my spoon. It’s now a congealed mess of lumps. “Oh, yeah. Sorry.”
“ Here.” Alex replaces my brown spotted banana with his perfectly ripe one.
“Thanks.” I take it and peel the skin back. Alex watches until I take a bite, then resumes eating his oatmeal, but his eyes keep flickering back to mine. “So, Will says we’ve got a big challenge coming up. Any ideas what it might be?”
“There’s one big challenge every fall,” Sabrina says. “It’s what we’ve been training for. Last year they went on an overnight camping trip through the woods. It was sort of like a survival test and everything rolled into one.”
My stomach drops at the thought that Will was giving me a leg up by taking me into the woods yesterday. I manage another bite of the banana, since Alex is back to watching me.
* **
The bruises from my fight with Bryce have faded, as have the shadows in the crooks of my arms. But new aches and pains replace them. My legs are sore from all the running, my wrists still slightly chafed from struggling against the ropes, and the area around my chip is bruised and swollen, almost as if my body knows this thing is foreign and wants to expel it. If only it were that easy.
But I have no time to focus on my sore, tired body. We are running drills through an obstacle course set up in the gym today. My eyes dart to the end, but thankfully there doesn’t seem to be any fighting ring this time.
Kane has us line up at the starting line in groups of four. Drew and Bryce push their way to the front, wanting to be the first to go. I let everyone pass me by, and get in line at the very end, wanting to learn from those who go first.
Kane gives a quick blast into his whistle and the guys take off. They run full force down the length of the gym, and when they reach the first set of tires, they skip and raise their knees, hopping in and out of the tires. Next they reach the ropes suspended from the ceiling and aggressively climb hand over hand until they’ve reached the top. No one reaches up to tag it like I did that day. They slide down and drop to the ground long before they’re to the bottom. Bryce is now in the lead, and edges out his competition, as he charges into a big punching bag that’s on a rolling track. He shoves it back with everything he has until it slams to a stop at the end of the track. He then runs back to the start of the course. He scans his barcode at the time pod to record his time.
The whole course takes the guys about two minutes to complete. I t’s clear they’ve done it before and are only trying to better their times. I look to the girls around me who wait for their chance. Sam is in the next group that’s just getting ready to go. She’ll be matched up against Jake, Alex and a guy I haven’t officially met yet. I can tell by her smile that she doesn’t care that she’s the only girl, or that she might not be as strong as the others, and the fact that she just doesn’t care inspires me.
So what if I’m the smallest one here? That I’m barely over five feet or top the scale at one hundred and three pounds? I try to think of how I could use everything I’ve got to my advantage. I decide maybe, just maybe, my advantage will be my size. I’m small and quick and my feet will fit easily within the openings of the tires, so I won’t get tangled up and trip like many of the others do. And suddenly, I’m itching to try this course.
I move up and join the group with Sam and the guys. I tap Alex on the shoulder, knowing he’ll let me trade places with him. He gives me a strange smile and steps back, letting me take his spot. Sam gives me a wide grin, like she’s proud of me. I’m proud of me, too. I won’t let people like Kane, Drew or Bryce make me feel weak. I know my mother would like this, too.
Kane brings the whistle to his lips, and I settle back on one heel, ready to spring forward when I hear it blast, but then he notices me and lets the whistle fall from his
“ Here.” Alex replaces my brown spotted banana with his perfectly ripe one.
“Thanks.” I take it and peel the skin back. Alex watches until I take a bite, then resumes eating his oatmeal, but his eyes keep flickering back to mine. “So, Will says we’ve got a big challenge coming up. Any ideas what it might be?”
“There’s one big challenge every fall,” Sabrina says. “It’s what we’ve been training for. Last year they went on an overnight camping trip through the woods. It was sort of like a survival test and everything rolled into one.”
My stomach drops at the thought that Will was giving me a leg up by taking me into the woods yesterday. I manage another bite of the banana, since Alex is back to watching me.
* **
The bruises from my fight with Bryce have faded, as have the shadows in the crooks of my arms. But new aches and pains replace them. My legs are sore from all the running, my wrists still slightly chafed from struggling against the ropes, and the area around my chip is bruised and swollen, almost as if my body knows this thing is foreign and wants to expel it. If only it were that easy.
But I have no time to focus on my sore, tired body. We are running drills through an obstacle course set up in the gym today. My eyes dart to the end, but thankfully there doesn’t seem to be any fighting ring this time.
Kane has us line up at the starting line in groups of four. Drew and Bryce push their way to the front, wanting to be the first to go. I let everyone pass me by, and get in line at the very end, wanting to learn from those who go first.
Kane gives a quick blast into his whistle and the guys take off. They run full force down the length of the gym, and when they reach the first set of tires, they skip and raise their knees, hopping in and out of the tires. Next they reach the ropes suspended from the ceiling and aggressively climb hand over hand until they’ve reached the top. No one reaches up to tag it like I did that day. They slide down and drop to the ground long before they’re to the bottom. Bryce is now in the lead, and edges out his competition, as he charges into a big punching bag that’s on a rolling track. He shoves it back with everything he has until it slams to a stop at the end of the track. He then runs back to the start of the course. He scans his barcode at the time pod to record his time.
The whole course takes the guys about two minutes to complete. I t’s clear they’ve done it before and are only trying to better their times. I look to the girls around me who wait for their chance. Sam is in the next group that’s just getting ready to go. She’ll be matched up against Jake, Alex and a guy I haven’t officially met yet. I can tell by her smile that she doesn’t care that she’s the only girl, or that she might not be as strong as the others, and the fact that she just doesn’t care inspires me.
So what if I’m the smallest one here? That I’m barely over five feet or top the scale at one hundred and three pounds? I try to think of how I could use everything I’ve got to my advantage. I decide maybe, just maybe, my advantage will be my size. I’m small and quick and my feet will fit easily within the openings of the tires, so I won’t get tangled up and trip like many of the others do. And suddenly, I’m itching to try this course.
I move up and join the group with Sam and the guys. I tap Alex on the shoulder, knowing he’ll let me trade places with him. He gives me a strange smile and steps back, letting me take his spot. Sam gives me a wide grin, like she’s proud of me. I’m proud of me, too. I won’t let people like Kane, Drew or Bryce make me feel weak. I know my mother would like this, too.
Kane brings the whistle to his lips, and I settle back on one heel, ready to spring forward when I hear it blast, but then he notices me and lets the whistle fall from his
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