||GABBY'S GOLD||

|CAMI

It's been a week or so since I've returned from LA. I've gotten back into the gist of karate which was easier than I thought it'd be. Right now I was preparing for the school gymnastics team. "And here they come! Give it up for your gymnastics team, the Seaford Killer Whales!" Only me and Kim were able to get through the paper without stumbling over.

"Woo! Lookin' good, Cami!" Jack cheered.

"There is something called a grieving period, you know!" I heard Milton shout across the gym. I followed his view line and saw Julie kissing some other dude. Did Milton and Julie break up? Am I missing something? I was called up to do the uneven bars, my second best category. My first is floor.

"This is great! Half their team has food poisoning. Tori, all you have to do is complete one vault and we win!" Kim told Tori as I approached them.

"I got this. Next time you see me, we'll be at Steven Fullen's house, sipping celebration smoothies. It's gonna be sick," Tori fantasized.

"Tori, will you stop talking about smoothies? Ok, just get out there and focus," Kim finished with the same weird lisp Tori has.

"I think you've been spending too much time with Tori," I told her.

"I meant focus!" she repeated without the lisp. Tori was doing alright with the vault until Whaley, the mascot, blocked Tori's mat, making her fall onto the mats. Our coach slammed her knee through the clipboard.

"Ya know, Cami. If you quit now you won't have to go up against my undefeated Swathmore team this Saturday," Claire tauntingly offered. I think she's gotten over the crush thing and now she's just snobby.

"We're not afraid of your Swathmore team, Claire," I mocked her accent. "Our coach taught us that we are not quitters, we are winners!"

"Alright losers! I quit!" the coach threw her jacket into my chest before the other girls did the same. Well, with the exception of Kim.

"Ok, well, my other coach," I corrected, referring to Gabby. I wasn't kidding either. She did teach me not to give up. So did Rudy. That is a very consistent message.

•••

"Hey Cami. Any luck finding a new coach?" Jack asked as me and Kim entered the dojo.

"Nope. We begged every adult that we know, but since we lose so much, they have no interest," I sighed. "Well, there is one person. I'll be right back." I walked back out of the dojo, dialing Gabby's number. She's supposed to be on a tour for the next couple months and I think she's in Seaford this week.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Gabby! Hey! It's me, Cami," I greeted.

"Oh, Cami! How are you?" she asked.

"Well, I'm in a bit of a pickle here. Our gymnastics coach quit and we can't find a replacement. I was wondering if you could fill in for the week," I replied.

"Sure! I'd love to help! Where should we meet up?" Gabby asked.

"At the Seaford mall in the courtyard in front of the Bobby Wasabi dojo. Thank you so much!" I thanked.

"No problem. I can make it tomorrow after competition," Gabby said.

"Alright, great! See ya soon!" I beamed before hanging up.

•••

"So um our coach isn't coming back," Kim started making some people leave for obvious reasons. "But the good news is I have decided to let Cami step up and fill that role." More people left.

"Ok, why me?" I asked.

"You trained under Gabby Douglas for a whole month. I'm pretty sure you're our best bet," she hissed back. "Look, I know that there is not much time, but we are willing to work hard. I'm sure that there is-" she was cut off by the rest of the people walking out. The only person left was the person hogging the free paninis. "Look, we do not need them. You may not be the classic gymnastics type, but I bet inside of you there is a champ- you're just here for the paninis aren't you?"

"Got any ranch dressing?" the kid asked.

"Give me those," Kim snatched them away.

•••

"Kim! Guess who I found to be the coach," I sang as I jogged into the dojo to see a happy Milton, a locker searching Jerry, and a stretching Kim.

"Um do you really think you want us to be coached by some pimply faced wannabe you found in the nosebleed section at the movies?" Kim asked.

"No. But how about gymnastic olympic gold medalist, Gabby Douglas?!" I exclaimed. Jerry slammed his locker shut, Kim froze, and Milton's smile got even bigger.

"Get out," Kim spoke in shock.

"I'm serious! I talked to her on the phone yesterday and she agreed to coach us for the Swathmore meet since she has a couple free days from the tour!" I nodded.

"Get out!" Kim repeated even more excited.

"Oh Gabby!" I called just for the gold medalist to come front handspringing in.

"Hi. You must be Kim. I'm Gabby," Gabby introduced herself. Jerry fainted, Kim had a weird excited face, and Milton had a warm smile.

"GET OUT!" Kim shouted excitedly.

"Ok," Gabby shrugged, back handspringing out of the dojo.

"Wait no no no no! Come back! Come back!" Kim squealed as she jogged after Gabby. Gabby stopped back handspringing, letting Kim take her to the middle of the mats. "I can't believe the Gabby Douglas is standing in our dojo!"

"Kim relax. You're freaking out in front of my girlfriend," Milton intervened.

"Redhead best friend say what now?" I asked.

"That's right. Gabby's my girlfriend Cami. It happened earlier this afternoon when I attended her meet with the ticket Jack gave me. He was gonna give it to you, but Kim said you had gymnastic tryouts and you had already run out of the dojo," Milton spoke nonchalantly.

"After my dismount, I looked up into the crowd and saw Milton. Just couldn't resist my little ginger cookie," Gabby explained.

"The first time our eyes met, it was like-"

"-yeah, yeah, great story," Kim cut off Milton. "So, you're really gonna coach our team?"

"Yeah," Gabby confirmed. "When I was in school, our coach walked out, so I know what it's like."

"Oh. Hey guys," Rudy greeted as he entered the dojo with Jack.

"Jack, Rudy, look. It's Gabby Douglas," I gestured to my new friend beside me. I knew Jack was a fan.

"I watched you during the Olympics! It's such an honor to meet you," Jack beamed, shaking Gabby's hand.

"Aw thank you," Gabby politely smiled back. She knows a lot about Jack. Probably because of how much I talked about him in LA. But he doesn't need to know that.

"Uh I don't know what kind of game you're playing here, missy, but you are not the real Gabby Douglas," Rudy denied.

"Yeah she is. She's been coaching me for the past month in LA. I told you this. Where'd you think I went?" I asked.

"Ok, fine. I'll prove it's not her," Rudy assured, grabbing a picture of Gabby. "You people are so gullible. Ah! You know! You're never gonna believe this! Gabby Douglas is in our dojo! Would you sign this? Just write 'to my fellow champion, much like the olympic flame-"

"-I'm just gonna sign it Gabby," Gabby cut Rudy off.

"Simple. Powerful. Totally the way to go," Rudy agreed.

•••

"That was really good, Donna," Gabby praised as Donna finished a beam routine. She didn't stick the landing very well, but the part on the beam was great. "Just don't forget to kick out a little earlier so you can stick it."

"Stick it. Ok, stick it, girl! You wanna lose to Swathmore because you didn't stick it?!" Kim yelled.

"Kim, calm down. Donna did fine," I sighed as Donna ran away.

"Yeah. We're in pretty good shape. And we have someone for every event," Gabby agreed.

"Not the rings. Ring, ring. Who's there? Nobody!" Kim snapped.

"Kim!" I scolded. Jerry sprinted up behind Gabby, huddling behind her tiny figure.

"Hide me. Lenore's after me. She caught me comforting Carol," Jerry told us before squealing and lifting himself onto the rings. Lenore came running up, looking around before running away again.

"Where'd he go?" Kim asked.

"He just disappeared," Gabby shrugged.

"Or climbed the rings," I pointed at the rings where Jerry was sturdily 'hiding'.

"Whew! That was close yo," Jerry spoke in relief.

"I think we found our rings guy," I nodded. Jerry flipped off the rings, finishing perfectly.

"I've had to hide from a lot of women, Kim," Jerry replied to Kim's incredulous look.

•••

"See these gold medals? They belong to my girlfriend, Gabby Douglas," Milton announced into the mic as I rested for the meet. "Oh. You heard me Julie. Gabby's my girlfriend! Ha ha! Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Gabby Douglas!" We all cheered and applauded. "My girlfriend!" Gabby performed her beam routine making us cheer and applaud for her again.

"Cami," Claire snarky's voice spoke.

"Claire," I mocked.

"Wow. I can't believe it. You showed up. That is so brave. To lose in front of all these people," Claire annoyingly laughed.

"And you wonder why I never called you," I teased. "And besides. We're not gonna lose. Gabby Douglas is our new coach."

"What?! Are you ser-"

"-oh that's right. Today's the day we wipe that stupid Swathmore smile off your snooty face," Kim cut in. "Get ready for it."

"What are you doing?" Claire and I asked in unison as Kim made weird hissing noises.

"Boom!" she yelled, throwing her hands in front of Claire's face. "That's right. Boom goes the dynamite! Boom!"

"She boomed me. She boomed me! I mean, who does that?" Claire squealed as she walked away with Kim following behind cockily.

"That's right girl! You're in the warehouse now! You-"

"-KIM!" I shouted, cutting her off as Gabby grabbed her away.

"What? You used to smack talk all the time," Kim told me breathlessly.

"Yeah. But that's not smack talk," I deadpanned. "Besides, if there's one thing I've learned from working with Gabby for a month is that it's not about winning. It's about trying your best and being the best role model you can be. That, and she lives in a ridiculously expensive city. A burger costs 9 dollars! On average!"

"Forget about that! We have to win! We have to win! I think we're gonna win! What if we don't win? We have to win!" Kim rambled.

"Let's go get you something drink. Hopefully that'll cool you off," I suggested, guiding Kim to the free water bottles basket.

•••

Jerry finished his ring routine impressively, earning 9s all around. I had already done my floor routine earning two 9s and a 10. "Yes! In your face, Claire!" Kim bragged.

"Kim. Remember what I told you," I tried to remind her.

"And remember what I said. Forget it. That smug smirk will be smacked off Claire's face when we're finished with this meet!" Kim maniacally laughed.

"Calm down, crazy Kimberly," I patted her back.

"Way to go Tiffany," Claire high fived her teammate after her teammate finished her beam routine. "You see that, Kim? Tif just scored a 9.7 which means you need a perfect routine if you're going to beat us." Claire laughed like a witch, making it difficult to mock. Me and Kim ended up mocking her together earning a hard glare from her.

"Perfect. That's all I have to do. Is to be perfect," Kim muttered to herself. "If I'm perfect we win. If I'm not perfect we lose. Perfect, just perfect!"

"Kim," Gabby intervened. "Calm down. It's not the end of the world if we don't win."

"Easy for you to say. You've won gold medals," Kim scoffed.

"I'm proud of my gold medals, but I also have something else that's just as important," Gabby took out a Happy Town Arcade token.

"A Happy Town Arcade token?" Kim asked.

"Yeah. When my grandfather would pick me up from practice, he would take me to the Happy Town Arcade to play games," Gabby elaborated.

"Well, how did that help your gymnastics?" Kim asked.

"It didn't, but he wanted to teach Gabby that there had to be a balance between hard work and having fun," I answered, recalling one of the first things Gabby taught me.

"You know what, Gabby, Cami? You're right. I'm just gonna go out there and have fun," Kim decided.

"Yeah," I smiled.

"You know what I love to do before I compete?" Gabby asked.

"What?" Kim and I asked.

"I put on some music. Kinda shake things out a bit. Ya know? Get loose," Gabby said.

"Oh yeah. We did that once. The first day of training," I nodded. "Unfortunately we could only do it once."

"Why?" Kim asked.

"Carl, the custodian, broke the radio when he was shaking his 'groove thing'," I shuddered. Gabby walked over to the radio, turning it on. "No, I don't think that's a very good- and now I'm too late." Kim was doing her disturbing dance making Gabby turn the music back off.

"Ok, I think you're loose enough," Gabby assured. Kim walked over to the beam, giving me and Gabby a thumbs up to which we both returned. Kim performed the routine perfectly, up until the landing to which she landed on her butt, but me and Gabby cheered anyway. Kim jogged up to me and Gabby with a smile on her face just before a fight broke out. Seriously? Why does everything have to end in a fight? 3 guys grabbed the medals and started to make a run for it. Me, Gabby, and Kim got on the bars, taking a swing, knocking them down.

"Alright," Rudy nodded. "You guys got the medals back. A uh black belt sensei should probably guard these." Rudy put the medals over his head so they would rest on his chest before he snapped a selfie.

"Wow, Cami, Kim. That was awesome," Gabby beamed sharing a three way high five with us. "Hey judges. What d'you give that take down?" The judges held up 10s all around.

"Now that was fun," Kim laughed.

"I've been at thousands of gymnastics meets, but I'll never forget this one," Gabby smiled.

"And I'll never forget you Gabby," Kim promised.

"Hey Gabby. Wanna take a pic with the real winning team?" Claire cockily asked as I draped Jack's arm around my shoulder. I just realized me and Jack haven't had any physical contact in this episode yet.

"Definitely," Gabby agreed making me tilt my head in confusion. Gabby took a spot in the middle of our group making me smile.

"Squeeze in guys. Let's get a pic," Jack suggested making me wrap may arm around his and Milton's torsos for a good pic.

"Ready? And one, two, three," the photographer snapped a picture just as Rudy joined the picture with the two golden medals on his eyes. Of course.