Chapter 20
Allie wasn't quite herself after she broke up
with Aaron. It was noticeable to everyone, even her parents. That made Jules
worry more. If Allie's parents were noticing something was wrong, then something
was majorly wrong.
But, Allie wasn't saying much. She just kept throwing herself
into practice. If Allie had spare time, it was spent at practice.
Anyone who interviewed Allie or Aaron staid away from the
subject of the two of them dating. And, Jules was thankful for small favors.
Allie was a mess when it came to Aaron. If someone mentioned his name, tears
started welling up.
Jules didn't know quite what to do. In all her years of
knowing Allie and training Allie, something like this had never come up.
Allie had qualifications on the 15th. Jules knew that Allie
could breeze through things like the balance beam, floor exercise, and possibly
the vault with a clouded mind. But, Allie would end up needing a clear mind to
do the uneven bars. And right now, Allie's mind was a ways away from being
clear.
Like Jules predicted, Allie breezed through the floor
exercise and the balance beam. She was a little shaky on the vault. But, Allie
would only need the vault if she performed the all-around. And with the vault,
she'd only need them if she was in the all-around.
Before her uneven bars routine, the news filtered in that
Aaron Peirsol had accused some swimmer of cheating and taking the medal from
Brendan Hanson. Allie shook her head when she heard the news. Jules knew by the
look on Allie's face that the news was going to be on Allie's mind now.
"Allie, just concentrate. Don't think about anything else but
your routine. It's sad that Aaron did that, but there's nothing we can do. You
can't blame yourself for that." Jules said.
"Yeah I can. It's what I've been doing. It's how I am. I keep
trying to stop but I can't. I blame myself for everything." Allie said. "I blame
myself for losing the one man I cared for, and may even ever care for. I let my
want to keep my private life private get in the way of everything. Aaron wanted
to work things out, keep going through everything. I ran. I didn't care what
Aaron was doing or willing to do. I just turned and ran." Allie said.
There was silence as her name was called. Allie started over
to the uneven bars, but stopped and looked at Jules. "All my life, I've never
wanted to be like my parents. I never have. But, for the first time after years
of fighting it, I was like my parents. I became what my parents always wanted me
to be." She said that and then walked off.
Jules watched Allie breeze through the uneven bars. She
slowly pulled her cell phone out and dialed a number. "Nate, I need you to do
some recon for me."