Chapter Text
Trixie had to take extra precautions at the gym the next day to avoid being spotted smiling for no reason. Miriam continued giving strange stares, as if she sensed something was up.
Trixie was sure she didn't. But Miriam was rumored to be sort of witchy, so Trixie didn't want to give her any new armor.
Maybe she was a tiny bit enamored. So what?
She was still focused. Present.
Even though the events of the previous night had been playing over and over in her mind.
They had kissed more after that first kiss. Kissed and talked, then kissed again and then talked more. At first, Trixie thought that had been going on for hours and hours but when they finally decided to drive back to the hotel it was still eleven at night.
Moscow’s nights would do that to you, Katya had said. Trixie didn’t know if that was something people actually said or it was Katya messing with her. Either way. They had arrived at her hotel pretty early for an escape.
That night, she had no trouble sleeping.
Katya had only sent one message the night before, stating that she, too, had arrived safely at her hotel and was looking forward to their next date.
Because that’s what it was. Their first date.
Trixie still didn’t have time to dissect what that meant for her.
At the very least, she managed to tell Katya that while they were still kissing on that creepy playground.
“I can’t do this right now, Katya.”
“Well, we are already doing it, Кукла.”
“Katya, I’m serious. I can’t…I can’t even think about this now. I have to concentrate. This competition-”
“It is very important to you. I know. Don’t worry. Tonight is tonight. Tomorrow, new day. We forget, only a little, yes? I promise, I will not bug you. At least until the end of the competition, ok? We talk after.”
“We talk after.”
“Ok. Good. But tonight is still tonight, yes?”
“Daydreaming of a gold medal, Mattel?”
Miriam had creeped behind her back.
“Yeah, right. Why not?”
Miriam laughed and went back to her own conditioning. It was their day off and they were all at the gym doing some light exercises.
The next day came so fast that Trixie again didn’t have much time to think about dates and what that meant for her.
Soon it was time to get ready for qualifications. She had her whole makeup look thought out six months in advance so nothing really could go wrong with her look. Perfecting her hair with her straightener was like second nature to her.
Their collant wasn’t the worst but it would never be Trixie’s first choice. Oh well, she had to make do with what she had.
She saw her teammates gathered at the lobby and rushed to get together with them so they could leave for where the competition was taking place. By rules of her coaches, they were supposed to put their phones on airplane mode. She was about to do that when she heard the little sound of a new message arriving.
It couldn't be her family, they had already sent a message earlier.
New Message
Katya Zamo
Good luck today, Кукла. You don’t need it, but I wish it nevertheless.
They arrived early. The place was huge and even though it was still qualification, the stands were filled to the brim.
Trixie looked at her teammates. They looked tense. Why was everyone so scared all of sudden?
Or maybe, why was she so relaxed?
“They’ve finally realized this is Worlds, huh?” Miriam commented as if she had read her mind.
Sometimes Trixie forgot they were just little girls.
“Look at them Chinese team. They look like they could fit in my pocket,” Miriam said, as they looked as the Chinese team entered the stadium.
“You don’t have a pocket.”
Miriam continued, “And yet they will throw the sickest flips known to men. I can’t understand that.”
They heard the crowd go wild all of sudden.
“Here they come,” Trixie said.
The Russian team came in like they owned the building. Which, to be fair, they did.
Their collant was beautiful, full of stones that shone so brightly it might blind someone.
“Wow, that's some collant!” Miriam exclaimed, “And not an ounce of fat on those bodies.”
“Miriam, this is 2024. We don’t talk about other women’s bodies.”
“Right, yes. I know that. But can I just say one thing? Fuck those skinny bitches.”
“Someone is spicy today.”
“I’m always spicy. Come on, Barbie girl. Let’s qualify for some events.”
And qualify they did.
Trixie had been sure she was going to floor finals. Vault too, probably.
She was fine with that. One event would have been incredible. Two would have been a dream.
So when she qualified for floor, vault, balance beam, and all-arounds, she ran out of adjectives to explain how she felt.
"Trixie!!" Miriam shrieked when the final scores were displayed on the huge screen.
"Miriam, what the fuck!" She couldn't contain her happiness.
At the Worlds, only two competitors from each country could compete in the all-around individual event.
They screamed and jumped as they watched them on the large screen.
ALL AROUND INDIVIDUAL FINALS
USA – FERNANDEZ, M.
USA – MATTEL, B.
“We did it, Mattel! The old bitches did it!”
The other girls on their team all made mistakes. Rookie ones, the ones you make when you're worried or overthinking things. Some of them still qualified for some apparatus, but none like Trixie and Miriam.
Russia also made some mistakes, also the ones you make when you’re too nervous. Perhaps the one you make when the competition is in your home country and the pressure to perform is through the roof. But they still had Zamolodchikova, who was classified for literally everything under the sun.
Next came the Chinese, with an equal amount of great scores but also some great mistakes. Overall, they were all pretty even out. They would have to take it out on the gym.
Miriam and Trixie exchanged another hug before the rest of the team and coaches approached to congratulate them. Trixie didn’t even realize she was crying. Thank God for waterproof mascara.
The television crew was already hounding them for statements, so they rushed to put on their warm-up clothes to prepare for interviews.
Trixie was finished zipping up her bag when she heard a voice behind her.
“Congratulations, Trixie!”
It was Katya. She wasn’t alone though; she had Svetlana and Lukina with her, plus the other two Chinese girls – Yi and Lang.
The girls smiled and waved at Trixie.
“They wanted to say hi, but they cannot speak English. I volunteered to be translator.”
“You’re going to tell me you know how to speak Chinese now?”
“Very basic Mandarin. No Cantonese, unfortunately.”
“Well, tell them Hi back?”
“They’ve got it,” she said flippantly, “I knew you’d do good. Didn’t I say that?”
“You did. Thanks, Katya. You did well yourself,” Trixie said with sincerity. Well was an understatement, but Trixie knew—she didn’t know how—that Katya wasn’t big on compliments.
“Oh, you know.”
“Not much on bragging, huh?”
“I’ll leave it to other things.”
They were interrupted by Miriam, who came in screaming to hug the tall blond Russian.
“Yekaterina!! Girl!! You were amazing!!”
“I told you Miriam, these young girls have nothing on us.”
Miriam smiled brightly and waved to the other girls who were behind Katya.
“To us old women!” She said.
“Hags to the win!” Trixie agreed.
At this point, more people had crowded around them. Other gymnasts and coaches were all congratulating each other, leaving space for Katya to sneak Trixie out to the side.
“Кукла, I know we say no talking until the end of compet–”
“I’ll call you later, Katya. 30 minutes won’t hurt, right? I mean, it did give me good luck. Who am I to jinx it, right?”
“Right! Yes! Can’t say I understand everything you just said but you call me, yes? We talk later. I love it. It’s going to be great.”
She hugged Trixie so tightly, Trixie felt all her air flow stop.
Somehow she didn’t really mind.
“Yes, Katya. Now shhh, just go. People are already giving us weird looks,” she said as Katya let her go. She was smiling though.
Trixie watched as Katya gathered her friends to go back to her side of the stadium.
She realized she was still smiling. Well, she had reason to. She over qualified for Worlds, she was perhaps in love. It was most definitely reciprocated.
She could get used to this.