Kaylie Cruz is the most subtly agonized of the four elite female gymnasts at The Rock gym. Her parents joined Steve Tanner to found The Rock gym years ago, linking her forever to her best friend and rival Lauren Tanner. Kaylie spends the first half of season one content as can be. She believe in boyfriend Carter's professions of love, Lauren's professions of loyalty and forever friendship, her parents' marriage and love.Then her world comes crashing down.Kaylie discovers in rapid succession that her mother slept with her previous coach Marty, and that he left The Rock gym because somebody blackmailed him with the evidence of the affair. She keeps the secret for her mother like the good girl she has always tried to be, right up until she can't anymore. She risks losing her spot on the next Olympic Team to Rock newcomer Emily Kmetko. Carter sleeps with her best friend, who has harbored a crush on Carter for years which never went away like Kaylie thought.Kaylie at first seems about to collapse under the pressure of her parents' divorce, Lauren's betrayal and her breakup with first love Carter, but she gets it together and finds within herself the strength to win.Kaylie wins National Champion after discovering within herself the power to say no. She refuses Carter's attempts to reconcile after he tells her that he has slept with Lauren, and has been staying at her house for months. She fires her father as her PR manager, and chooses to hire MJ instead. After having completed these tasks, she finds within herself the passion necessary to win.Season two finds Kaylie in a seemingly better place, but unrecovered emotionally from season one's betrayals.Kaylie forgives, but she never forgets. She continues to do everything in her power to try to bring her parents back together, including demanding they promise her six months' wait before officially divorcing. She distances herself from Lauren after finding out Carter has officially chosen to be with Lauren, then from the rest of the young women at The Rock. Being National Champion becomes the center of her existence.Kaylie remains mainly single and committed to her gymnastics during the course of season two. She is linked in the press with Nicky Russo, the male national champion, but for a long time remains mere platonic friends with him. Part of her motivation for this stems from her unwillingness to do to Payson, now severely injured and at loose ends in her life, what Lauren did to her. Payson has a crush on Nick, which culminates in nothing but one kiss. Kaylie kisses Nick once as well, right as he is about to leave the Rock gym to escape the drama. Newcomer to The Rock gym Austin begins as a thorn in Kaylie's side, but he eventually falls in love with her.Kaylie, however, remains so obsessed with winning at the World competition that she loses a significant amount of weight in order to add a 'Double Arabian' to her routine. Genghi Cho, the Chinese champion, utilizes this move as her signature. Kaylie is so intent on beating Genghi Cho that she brutalizes her body in order to do a move Sasha warns her is risky and unnecessary to win. In fact, she develops anorexia.Austin, aware of the symptoms of the disease and the problems associated with it from his sister's troubles, picks up on Kaylie's issue far sooner than most everyone else in her life does. Kaylie refuses his attempts to help her, even going so far as to strap extra weights onto her legs when he demands a weigh-in.Kaylie's self-destructive actions culminate in her dramatic faint from the beam during World trials before the National Committee on gymnastics. Luckily, Austin sees that Kaylie is about to fall, and he reaches her in time to catch her. He is right there at her bedside when she wakes up in the hospital hours later. She surprises everyone, but there is still a spot on the Worlds Team for her if she wants it because of her position as National Champion. Kaylie Show less «