I am finishing on vault
landing
with my hands in the air
when I see Ben
in a green zippered
sweatshirt
watching me from across the gym

He smiles and waves
and I am suddenly self-conscious
about the leotard
I am wearing.

He settles onto the bleachers
leaning his elbows on
his knees

Presley does a one and a half
and then it is my turn again

I choose to do a trick I have done a hundred times
not the new one
because I know I might fall

in more ways than one