Read Ex-Factor (Diamond Girls) for Free Online

and took a good long look at my surroundings.
    The gym was enormous and housed what looked to be eighty plus cheerleaders. Dressed in a variety of T-shirts, sports bras, and booty shorts, each athlete was either in some sort of formation, working on routines, or participating in a tumbling class.
    To my immediate right spanned an enormous white wall with a set of metal bleachers and a handful of chairs stationed just in front of it. Large, black script spelled out the words “Dedication, Determination, and Perseverance.” A spattering of cheer moms sat on the uncomfortable looking seating, chatting away, not really paying attention to anything outside of their conversation.
    Thank God. Less people to see me freak out and eat mat.
    The wall directly across from me was covered in mirrors, a long, narrow trampoline flush with the blue springboard floor spanning its length. A dismount mat sat at the end of the track, also level with the surrounding floor. A small line had formed at the end of the track, a tall blond with—
    Oh, God. It couldn’t be. Please, don’t let it be…
    My shoulders fell and I groaned. It was her, all right—the nasty Queen Bee I’d argued with that morning at school. Dressed in a sparkly pair of booty shorts and a bra top that looked two sizes too small, she sprinted down the narrow trampoline and launched into a beautiful round-off back handspring full.
    Great. Just great. I puffed out my cheeks as I exhaled and tried to put Little Miss Pissy out of my mind. She looked like the type of person that snapped at everyone who crossed her path. Maybe I’d get lucky and she wouldn’t remember me.
    I turned my focus back to the track. A jolt of something, excitement maybe, shot through my frame as I spied the familiar trampoline, and a part of me I was sure had withered away itched to sprint across the mat and bounce like a mad woman up and down its narrow length.
    Six months. I hadn’t set foot inside a gym in six months. Hadn’t tumbled. Hadn’t conditioned. Hadn’t done anything besides miss my parents and wallow in a pool of self-pity and disgust.
    “Callie! Get out of the way!”
    I tried to ignore her. I really did. But Queen Bee made it near impossible. Prancing across the springboard floor as though she were God’s gift to cheerleading, my snooty, blond enemy stepped into the front of the pass tumbling line, earning a scowl from the girl she cut off, and performed yet another round-off back handspring full. She landed with an echoing thud about ten feet from where I stood, a satisfied smile crawling across her mouth.
    Brow raised, I glanced over my shoulder to Livvie and nodded. “Wow. She’s amazing.”
    Livvie made a “humph” sound and shook her head. “Yeah. She is, and she knows it. I wouldn’t talk to her if—”
    I held up a hand, cutting Livvie off, and called out to Queenie as she passed in front of me. “Nice pass. Way to nail the landing.” Girlfriend may have been a total snag to me that morning, but I had to give credit where credit was due. The girl could tumble like nobody’s business.
    Cool blue eyes beamed me with a staggering amount of disdain. “Stare much? Do me a favor, and stay out of my way, newb.”
    The remaining air in my lungs fizzled out in a slow exhale, and I stood, mouth open, once again shocked by the girl’s nasty response. “Okay, then,” I said as Livvie stepped alongside me. “You’re my witness. I tried to make nice.”
    She let out a small giggle. “I tried to tell you. Callie Porter is a nasty piece of work. It’s best to avoid her whenever you can.”
    Yeah, no kidding.
    “Taking it all in, huh?” a strange voice said.
    I stiffened and bit my lip, dreading my next move. There was no getting around it. I had to meet the coaches sooner or later, so I put on my big girl panties, tore my gaze from the back of Callie’s bleach blond head, and turned.
    Large, brown eyes filled with curiosity burned a hole into my flesh, and I forced a