The Flip Side Read Online Free

to be clueless about how her mind works. “I think so. We’ve got the best coaches, and we’re beating up our bodies every single day. It’s going to pay off. Nothing is stopping us. Tight mind, right?”
    Gwen’s head thumps the pillow. She shields her eyes with her arm. “I’m tightening my mind, but . . .”
    â€œYou pulled off Kovacs after Kovacs today,” I say, crossing the room in order to kneel next to Gwen’s bed. “That’s amazing. You’re going to be one of the first ever to put that into a routine in competition.” I pull out one of the lines Mom always uses on me. “Let yourself enjoy it!”
    Her lips tighten, but she nods. “Okay.”
    The way she says it reminds me of the way she responds to Coach Chris when he’s speaking in his nerve-racking, quiet voice. Gwen’s “okay” means she’s taking what he says and planning to do it ten times better. That’s the way she is. A perfectionist to the core. It’s no wonder we get along so well.
    I take her hand and squeeze it briefly. We’re friends, we’re teammates, we’re competitors. We both want a spot on that Olympic team, when there are only so many spots to go around.
    It’s one of those moments. When someone is vulnerable with you, it kind of makes you want to be vulnerable with them. I want to assure Gwen that inside I’m just as nervous as she is, that I’m not as strong as I come across a lot of the time. But instead I blurt out, “I wish I had a boyfriend.” Okay, so Zoe isn’t the only one with guys on her mind.
    That gets Gwen’s attention. She rolls onto her elbow and stares at me hard, her eyes questioning. “What brought that on?”
    I can’t help but twist my lips into an ironic smile. “Zoe.” I’ve told her about Zoe, but I’ve never told Zoe about Gwen. Another thorn of guilt pricks me, because I consider them both my best friends, but I’m not completely honest with one of them. “She wanted to tell me about this guy who gave her some attention today, and I just . . . I’d just like a guy to give me some attention for a change. Don’t you ever think about having a boyfriend?”
    â€œI’m homeschooled. Where am I going to meet a guy?”
    â€œBut if you met someone who was interested in you, wouldn’t you want to pursue the possibilities? Not just blow him off?”
    â€œI get that it would be amazing to have a boyfriend, but it’s not practical right now. We have to go steady with gymnastics, with practice and competitions, not a guy.”
    â€œDon’t you get tired of delaying everything?”
    â€œSure I do. But think about it. Where are you going to find the time for a boyfriend?” she asks, and raises one finger. “You have two hours of conditioning before school.” Another finger. “School.” Another finger. “Five hours of training after school. And when you get home, you have to eat and study. And sometime you have to sleep. How are you going to work this guy in? Do you think he’s going to understand when you’re too tired to even text him?”
    â€œHe might.” If he was the right boyfriend.
    â€œYou’d have to tell him about your gymnastics life.”
    Then how would I know if he likes me for myself and not because I’m an almost-famous gymnast? I want him to fall for the Charlotte version, the one who wears thick-rimmed glasses and is far from being the most popular girl at school.
    â€œYou won’t even tell Zoe you’re a gymnast,” she reminds me.
    â€œAll this”—I flail my arms at the walls of the cabin, but I’m talking about the ranch and what it symbolizes in general—“I mean, would anyone at school get it? I mean, really get why I’m doing this? They’d just think I was weird. Or stuck up. Or