11. Camden #3
An official came to let me know I had a few minutes to get ready before they announced me.
I climbed the steps up to the start and jogged up and down the course a few times, adding some chalk to my feet.
I felt more connected to the floor when I ran barefoot.
For the rings, I had worn pants. They gave the appearance of smoother lines.
But I wore shorts for the vault since they were more aerodynamic.
The air in the arena felt cool on my legs.
I rubbed my hands up and down them to warm them up, shaking each one to the side, trying to stay loose.
“CAMDEN KANE. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.”
Here we go again. Just breathe.
I took my place at the start, saluted the judges and turned back to the vault.
I put my left foot up against the starting block and thought back to my childhood and how many times I fucked up, crashing over and over.
Running full speed and attempting flips and twists.
I was lucky to figure it out so early, when my body could bounce back from an injury quickly.
Compared to now, anyway. I brushed those thoughts from my mind and remembered the first time I stuck a really hard vault, and how I felt.
And I took the feeling with me as I started sprinting down the track.
Breathe, breathe, breathe. Go now!
On instinct, my hands hit the floor right before the springboard, my feet flipped around.
I felt them connect with the end of the board and pushed off as my body flipped around.
I stretched my hands out, waiting for the vault to be there.
As soon as I could see it, my fingertips had already touched it and left it behind.
I had already started the twist. I concentrated on holding my hands together in front of my chest and keeping my feet together.
I could see the mat. My feet were coming down.
I could feel my toes touching the mat and knew I was already too far backward.
I flexed my abs tighter to keep more body weight forward - don’t fall on your ass don’t fall on your ass - and it worked.
I had one tiny hop and my arms flailed a little, but other than that, it was great.
I saluted the judges and broke into a huge smile, pumping my arms. My mom’s screams grabbed my attention, so I gave her a quick wave before jogging back down to the start.
I still had my second vault to do. While waiting for the score from the first, I chalked my feet again and swung each arm back and forth, stretching my triceps.
15.833.
Fuck yes!
That got a big round of applause. That was the highest score of the day so far.
I was thrilled. My second vault was easier, difficulty-wise.
The judges signaled they were ready. I saluted and got into position.
With my confidence boosted, I didn’t even think about the next vault.
I just did it. I stuck the landing this time. No hop.
I smiled, saluted the judges, and jogged over to my team.
"Amazing, Cam!" Noah said.
"The Prince will soon become King. I can sense it," Tyler joked, stroking an imaginary beard.
Coach walked up and put his hands on my shoulders. "Great job, kid. I'm proud of you." He turned to the twins and Tyler. "So you guys are gonna do the same, right?"
"Sure, Coach, let me go just get my other body," Tyler said.
The twins congratulated me, then went back to their earbuds.
15.066.
An average of 15.449. Not bad.
I sat down next to Luke and drank some water.
"That was great, Cam," Luke said.
"Thanks."
"Seriously, how do you do it?"
"I don't really know. Once I'm out there, I kind of zone out."
"Ugh, it's hard for me to do that. I can never shut my brain off."
"Hmm...I don't know," I smirked. "Maybe try thinking of me?"
"That would probably clear my head, but I think everyone else might notice." He glanced down at his crotch.
I blushed.
"Fuck. Especially if you do that. I love it when you're bashful."
I smiled. Wait, he loves it? No, don't get ahead of yourself, Cam. It's just an expression.
I think he realized what he said because an awkward silence descended.
The rest of the guys did pretty well. None of them were trying for the vault finals, so they each did only one.
The twins wanted to save their energy to focus on the all-around.
There was no point in possibly hurting themselves for something that wasn't their primary goal.
I finally broke the silence. "You ready for the bars?"
Luke seemed relieved. "I think so. Been doing pretty good all week."
"Yeah, you have. You're very skilled with your hands." I winked.
"Thanks. Lots of practice."
"Oh, really?"
It was his turn to blush. He stuttered, "I mean...I...uh…"
"I know you meant gymnastics practice. Whatever you've done with your hands before me is not really my business."
"It's cute when you try to lie."
I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Anything I can do for you before the bars?" Luke was going first on both the next events.
"You're already doing it. Keeping me distracted."
"Let's go, guys," Shane said.
We stood up and made our way around the corner to the parallel bars, one of Luke's best events.