Chapter 248

“You ready, Cassidy?” Aurora asked, looking down at me as I stood in front of The Hill, this incredibly steep, mountainous obstacle we practice on. I knew I was having trouble focusing, mostly because I could feel my sister’s eyes on me all the way across the gymnasium. She was in one of the rooms across the hallway running on a treadmill, something she does every morning, but that morning she seemed particularly fascinated with my progress for some reason. I wished there were curtains over those windows.

“I’m ready,” I assured Aurora. I tipped my head up to look her in the eyes, but that’s hard because she’s well-over six feet tall. She smiled down at me and blew her whistle, and I took off up The Hill, trying my best to beat my time from before.

I figured out a long time ago that it’s faster to jump up and down the hill, but that doesn’t do much for my endurance, and that’s what I was working on. So I