Relentless by Suzanne Cox Page B

couldn’t take my phone in my pocket, and I couldn’t let someone hold it for me in case I got another text message. I twisted the key, securing the locker, and hooked the key ring to a clip on my shorts.
    “Nervous?” Hanna asked as we left the building and started down the steps.
    “A little,” I lied. I was petrified. Not only was I about to compete in my first Bodinwa match against a team from another school, I also had to gather a plan of action to get myself off this island tonight without anybody knowing.
    “The Savannah team is good. They’ll be the best we play all year. Just do what you can. It’s a good learning experience.”
    “Are you telling me I’m going to lose?”
    She laughed. “I don’t know if you’ll win or lose, but if you don’t do as well as you’d like, don’t worry about it.”
    “They came all the way from Savannah for this?”
    “Yep. Flew into Key West yesterday and stayed at a hotel last night.”
    “No room for them here?”
    “There’s room in the dorm, and some teams choose to stay here, but not the Savannah team. They’re very competitive and prefer to stay segregated from their opponents. They have several Valkyries on their team.”
    “Brynna mentioned them the other day.”
    “Valkyries?”
    “Yeah, but she made it sound like they were separate from regular students. I didn’t think we’d be competing against any of them.”
    “Some of them are different and don’t go to school with everyone else.” She glanced to the boathouse where Tom was waving at us to hurry up. “There’s no time to explain it all now. Just know they’re good at everything. Really good.”
    Hanna hurried into the boathouse and flipped the switch to lower her Jet Ski to the water.
    Tom stood by my Jet Ski and motioned for me to get on. When I was ready, he leaned toward me.
    “Don’t be intimidated.” His voice was low. “You’re as good as anyone out there. You don’t know it yet, but you will.”
    “I’m not intimidated.”
    He smiled and said, “Yet,” as he flipped the switch, and the Jet Ski began its descent.
    An hour later, I had to admit Tom was right. I was intimidated. Hanna and I waited side by side to face off against two girls from the Savannah team.
    “Valkyries,” Hanna whispered, leaning toward me.
    “I hate when Brynna does that, and now you’re doing it,” I hissed back at her.
    “What?”
    “Using words that really don’t mean anything to me.”
    “I told you what a Valkyrie was, and you said Brynna told you, too. So you do know the meaning.”
    “I know what you say the word means, but it just doesn’t mean anything to me. Especially not in this situation.”
    She smiled, and I turned to watch the other two girls each make a run on the course. They were as good as Hanna had said. Better than me, that was for sure. They carried themselves on the course as they had on land, with a smooth grace that did not mask the relentless strength in their slim bodies.
    Hanna took to the course and made a good run, though her time was still well above the other two. At last it was my turn. With my escape plans for tonight nonexistent, totally clearing my mind was impossible. I couldn’t focus, and it showed. Only a few feet into the course, I stood to swing the lupin, and my hand slipped on the handle of the Jet Ski. It skittered sideways, nearly unseating me. I recovered, but at that point, my time was shot. I missed a fint near the end of the course. As I flew up the ramp, I swung wildly at the final fint and jawa, missing both. The ski landed with an awkward splash on the other side of the obstacle, and my time stopped. I steered slowly back to where Hanna was sitting. Tom’s frown was hard to ignore. I tried.
    “You stank that up,” Hanna said evenly.
    I glared at her for a moment then shook my head. “Yeah, you’re right.”
    We motored back to the boathouse and put up our skis. Hanna waited on the wooden deck for me so that we could go together to