Nationals

[Kiera Kaster]

((Set in July!))

Kiera had arrived at the place where Nationals were being held early with her coach and teammates. She was nervous about today but she had spent all summer preparing for this day. It would be her first competition since her terrible fall last year. Kiera's heart was racing as she tried to calm herself. She needed her cheering section. Kiera wanted desperately to see her family and friends, especially Alex.

Kiera was dressed in her long sleeve team uniform of red. It hugged her slender, muscular figure. She had to admit she looked good. Kiera was prepared. Besides, her friend, Arielle was here and competing against her. She was her only friend from the muggle world. Kiera flashed her friend a smile before going to warm up her vault.

 

[Arielle Shaffer]

Arielle was prepared for this day. It was a big one, Nationals. She knew that she would have to be on her top game if she wanted to beat her friend, Kiera. She had trained with the girl for years now but it always surprised her at how much she could catch up after going away to school for a year. Somehow, Kiera managed it. They constantly battled back and forth for the top spot but still managed to keep their friendship which was rare in the gymnastics world. Arielle watched Kiera warming up her vault. She nodded her head approvingly.

Arielle scanned the crowds. She was waiting for her best friend from when she had lived in London. The other girl came to almost all of her competitions though she had missed the last year. Arielle was so excited for the competition.

 

[Nina Patrokov]

Nina was more than excited for her best friend. The girl was just beautiful at gymnastics and deserved to win. Although it head never been the seventeen year old's sport she understood how much artistry and dedication it took, so with that thought she entered the room, only to spot a Arielle Shaffer. Excitement washed over the girl and she giggled as she ran towards her, embracing her tightly. "Arie!" she squealed. "I've missed you so much," she said honestly, smiling.

Nina pulled away, looking at her friend who looked more than prepared for Nationals. "When are you going to move to New Zealand," she whined playfully, yanking her ear lobe, giggling quietly.

 

[Arielle Shaffer]

Arielle squealed when she saw Nina. Her friend used her familiar nickname. Arielle laughed as she saw Nina run towards her. She embraced the girl tightly. "Nina!" she said excitedly. "I am so glad you could make it this year! I missed you so much too!" she said, hugging the girl again. Arielle laughed as Nina tugged on her ear. "Same old Nina." she said pretending to be exasperated. Arielle shook her head at Nina's question. "You know I can't silly. I have to stay here and train with my coach if I want to get to the Olympics." she said, grinning broadly.

Arielle glanced over at Kiera as she finished her vault. She clapped her hands. "Way to go Kiera! That was awesome!" she said encouragingly. She knew her other best friend was very nervous about today.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera landed her vault perfectly. She had a huge grin on her face. Some of the tension of the day was relieved as she landed her vault. Maybe she could do this. She could win. Kiera heard her friend, Arielle yell encouraging words to her. She turned to thank her friend when she froze. What the hell was Nina doing here!? What was she doing talking to Arielle? Kiera's face was drained of emotion. She wished Alex had already arrived so that she could have him at her side.

Kiera walked to where her friend was. "Thanks Arie." she said, grinning at the other girl. Her eyes turned cold as she looked back at Nina. "What are you doing here?" she asked with scorn.

 

[Nina Patrokov]

Nina playfully pouted as Arielle said that she couldn't move to Oceania. She of course knew this, it wasn't like she would be able to see her until the winter or summer holiday breaks, which would be her last this coming year. When she heard her muggle friend say the name Kiera a scowl imprinted on her lips momentarily, the name.. she hated it, just as much as she disliked the person it belonged to.

When Nina's hazel eyes landed on the Gryffindor girl, a glare dressing them. "I'm supporting my best friend, Arielle," she said warmly to Arielle but coldly to Kiera. "What are you doing here? Any perfectly good boys here you are looking to hurt?" she snapped, finding herself quite protective of Alex, just as she always had been.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera glared at Nina. Arielle was her best friend? Since when did Arielle know Nina? And why had this never come up before? Kiera's eyes turned icy as she stared back at Nina. Kiera was not about to hurt Alex anytime soon, she was not going to make the same mistake as she did before. "I am competing obviously." she said rolling her eyes at the girl's stupidity."If you are referring to my boyfriend, he is on his way. He should be here soon." she said with a smirk to Nina.

Kiera turned back to Arielle, her eyes warm and kind. She was still her best friend even if she did run around with filth. "I didn't know you knew her. How are you two friends?" she asked wondering.

 

[Arielle Shaffer]

Arielle smiled confidently back at Kiera. "No problem! You are going to do great today!" she told one of her two best friends. Arie and Kiera often fought back and forth for the top spot but there were never hard feelings between the two girls. That was rare in the world of gymnastics.

Arielle began to frown as Kiera spoke to Nina. She smiled warmly back at Nina as the girl said she was there to support her best friend. Questions still filled her mind. How did the two girls know each other and why did it seem like they hated each other. "You know each other?" she asked, confusions showing in her eyes. "Nina!" she said surprised that her friend spoke so meanly. Nina had never said a harsh word in front of her before. Something odd was going on...Arie smiled at Kiera as she asked her a question. "Remember how I lived in London?" she asked. "Well I went to school with Nina. She is my best friend from when I lived there. She comes for a visit almost every summer." she said smiling fondly at Nina and then Kiera.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi looked at the slip of parchment in her hand, and then at the building to be sure that she had the right address before stepping inside. Once there, she knew she was in the right place because girls were walking around in their gymnastics outfits and she could hear the sound of mats being hit as people practiced their moves.

It had been two months since the eighteen year old had seen Kiera and she excitedly looked around the room for her best friend. She had promised the girl that she would attend the Nationals competition and when she had received the letter from Kiera about it, jumped up and down excitedly. Now, looking around the area, the eighteen year old felt slightly awkward. It had been years since she had been around so many muggles and without her wand. She thought it would be best to leave her wand at home and had left it in her closet.

After a minute of looking, Cyndi finally spotted her fellow Gryffindor and began walking over to her. Kiera appeared to be talking to two other girls, one who was also wearing gymnastics gear and another who was not. The one who wasn't looked very familiar to her and as Cyndi drew closer, she realized two things. The first thing she realized was that the girl appeared to be someone they went to school with, which was definitely wierd seeing as this was a muggle competition and she didn't think any other magical people besides Kiera were involved. The second thing she noticed was that the two young witches did not appear to be happy to be around each other.

Finally reaching the trio, Cyndi covered Kiera's eyes. "Guess who?" she sang.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera was in denial as Arie said Nina was one of her best friends. How weird was this? Kiera frowned as she replied. "Nina and I go to school together in New Zealand. My current boyfriend is her ex-boyfriend." she explained to Arielle. Kiera decided she would at least try to be pleasant to Nina for Arielle's sake. She knew her friend did not like arguing.

Kiera was distracted from the conversation as someone put their hands around her eyes. Kiera recognized her voice as soon as the person spoke. She jumped up and down as she removed the girl's hands. "Cyndi!!" she said excitedly. Kiera was happy to have her older best friend to see her competition. Kiera hugged Cyndi tightly. "I am so glad you can make it!" she said happily. She turned back around to the group, pulling Cyndi into the conversation. "Cyndi, this is Arielle. Arielle, this is old roommate from school and one of my best friends, Cyndi." she said smiling warmly at the two girls. Kiera glanced at Nina icily, she didn't know if the two girls knew each other or not.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi laughed as Kiera easily guessed that it was her. She smiled and returned the hug that Kiera gave her. "Of course I made it. I wouldn't miss this for the world. I'm so excited!" Cyndi cried out.

The eighteen year old smiled as Kiera introduced her to the muggle girl, and looked at Kiera curiously when she didn't introduce her to the other girl. It wasn't like Kiera to be mean to someone. "Hi Arielle. Nice to meet you" she said kindly and then turned to the other girl, "I'm Cyndi. I've think I've seen you before. We attend, I mean,used to attend the same school, right?" she asked.

 

[Nina Patrokov]

Nina rolled her eyes at Kiera. She of course knew that, she was just making snide remarks. If she had any intelligence she would see that, Nina thought icily. When the Gryffindor said that Alex would be there, she perked up and smiled to herself. "Oh great. Can't wait to see Cullen," she thought aloud. As Arielle repremanded her for being mean to her friend, she feigned an innocent smile. She leaned in slightly to the muggle and whispered quietly, "I'll explain after you cream her."

When another witch arrived, one that she recognized to be in Noah's graduating class she smiled politely at her. "Such a surprise to see another New Zealander here, hmm?" she said, referring to the fact that this was a muggle gymnastics competition and three out of four girls were witches. "I think we've met before," she offered. "In your.. sixth year. I had a birthday party for Noah Lewis, and a bunch of the Gathering showed up. No matter, I'm Nina Patrokov," she said, referring to Gryffindor's as best as she could without making Arielle feel like an outsider or having her ask questions that weren't needed. "Congratulations on graduating," she smiled warmly, but slight bitterness tinging her thoughts as she remembered that Noah had not invited her. The boy was her best friend, and she knew he wouldn't invite his step mom, so she didn't see why he wouldn't invite her.

 

[Arielle Shaffer]

Arielle did not like it that her two best friends were fighting. Arielle was surprised that they both happened to go to the same school. What were the chances of that? It was obvious that Nina was still friendly at least with this Alex. Why did he let the two girls bicker back and forth? Arielle looked sharply at Kiera and then Nina. "Can you two please stop it?" she asked, exasperated. Arie heard Nina as the girl whispered in her ear. "You're assuming I will beat her. Kiera is rather good." she informed her friend in a whisper.

Arielle smiled brightly as she was introduced to Cyndi. Kiera seemed really happy to see the other girl. She knew that Kiera liked to have people cheering for her. It made her preform better, which made Arie nervous. Arielle wanted to beat the other girl. "Its nice to meet you too Cyndi. You can call me Arie..Everyone else does." she said with a small laugh.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera was annoyed at Nina's obvious excitement to see Alex. It irritated her that the other girl called him Cullen. Why would she use his surname? No matter, Alex was coming to see Kiera, not Nina. Kiera rolled her eyes at Nina. She knew Alex would be just as surprised to see Nina as Kiera was. Kiera looked ashamed as Arie scolded her. "Okay. For your sake. I will be nice to her." she whispered to her friend.

Kiera smiled at Cyndi. Just happy to have the girl around. "Graduation was perfect. I can't believe Professor King was there!" she said, still in disbelief. Kiera had fun at the ceremony. "Man do I have stuff to tell you." she said excited. The biggest news was still a secret, she didn't know if she should mention it in front of Arie, since she was a muggle.

 

[Professor Cyndi Kingsley]

Cyndi nodded as Nina reminded her where they had met before. "That's right..."she said with a small smile and then brightened as she congratulated her, "thanks." She smiled as Kiera's friend told her that she could call her Arie. "So, how long have you and Kiera been competing against each other?" she asked the girl.

"I know...it was such a great surprise to see him there" Cyndi said turning back to Kiera. She was glad that her friend had been able to attend her graduation. When her fellow Gryffindor mentioned that she had something to tell her, Cyndi smiled. "Oh yeah?" she asked, wishing that Kiera could tell her right now. She knew, however, that it would probably have to wait until later when they were alone or at least away from the muggles.

 

[Arielle Shaffer]

Arie smiled at Kiera. "Thank you." she said squeezing Kiera's hand. She looked forward to hearing what Nina had to say about the situation after the competition.

Arielle turned back Cyndi. She smiled brightly at the friendly girl. Arie decided that she liked Kiera's friend. "Oh well I used to live in London but we moved here when I was 8. I started training at the same gym as Kiera. She was the only girl there that was actually nice to me. All the others are so nasty." she said with a small laugh. "So I guess we have been competing against each other since then." she said getting back to her question.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera smiled back at her gymnast friend. "Your welcome." she said, not wanting strife on the day of the major competition.

Kiera grinned at Cyndi as the girl agreed with her. Professor King had been a nice surprise. If only he had finished her occlumency lessons. Kiera couldn't tell her the most important news but maybe Alex would tell her when they were away from the muggles. "Alex and I got back together." she informed Cyndi. "He should be here anytime with my family." she said, knowing that her friend would be interested in that news after what all had happened with JP.

 

[Alex Cullen]

Alex knew he was running late for Kiera's big competition but he hadn't known how the shower worked in the house and had spent far too long trying to figure it out without asking for help. He was pretty sure everyone knew how to work showers except him.
Running off, he found Kiera in the crowds finally. He didn't pay much attention to the other people round her but walked up to her from behind and placed his arms round her waist.
'Hey Winner,' he greeted her softly in her ear before smiling. He spotted Cyndi there too and smiled at her. 'Hey Cyndi. How are you? How was graduation actually?' he asked her cheerfully, remaining behind Kiera with his arms round her. It wasn't till he looked round that he spotted Nina. What on earth was she doing here?
'Woah. Nina. Didn't know you were coming here this summer,' he told her, a bit surprised. His cheeks tinged a bit but it was barely noticeable. He wasn't exactly ecstatic about her being here, but she was here and they were good friends so it wasn't ok either. Just a nice happy.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera grinned as Alex finally came up to her. She hadn't been away from him for long but she already missed him. She felt more comfortable with Alex here. It calmed her to know that he was around. She couldn't help but smile as he called her Winner. Kiera twisted around in Alex's arms so that she was facing him. "I'm so glad your here." she said before giving him a kiss, not too enthusiastically since they were in public She smiled up at Alex. "Is everything alright?" she asked him, wanting to make sure that he had everything this morning.

 

[James Potter]

James entered the building wearing a light brown jacket over some blue jeans topped with a light red short sleeve shirt and brown boots. It had taken James about a day to find and coordinate the place of the nationals and find a way to get there, It was definitely not easy Apparated from London all the way to America but it was a feat he'd managed after several quick pit stops. James hadn't promised Kiera he would see her compete in the nationals but he had known that she had wanted him there and had also said she wanted to see him play Quidditch. It was here after she had won that James was going to give her a few tickets to see the Canon's match that was playing. James was a bit bulkier then the last time she'd seen him but not by alot, he had rebuilt some muscles he had before he took the year off for school and was quickly getting back into shape. James began looking around wondering if she would see him before he saw her.

 

[Nina Patrokov]

Nina's soft, hazel eyes averted rather quickly as Arie's eyes sharpened on her. It was obvious that she had gone too far with her friend, so she offered a smile to Kiera, although it took all her being to not convulse with disgust at the Gryffindor. "Es tut mir leid." "I'm sorry," Nina said quietly. The German words rolled off her tongue harshly yet naturally. It was a language she spoke often but the only one she would apologize in for the simple reason that she had yet to meet any Hogwart students that spoke her native tongue and she detested apologizing, especially when she didn't think she was wrong.

Seeing Alex, Nina's smile broadened and her eyes became bright and lively. Of course if he wasn't wrapped around that drecksau she would have given him a hug. They were friends after all, but seeing his flushed cheeks she laughed with amusement. "Embarassed Cull-" Cut off by Kiera's animal kissing with Alex, she fell silent, anger forming in the pit of her stomach.

Nina ran her finger's through her strawberry blonde hair, ending on the long tips, and turning her hand upwards, inspecting the ends of her hair for dead-ends, while her ex-boyfriend - who she truthfully had no romantic feelings for - and the girl she liked less than a root canal kissed.

Iz be googling German!

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera heard Nina's apology. She had learned a slight bit of German when she had gone there when she was 9. Es tut mir leid was something she did know. Kiera looked at Nina. "You are forgiven." she said sweetly. Kiera had noticed it seemed to annoy her more when Kiera was extra nice.

Kiera flashed Nina a grin as she moved out of Alex's arms to simply holding his hand. Kiera knew it had to be irritating the girl that Alex was interested in Kiera. A fact that Kiera loved. She pointed to her muggle friend. "This is my friend Arielle. Arielle this is Alex." she said introducing the pair.

Kiera was glancing around the room when she spotted another familiar face. James Potter. Kiera had of course invited him but he had seemed like he would be too busy to see her. She prayed that Alex wouldn't see who she had just seen. Kiera caught Cyndi's eye and glanced at James, knowing that Cyndi would see who it was that had just entered the arena. Kiera locked eyes with James. She hated to excuse herself so soon after Alex had arrived but it was necessary. "Excuse me a moment. I will be right back. Talk to Nina." she said, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek.

Kiera made her way through the crowd, smiling. Kiera found James and stepped out of the view of Alex. She smiled at James. "I didn't think that you were going to make it. But I am glad you made it." she said giving him a quick hug. She couldn't help but wonder how he felt about her lack of clothing. She was already dressed for the competition in her leotard.

 

[Alex Cullen]

Alex was about to answer No to Nina when his girlfriend kissed him. He kissed her back smiling. He looked at Arielle and smiled at her. 'Hey. I take it your the big competition she's got right?' he asked her, playfully, holding his hand out to shake. He frowned slightly as Kiera excused herself and looked at Cyndi with a confused look.
He looked over the crowds, scanning to see where she had gone and bit his tongue as he saw James with her. That flippin' bas-. He stopped his thoughts not wanting to question it any further. He was here as Kiera's friend and that was all. She had promised after all, hadn't she??
Turning back round to the girls, he put on a confident smile, not internally meaning it. He was good at putting masks on or at least he still hoped so. 'So, how is everyone?' he asked, trying to get some conversation going. He didn't like the crowds much for this place. It just felt overcrowded with girls to be honest. Not too many boys about as far as he could tell, well none that were worth speaking too.

 

[James Potter]

As Kiera found and hugged James, he stole a quick kiss on the cheek. With anyone else it would probably have been harmless but given James and Kiera's past it meant more. James didn't know if Kiera took it that way but didn't really care, it was her day and he was there to support her even if that was as her friend. "I told you I was good at surprising you" James said with a smile as he looked at her, as if nobody else was around. "I have another surprise, I got a ticket to see the next Chudley Canons match in three weeks" James said not pulling out the tickets yet because it would be pointless. James hadn't had time to look at her outfit until just now as he notice that it wasn't made up of anything really. "So this is what you do Gymnastics in?" James asked a bit curious looking her over.

 

[Kiera Kaster]

Kiera blushed as James kissed her cheek. She knew that if Alex saw that he would probably come over to her. Kiera did not want them getting into a fight here in the middle of the arena. It wasn't a good idea. Kiera laughed as James told her he was good with surprises. "You are. I wasn't expecting you at all." she said, happy that he had shown up. Kiera blushed once more at the look that he had given her. It made it seem as if they were the only two people in the room. Kiera's face lit up as he said he brought her another surprise, a ticket to one of his matches. Kiera gave him another hug, she was practically bouncing up and down with his excitement. "Thank you! I'm so excited! I can't wait!" she said brightly, meaning every word. Kiera laughed again as he looked over her outfit. She grinned at his question. "Yes, this is my outfit." she said in an amused tone. Kiera waited for his reaction.