15. Anna

Anna

N adia's parents were pieces of shit. I'd heard rumors over the years that they were rude, entitled snobs, but it hadn't occurred to me that they'd treat their daughter so badly. My mother wasn't the best parent in the world, and she'd never really understood my love of gymnastics, but she was still proud of me and celebrated every accomplishment. I had no doubt she'd texted my phone already to say congratulations since she couldn't afford to come to Paris to watch the team compete live.

My vision of Nadia as a pampered princess crumbled under her mother's criticism. A lifetime of emotional abuse and never measuring up to impossible standards went a long way towards explaining Nadia's sunny and people pleasing personality.

When I defended her performance, Nadia's parents just looked at me in shock, like no one had ever talked back to them before. Maybe no one had. Calling that a win, I grabbed Nadia's wrist and gave her a tug.

"Come on, we'd better get back before Coach freaks out that we've been gone so long."

"See you later Mom, Dad," she called as I dragged her away.

As soon as we turned a corner and were out of sight I slowed down. "Wow, your parents are…" I stopped, unsure how candid to be with her. They were her parents after all.

"Assholes." Her voice was bitter.

"Yeah. But let's not think about that now. It's time for us to get our medals and savor our victory."

The sunny smile returned. "Let's savor, baby!"

Coach Ekaterina nixed another celebratory dinner, instead telling us that we'd have one big celebration after the individual competitions. I couldn't decide if it was because she wanted to keep Goat focused on her almost certain win of an individual gold medal, or she wanted to keep the rest of us focused enough that we'd perform well enough for other teammates to make the top ten.

We went to the cafeteria and ate together as a team, talking and laughing, then headed back to our respective rooms. Tomorrow was another rest day, and Nadia and I had already selected a great line-up of Disney cartoons to watch while we let our muscles recover from today's hard workouts.

"I'm so exhausted," she said dramatically as we got back to our room.

"Being the best is exhausting," I agreed teasingly.

She flopped herself on her bed then opened the drawer of the bedside table to get out her phone.

"Ugh," she grimaced at what she saw on the screen. "My parents are the worse."

"Ignore them," I said, finding my own phone.

I smiled as I saw a series of congratulatory texts including several from my mother, the last one asking me to call her no matter what time it was. I scooted to the side of the bed and patted the mattress next to me.

"Come talk to my mom," I said. "She'll make us both feel like we won the Nobel Prize, I promise you. Mom doesn't really understand the appeal of gymnastics, but she's still my biggest fan."

I thought maybe she'd balk at my invitation, but Nadia came right over and squeezed next to me on the bed. I called my mom on FaceTime, making sure both Nadia and I were on the screen. As soon as the call connected my mother started screaming.

"Oh my God, Anna Banana! You girls did it! You looked incredible and strong and poised on TV. You were awesome. I'm so proud of you!"

She paused for a breath. I knew from experience that when my mom was this excited I just needed to let her get it all out.

"I swear everyone in town was at the bar watching you on the big screen. When we realized the team was getting the gold, everyone was cheering and I was like, ‘that's my baby, that's my talented little girl'. It was one of the best nights of my life, I swear."

I didn't need to point out that was the reaction Nadia deserved to get from her parents. I could tell she was thinking the same thing.

"Thanks Ma. This is my teammate and…friend, Nadia Gordan. Nadia, this is my Mom, Susan."

"Nice to meet you," Nadia said with her trademark sunshine smile.

My mother looked thrilled to meet her. I could see from her face that she was wondering why I was introducing her to Nadia, and quickly coming to the conclusion that she was somehow special to me. I'd never introduced her to any of my teammates or friends before.

"Nadia, I've heard very little about you," my mom said, somehow managing to smile at Nadia and glare at me even though she was looking at us both at the same time. "I can't wait to hear more but first, may I say that your tumbling routine was incredible. I swear you were defying gravity. Congratulations on your perfect score."

When I glanced over at Nadia she looked a little teary, although she blinked it away quickly. "Thank you so much. The whole team was amazing today."

We chatted with my mom for a few more minutes before hanging up. By the time we were done talking, we were both half asleep. I lay on my side, pressing my back against the wall to make more space.

"Turn off the light and snuggle up," I ordered.

Nadia reached for the light, then pressed her back against my front, and that's how we fell asleep.