anyway?â Nadia turned to see who had spoken. It was Blaire, of course.
âOh, be quiet, Blaire,â Alya said. She turned and faced Blaire.
âNo!â Blaire replied. âI donât want a girl who canât even finish her routines on my beam team!â
âYour team?â Alya shouted back. She got right in Blaireâs face.
Coach Levine came out of her office. âWhatâs going on here?â she shouted. Her face was red.
âCoach Levine,â Blaire said at once, stepping up to the coach, âhow could you put Nadia on the beam team? Her performance at tryouts was horrible!â
Nadia shrunk back. She wished she could just disappear into the walls.
âIt was not horrible,â Hannah said. âShe just made one teeny tiny mistake.â
âHa!â Blaire replied. âShe fell off the beam!â
âThatâs enough, ladies,â Coach Levine said. She stepped between Hannah and Blaire to separate them. âEveryone get to class,â Coach Levine said.
âYes, Coach Levine,â everyone replied. The girls started to break off and head toward class.
âNadia,â the coach added. âWait a second, okay?â
Hannah and Alya looked at Nadia. She waved them off. âIâll catch up,â she said quietly.
As her friends walked off, Nadia turned to Coach Levine. âWhatâs up, Coach?â she said.
âNadia,â the coach replied, âI wanted to talk to you about your performance at the tryouts.â
âIâm a little out of shape,â Nadia replied. âI just got the cast off last week, so I havenât had any time to practice.â
The coach nodded. âI know,â she said. âIâm giving you another chance because you were injured, but youâll need to work extra hard now.â
âI know,â Nadia said, nodding.
âI mean it,â the coach added. She put a hand on Nadiaâs shoulder and said. âIf you donât show some quick improvement, Iâm going to have to give your space on the beam team to someone else.â
âWhat?â Nadia said, shocked.
âIâm sorry, Nadia,â Coach Levine said. She started to head back into her office and added, âThere are a lot of girls whoâd like your space. We have to be fair, you know.â
The office door closed with a thud. Nadia stood there, staring at it.
âI canât believe this,â she muttered to herself. âIâm going to get kicked off the gymnastics team!â
Just then, the bell rang.
âGreat,â she said. âNow Iâm late to class.â
Nadia turned and ran down the hall toward her first class.
CHAPTER 4
Doomed
It was hamburger day in the cafeteria. That meant dry, flat burgers with plastic cheese, and oily potato puffs. Nadia loved potato puffs. The lunch lady always gave her a few extra puffs.
Nadia grabbed a cold chocolate milk and paid for her lunch. Then she left the lunch line and looked for her friends. She spotted them sitting at a small round table in the corner by the windows.
Nadia plopped her tray down beside Hannah and Alya. âHi, guys,â she said.
âHey, Nadia,â Alya replied. âHowâs it going?â
Nadia was barely listening. She looked like her mind was miles away as she poked at her potato puffs. âThis stinks,â she said.
âOh come on, Nadia,â Alya replied. âYou love potato puffs!â
âYum,â Hannah said, picking a puff off Nadiaâs tray. âWho doesnât love these things?â She pretended to eat the puff, then suddenly laughed and tossed it at Alya.
Alya shrieked and moved to one side. âQuit it!â she cried, laughing.
âThe food isnât the problem, silly,â Nadia said, rolling her eyes. âIâm going to get cut from the team!â
âYou are not,â Hannah said. âDonât worry about what the coach
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