Free Gold Medal Summer by Donna Freitas

something else entirely.”
    â€œOkay. Shoot.”
    â€œI need you to take me to the gym tonight.”
    â€œ That’s the secret? You have practice?”
    â€œNot exactly.”
    Julia perks up again. “Then why?”
    â€œMaureen is going to help me, ah, alter my floor and beam routines a bit.”
    â€œDoes Angelo know?” She sounds interested.
    â€œNo. That’s why it’s a secret.”
    Julia stands up, water streaming from her bathing suit and legs onto the patio, then grabs a towel and begins to dry off. “If it’s a favor for Coach, I’m in.” Julia still thinks of Maureen as her coach, not Angelo.
    â€œSo you’ll drive me?”
    â€œI will. Be ready in fifteen minutes,” she says, and heads inside to change.
    â€œIt’s a favor for me too,” I say softly, but she is already gone.
    Â 
    The parking lot at the gym is empty except for one other car — Maureen’s, I assume. Julia pulls the key from the ignition and the engine quiets. I’m about to get out, but before I can, my sister turns to me.
    â€œHow are you feeling about gymnastics lately?”
    It’s so silent that it sounds like Julia is shouting. Or maybe it seems this loud because I hate getting this kind of Big Assessment Question about my commitment to the sport from members of my family. “Why is everyone so obsessed with the possibility of my quitting this summer?” I say. “Other people might be thinking of quitting, but I’m not .”
    Julia gives me a look. “Calm down, Joey. It was just a simple question.”
    I huff and puff in the passenger seat for a few seconds. Simple it isn’t.
    Julia waits. When she decides I’m done freaking out, she goes on, “I wasn’t insinuating that you should quit. I only wanted to check in on how you’re doing. You were really upset after the last meet, and now we’re at the gym at night, when no one else is here, keeping secrets.”
    â€œMaureen’s here.”
    â€œObviously. But Angelo isn’t.”
    â€œJust a few minutes ago you were intrigued about defying Angelo, and now suddenly you’re not? This doesn’t have to be a we , you know. Just a me . You’re free to go. If you want,” I add quickly.
    â€œWould you like me to leave?”
    I shrug. “It’s up to you.”
    Julia sighs and looks at me in that I’m your older sister and I’m just trying to protect you way I’ve gotten used to after a lifetime of living with her. “I only want to make sure that you know what you are doing — what you’re getting yourself into. Angelo could kick you off the team if you’re going behind his back.”
    â€œI know. But I’m still going inside.”
    â€œWhy don’t I stay for a while, then? Until you see what’s going on?”
    â€œFine,” I sigh, like this is a burden, when really I kind of want Julia to stay. I complain a lot about getting compared to my older sister, the eternal Darling of the Gansett Stars, but somewhere deep inside, in a place I would never admit to having out loud, I occasionally let myself hope that Julia’s magic will rub off on me. That if I hang around her long enough at the gym, or if she hangs around me, then I’ll find out that Julia isn’t the only one with a special destiny, and it’s simply in the Jordan genes to win gold.
    â€œAre you coming or what?” Julia says. “You don’t want to be late for Maureen.”
    â€œAll right, all right,” I say, and we get out of the car.
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    Inside the gym, music is playing on the stereo.
    Poppy, upbeat music. Not classical. Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, movie soundtracks — that’s the kind of music that’s usually in the air when I’m here, because almost everyone uses classical music for their floor exercise routines these days. But this is different — the kind of