Page 9

A sigh escaped me. It was all I needed. Kendra brought out the worst in me, and I knew that. That bitch had the map to infiltrate my insides and bring my excessive competitiveness to light. In part, I also knew that I also brought her monster to the surface. What was left for me then was to find out which of us would keep the monster hidden the best. Or rather, who would keep it hidden the longest, because it would be impossible to contain them forever.

When my name was called, I was pleased that Becker was called along. I knew he was a goodstunand that gave me some confidence.

“I just want you to get up, switch legs and get down” Karlee requested.

I agreed and did exactly as she asked. Evans stayed to the side to avoid anything. With my hands bandaged, I grabbed Becker's hand and was thrown upwards, landing with my feet in his hands again, but this time, over his head. With both feet planted there and a smile on my face, I obeyed when Karlee ordered: switch, switch, switch and switch. Lifting one leg, almost like a flamingo at rest, and changing the positions of the legs.

And then I went down, feeling Becker's hands holding my waist and placing me safely on the ground. I clapped my hands together, as did he, announcing the end of the exercise that had been requested.

Karlee smiled.

“I want to see you doing stunts next week, so be prepared” I nodded, excited, full of dopamine and adrenaline. “I'm going to give y’all a break, I want to see thetumblersnow!” Requested the coach, releasing Becker and me.

We walked away from her and I accepted her compliment on my performance.

“You're very secure up there, it's not common for someone to be like that at first, especially with someone new doing the survey.”

“I know I'm good at what I do. Furthermore, if I can't trust my base, I won't even step up” I said, feeling confident in my sentence.

He laughed weakly and nodded.

“You can trust me to step on me whenever you want…” he replied and then made a pained face. “That sentence sounded strange, didn’t it?!”

I laughed.

“That's fine. I understood what you meant.”

We laugh together.

“Hey, Becker! “We turned around and saw Colleen calling him. And he went to the blonde.

I approached the water fountain, ready to take a nice sip of cold water when Kendra leaned against the wall next to me.

“This team is too small for both of us...” she declared, almost convinced of the shit she was saying.

“In fact, this team is too big for someone as small as you, Kendra.” I pressed the water fountain button and drank my water. I felt the liquid going down my dry throat and refreshing my entire body.

“You know that one of us will have to give in, Veronica…” her voice was in a low and provocative tone. “And it won't be me.”

I raised my torso again, looking her in the eyes.

“Neither do I, you blonde bitch.”

“Sewer rat.”

I felt my hands clenched and my arms tensed at my sides.

“Hey! You two there!” We both looked at the voice, it was Evans. “To the stage.”

I rolled my eyes and went with Kendra following me in tow.

We stopped in front of the co-trainer.

“You are both from Chamberlain, right?” We agree, together. “Great, you’re going to do a confidence test.”

We were both outraged:

“What?”