Alexis stared at the ceiling. The room went silent, and all she could hear was Marty faintly yelling "Lex, Lex? Can you hear me?"

Alexis took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and sat up. Her back was killing her. Way more than usual.
"Lex? I said 'can you hear me?'" Alexis shook her head abruptly to wake herself up and stared at Marty.
"Yeah," she whispered.
"Come, get off the mats. It's over. It's over."
Tears filled Alexis's eyes as Marty carried her off the mats and onto the bench.

The next morning, the girls woke up to eat breakfast, but before they made it to the kitchen could smell a disaster.

Seth tried to cook.

Riley wanted to laugh because she was so nervous. Seth cooking was never a good thing. He was into nutrients, and not much into taste, so the best thing he could come up with was salty oatmeal with flax seeds, banana and whey protein. Now it smelled like he was trying to poison the girls.

"Good morning! Enjoy breakfast, because that's the only real food you get until after the race. After this you only get artificial stuff, so savor it." The three stared at each other, and when Nicole made one of her obnoxious remarks, Mara and Riley couldn't help but giggle.
"You call this real food? This is cat food, and trust me, my cat doesn't even touch the stuff."

They sat down around the table and took a nibble at the puke in the bowl that Seth claimed was food. Even Paul seemed sympathetic.
"We're going to do anything possible for you girls to feel confident coming into this race, so I want you to have all the nutrients possible. Today's a time trial—short to the point, but we'll be able to test you for real."

Evelyn Dawes took a deep breath before walking into the hotel. She knew that Alexis was disappointed, and knew that she would be the one having to deal with her weak psychological state for the next few days.
"Mom! Thank god you came! I was started to think I would have to walk home!" Alexis said cheerily as she approached Mrs. Dawes.
Evelyn stopped for a moment. Sure, second place was fantastic, but not in Alexis's world. Why was she so happy? Occasionally she would be crying after a victory, because she didn't win by enough points.
"Yeah, my phone died on the way. Come on, lets go. Riley's race is on TV in 45 minutes."

The second the two were out of eyeshot or earshot of any of the coaches, Alexis burst into tears. "Mom, I can't believe it. I was in the lead. I—I was finally feeling good about myself, and then I had to fall and screw my back up even more than it already is." Evelyn should have known. Be strong for the team, and show true feelings in front of mom.
"Wait, your back was screwed up?" Evelyn gave a glare. She knew there were some issues she would have to put up with while having athletes for kids, but injuries were something she could not tolerate.
"Well, you know, I exaggerated. It was sore, and now I think I pulled something." Alexis lied.

Riley stuck her earphones deep into her ears and proceeded to warm up. Her legs were feeling good, and she had to prove herself after yesterdays disappointing 17th place.
ok Riley, you've got this in the bag. It's gonna hurt, you'll probably want to die, but it will all be worth it when you win. She spoke to herself. Her pre time-trial mantra. It was the only reason she was good at time trials. Her physique was too slight to be a pure "time-trialist", but her power was good enough, and her mental strength pulled her through.

Mara started her race 2 minutes ahead of Nicole, and once Nicole started, Riley unhooked her bike from the stationary machine and headed out to the start line. Normally, when cameras faced Riley, she headed the other direction, but Riley knew that her mom was watching at home, and she was feeling extra cocky. Riley felt the victory coming even before she started the race. She blew a kiss at the camera and said "HI MOM!".

"3…2…1…Allez!" the judge let go of Riley's wheel and she headed out, gaining some speed, and then settling into a steady pace.
Five minutes into the race, Seth said "Looking good Riley." That meant she was spectacular. Riley's chest was burning, Seth's so-called breakfast was sitting in her throat, her legs were working so hard they were numb, but Riley was riding a spectacular race.
"You're tied for first place at this pace, there's only 2 kilometers left, so make the pain worth it." Riley heard Seth yelling from the car, and speeded up. Spit was covering her chin and sweat was dripping from her like a faucet, but it was all worth it.

"Oh My God! She won! She won! She did it, She won!" Evelyn jumped out of her seat and squealed. Riley's face was on the TV screen.
"Yeah, mom, these aren't her prettiest moments, I don't understand why they're filming her," Alexis was still in a sour mood, but couldn't contain her joy. Riley dropped her bike and collapsed onto the asphalt, and breathed heavily with her mouth wide open, not to mention the spit and mucus on her chin and skin suit.
"Riley Dawes, How it feeling to win such good race here in Italy?" Riley was bombarded with questions as soon as she got off her bike, even though she wasn't in the best state.
"Great. Thank you, see you tomorrow," Riley went back to her shy self and shoved her hand over the camera screen, got off the asphalt and into the team's van.