded) she noticed the abundance of framed photos of friends and family and instead of scoffing like she had wanted so badly to, she thought about her own room, filled to the brim with expensive hand-made furniture, amazing brand-name clothes, a trophy cabinet which was getting fuller and fuller by the day, but nothing that showed that anyone lived in the room. Nothing was out of place, seeing as the maid came in twice a day. Everything had to be perfect for her mother. No photos, no stuffed animals from childhood, nothing. The curtains were always kept closed in her room and in the rest of her house because her mother didn't want the sun to fade the expensive furniture.
The rest of her house doesn't feel like a home by any means either. There is no warmth at all. The kitchen doesn't emit the smell or freshly baked chocolate chip cookies; there are no sounds of raucous laughter or idle chatter; no family photos … nothing that made it seem like they were a family. The only photos in the house were photos of Kelly wearing medals at various events.
Kelly loved her mother, she really did, but at the same time, she missed her father, she liked how it felt to have Kaylie and then Lauren and Payson not just as her teammates (competition as her mother stated that gymnastics was an individual sport) but also as her friends. She doesn't know how she's going to succeed without her mother but she hopes that her newfound friends will help her.
She remembers the day after the Olympics.
She had gotten the All Around Bronze medal and Kaylie had gotten the All Around Silver. Her mother (who had decided to leave London right after Kelly had fallen on her second vault, something which she knew cost her the All Around Silver) had called her on her cell phone. Kelly had seen her mothers name flash across her Blackberry and her heart leaped. She headed into the public bathroom at Heathrow for some privacy, thinking that her mother had found out about her All Around medal and was calling to congratulate her! She wasn't and she didn't.
Sheila berated Kelly for not getting the Gold and blamed her for all of money she had spent on advertising. She belittled her Bronze medal, taunting her about Kaylie doing better than her. Basically her mother was downright horrible to her and at the moment, Kelly realized that her mother had always been like this and Kelly had just let her. She hung up the phone in shock, barely noticed the people hurrying in and out of the bathroom as she stood there silently. Suddenly, her stomach lurched and she barely managed to make it to a toilet in time. Squatting down beside the cool, yellowing toilet, she wiped her tears away and managed to shakily stand up. Here she was, cool, calm, collected Kelly Parker, hunched over a toilet bowl because of her mothers words. Words that never changed over the years. Words that would always stay the same. It was then that she realized that instead of what her mother saying making her strong (like Sheila constantly claimed when Kelly talked about her other teammates supportive parents) it made her weak.
And Kelly Parker was not weak.