Bitter Rivals
Chapter 21
Missing Gymnast

"Where is she?" Nicky asked Payson quietly as he paced back and forth in front of her. They were standing in the corner of the gym farthest from the entrance in an attempt to draw all worried eyes from themselves. The entire gym was wondering where the National Champion had vanished to.

"I don't know, Nicky. You were the last one to see her," Payson replied.

He craddled his head in his hands in frustration. "I know. I know! She went into the locker room, and no one has seen her since."

"Maybe someone took her?" Payson suggested worriedly. Her neck was beginning to hurt from watching Nicky pace, so she directed her eyes toward the locker room, hoping to see the familiar blond girl bounce out of there and yell "Gotcha!" It didn't happen, though.

Nicky shook his head. "That's not possible. She would have made too much noise."

"Do you think she ran away?"

"If Bailey was going to run away, she would make sure whoever made her mad enough to run away knew. And she would make sure they felt awful about it."

"Well, maybe she just needed a break from gymnastics then?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Nicky stopped pacing and turned to face Payson. He gave a serious look before speaking. "Bailey would never even think about taking a break from gymnastics."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Then where is Bailey?"

"I wish I knew."

--

"Still no sign of her?" Payson asked Nicky when he walked through the front door of her house later that evening. Nicky shook his head. No one had seen the star gymnast in over twelve hours. The rain was pouring down in sheets outside, and Nicky was about to call the police even though Bailey hadn't been gone for twenty-four hours.

"I looked everywhere that I thought she might be. The mall, the salon, the spa, all her favorite places. But she wasn't there." Nicky walked into the kitchen and sat down in one of the chairs that surrounded the table. He sat his elbows down on the table and cradled his head in his hands. "Where could she possibly be?"

Before Payson had the chance to reply, Meghan walked into the room. She glanced at both Payson and she stalked over to the refrigerator, pulled out a bottle of water, and left the room. Payson sighed and sat down next to Nicky.

"What are we going to do about that?" she asked him, pointing in the direction of Meghan's room.

"One step at a time, Pay," Nicky said. He put his hand on her thigh and gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "One step at a time."

--

McKenzie Johnson was cold. She was alone. And she was wet. Yet, she didn't think for a even second of turning around and returning to her limousine. She knew she was doing the right thing.

As the rain poured down around her, she stepped into the gate of an old chain-link fence. Her Chloe heels almost slid out from under her size-6 feet when she stepped in a puddle of water she hadn't even noticed. As she grabbed hold of the fence to keep her balance, she noticed a figure about fifty feet away, sitting on an old swing-set that probably wouldn't hold the weight of anyone of normal height and weight.

Kenzie started walking toward her, and the figure's head jerked around at the sound. They didn't even act surprised to see her.

"I thought you would be here," Kenzie said.

I'm soooooooooooooo sorry I haven't updated in forever! I could go on and on and on about how busy I've been, but I doubt anyone really cares about that. And I'm sorry about how short this is! But let's get on with the story.

I'm sure people are upset that there was little Payson-Nicky-Meghan interaction in this chapter, but I'll get to that in a couple of chapters. And I also know people are going to say that this chapter is too obvious, but just wait! I have a lot more twists and turns up my sleeve!

PLEASE REVIEW!