CHAPTER FOUR

The next day, Nick waited impatiently for 7:15 pm to come.  He tried to do everything to pass time.  The guys all laughed at how antsy Nick was.

"Man, he has got it bad!" A.J told Kevin and Howie.

"Yup, he sure does." Kevin agreed and Howie just laughed.

Meanwhile, Brian tried his best to keep Nick busy to try
to pass time.  They did everything from playing video games, playing basketball to watching a movie and calling home. Finally after what seemed like a century 7:10 rolled by.

"Time to go!" Nick yelled as he practically ran out the door. The guys ran out after him and tried to keep up as he rushed towards the gym. They got there shortly and walked in.  Elana was there with a few other people.  They were all dressed in leotards.  She came up to them.

"I thought that maybe you would like to see some of the stuff we do and then maybe you can show us a little of what you do."

The guys agreed and Elana called the group over to introduce them.  "This is Svetlana Khorkina, Aleksei Nemov, and Yekaterina Lobaznyuk (first name pronounced Katerina).

The guys said hello and then sat down to watch what was going to happen. First, Aleksei started on the floor and his first tumbling pass was a double layout.  The guys were very impressed with what he did.  Now Nick really knew why they
called him the best male gymnast in the world. It was because he really was the best. He completed the routine with a double twisting layout and once again stuck the landing. Nick, along with the others stood up and cheered and clapped for him.  He smiled at them and waved. 

The cheers were soon quieted when Elana took on the beam.  She was amazing.  She made every move look so clean and easy. She made it look like the beam was four feet wide instead of four inches. She danced along the length of it to show off her grace and balance.  She twisted and leaped for excitement.  She tumbled along it causing them all to hold their breath.  Her handstands were strong and balanced and she
showed off her stuff. She performed very difficult moves and executed a perfect landing.

Nick cheered the loudest and wrapped her in a tight hug.  "You
were great!" he said, not believing just how great she was.

"Thanks," was all she said because he bent down to kiss her.

The kiss was quick and they turned to Svetlana who would be performing on the uneven bars.  Nick kept his arms around Elana as they watched Svetlana's grace on the bars. He remembered that she was the gold medalist on the bars and even had her own move.  When she finished her routine, everyone once again clapped and cheered loudly.

Yekaterina took her place at the length to run to vault.  She ran and hit her 1 and a half twisting yarchenko.  Then she once again went to the end of the run way and this time did a double twisting yarchenko.  They all stood up and
cheered for her. 

"Well," Aleksei, said, "this is some of what we do.  Now it is
your turn."

The boys whispered together and then made their way to the floor.  They began so sing "I Want it That Way."  The way they sang was so beautiful that it almost brought tears to Elana's eyes.  She was so happy, she couldn't believe it.  She could almost swear that she was falling in love with Nick.  Yes...she could feel it down in her heart. 

The love blazed in her heart for him.

She wanted nothing more than to have him love her back the same way she loved him.  But would that ever happen?  It would be hard if they did share feelings for each other.  She lived in Russia and he lived in America.  Who knows how often they would be able to see each other if they saw each other at all.  Elana sighed and turned back to the song which they were finishing up.  When they were done, they all clapped for the guys and then joined them out on the floor.

"So, did you like that?" Nick asked her with his little amused smirk.

"Well," she said slowly, "I think Brian did great and so did the others, "but as for you,well, I dunno.  It was OK...I guess."   She held back her laugh.

"You little rat!" Nick exclaimed.  "I cannot believe you just did that to me. Talk about being way rude!"

She burst out laughing at the look in Nicks eyes.  She couldn't
believe that for a moment there he almost believed her. 

"So, what do you want to do next?" Howie asked.

"Well," Svetlana started thinking, "we can go to the park and just hang out.

"Good idea," Nick said nodding his head.  He took Elana's hand
and they all walked out towards the park.

When they got there, it was already getting a little dark.  Aleksei ran around yelling and having fun. Soon all of the others began to run around and laugh and have fun themselves.

Elana dodged behind a tree and glanced out to see where Nick was. She frowned.  Where did he go? she wondered.  Suddenly, a pair of arms snaked out and grabbed her around the waist.  She let out a little scream but was cut short when Nick dropped his head to hers to meet her for a kiss.  She smiled as she kissed him back.

"Hey you two!" they heard Svetlana call.  "We are heading to the cafe now.  Would you like to join us?"

Yekaterina giggled but tried to hide it.

Elana blushed and Nick laughed.  "We're coming!" he called out.

They took each other hands and ran to meet up with the
rest. They all walked off to the cafe together laughing and just having a good time.