Chapter 10
"Just let them go, Sasha. They did amazing these past few months. They earned the top three spots at Nationals, they're still on the National Team and Worlds isn't until another 7 months. Just let them go," Kim Keeler tried to convince Sasha.
"I know that. But if we let them go, then what about training?"
"See, that's your problem. You need to allow them to take a break. We don't want Kaylie's condition to resurface, do we? And we don't want to put pressure on them when there's not any major meets anytime soon," Summer said.
"Are you sure this would be a good idea?" Sasha countered.
"If I didn't think it would be a good idea, do you seriously think I'd bring it up in the first place?" Kim said and folded her hands across her chest.
Sasha buried his face in his hands, thinking about the option. Yes? No? He doesn't know what to do.
"It's only a few days," Summer assured and moved to put her hand on Sasha's shoulders. He instantly relaxed.
"Fine," he said and lifted his face out of his hands. "I'll let them go."
Kaylie's POV
I woke up to the sun peeking in between my curtains. I rubbed my eyes and got out of bed. The first thing I did was check my phone and saw a message from Lauren. It read: Pay and I will meet you at your house in 20. The message was sent 10 minutes ago. Great. I had 10 minutes to get ready.
I went in the bathroom to brush my teeth and took a quick shower. I put on my signature pink leotard and took out a black tracksuit. I put on my socks and got out of my room. I went to the kitchen and took out an energy bar and poured a glass of orange juice. I opened the packet and began nibbling on the bar. My doorbell rang and I looked at the clock. They had perfect timing. I hopped off and went towards the door.
"Hey guys," I greeted as I opened the door. I stepped aside and allowed them in.
"Morning," they both said. We went into the kitchen and I took out two more energy bars. One for Lauren and the other one for Payson.
"So, you ready for another day of training?" Lauren sighed.
"You know, I'm actually dreading training more and more," Payson said.
"What? You? Tired of training? That's a first," I giggled. My phone buzzed and I took it out. I looked at the Caller ID and surprise flew across my face. We were still early so why are they calling us.
"It's The Rock," I said. I pressed the Answer button. "Hello?"
"Kaylie, where are you?"
"Sasha, I'm still at home. It's still early so I'm not late." Payson and Lauren were as confused as I am.
"Are you with Lauren and Payson?"
"Yeah, I'm with them. Sasha, are we in trouble?"
"Put me on speaker," he commanded. I mumbled an OK and put him on speakers.
"Morning, Sasha," Payson and Lauren both said.
"Morning girls."
"What's going on?" I asked.
"You're not coming to training today, or any day for the next week."
"What?" we all screamed.
"You three are going on a holiday, not really a holiday but more of a break." Am I imagining things? Sasha Belov, the toughest coach, is letting us take a break for a week?
"Uh, why?" Lauren questioned.
"You guys have done exceptionally well these last few months. Since there are no major meets in the coming few months and Worlds being seven months away, I figured you should go on a well deserved break."
"Okay?" Payson sighed.
"You three go get changed, pack and come to The Rock to grab your air tickets."
"Where are we going?" I asked, excited.
"Hawaii." And with that the line went dead.
Hawaii. It took a while for the news to sink in and when it did, I couldn't hold in my excitement.
"OH MY GOD, WE'RE GOING TO HAWAII!" I screamed at the top of my lungs. I jumped out of my seat and began prancing around; Payson and Lauren joining in. We were screaming and laughing.
"Okay, so let's go pack. I'll pick you guys up when I'm done?" I suggested after we calmed down. They nodded and out the door they went. I ran up to my room and began throwing clothes inside: tank tops, shirts, shorts, skirts, bikinis, undergarments and whatever that was necessary for the beach. I pulled on a metallic-purple, silky shirt and tucked it into white denim shorts. I pulled out my Chanel sunglasses and Chanel bag. I stuffed my wallet, passport and camera into the bag and shoved my Blackberry into my pockets. I rushed downstairs and strapped on a pair of white wedges and put in my luggage a pair of flip-flops. I got a text from both Payson and Lauren saying they were done. I grabbed my car keys and out the door I went.
I picked Lauren up first then Payson. We couldn't stop talking in the car about what we were going to do when we arrived in Hawaii. We finally arrived at The Rock and saw that it was 10am. We got out of my car and walked into The Rock. We walked straight towards Sasha's office, ignoring the glances and stares from our fellow teammates.
"Hey, Sasha," I greeted.
"Morning. Here are your tickets. I reserved a suite for you guys at the Hilton. In exactly one week, I expect to see you all back, understood?"
"Yes, Sasha," we said simultaneously. We thanked him, gave him a hug and headed out. On our way out of The Rock, we ran into our boyfriends.
"What are you wearing?" Austin inquired, looking us up and down. We were all in tank tops, shorts, wedges and had sunglasses donned on our heads.
"We're going on a 'break'," Lauren replied, smiling.
"What? Since when?" Max asked.
"Since today, until next week," I answered.
"What did you guys do for Sasha to let you go?" Nicky scoffed.
"Nothing. He was actually the one that told us to go. He booked everything," Payson said and I could see the boys were jealous.
"Well, you guys have fun training. We've got a plane to catch," I smiled and waved our tickets in front of them. I quickly gave Austin a peck on the lips, forgetting the fact that we were in the gym. We all said our goodbyes and drove towards Denver Airport.
About 6 hours later, we finally arrived. We got our luggages and went towards the exit. We put on our sunglasses, hoping that no one would recognize us, but we were wrong. Reporters were already outside, holding their cameras, waiting for us to come out. We saw a Hilton sign and we walked towards it, ignoring the flashing lights.
"Ms. Cruz? Ms. Tanner? Ms. Payson?" we nodded. "Welcome to Hawaii." We said our thanks and got given some leis. He led us towards the limo that was waiting for us but before we could get in safely, reporters were asking us questions.
"Why are you here? How long would you be here for?"
"Uh, for a week. We're taking a break to have fun and relax," I announced.
"How'd you know we're coming here?" Lauren inquired.
"We're the press, of course we know," a reporter replied and the others murmured in agreement. Lauren scoffed and we posed for a few pictures before getting into the waiting limo.
We arrived at the Hilton and checked in. So apparently Sasha reserved us an executive suite. How nice. We quickly dropped our luggages and got changed into our bikinis. We put on what we were wearing earlier, put on some sunscreen, pulling out our sunglasses and headed to the beach.
"Oh my god, this is amazing," Lauren sighed.
"Yeah. How long has it been since we went to the beach?" Payson asked.
"Too long," I breathed. We were all sitting on the beach chairs that were laid out, soaking in the sun, trying to tan. I, myself, am already tanned but you know, there's not harm in getting a little bit tanner.
"Iced tea, anyone?" I asked.
"Yes, please," Lauren said. I got up, took out my wallet and walked towards the closest vendor. I waited in line to get the drinks. I was looking around, admiring the beach and I saw three guys walking towards the vendor. They were hot! I checked them out through my sunglasses. Their six-pack was defined and their biceps were amazing. One was a brunette, the other was a dirty blonde and another was blonde. They all had that "beach" look and I was mesmerized. As they came closer, I recognized the blonde one. Holy shit, it was Tyler Tanner, Lauren's cousin. When I was younger, I had a crush on him and he also had one on me. Then disaster struck and I haven't seen him for at least five years. I quickly turned away from them and concentrated on what I was going to ask for. They lined up behind me. Great.
It was my turn to order. "May I please have three iced teas please?"
"Sure, miss," he replied. He poured three glasses of iced tea and handed them to me. "That would be six dollars." I nodded and looked through my wallet for a five and a one. I finally found them and gave it to the vendor. I took the drinks and turned around, bumping into my worst nightmare.
Crap.
"Uh, sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going," I mumbled, still looking at the iced teas in front of me. Thank god it didn't spill.
"Yeah, no problem," he replied. I didn't recognize the voice so I looked up at him. He was a brunette. Who is this guy?
"Kaylie Cruz?" Oh shit. That voice belonged to Tyler Tanner. I turned my head around and looked at him.
"Uh, yeah. Tyler, hey," I said. He came up to me and gave me a light hug, respecting the fact that I had three glasses of iced tea in my hands.
"What are you doing here?" he asked when he let me go. "Aren't you supposed to be training right now?"
"Uh, coach gave us the week off and told us to go on a break. So here we are."
"We?" he asked, confused.
"Yeah, Payson, Lauren and I," I replied and nudged my elbow in the direction where Payson and Lauren was still sitting.
"Wait, bro, who is this?" the brunette that I bumped into asked.
"This is Kaylie Cruz, my cousin's best friend," Tyler said. He said my name a bit too loud as everyone turned to face us.
"Kaylie, may I please have a photo?" a girl asked. I nodded and smiled towards the camera, trying my best not to spill the drinks. Others were coming towards me, asking for autographs and pictures. Once they were done, I turned back to Tyler and his friends, staring at me.
"What? Do I have something on my face?" I asked.
"Uh, no. But are you famous or something?" the dirty blonde asked.
"She's the two-time National Champion and Worlds gold medalist," Tyler proudly said.
"Holy shit. That's right!" the brunette said in realization.
"How'd you know that, Tyler?" I asked.
"Well, I still follow gymnastics you know. Seeing as you're still in it," he said cheekily. That made me blush. "Oh, I forgot. This is James Moore," he said while pointing at the dirty blonde. "This is Drew Deveux," he said and pointed to the brunette. I simply nodded and weirdly, they embraced me in hugs.
"Do you want to go meet Lauren and Payson?" Tyler nodded and I led them towards my friends. I put the drinks down onto the sand and pulled my sunglasses onto my head.
"Lo, guess who I found," I said while smiling. Lauren looked at the guys behind me and jumped up.
"Oh my god! Tyler!" she shouted and sprang into his arms. Once they separated, Tyler looked at Payson. "Hey, Pay."
"Tyler, how long has it been. Five years?" she said and stood up and gave him a hug.
"Guys, this is James and Drew," I introduced the remaining two guys. I saw Lauren's eyes scan James up and down and I giggled. "Lauren, I saw that," I grimaced and she instantly blushed.
"So, what are you guys doing here?" Lauren asked, moving closer to James.
"Uh, same as you guys. Holiday," James replied. I could see James was hooked onto Lauren. But what is she doing? She has a boyfriend for goodness sakes. I could also see Drew kept glancing at Payson but Payson doesn't seem to be noticing.
"So, what do you guys want to do?" Drew asked.
"Anyone up for a game of beach volleyball?" I asked cheekily. They all agreed and we got up and moved towards the outlined court. I went to the vendor, again, and bought a volleyball. I walked back to the court and saw that it was a Boys vs. Girls game. I sighed, knowing that the boys would cream us no problem.
My expectations were met. They did beat us by a huge margin. It was 25 to 10. It was slightly embarrassing; seeing as everyone gathered around to watch the three best US gymnasts play volleyball. Even though we lost, the crowd was understanding and still cheered and clapped for us. Some asked for signatures and we happily gave it to them.
We all were walking back to where we kept our stuff and suddenly, Lauren, Payson and I were picked off the ground. I looked at the person that was carrying me, bridal style, and saw that it was Tyler Tanner. Butterflies immediately woke up in my stomach. Yes, I know. I have a boyfriend but its Tyler Tanner. He was probably my first real crush and every time I see him, butterflies do come back. I looked at Payson and saw that Drew picked her up and Lauren was in the arms of James. They ran towards the water and water began splashing around when they got in. Once they were stomach-deep, they dropped us in the water. Lucky for them, we were already in our bikinis. However, I was mad at Tyler, as I didn't want to get my hair wet. I resurfaced and turned towards Tyler, mouth hung open.
"Tyler! I didn't want to get my hair wet!" I said and lightly slapped him across his hard chest. Where my hand touched his chest, I could feel a tingling sensation. I ignored it and began moving towards shore.
"Kaylie," he said and grabbed my arm. "I'm sorry. I'll make it up to you. I'll give you a piggy back ride later." I looked at him and pondered his request.
"Deal," I said and held out my hand. He took it and shook it. Out of nowhere, Lauren and Payson began splashing water at Tyler and I and saw that Drew and James were also helping them. Tyler moved me behind him and shielded me from the splashing water. I took this opportunity and began splashing water at Tyler. We were all having so much fun in the water. We finally got out and dried ourselves and laid the towels on the sand next to each other. We sat down and talked about what had been happening the past five years.
The sun began to set and I could feel my stomach was empty. Tyler seemed to have read my mind as he said, "Want to go for dinner?" We all nodded and got up. We didn't bother to put our clothes over our bikinis, as the weather was still warm. The guys began to walk towards the restaurant first while we followed behind.
"Hey, want to surprise them like they did to us?" I suggested. They nodded.
"How?" Payson asked. Lauren knew what I was thinking about.
"We jump on their backs," Lauren replied for me.
"Okay, so on three. One…two…three!" I shouted and we began our sprint towards them. When we were close enough, we jumped and landed on their backs. We wrapped our hands around their neck and legs around their waist. They were obviously caught by surprise as they stumbled a few steps forwards. When they saw that it was only us, they took their hands and supported us by holding on to our legs. They carried us the rest of the way to the restaurant, with onlookers and fellow fans staring at us.
Max's POV
The girls were in Hawaii, having fun while we stayed here to endure training. Great. Just great. We were waiting for pizza to be delivered. I was on my laptop while Austin and Nicky, next to me, were watching the TV.
"I wonder if the girls are having fun," I sighed.
"Google it. Try "Rock Rebels in Hawaii" or something like that," Austin replied. Huh, that was a good idea. I opened Google and typed in "Kaylie Cruz, Lauren Tanner, Payson Keeler Hawaii". There were a lot of results. I opened the first link and it was titled "Rock Rebels relaxes and have fun on the beaches of Hawaii". It was an article with a whole array of photos that were taken by the paparazzi. I read it.
Rock Rebels says 'Aloha' to Hawaii! National Champion Kaylie Cruz and her best friends and teammates Lauren Tanner and Payson Keeler were seen stepping off the plane at the Honolulu International Airport. The three donned sunglasses while stepping out. They were greeted by a chauffeur from Hilton Hotels & Resorts and were taken away in a limo. Later that day, they were seen on the beach, showing off their perfect bikini bods in bikinis by Juicy Couture (Kaylie Cruz), J. Crew (Lauren Tanner) and La Perla (Payson Keeler).
Kaylie Cruz was then lining up to buy iced teas for her and her best friends. After buying, she was embraced in several hugs by three mysterious guys. She later brought the iced teas and the guys back to Payson and Lauren and they seemed ecstatic to see them. Who are these guys that may be capturing their hearts? Where are their boyfriends Austin Tucker, Nicky Russo and Max Spencer?
What the hell? Who are these "mysterious guys"? I wanted to know what they looked like so I scrolled down and saw a bunch of photos. Them stepping out of the airport; making their way into the hotel; going to the beach; playing beach volleyball with three guys; getting carried bridal-style by the three guys; swimming around in the sea; the guys giving them piggy back rides.
Wait…WHAT? I scrolled back up to the photos of them getting carried bridal style and saw that they were smiling. What the hell?
"Holy fuck," I choked out.
"What?" Austin demanded, looking at me. Nicky was also now turned to look at me.
"Look at this," I told them and placed the laptop on the table so they all could see. I pointed to the photos of them being carried and the piggy back rides.
"What the fuck?" Austin yelled.
"Who the fuck are they?" Nicky commanded.
"Don't know. All the article says about them is that they were "three mysterious guys". No name, no nothing."
Austin took out his phone and was dialing furiously. He held his phone up to his ear and said calmly into the phone, "Sasha, we need to go to Hawaii."
Nicky and I looked at him. We didn't argue. We knew we had to go and get our girlfriends back from the "three mysterious guys". Who are they? I couldn't figure it out. Do they know them or were they just guys that they just met?
After a few minutes, Austin hung up. "We're going to Hawaii. Go pack. Now."
Author's note: So, we took the story into a WHOLE new direction! Reason is we're not exactly gymnastics experts and we don't exactly know the Gymnastics World so they're going on holiday! But beware, this is no ordinary vacation!
REVIEW! to tell us what you think about it! Much appreaciated! Love, xx