Special thanks to my friends at Croft Manor for beta-reading this for me and another thanks to Max (Reasons Lost) for beta-reading this for me.
All feedback appreciated!
A week into the first term, Lara still hadn't met her roommate. She knew she had one considering the other half of the room showed obvious signs of habitation and periodic visits. New decorations were hung up, rubbish was added to the wastebasket, and dirty laundry was put in the hamper. The times they were both in the room just didn't seem to overlap, which wasn't too strange considering Lara's hectic schedule. What was strange was the fact that Lara's ever elusive roommate never seemed to so much as sleep in the dorm. Her bed was still as neatly made as the day the bedding was first put there.
But Lara didn't have time to dwell on any of that; gymnastics hell week had arrived. Gathered together in the indoor facility they would be practicing in, Lara and the rest of the gymnasts waited for the coach to come in to begin practice. What they got instead was the three captains walking into the building with a clear air of authority before coming to a stop and standing before the rest of the team.
"Alright ladies!" said the red-haired captain in the middle whose name Lara was sure was Catherine, "The coach is out sick so she put the captains in charge for today's practice. Before we start...Brittany? You wanna take it from here?" She turned her head to the blonde on her left.
"Sure," said Brittany, rubbing her hands together and turning to face the team, "as a lot of you veterans know, this week is hell week. This is where we really get to see what you're made of and if you're able to compete at this level. While these aren't necessarily trials, this will help coaches and captains determine who should compete and who should be a substitute in the event of injury," she turned her head to look at Catherine, "Cat, wanna fill them in on the rest?"
"Of course," Catherine said, turning her head back towards the crowd, "while this week marks hell week for all UCL gymnasts, it's also initiation week for first year students-" Lara raised a brow in confusion and looked at the people around her to see if anybody shared her perplexion.
"Hang on, initiation?" asked a gymnast who Lara didn't know by name. Catherine cleared her throat.
"Yes, initiation. Everybody on this team had to go through it their first year as well, it's a ritual that dates back to the founding of gymnastics at UCL. It not only brings us together and strengthens us as a team in whole, it also helps to instill a sense of respect for-"
"So, you're hazing us is what you're saying?" an American student interjected. Catherine's jaw set for a moment before she regained her composure.
"No, we're not hazing you. We're not forcing you to do anything-"
"So if you're not forcing us to do it, why shouldn't we refuse to participate in this initiation?" Lara asked, crossing her arms over her chest. If looks could kill… she thought when Catherine shot a glare at her.
"You're more than welcome to refuse," said the third captain before Catherine could fire off a response, "but don't expect people who went through initiation-whether it's first year students or returning members of the team-to respect you for bailing out. Everybody here who's returning has gone through the same thing that you will. Everybody." Lara frowned and said nothing. She didn't like the way any of what the captains said sounded, but she figured initiation couldn't be too bad if everyone else had to participate. Besides which point, pride dictated she tough it out instead of being the only one to quit.
"Yes, thank you Paige. Now, if there aren't any more questions…" Catherine's voice trailed off as her eyes drifted back and forth across the crowd, "good. Before we begin practice, it's time for the first part of initiation. First years, drop and give us push-ups. Everybody else, warm-up, stretch, and do your basic steps for your respective events." Everybody but Lara, the captains, and four other first year students dispersed to do as instructed, and there was an awkward pause where they just stood there, "what are you waiting for?"
"Er...how many push-ups are we supposed to do?" the American gymnast asked. Catherine eyed her suspiciously.
"What's your name?" Catherine asked.
"...Lexie," the American responded.
"Well, Lexie, you're going to do push-ups until we tell you to stop. And if you slow down or collapse, you're going to run laps around this track. Understood?"
"No," Lara blurted out. Catherine looked as though she had just been slapped across the face.
"Excuse me?" she asked with a hint of indignation.
"No, it's not understood. Why do we have to do this while you get to just stand there and do nothing the entire practice?" a complete hush fell over the group, and all heads turned to Catherine, who looked uncharacteristically calm.
"Look, I don't know who you are, but-"
"Lara. My name's Lara," Lara said, drawing herself to full height and looking Catherine dead in the eye.
"Right. Well, in case you forgot we already had to go through all of this our first year. Now I don't know how your posh parents raised you-" Lara bristled in anger.
"What?" she asked in a dangerous tone.
"Your accent. You're posh and we know it. Now I don't know how much you were pampered back in your fancy little home but in the real world respect is earned, not given, and we've done our part to earn respect on this team. Now it's your turn to do your part, so what's it going to be? Are you going to prove you belong here or are you just going to walk away?" Lara remained unmoved and continued to stare daggers into Catherine.
"You don't know anything about me," Lara shot back.
"Prove me wrong, then. Prove to me you aren't some pampered posh schoolgirl." Lara clenched her fists and thought about how good slapping the smug expression off of Catherine's face would feel before unclenching them and dropping down to the ground. "Good," Catherine said as Lara began pumping push-ups out at a steady pace. She was determined to prove to Catherine that she could take anything thrown at her.
Ten push-ups, twenty, thirty...she soon lost count and kept going to the steady beat of her heart and the roar of blood in her ears. She kept going even when her arms began to grow fatigued and she could distinctly hear the first years beside her dropping one by one. She kept going until her arms finally gave out from underneath her and she was left sprawled on the ground and panting for breath. Two feet came to a stop in front of her face and her eyes drifted up to see Catherine silhouetted by the lights hanging overhead.
"Start running," she said impassively. Lara gritted her teeth and pushed herself up onto her feet with no small amount of difficulty. How was she supposed to run and handle an entire practice thereafter?
Maybe, she thought, that's the entire point. Maybe keeping the first years tired was the captains' way of securing their competition slots. "No," she said firmly. Catherine blinked and took a step towards Lara.
"Didn't you hear me? I said start running." Lara stood her ground and looked at Catherine unblinkingly.
"And I said no. I'm not doing it." Catherine's face began to grow red with anger, and Lara found the sight of that combined with her red hair to be amusing.
"Seriously? Do we need to remind you that-"
"You want to instill a sense of respect in the first years?" Lara interjected, "I'm going to give you a chance to do so." Catherine crossed her arms and scowled.
"And what chance is that, schoolgirl?" Lara also crossed her arms and shifted her weight to one leg.
"Back-to-back tumbling. Let everybody judge who's the better gymnast. If I win, you stop with this ridiculousness. If you win, I'll participate in initiation without any further complaint," Catherine opened her mouth to respond but Lara stopped her, "before you respond, I also want to say that everyone's watching right now. So think before you answer." Catherine looked around to see that everybody in the building had stopped what they were doing in favor of watching the confrontation between her and Lara. Even the first years had stopped running, and Brittany and Paige were too busy watching the drama unfold to tell them to start going again. Catherine chewed on the inside of her mouth for a moment before turning back to Lara with a look of intense dislike on her face.
"If I win, you'll stop trying to prove a point?" Lara nodded and stuck a hand out. Catherine stared at Lara's hand before giving it a quick shake and turning to the rest of the team, "Alright, ladies! Bring it in for a moment!" After a moment's hesitation, the rest of the gymnasts slowly sauntered over to where Lara and Catherine were. Once they were all gathered around, the latter began to speak, "Now that we're all here...the reason we called you over is because we're going to have a back-to-back tumbling contest, and you're going to be the judges of it."
"Why?" piped up one of the gymnasts who wasn't a first year.
"Because schoolgirl here-" Lara gritted her teeth at the use of the nickname, "-believes that first years shouldn't have to do initiation. If she wins, nobody has to go through it. If I win, she has to do initiation without complaint. Make sense?" The gymnasts nodded, "Good. We'll be doing this on the floor apparatus, corner to corner. You know how it works. I'll be going first."
With that, she strode over to the floor with her head held high and her shoulders back. Lara had to resist the urge to roll her eyes before turning and following her with the rest of the team. While they gathered around the apparatus, Catherine took the time to stretch herself out in the corner and gather her bearings. When she appeared to be ready, she took a deep breath, ran a few steps, sprung into a roundoff followed by a back handspring, and she was off. She executed flip after flip, and Lara had to admit she was good but just so. Catherine's movements weren't as quick and fluid as some of the gymnasts Lara had competed against in the past. When she had finished her first tumbling pass and began her second, Lara knew she had the contest in the bag and began stretching herself out.
Finishing with a salto, Catherine stuck her landing and held her arms high over her head. A few gymnasts clapped for her, but everybody else's eyes were already on Lara as she moved to take her spot in the corner of the floor. "Good luck," Catherine spat as she dismounted past Lara, making a point to hit the latter on the shoulder with her own as she walked by.
Lara stared after her for a moment, but decided the rude gesture wasn't worth losing her focus over. She shook her arms out to further loosen them in preparation for her back-to-back tumbling run, and she had to admit they were rather quaky and fatigued after the push-ups she just did. Just raising them over her head was difficult, but she told herself she had climbed mountains before. She would manage. After giving her arms another quick stretch, she took a deep breath and focused on nothing else but the floor and her steps.
She took a small run forward and planted her hands on the ground to do a roundoff, but rather than being loose and slow as Catherine had been, she made sure to keep her body tight and snap her hips over and down more quickly to help increase her momentum. The moment she landed she left the floor once more and transitioned into a back handspring. The key for her was quickness. Lara wasn't built as petite as most gymnasts, including Catherine, but she compensated for that by being quicker and building up more energy for her jumps as a result. She was also more precise with her hand and foot placement, allowing herself little margin for error.
Staying light on her feet was also key. As soon as her feet hit the ground, she left it again, using all of the energy she had built up to quickly fly across the floor and back. Her movements were so quick she soon felt weightless and detached from her surroundings. Her feet landed as she approached the end of her routine and she launched herself up into a somersault with all the force she could muster. The moment she was airborne, she tucked her arms into her torso and straightened her entire body to twist her body mid-air for three full rotations. Her feet came back down over her head, and she stuck the landing, making sure to glance over at Catherine's face the moment she had. The expression on the captain's face told Lara all she needed to know-she had won and they both knew it. Suppressing the urge to grin, Lara raised her hands over her head and walked off the floor to catch her breath and stand beside Catherine to await the team's judgment.
"...Alright," Catherine began, "I guess we'll do this by raising hands. If you think I won, raise 'em." Only the other two captains raised their hands at first, and Catherine narrowed her eyes. "Really?" She demanded. Several gymnasts exchanged looks with each other before slowly raising their hands as well. Lara's stomach sank as she watched the rest of the team slowly, and hesitantly, lift their hands in the air with the first year gymnasts being the last ones to do so, "Well, I think that settles it then-"
"Are you kidding me right now?" Lara asked turning to face Catherine, who only smiled.
"Face it, schoolgirl. You lost fair and square-" Lara couldn't help herself; she laughed.
"You and I both know that's not true. I saw the look on your face when I finished; we both know who the better gymnast is and it's not you."
"The team begs to differ," Catherine said flatly.
"Only because for some reason they're afraid of you and the other captains. But I'm not afraid, Catherine. In fact, I'd venture a guess and say that you are actually afraid of me." If Catherine could look any angrier, Lara figured her fiery red hair would be set ablaze. She had definitely struck a nerve.
"The team voted, you lost. It's plain and simple. Now start running." Lara shook her head.
"No. Once the coach comes back, you're done. I'm not going to take this. I'll be seeing you tomorrow." She turned on the spot and walked over to the door into the locker room.
"Good luck trying to get the captains to support you competing!" Catherine shouted after her.
"Good luck explaining to the coach why you don't think I should compete!" Lara shot back, pushing the door to the locker room open and slamming it behind her, "Bullshit…" she grumbled as she opened her locker and pulled her bag out. As she rifled through the main pocket for her quarter zip, she heard the door open and she looked up to see Lexie walking in.
"Wait," she said. Lara found her jacket and slid it over her head.
"Why?" Lara asked, slinging her duffel over one shoulder. Lexie sighed.
"Catherine's a bitch," Lexie began, "but you can't just-"
"Can't just what? I'm not going to stand there and take anything else from that cow." Lexie held her hands up placatingly.
"I know, but I've talked to some of the older girls. You don't know what Catherine will do to get what she wants, but I do." Lara held the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger.
"I said it out there and I'll say it again, I'm not afraid of her, and you shouldn't be either. She's just a self-righteous girl who's scared of losing her competition slot because she's not good enough to actually earn it honestly. I don't even know how she was made a captain," Lexie bit her lip pensively, and Lara took a deep breath, "Look, I'm in the Archaeology program and when you've had to read as many books as I have, you notice a pattern. A tyrant only has power when his or her subjects fear them enough to continue following them. If you all refuse to participate in initiation, what's Catherine going to do? She can't kick you off the team because she's not the coach. And if the other girls had enough decency to warn you about her, I doubt they're afraid of her and will do anything terrible either. So tell me, what do you think she's going to do?"
"Well, when you put it that way…" Lexie responded slowly.
"Listen, I appreciate the concern but don't worry. I've dealt with people worse than Catherine before. If I were you, I'd worry more about the other gymnasts in our year who won't stand up to that bint. Here," Lara fished her phone out of her pocket, unlocked it, and handed it to Lexie, "put your number in that if you want to, and I'll text you so you have my number as well. If Catherine tries to go after you or anyone else, tell me. After today, I'm not letting her get away with anything else." Lexie nodded, and entered her phone number in before handing Lara's phone back to her.
"I'm guessing you're leaving now, then?" She asked. Lara nodded.
"Yeah, I've had enough for the day. You should probably get back to practice before Catherine makes you do iron crosses or something," Lexie winced and shuddered.
"Yeah, good point. I guess I'll see you tomorrow...Lara, wasn't it?"
"Yeah," Lara said, stowing her phone away in her bag as they walked out of the locker room together, "and yes, tomorrow. Good luck with the rest of practice." Lara turned for the exit while Lexie returned to the area where the gymnasts were now conducting practice as normal, with the exception of the first year students running around the track once more. Lara watched as Lexie joined the groups of runners and, with her jaw clenched, pushed the exit door open and left the building.
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