Chapter 10: The Test

My right knee struck first.

I slid across the paint and heard the team shout.

"Four fifty-four!" Toni called.

The clock kept running.

I put both palms down and got one foot under me.

The second skate slipped.

"Four fifty-five!"

My palms burned where they had scraped the floor.

I could hear skates rolling behind the rail as the team ran with me.

Their voices tangled around the count, too loud for me to pick out a word.

I pushed off with my hand still on the floor.

The last turn came at me too fast.

Joel stood beyond the rail, fingers wrapped around it.

I crossed my outside foot over like he'd shown me.

"Four fifty-eight!"

I threw myself over the line.

Toni blew the whistle.

Nobody spoke while she checked the stopwatch.

"Four fifty-nine," she said.

The women hit the rail with their palms.

Joel closed his eyes for a second.

I wanted to go straight to him, but Toni held up a hand.

"Falls and stops. You're not done."

"That's cruel."

"Yes. Up."

I did the controlled fall with my knee aching.

I did the other one better.

On the stop, my left skate skidded out, but I kept my shoulders square.

Toni made a mark on her sheet.

"Again," she said.

I came around and stopped without touching the wall.

"You're on the roster," she said.

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