Chapter 48: Sonya’s Backstory: Close Call
Sonya swung around on the higher bar of the uneven bars, the pull of her body on her arms from the centrifugal force almost a friend to her, before she let go and did a flip before cathcing herself on the lower bar. As she felt herself swing around the bar, let go to do her new dismount she'd been working on. Unfortunately, she hadn't gotten it quite down as she felt her body turning to far to the left from where she let go of the bar.
As such, she knew she wouldn't be abe to stick the landing, so as she neared the mat, she instead just rolled. If she tried to make the landing right then, she was afraid she'd hurt herself and she didn't have the luxury of the time it would take to recover if she wanted her dismount to be ready for the next competition.
She could hear clapping as she got up from the mat. Her coach walked over to her. "Very good, Sonya," he praised mockingly. "I'm sure the judges won't expect you to abandon your planned dismount like that."
"I know I messed up, Odie," Sonya replied, doing what she could to keep from taking her anger at herself out on her coach.
"You do, do you?" Odie asked. "Well, as long os you know, I guess that means we can go home, huh?"
"Fine, what else did I mess up on?" Sonya asked, recognizing that his critique, while definitely unnecessarily harsh, was only just beginning.
Her coach began to lay ou each and every flaw she'd had. Sonya listened to him with rapt attention. She never liked how he dealt with her in relation to her mistakes, but at the same time, she couldn't help but appreciate how much he worked for her and helped her out. When he pointed out where she screwed up, it somehow made it easier to correct afterwards.
Out of everyone in her life, she felt she had to credit Odie the most for her success. When he finished his blasting of her performance, Sonya nodded. "Should I go again?" she asked.
Odie shook his head. "No, you do that and you'll just make it worse. I've seen enough of a travesty today already," Odie replied. "Go home and get some rest, get a girl for the night if you want, and get back here first thing tomorrow. We'll see if you can work through your blunders then."