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Jax settled himself on the ledge, his feet propped up by the inflatable slide. I helped Hala get situated onto his lap, her injured ankle resting atop his leg.

“We’re going to slide down together as carefully as possible,” Jax assured her. “Bo will be at the bottom to slow us. We’ve got this.”

“Okay. Thanks, Jax.” She looked back over her shoulder at me. “And thank you, Angel, for staying behind to help me. You didn’t have to do it, but I’m grateful you did.”

“You didn’t have to risk yourself for us hanging upside down on the ladder to punch the code in or leap across a gym, but you did,” I answered. “Bo is right. This was a group effort.”

Jax smiled at me before he pushed off, holding Hala securely in his lap.

After another minute or so, I figured it was safe enough for me to go down. I hopped up on the edge of the wall and slid down the long, inflatable slide. When I got to the bottom, Jax and Bo were there waiting. They each grabbed a hand, pulling me onto my feet before my bottom had even left the slide.

As I straightened, I looked around, my mouth falling open in astonishment. Everyone stood there waiting for me, including Kira.

What the heck was going on?

“Why is everyone here?” I said in disbelief. “Why didn’t anyone cross the finish line?”

Kira stepped forward. “We started this trial as a team. We’re going to finish as a team. Together.”

Smiling, she held out an elbow. Wally linked his with her, Mike with him, and Frankie slid her arm inside Mike’s. Bo and Jax lifted Hala between them, her arms stretched across their shoulders to relieve any weight from her ankle. Jax held out his elbow to me.

“You ready, Red?” he asked.

Swallowing the lump of emotion in my throat, I nodded and slid my arm into his. “I’m ready.”

Arm in arm, the eight of us crossed the finish line as one.

Chapter Fifty

ANGEL SINCLAIR

Saturday morning we were invited to attend a special evening ceremony to learn the results of our UTOP candidacy. The ceremony would take place in the gym at 7:00 p.m. sharp. While I seriously doubted I would be one of the two candidates passing through to UTOP, I was at peace with myself and my actions. The trials had been an amazing experience and had taught me a lot about myself. I didn’t regret one minute of it.

“So, who’s going into town?” I asked as I pulled a dark-blue sweater over my head. “It’s Saturday, after all.”

“Me,” Frankie said cheerfully.

“Me, too,” Kira said.

“Me and my boot,” Hala said, lifting her leg. She’d suffered a mild sprain in her ankle after her leap across the gym. Last night she’d been fitted with an ankle boot and would have to wear it for a couple of weeks. At least she could walk on her own without crutches. We were all grateful she was going to be okay.

We gave each other a high five and smiled. How things had changed in just four weeks.

Not surprisingly, I was the first to be ready. While the others were getting dressed, I announced I’d wait out front for them. I was the only one there until Mr. Donovan walked up, apparently heading inside.

“Good morning, Mr. Donovan,” I said.

“Good morning, Ms. Sinclair. You look in remarkably good spirits this morning.”

“I am.” The stress and anxiety of the last few days had evaporated, leaving me strangely giddy. I guess there was some relief in knowing that nothing else we did at this point could help or hurt us in terms of our candidacy to UTOP.

“Are you feeling okay after the trials yesterday?”

“I’m good, thank you.”

“How is Ms. Youseff feeling?”

“She’s fine. The boot is helpful, and I think she’s glad she doesn’t have to hobble around on crutches.”