want to be that diamond, Adrianna, I want it more than anything."
She didn't move and neither did I. We were at a standstill. I watched the flames in her eyes when it hit me—we weren’t that much different.
In fact, we were identical.
Reagan was headstrong. She had a vision. A drive at a young age people couldn't comprehend. She would go to great lengths to reach her goal. I understood it because I was the same. As much as I wanted to tell our coaches, I would never. We all had our secrets, and I sure as shit had no room to talk. I didn't want to get Reagan into trouble, but I worried what the diet pills contained and how it could affect her body.
"What's a little hunger anyway?" She lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. "Nothing we're not used to."
I shook my head. "I wish you'd stop. You're going to get caught eventually."
"You mean get caught, like you?"
I pulled back. "What are you talking about?"
Reagan lifted the corner of her mouth, her eyes thinned to slits. She smirked. "Like I don't see the way our coach looks at you." She snickered under her breath. "I see how his hands linger, how he insists on doing privates with you, the way he talks to you. He's always looking at you. He's hot. You'd have to be dead to not see how fine he is."
I shook my head. My heart raced so fast it rang in my ears. "Like I told you last night, it's all in your head, Regina. You're making shit up."
She hid her bottle away. "Tell me, why are you really here? A little rendezvous with the coach, perhaps?"
I gave her a deadly stare. "You're fucking sick."
She angled her face toward mine, and I could smell the peppermint mouthwash she had used earlier. She lowered her voice to an audible whisper. "You tell anyone about my diet pills, and I'll tell people you're sleeping with Kova."
My eyes widened. "Are you insane? I'm not sleeping with him." The denial burned the back of my throat. "Do you have any idea what kind of problems that would cause?"
"Then keep your mouth shut about me."
"Kova could go to jail based on your lie."
Her eyes narrowed. My stomach churned at the deceitful cards she dealt. There was no doubt in my mind she would use them to her advantage. She was the type to throw her mother under the bus to get what she wanted.
"Who said it's a lie?"
"It is a lie." I drew out each word. "You can't be serious."
"As a heart attack."
"You have no proof," I whispered. My heart raced a mile a minute.
"Oh, Aid, you have so much to learn." Reagan turned away and zipped her suitcase shut with a pleased smile on her face. "Not a lot of evidence is necessary when it comes to sexual allegations in this sport, you should know that by now. You have an extremely good-looking, fairly young male coach, and a pretty girl who he spends more time with than anyone else, and when no one's around, I might add. You're so stupid you can't see that he's using his power to get what he wants. He's had the same girlfriend since he was born."
"You're so far off track you can't even see straight. Nothing is happening. Do you see what you're doing? You're believing shit you made up in your head."
"I may have a wild imagination, but it’s all the authorities would need, that is, if you don't keep your mouth shut."
I lifted one brow and curled my lips. She forgot one important factor, one horrid side to this beautiful sport.
"And you seem to forget how an accusation such as this is cleaned up and swept under the rug faster than you can blink your eyes. Especially when it's a beloved, decorated coach. They always side with him and you know it. They protect the coach and the sport first, everything else comes second." It was heartbreakingly true, and I was disgusted with myself to use it to my advantage.
Reagan's jaw gnashed together. She knew I was right.
I hadn't elaborated one bit about how such claims were thrown out. It was one of those things that came with the sport that no one ever spoke about. It was rare a coach was actually arrested, let alone banned from coaching thereafter. Gymnastics officials did everything in their power to keep their image squeaky clean. There were many coaches and trainers accused