**********
Ashley's POV
Ten days after that, it was finally the day of the homecoming dance. I had my dress picked out- it was short and black, with a fuchsia stripe going diagonally across it. My shoes were simple black high heels, and I wore earrings and a bracelet that matched the fuchsia in the dress perfectly. On top of that, I no longer had to wear the knee brace.
Benji met me at the entrance of the school, and we walked towards the gym, where he offered to pay for my ticket. I obliged, but only under the condition that he would allow me to take him out for ice cream afterwards.
The dance itself really wasn't that much fun. The music was okay, but standing in a gymnasium filled with my sweaty peers wasn't exactly my cup of tea. I loved being with Benji, though, and that's why I had a good time. We danced for a minute, and then realized how stupid and boring dancing really is; so after that, we sat at a table for awhile and just talked. It felt right. I loved talked to Benji and getting to know him even more than I already had.
Finally, the dance ended. We walked to the ice cream shop, and after we had our ice cream (Benji had chocolate peanut butter; I had strawberry), we walked around in no particular direction, and eventually ended up in the park, where we walked on a path alongside the lake.
"Can I ask you a question?" Benji said.
"Sure." I responded.
"Okay. When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?" Benji inquired.
"An Olympic gymnast. I wanted to win the gold medal in individual and team all-around, and the gold in every event." As we walked, I saw Benji turn his head and smile widely at me. "Does my answer surprise you?"
"Not really. Not at all, actually."
I smiled back, and we kept walking.
"What about you?" I asked.
"Well, if you asked me what I want to be now, I'd say a rock star, as lame as it is."
"Benji, that's totally not lame at all. But what about ten years ago? Ten years ago, what did you want to be when you grew up?"
"That's easy," he said. "I wanted to be in the NFL."
"The NFL?" I inquired, a tone of disbelief in my voice.
"Yeah. I wanted to play football." Benji told me with a grin.
"Football?"
"Yep." He nodded.
It was silent for awhile, and I noticed that Benji and I had started to walk closer to each other. We were so close that our hands brushed each other when we walked.
"Can I ask you a question?" Benji said to me.
"Sure."
"I know you'll never be back in training again, and I know it's kind of a hard topic. But if you could go back and change that moment when you hurt your knee- if you could somehow turn back time and do that over and not get hurt… would you?"
I sighed, and thought about it. Part of me wants nothing more than to be back in training, wishing I was asleep right now, since I'd have to wake up early to train. The other part of me is thinking that maybe, in some way, this injury was meant to happen; after all, this is the year I'm applying to colleges, and I suppose being at a real school is easier (and that would not have happened had I continued training). Had I not been injured, I would've competed in the Olympics, and I might have even won a gold medal. But I also wouldn't have come to La Plata High. I never would've met Benji. I wouldn't be taking AP Physics, and I probably wouldn't be applying to Stanford- most likely, I'd be homeschooling, and then taking a class or two at the local community college. I had always dreamed of going to the Olympics, but I wanted to go to college (full-time!), too. If I don't get in to Stanford, I'll probably wish I could go back and change something, but if I do- will I feel the same way? I don't know.
"I don't know," I admitted. "Ask me again at graduation."
After that, we kept walking, in silence. Eventually, we had walked around the entire perimeter of the lake, and we were back where we started.
Sometime after that, I felt Benji interlace his fingers with mine. I expected it to be weird holding hands with him- after all, we went to the homecoming dance as friends- but in a strange way, it wasn't. I had been having such a good time with Benji, even just talking. I never used to like just walking around and talking, but I liked doing it with Benji. It wasn't like he was the first guy I ever hung out with; I had dated various boys from nearby and rival gyms, as well as my own, and some of the "relationships" lasted a few months, but none of them made me feel the way Benji did. Things always fell apart after the "newness" of the relationship faded away and I realized I wasn't really attracted to them.
Walking along the lake with Benji didn't feel awkward, but I felt an unfamiliar fluttering sensation in my stomach. None of the other boys I had ever dated caused me to feel this, and I wasn't sure I minded it. It was kind of nice.
"Hey Ashley?" He said, breaking the silence.
"Yeah?"
"If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you go?"
"Right now?" I said. He nodded. "I think I would stay right here. This moment- just being with you, here, talking- is really perfect." I smiled at him, and when he smiled back, my heart skipped a beat.
"Benji?" I said to him.
"What?"
"If you could do something really crazy right now, what would you do?" My heart was beating again, this time so loud and fast that I was surprised he couldn't hear it.
"I think I would kiss you," he responded nonchalantly.
"I think I would kiss you, too," I added.
And then, all of a sudden, we stopped walking. Benji turned to face me, pulled me in close, and kissed me. I was somewhat surprised, but I let him kiss me, and I kissed back. Something about the way our bodies fit together in that moment just felt natural. The moment was so perfect, and it felt like it would last forever. Benji and I were only friends, but something about that kiss made me wonder if it would change, and if I wanted it to.
There were so many things I wanted to think about right then, but I couldn't. I was too lost in the moment.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Chapter 3- Viva La Vida
**********
School was going well. Being in regular school was definitely different from being homeschooled, but I couldn't say I minded it. I liked not having all of the attention on me, and I liked not having the same teacher in the same room all day.
I was doing well in all of my classes, and had straight As. I had gotten a near-perfect score on the SAT the first time I took it, and it was time to start applying to colleges. I already knew my first choice was Stanford University, and was planning to apply early decision (which meant that if I got in, I would definitely be going). I already sent my SAT score to Stanford and to the other colleges I was applying to, but I needed to make sure my transcript and recommendation (my gymnastics coach was writing me a recommendation, seeing as he knew me so well, but I had to get a recommendation from the guidance counselor, too) would be sent, too.
So one day in October, at lunch, I said to Benji, "I have to go to the guidance counselor's office. Will you come with me?"
"Uh, sure." We had both finished eating, and he stood up.
"Thanks."
"Why do you need to go, anyway?" He inquired as we began walking.
"Well, I just wanted to make sure that she had sent out the forms for my college applications." I said.
"College applications? Already?"
"Yea, I know it's early, but I'm applying early decision to Stanford, so I need to get everything in by Halloween, basically."
"Wait, Stanford? That's like… really good, right?" Benji seemed pretty impressed.
"It's pretty good, I guess. It's my first choice, but I don't know if I'll get in."
"I'm sure you will," Benji reassured me. "You're really smart."
**********
A week after that, I got off crutches, although I still had to wear a large, fashionable black brace on my leg. The homecoming dance was coming soon, and I totally wanted to go.
On my first day without crutches, I was a little late for lunch, so I told Benji to save me a seat. As I walked over to his table, I heard him talking to Joel.
"Hey, what's up?" I said.
"Uh… nothing," Benji replied awkwardly.
"So Ashley," said Joel, "are you going to the homecoming dance?"
"Of course!" I told him. "I am so excited, you have no idea. I've never been to a real school dance before."
"It should be pretty fun," Joel told me. "Have you thought about who you're going with?"
"Not really. Do most people go with a date?" I wondered. I didn't want to be the only one going solo.
"Well, most people go with someone, you know? Even if it's not a date, a lot of girls go with a guy as friends or whatever."
"Oh yeah? Do you have a date yet?" I inquired.
"I do, but not everyone does." Joel's eyes quickly flashed to his brother; I wasn't sure if I was supposed to have noticed.
I nodded, and thought about who I might want to go with. Joel already had a date- probably the girl in his Spanish class that he was crushing on- and Paul and Billy had girlfriends that they were going with. There was a guy named Steven in my AP Calculus and AP Physics classes, who was pretty nice, but I thought he might be taken. I knew a few guys that trained at my old gym, but they were probably busy, you know, training. Besides, it would probably be weird to bring someone who didn't go to La Plata.
"Hey, uh, Ashley?" Benji said to me, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"What's up?" I said. Then, before he could respond, I had an idea. "Benji, do you want to go to homecoming with me?"
He seemed startled.
"Me? Really?"
"Well, as friends, but yes, of course. Do you want to go?"
"Yeah, yeah, I would love to."
"Great! I'm so excited. You have no idea how excited I am." I told Benji.
"Yeah, I am too.
It will be fun to go to the dance with Benji. Even though I see Joel, Billy, and Paul almost as much as I see Benji, I definitely feel like I know Benji the best. I no longer need someone to help me get to my classes, but Benji still walks with me almost all of the time. He always seems interested in what I have to say, in a nice-but-not-stalkerish way.
Benji's POV
I can't believe Ashley asked me to the dance. I mean, I guess I [/can/] believe, but still- I'm excited. I know she said it's "as friends", but I'm still in shock at the fact that she even thought to ask me. So many guys would kill to take her to the dance, but I'm the one that gets to do it. I feel so lucky. I mean, Ashley is gorgeous, intelligent, and really, really nice; she's also the only girl in the school that will talk to me, pretty much. I love spending time with her, and I love talking to her. I walk with her to almost all of her classes
I hope this turns out well. I want to be more than friends with Ashley, but I'm not so sure if she feels the same way.
"Hey, Mom, guess who Benji's going to homecoming with," Joel said to our mom when we were at dinner that night. I kicked him under the table and glared at him; he rolled his eyes.
"Benji, who are you going with?" she asked.
"Ashley," I muttered under my breath.
"What did you say?" she inquired.
"He's going with that new gymnast girl, Ashley Del Rossi. The one you made us bring the brownies too." Joel informed her, grinning proudly. I kicked him again.
"Benji, I'm very excited for you," my mom said to me, ignoring Joel.
"Thanks," I said. "Ashley's applying to Stanford University."
"Stanford? Really? She must be very smart."
"She is. She's a genius, and thanks to her tutoring me, I'm not failing math. Or even getting Cs."
"Benji, that's just wonderful. Now, I've got to go make a phone call; would you and Joel mind clearing off the table?"
"Sure, no problem."
When our mother was out of earshot, Joel said to me, "Wow. Ashley's smart and attractive. She's like your polar opposite."
"Dude," I said, "you just dissed yourself. We're twins. If I'm not attractive, then neither are you."
"Oh yeah. Good point."
School was going well. Being in regular school was definitely different from being homeschooled, but I couldn't say I minded it. I liked not having all of the attention on me, and I liked not having the same teacher in the same room all day.
I was doing well in all of my classes, and had straight As. I had gotten a near-perfect score on the SAT the first time I took it, and it was time to start applying to colleges. I already knew my first choice was Stanford University, and was planning to apply early decision (which meant that if I got in, I would definitely be going). I already sent my SAT score to Stanford and to the other colleges I was applying to, but I needed to make sure my transcript and recommendation (my gymnastics coach was writing me a recommendation, seeing as he knew me so well, but I had to get a recommendation from the guidance counselor, too) would be sent, too.
So one day in October, at lunch, I said to Benji, "I have to go to the guidance counselor's office. Will you come with me?"
"Uh, sure." We had both finished eating, and he stood up.
"Thanks."
"Why do you need to go, anyway?" He inquired as we began walking.
"Well, I just wanted to make sure that she had sent out the forms for my college applications." I said.
"College applications? Already?"
"Yea, I know it's early, but I'm applying early decision to Stanford, so I need to get everything in by Halloween, basically."
"Wait, Stanford? That's like… really good, right?" Benji seemed pretty impressed.
"It's pretty good, I guess. It's my first choice, but I don't know if I'll get in."
"I'm sure you will," Benji reassured me. "You're really smart."
**********
A week after that, I got off crutches, although I still had to wear a large, fashionable black brace on my leg. The homecoming dance was coming soon, and I totally wanted to go.
On my first day without crutches, I was a little late for lunch, so I told Benji to save me a seat. As I walked over to his table, I heard him talking to Joel.
"Hey, what's up?" I said.
"Uh… nothing," Benji replied awkwardly.
"So Ashley," said Joel, "are you going to the homecoming dance?"
"Of course!" I told him. "I am so excited, you have no idea. I've never been to a real school dance before."
"It should be pretty fun," Joel told me. "Have you thought about who you're going with?"
"Not really. Do most people go with a date?" I wondered. I didn't want to be the only one going solo.
"Well, most people go with someone, you know? Even if it's not a date, a lot of girls go with a guy as friends or whatever."
"Oh yeah? Do you have a date yet?" I inquired.
"I do, but not everyone does." Joel's eyes quickly flashed to his brother; I wasn't sure if I was supposed to have noticed.
I nodded, and thought about who I might want to go with. Joel already had a date- probably the girl in his Spanish class that he was crushing on- and Paul and Billy had girlfriends that they were going with. There was a guy named Steven in my AP Calculus and AP Physics classes, who was pretty nice, but I thought he might be taken. I knew a few guys that trained at my old gym, but they were probably busy, you know, training. Besides, it would probably be weird to bring someone who didn't go to La Plata.
"Hey, uh, Ashley?" Benji said to me, bringing me out of my thoughts.
"What's up?" I said. Then, before he could respond, I had an idea. "Benji, do you want to go to homecoming with me?"
He seemed startled.
"Me? Really?"
"Well, as friends, but yes, of course. Do you want to go?"
"Yeah, yeah, I would love to."
"Great! I'm so excited. You have no idea how excited I am." I told Benji.
"Yeah, I am too.
It will be fun to go to the dance with Benji. Even though I see Joel, Billy, and Paul almost as much as I see Benji, I definitely feel like I know Benji the best. I no longer need someone to help me get to my classes, but Benji still walks with me almost all of the time. He always seems interested in what I have to say, in a nice-but-not-stalkerish way.
Benji's POV
I can't believe Ashley asked me to the dance. I mean, I guess I [/can/] believe, but still- I'm excited. I know she said it's "as friends", but I'm still in shock at the fact that she even thought to ask me. So many guys would kill to take her to the dance, but I'm the one that gets to do it. I feel so lucky. I mean, Ashley is gorgeous, intelligent, and really, really nice; she's also the only girl in the school that will talk to me, pretty much. I love spending time with her, and I love talking to her. I walk with her to almost all of her classes
I hope this turns out well. I want to be more than friends with Ashley, but I'm not so sure if she feels the same way.
"Hey, Mom, guess who Benji's going to homecoming with," Joel said to our mom when we were at dinner that night. I kicked him under the table and glared at him; he rolled his eyes.
"Benji, who are you going with?" she asked.
"Ashley," I muttered under my breath.
"What did you say?" she inquired.
"He's going with that new gymnast girl, Ashley Del Rossi. The one you made us bring the brownies too." Joel informed her, grinning proudly. I kicked him again.
"Benji, I'm very excited for you," my mom said to me, ignoring Joel.
"Thanks," I said. "Ashley's applying to Stanford University."
"Stanford? Really? She must be very smart."
"She is. She's a genius, and thanks to her tutoring me, I'm not failing math. Or even getting Cs."
"Benji, that's just wonderful. Now, I've got to go make a phone call; would you and Joel mind clearing off the table?"
"Sure, no problem."
When our mother was out of earshot, Joel said to me, "Wow. Ashley's smart and attractive. She's like your polar opposite."
"Dude," I said, "you just dissed yourself. We're twins. If I'm not attractive, then neither are you."
"Oh yeah. Good point."
Chapter 2- Change
**********
Still Benji's POV
Two hours later, the brownies were ready. My mom put them in a box, and I got ready to go.
"Joel, you want to come?" I asked him.
"Absolutely," he said.
So Joel got his shoes on,
"Hi, can I help you?" A woman said, answering the door.
"Hi, I'm Benji." I introduced myself.
"I'm Joel," Joel said.
"We're friends of Ashley from school, and we just wanted to bring these over to welcome her to the school," I explained, indicating the brownies.
"Oh, well, that's very nice. Why don't you come in? Ashley is in the living room."
"Thanks," I said, and Joel and I followed the woman (who must've been Ashley's mom) inside and to the living room.
"Ashley," she said," these two boys are here to see you."
"Hey, Benji. Hey- Joel?" Ashley greeted us. I guess she wasn't quite sure of my brother's name.
"Hey, Ash," I said.
"So what's up? What brings you over here?" Ashley asked us.
"Our mom wanted us to bring you these brownies to welcome you to the school. It's totally cheesy, I know, but-"
"No, no, it's nice. I love brownies," she smiled.
"Hey, you know, I used to do gymnastics," I told Ashley. It's true, except I did gymnastics when I was about five years old. "I'm really good at handstands." I'm also really good at math, and if you can't tell, I'm really good at sarcasm.
"Really?" she looked interested. I wondered if she could tell that I was exaggerating a bit. "Can I see?"
Joel raised an eyebrow at me.
"Sure," I replied. I hadn't done a handstand in about ten years, but I did one anyway.
Well, I tried to do it. I failed.
"That was very nice, Benji," Ashley said. I could tell she was amused.
**********
Ashley's POV
The rest of the week passed by surprisingly quickly. All of my classes were interesting, and it was really awesome being with Benji. He's pretty funny. He thinks he's an idiot, but he's really not, and he's pretty charming, too.
Friday came, and I couldn't be happier when it was the end of the day. I was at my locker (which, thankfully, was on the first floor) when Benji ran over to me.
"Hey!" I said.
"Hey! What's up?"
"Not much, I'm just so incredibly glad it's the weekend. What about you?"
"Same. Can I ask you a really, really, big favor?" Benji pleaded.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Well, math is really, really, hard for me, and I'm not doing very well, and I was wondering if you could maybe help me, seeing as you're in AP Calculus so I'm sure you already know all this dumb pre-calculus stuff."
"Pre-calculus isn't dumb, but sure, I'll help you. When do you want to start?"
"Well, we have a test on Monday, and I don't really want to fail it, so maybe today?"
He said hopefully.
"I'm sure you won't fail it, but that sounds great. Why don't you come over to my house and we can go over whatever you need to for the test?" I suggested.
"Uh- okay, sure," Benji replied. He looked a little shocked at what I had said.
**********
"So the limit of the function f of x as x goes to zero is what?" I asked.
"Uh… one?"
"Awesome! Benji, you totally know limits. Let's take a break now. It's almost 6:00," I said.
Soon, my mom came in to my room.
"Ashley," she said, "it's almost time for dinner. Are you going to say the prayers?"
"Um, sure. Hey, can Benji stay for dinner? I know it's Shabbat, but-"
"Of course, Ashley, of course," she said. "I'll go set an extra place for him." She left.
"What's Shabbat?" Benji asked, once she had closed the door.
"The Sabbath, it's the Jewish day of rest. It begins Friday at sundown and ends at sundown on Saturday. My family is reform Jewish, but we do Shabbat dinner every Friday night. It's just a tradition."
"That's really cool. But can I say, I'm a little surprised you're Jewish. Del Rossi isn't exactly a Jewish-sounding name."
"I know. My dad's not Jewish, but my mom is, so they raised me Jewish."
"That's pretty cool."
"So I'm guessing you've never been to a Shabbat dinner before?" I asked.
"Nope. But I'm sure it'll be good."
**********
Benji's POV
Eventually, Ashley and I decided that we'd do our tutoring sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays, for an hour or however long it took to go over the material.
I got home that night at around 7:30. When I walked in the door, Joel came down the stairs.
"So how'd it go?" He asked.
"How'd what go?"
"Ashley 'tutoring' you. How'd it go?"
"It went fine, Joel, and I have no clue why you're so excited," I told him, point blank.
"Dude, whatever. It's so obvious, whatever."
Huh? What was he talking about? What was so obvious?
By the time I said, "What's so obvious?", Joel had already headed into the kitchen.
**********
The next Tuesday, after math, I met Ashley outside of room 111.
"Hey," I said.
"Hey! What's up?" She said, and started walking in the general direction of her locker.
"Nothing, really, uh, I was just wondering. You're tutoring me today, right?"
"Yeah, that's the plan. Do you want to come over to my house again?" She suggested.
"Actually, I was thinking maybe you could come over to my house, and maybe stay for dinner? My mom really wants to meet you."
"That sounds great," she said.
**********
Ashley's POV
"So what did you get?" I asked Benji.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes!"
"Are you really sure?"
"Yes! Come on, tell me!"
"Alright, fine." Benji fished the test out of his backpack and showed it to me.
"Eighty-eight percent! Benji, that's great. I'm so proud of you."
"It's all thanks to you," he said. I smiled.
Still Benji's POV
Two hours later, the brownies were ready. My mom put them in a box, and I got ready to go.
"Joel, you want to come?" I asked him.
"Absolutely," he said.
So Joel got his shoes on,
"Hi, can I help you?" A woman said, answering the door.
"Hi, I'm Benji." I introduced myself.
"I'm Joel," Joel said.
"We're friends of Ashley from school, and we just wanted to bring these over to welcome her to the school," I explained, indicating the brownies.
"Oh, well, that's very nice. Why don't you come in? Ashley is in the living room."
"Thanks," I said, and Joel and I followed the woman (who must've been Ashley's mom) inside and to the living room.
"Ashley," she said," these two boys are here to see you."
"Hey, Benji. Hey- Joel?" Ashley greeted us. I guess she wasn't quite sure of my brother's name.
"Hey, Ash," I said.
"So what's up? What brings you over here?" Ashley asked us.
"Our mom wanted us to bring you these brownies to welcome you to the school. It's totally cheesy, I know, but-"
"No, no, it's nice. I love brownies," she smiled.
"Hey, you know, I used to do gymnastics," I told Ashley. It's true, except I did gymnastics when I was about five years old. "I'm really good at handstands." I'm also really good at math, and if you can't tell, I'm really good at sarcasm.
"Really?" she looked interested. I wondered if she could tell that I was exaggerating a bit. "Can I see?"
Joel raised an eyebrow at me.
"Sure," I replied. I hadn't done a handstand in about ten years, but I did one anyway.
Well, I tried to do it. I failed.
"That was very nice, Benji," Ashley said. I could tell she was amused.
**********
Ashley's POV
The rest of the week passed by surprisingly quickly. All of my classes were interesting, and it was really awesome being with Benji. He's pretty funny. He thinks he's an idiot, but he's really not, and he's pretty charming, too.
Friday came, and I couldn't be happier when it was the end of the day. I was at my locker (which, thankfully, was on the first floor) when Benji ran over to me.
"Hey!" I said.
"Hey! What's up?"
"Not much, I'm just so incredibly glad it's the weekend. What about you?"
"Same. Can I ask you a really, really, big favor?" Benji pleaded.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Well, math is really, really, hard for me, and I'm not doing very well, and I was wondering if you could maybe help me, seeing as you're in AP Calculus so I'm sure you already know all this dumb pre-calculus stuff."
"Pre-calculus isn't dumb, but sure, I'll help you. When do you want to start?"
"Well, we have a test on Monday, and I don't really want to fail it, so maybe today?"
He said hopefully.
"I'm sure you won't fail it, but that sounds great. Why don't you come over to my house and we can go over whatever you need to for the test?" I suggested.
"Uh- okay, sure," Benji replied. He looked a little shocked at what I had said.
**********
"So the limit of the function f of x as x goes to zero is what?" I asked.
"Uh… one?"
"Awesome! Benji, you totally know limits. Let's take a break now. It's almost 6:00," I said.
Soon, my mom came in to my room.
"Ashley," she said, "it's almost time for dinner. Are you going to say the prayers?"
"Um, sure. Hey, can Benji stay for dinner? I know it's Shabbat, but-"
"Of course, Ashley, of course," she said. "I'll go set an extra place for him." She left.
"What's Shabbat?" Benji asked, once she had closed the door.
"The Sabbath, it's the Jewish day of rest. It begins Friday at sundown and ends at sundown on Saturday. My family is reform Jewish, but we do Shabbat dinner every Friday night. It's just a tradition."
"That's really cool. But can I say, I'm a little surprised you're Jewish. Del Rossi isn't exactly a Jewish-sounding name."
"I know. My dad's not Jewish, but my mom is, so they raised me Jewish."
"That's pretty cool."
"So I'm guessing you've never been to a Shabbat dinner before?" I asked.
"Nope. But I'm sure it'll be good."
**********
Benji's POV
Eventually, Ashley and I decided that we'd do our tutoring sessions on Tuesdays and Fridays, for an hour or however long it took to go over the material.
I got home that night at around 7:30. When I walked in the door, Joel came down the stairs.
"So how'd it go?" He asked.
"How'd what go?"
"Ashley 'tutoring' you. How'd it go?"
"It went fine, Joel, and I have no clue why you're so excited," I told him, point blank.
"Dude, whatever. It's so obvious, whatever."
Huh? What was he talking about? What was so obvious?
By the time I said, "What's so obvious?", Joel had already headed into the kitchen.
**********
The next Tuesday, after math, I met Ashley outside of room 111.
"Hey," I said.
"Hey! What's up?" She said, and started walking in the general direction of her locker.
"Nothing, really, uh, I was just wondering. You're tutoring me today, right?"
"Yeah, that's the plan. Do you want to come over to my house again?" She suggested.
"Actually, I was thinking maybe you could come over to my house, and maybe stay for dinner? My mom really wants to meet you."
"That sounds great," she said.
**********
Ashley's POV
"So what did you get?" I asked Benji.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yes!"
"Are you really sure?"
"Yes! Come on, tell me!"
"Alright, fine." Benji fished the test out of his backpack and showed it to me.
"Eighty-eight percent! Benji, that's great. I'm so proud of you."
"It's all thanks to you," he said. I smiled.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Chapter 1- This Is It
**********
This is it, I thought. This is the moment I've been waiting for my entire life, or at least since I was 3, which is when I started doing gymnastics. The past 14 years of my life have all lead up to this moment.
This is it. The 1996 United States of American Women's Artistic Gymnastics Olympic Trials. It was the first event- vault- and I, Ashley Marie Del Rossi, was up first.
The vault was a double back pike Yurchenko- my favorite vault ever. The judges announced my name. I saluted and they showed the green flag… and I ran down the runway. I hurdled- I did a round-off onto the springboard- hands onto the vault- double back pike flip- and I landed.
But then my left knee gave out- it twisted, and I fell over. I tried to stand back up, but my leg wouldn't support my weight. Something was wrong. Something was really, really wrong, but I'd be okay.
Apparently, my coach, Morgan Johnson, didn't think I'd be okay, because he came running over to me. And the only time a coach ever does something like that is if something is really, really wrong.
"Ashley, what happened?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
"I landed the vault, and then my knee gave out- it, like, twisted- and then I fell over, and I tried to stand up, but I couldn't, and it felt like my calf wasn't connected to my thigh." I explained. "But I'm going to be okay to compete, I promise. I'm not going to not compete in the rest of the events because of one stupid fall on vault." Hey, I'm a gymnast, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's to suck it up.
"Alright, well, let's get you over to the chairs so you can sit down." So Morgan helped me limp over to a chair, where I sat down.
"Ashley, I'm not so sure you should be competing like this," he told me. "You couldn't even stand up. How do you expect to tumble?"
"No, I'll be fine," I told him.
"I think you should get this looked at. Your knee is already swollen."
"Seriously, it's not that bad. It doesn't even hurt any more. I'm gonna go get my grips." I stood up, and tried to walk, but couldn't put any weight on my injured knee. "I can't stop now. This is the Olympic Trials! This is the most important meet ever."
"Ashley, you have to stop. If you compete the rest of the meet, it'll only get worse. I'm going to get your parents, and I'm going to suggest that they take you to the nearest emergency room."
"But what about-" I began, but Morgan was already on the phone- "the rest of the meet?" I finished feebly.
**********
The emergency room doctors gave me a knee brace and said no bones were broken, but they weren't sure what was wrong, so they told me to have an MRI back in my hometown in Maryland. Ten days later, I had the MRI, and six days after that, at my next orthopedist appointment, I got the diagnosis of my injury.
"Ashley, the MRI confirms that you have indeed torn your anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. A torn ACL can only be repaired by surgery. Because you have finished growing, we will be taking a graft from your own patellar tendon, which is in the front of the knee," the doctor held up a model of a knee, "and using it to repair the ACL. You will be on crutches and wearing a knee brace up to a month after the surgery, and you will be in physical therapy for about six months."
"How long till I can start training again?" I asked. It was the only thing I cared about.
"Ashley," my mom, who was with me, said, "your father and I discussed this with Dr. Wilson, and we all feel that it's probably not a good idea for you to go back to training again. It'll just be too tough on your body, and I don't want you to get injured again, and if you were to go back, there's a pretty good chance you'd get hurt again. And you need to start thinking about where you want to go to college, and your father and I thought it would be really good for you to go to school this year. We just don't feel it would be safe or smart for you to go back to training."
"Don't I have a say in this?"
"We just can't let you go train. It's not safe. It's not a good idea," my mom repeated.
"I agree with your mother," Dr. Wilson said. "Going back to gymnastics just isn't safe."
**********
Finally, it was Tuesday, September 4th, 1996- my first day of school. I was to be a senior at La Plata High School. It was my first day at a real school since I was 12; starting in seventh grade, I was home-schooled, so I could have more time to train. I had had the surgery to repair my ACL two weeks previously, but was still on crutches.
When I got to school, my mom helped me find the main office, and then I told her I wanted to do the rest on my own, so I did. I went up to the secretary and introduced myself, and she gave me my schedule, locker number, and locker combination. She also told me that for the first week, while I was still on crutches, they'd assigned me a "buddy", who was in most of my classes, to help me find everything and get around. She said his name was Benjamin. I wondered if Benjamin was a loser. He probably was, I told myself.
Soon enough, a dark-haired boy walked in to the office and said, "Hi, I'm Benjamin, I'm here to meet Ashley?" he finished, as if it was a question. Benjamin had dark brown hair and eyes, and wore all black clothing, a padlock necklace, and the rattiest black Converse sneakers I have ever seen.
"I'm Ashley," I said.
"I'm Benjamin, but you can call me Benji. I guess I'll be helping you get used to things and I'll help you carry your books, or whatever. What happened to your leg?"
"What, you didn't hear?" From the stares and whispers I'd gotten as I'd walked in to the school, it seemed as if most people knew who I was, and what had happened.
"Um, no, actually."
"I was at the Olympic Trials, and I tore a ligament in my knee." There had indeed been an article in the local newspaper about my injury.
"Wow. Wait, Olympic Trials?"
"Gymnastics," I nodded. "And had I not been injured, I probably would've gone to the Olympics, and I would've been one of the 'Magnificent Seven', you know, with the gold medals, but obviously things didn't go as planned."
"Wow. Um, well, let's get to your first class. What do you have?"
"Um, first period," I glanced at my schedule, "it looks like I have French 4 with Madame Legrande, in room 142."
"Sweet, we're in French together. Follow me."
**********
The first three periods- French 4, American History, and Art 1- I all had with Benji. He was in my fourth period class, too.
"Gym?" I said, looking at my schedule. "I can't do gym, look at me."
"Don't worry. Nothing's going to be happening today, they'll just be assigning lockers, so while everyone is doing that, I guess you should probably go up to the teacher, and she'll help you get a study hall at the same time."
So when it was time, I took Benji's advice, and went up to the gym teacher, an upper-middle-aged woman, Mrs. Brown.
"Um, hi," I said. "I'm new here, I'm Ashley Del Rossi. See, they put gym on my schedule, but I can't really do gym class right now, and my friend said I should talk to you to get put in a study hall."
"Of course, Ashley. Tomorrow, bring in a doctor's note to the office, explaining that you need to get out of gym, and the secretary will print you a new schedule. But I do hope that this winter, you'll be well enough to join the La Plata High gymnastics team."
"Actually, I'm not eligible to compete in high school gymnastics because I've competed at the international level." Actually, I'm not allowed to compete because I've torn my ACL.
"Oh, well, that's too bad," Mrs. Brown said.
**********
The next period was lunch for Benji and I both. As we walked in to the cafeteria, everyone stared at me.
"Let's go sit over there," Benji suggested, pointing to a table in the corner. "That's where my friends and I always sat last year. My friends should be here soon." I followed him to the table, and we sat down.
I saw three guys, all dressed in black like Benji- one of them even looked like Benji- talking to each other and pointing at me, and walking towards our table.
"Yo, Benji, is this the new girl? The gymnast?" The boy who looked like Benji asked.
"Yeah, this is Ashley Del Rossi," Benji said.
"Hi," I said. "I'm Ashley. What are your names?" I asked.
"I'm Billy," said the one sitting to the left of Benji (I was sitting to Benji's right).
"I'm Paul," said the one sitting across from Benji.
"I'm Joel," the last one, was sat across from me, said.
"Benji, are you and Joel-"
"Yes, we're twins," Benji finished for me. "Sometimes we even-"
"-finish each other's sentences," Joel said.
"Cool."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, except for when Joel's being an idiot," said Benji. "But anyways. What about you? What do you think of La Plata so far?"
"It's pretty cool. I was homeschooled for the last five years, though, so this is pretty different."
"Why were you homeschooled?" Paul asked me.
"I was training for six hours a day. I didn't have time to go to regular school." I explained.
"Oh. So how long until you can do gymnastics again?"
"Oh, actually, I can't go back. I had to stop."
"That sucks," Billy interjected.
"Yeah, but, whatever," I shrugged.
**********
Right after lunch, I went to AP Physics in room 202; Benji went to regular Physics next door in room 203. Then, we both went to English 12 in room 312 (because I was on crutches, we were allowed to use the elevator). Finally, it was time for the last period of the day.
"So what class do you have now?" Benji asked me.
"AP Calculus in room 111. Are you in my class?"
"Um, no, actually," he laughed. "I stink at math. I'm in Pre-Calculus with the juniors. But it looks like our classes our near each other- I'm in room 108- so I can help you find your class."
"Thanks," I said.
"You're welcome."
**********
Benji's POV
That day, Joel and I walked home from school, and, as usual, sat down at the kitchen counter.
"So, Benji, what do you think of Ashley?" Joel asked me.
"She's cool," I said. "She's really smart. She's taking AP Calculus and AP Physics."
"Wow."
"I know. And in French, she started speaking, like, fluently, in French!"
"Impressive. But, what do you think of her?"
"What?"
"Dude, she was almost in the Olympics!" Joel exclaimed. "And she's hot."
"Yeah, I guess." I said, trying to sound casual. Ashley was hot.
A few minutes later, my mom came in to the kitchen.
"Hi, boys, how was your first day of school?"
"Good. Guess what? You know how I got recruited to be a 'buddy' for a new student? Guess who it is?" I said, excited.
"Who?"
"Ashley Del Rossi- you know, the gymnast!"
"Wow, Benji, that's great," she said. "You know, I was thinking, does she live far from here?"
"No, like right around the block. Why?"
"I think you should go over to her house, and bring her something. To welcome her to the school."
"Mom," Joel interjected, "she's not a new neighbor, or anything. She's lived in Waldorf for years. She's just new to the school." Our mom did, in fact, make us introduce ourselves and bring something over- usually baked goods- every time someone new moved in.
"Joel, it's always a nice thing to go over and introduce yourself, to really welcome someone."
"We've already met her," said Joel.
"Benji, will you please go over to Ashley's house? I think it would be really nice. I'm going to bake some brownies, and I want you to bring them over."
"Um. Okay." I said.
This is it, I thought. This is the moment I've been waiting for my entire life, or at least since I was 3, which is when I started doing gymnastics. The past 14 years of my life have all lead up to this moment.
This is it. The 1996 United States of American Women's Artistic Gymnastics Olympic Trials. It was the first event- vault- and I, Ashley Marie Del Rossi, was up first.
The vault was a double back pike Yurchenko- my favorite vault ever. The judges announced my name. I saluted and they showed the green flag… and I ran down the runway. I hurdled- I did a round-off onto the springboard- hands onto the vault- double back pike flip- and I landed.
But then my left knee gave out- it twisted, and I fell over. I tried to stand back up, but my leg wouldn't support my weight. Something was wrong. Something was really, really wrong, but I'd be okay.
Apparently, my coach, Morgan Johnson, didn't think I'd be okay, because he came running over to me. And the only time a coach ever does something like that is if something is really, really wrong.
"Ashley, what happened?" he asked. "Are you okay?"
"I landed the vault, and then my knee gave out- it, like, twisted- and then I fell over, and I tried to stand up, but I couldn't, and it felt like my calf wasn't connected to my thigh." I explained. "But I'm going to be okay to compete, I promise. I'm not going to not compete in the rest of the events because of one stupid fall on vault." Hey, I'm a gymnast, and if there's one thing I've learned, it's to suck it up.
"Alright, well, let's get you over to the chairs so you can sit down." So Morgan helped me limp over to a chair, where I sat down.
"Ashley, I'm not so sure you should be competing like this," he told me. "You couldn't even stand up. How do you expect to tumble?"
"No, I'll be fine," I told him.
"I think you should get this looked at. Your knee is already swollen."
"Seriously, it's not that bad. It doesn't even hurt any more. I'm gonna go get my grips." I stood up, and tried to walk, but couldn't put any weight on my injured knee. "I can't stop now. This is the Olympic Trials! This is the most important meet ever."
"Ashley, you have to stop. If you compete the rest of the meet, it'll only get worse. I'm going to get your parents, and I'm going to suggest that they take you to the nearest emergency room."
"But what about-" I began, but Morgan was already on the phone- "the rest of the meet?" I finished feebly.
**********
The emergency room doctors gave me a knee brace and said no bones were broken, but they weren't sure what was wrong, so they told me to have an MRI back in my hometown in Maryland. Ten days later, I had the MRI, and six days after that, at my next orthopedist appointment, I got the diagnosis of my injury.
"Ashley, the MRI confirms that you have indeed torn your anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL. A torn ACL can only be repaired by surgery. Because you have finished growing, we will be taking a graft from your own patellar tendon, which is in the front of the knee," the doctor held up a model of a knee, "and using it to repair the ACL. You will be on crutches and wearing a knee brace up to a month after the surgery, and you will be in physical therapy for about six months."
"How long till I can start training again?" I asked. It was the only thing I cared about.
"Ashley," my mom, who was with me, said, "your father and I discussed this with Dr. Wilson, and we all feel that it's probably not a good idea for you to go back to training again. It'll just be too tough on your body, and I don't want you to get injured again, and if you were to go back, there's a pretty good chance you'd get hurt again. And you need to start thinking about where you want to go to college, and your father and I thought it would be really good for you to go to school this year. We just don't feel it would be safe or smart for you to go back to training."
"Don't I have a say in this?"
"We just can't let you go train. It's not safe. It's not a good idea," my mom repeated.
"I agree with your mother," Dr. Wilson said. "Going back to gymnastics just isn't safe."
**********
Finally, it was Tuesday, September 4th, 1996- my first day of school. I was to be a senior at La Plata High School. It was my first day at a real school since I was 12; starting in seventh grade, I was home-schooled, so I could have more time to train. I had had the surgery to repair my ACL two weeks previously, but was still on crutches.
When I got to school, my mom helped me find the main office, and then I told her I wanted to do the rest on my own, so I did. I went up to the secretary and introduced myself, and she gave me my schedule, locker number, and locker combination. She also told me that for the first week, while I was still on crutches, they'd assigned me a "buddy", who was in most of my classes, to help me find everything and get around. She said his name was Benjamin. I wondered if Benjamin was a loser. He probably was, I told myself.
Soon enough, a dark-haired boy walked in to the office and said, "Hi, I'm Benjamin, I'm here to meet Ashley?" he finished, as if it was a question. Benjamin had dark brown hair and eyes, and wore all black clothing, a padlock necklace, and the rattiest black Converse sneakers I have ever seen.
"I'm Ashley," I said.
"I'm Benjamin, but you can call me Benji. I guess I'll be helping you get used to things and I'll help you carry your books, or whatever. What happened to your leg?"
"What, you didn't hear?" From the stares and whispers I'd gotten as I'd walked in to the school, it seemed as if most people knew who I was, and what had happened.
"Um, no, actually."
"I was at the Olympic Trials, and I tore a ligament in my knee." There had indeed been an article in the local newspaper about my injury.
"Wow. Wait, Olympic Trials?"
"Gymnastics," I nodded. "And had I not been injured, I probably would've gone to the Olympics, and I would've been one of the 'Magnificent Seven', you know, with the gold medals, but obviously things didn't go as planned."
"Wow. Um, well, let's get to your first class. What do you have?"
"Um, first period," I glanced at my schedule, "it looks like I have French 4 with Madame Legrande, in room 142."
"Sweet, we're in French together. Follow me."
**********
The first three periods- French 4, American History, and Art 1- I all had with Benji. He was in my fourth period class, too.
"Gym?" I said, looking at my schedule. "I can't do gym, look at me."
"Don't worry. Nothing's going to be happening today, they'll just be assigning lockers, so while everyone is doing that, I guess you should probably go up to the teacher, and she'll help you get a study hall at the same time."
So when it was time, I took Benji's advice, and went up to the gym teacher, an upper-middle-aged woman, Mrs. Brown.
"Um, hi," I said. "I'm new here, I'm Ashley Del Rossi. See, they put gym on my schedule, but I can't really do gym class right now, and my friend said I should talk to you to get put in a study hall."
"Of course, Ashley. Tomorrow, bring in a doctor's note to the office, explaining that you need to get out of gym, and the secretary will print you a new schedule. But I do hope that this winter, you'll be well enough to join the La Plata High gymnastics team."
"Actually, I'm not eligible to compete in high school gymnastics because I've competed at the international level." Actually, I'm not allowed to compete because I've torn my ACL.
"Oh, well, that's too bad," Mrs. Brown said.
**********
The next period was lunch for Benji and I both. As we walked in to the cafeteria, everyone stared at me.
"Let's go sit over there," Benji suggested, pointing to a table in the corner. "That's where my friends and I always sat last year. My friends should be here soon." I followed him to the table, and we sat down.
I saw three guys, all dressed in black like Benji- one of them even looked like Benji- talking to each other and pointing at me, and walking towards our table.
"Yo, Benji, is this the new girl? The gymnast?" The boy who looked like Benji asked.
"Yeah, this is Ashley Del Rossi," Benji said.
"Hi," I said. "I'm Ashley. What are your names?" I asked.
"I'm Billy," said the one sitting to the left of Benji (I was sitting to Benji's right).
"I'm Paul," said the one sitting across from Benji.
"I'm Joel," the last one, was sat across from me, said.
"Benji, are you and Joel-"
"Yes, we're twins," Benji finished for me. "Sometimes we even-"
"-finish each other's sentences," Joel said.
"Cool."
"Yeah, it's pretty cool, except for when Joel's being an idiot," said Benji. "But anyways. What about you? What do you think of La Plata so far?"
"It's pretty cool. I was homeschooled for the last five years, though, so this is pretty different."
"Why were you homeschooled?" Paul asked me.
"I was training for six hours a day. I didn't have time to go to regular school." I explained.
"Oh. So how long until you can do gymnastics again?"
"Oh, actually, I can't go back. I had to stop."
"That sucks," Billy interjected.
"Yeah, but, whatever," I shrugged.
**********
Right after lunch, I went to AP Physics in room 202; Benji went to regular Physics next door in room 203. Then, we both went to English 12 in room 312 (because I was on crutches, we were allowed to use the elevator). Finally, it was time for the last period of the day.
"So what class do you have now?" Benji asked me.
"AP Calculus in room 111. Are you in my class?"
"Um, no, actually," he laughed. "I stink at math. I'm in Pre-Calculus with the juniors. But it looks like our classes our near each other- I'm in room 108- so I can help you find your class."
"Thanks," I said.
"You're welcome."
**********
Benji's POV
That day, Joel and I walked home from school, and, as usual, sat down at the kitchen counter.
"So, Benji, what do you think of Ashley?" Joel asked me.
"She's cool," I said. "She's really smart. She's taking AP Calculus and AP Physics."
"Wow."
"I know. And in French, she started speaking, like, fluently, in French!"
"Impressive. But, what do you think of her?"
"What?"
"Dude, she was almost in the Olympics!" Joel exclaimed. "And she's hot."
"Yeah, I guess." I said, trying to sound casual. Ashley was hot.
A few minutes later, my mom came in to the kitchen.
"Hi, boys, how was your first day of school?"
"Good. Guess what? You know how I got recruited to be a 'buddy' for a new student? Guess who it is?" I said, excited.
"Who?"
"Ashley Del Rossi- you know, the gymnast!"
"Wow, Benji, that's great," she said. "You know, I was thinking, does she live far from here?"
"No, like right around the block. Why?"
"I think you should go over to her house, and bring her something. To welcome her to the school."
"Mom," Joel interjected, "she's not a new neighbor, or anything. She's lived in Waldorf for years. She's just new to the school." Our mom did, in fact, make us introduce ourselves and bring something over- usually baked goods- every time someone new moved in.
"Joel, it's always a nice thing to go over and introduce yourself, to really welcome someone."
"We've already met her," said Joel.
"Benji, will you please go over to Ashley's house? I think it would be really nice. I'm going to bake some brownies, and I want you to bring them over."
"Um. Okay." I said.
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