Page 143 of Salto

ROVE: No early session today. I have a meeting with Vanta.

My brow furrowed. He’d never canceled a session before, and we’d be leaving for Nationals Camp tomorrow.

I rolled onto my back, taking inventory of my pain.

Everything felt pretty normal so far, but when I stood up, would it change?

I sighed and got up, pushing myself out of bed. The pain in my back and stomach was there, but it felt more like a three or four. Maybe I'd get lucky and be able to do full routines today.

As I got dressed and ate breakfast, I couldn't help but wonder what Rove was meeting with Vanta about. It had to be something about the trip.

A small pit formed in my stomach.

What if it was about me?

I shook my head.

Don't, I told myself. Don't think like that.

It could be about anything. Nationals Camp and Nationals were in Florida, so there were plenty of plausible things that Rove and Vanta could be talking about. Flight plans, hotel bookings, last-minute forms, and things for the team.

I ended up arriving twenty minutes before our normal seven o’clock practice. I never got to the locker room at the same time as the other girls, so it was weird to step in that day and see it filled with all of my teammates.

I passed by, giving a few small smiles to the younger girls to be polite, and then, when I made it to my locker, I put my bag away, grabbed my grips, got my water bottle⁠—

"You finally decided to show up with the rest of us?"

I turned, not expecting Sloane's shrill voice to slice through the locker room chatter so abruptly.

She was standing with Eva, her arms crossed over her chest, an expression on her face that said she was ready to take a shot at me.

I was so not in the mood for this. I wrongly assumed the silence these past few weeks had meant she finally stopped seeing me as a threat and that her attempts at antagonizing me would officially stop. I honestly hoped she'd forget about me.

"I always show up," I said calmly.

She shrugged. It appeared nonchalant, but I knew it wasn’t. "I figured maybe you had another private session."

I turned back to my locker.

"What do you want, Sloane?"

"Are you coming to Nationals?”

I closed the locker door.

“Yes. Why wouldn't I be?”

She pursed her lips. "You've barely done a full routine in weeks."

I glanced back at her, catching Eva looking away, pretending to mess with her grip bag.

I couldn’t believe we were really having this conversation right now.

“I’ll be fine, Sloane. But thank you for your concern.” I let the sarcasm lace my words and started to walk past her.

"They're probably trying to figure out whether you're worth the risk."

I stopped in my tracks, heat rising to my cheeks.