The Fastest Finish

by Catherine Hapka

JJ smiled back, suddenly very glad that Noah was on the team. “Thanks. I’ll try it.”

  Twenty-Six

  “They should be back soon,” Ty muttered, pacing back and forth in the warm-up area.

  The course walk had ended a few minutes earlier. Now the entire team was drinking water and waiting for Ty’s parents, who had gone to find out the run order for the two days of competition.

  Which means they’ll also find out if the alternates are getting called in, Ty thought, flexing his biceps as he walked. I know I’m going to get my chance to compete—​I have to!

  Mackenzie pointed. “There they are!”

  Ty’s mother was shuffling through some papers when she and Ty’s dad reached the group. “Okay, we’ve got some interesting news,” she said.

  Ty held his breath, sure that his mom was going to tell him he was in.

  But instead, she pointed to Izzy. “You’re going first,” she said. “Not just of our group, I mean—​first in the whole competition.”

  “Really?” Izzy gulped. “Um, okay.”

  Mr. Santiago glanced at Noah. “You’re going today, too,” he told him. “Not until this afternoon, though.”

  “That’s good,” Tara said. “It’s easier if we’re spaced out.”

  Ty’s mom nodded. “JJ, you don’t compete until tomorrow,” she said. “Your turn should come toward the end of the day.”

  “Great.” JJ grinned. “That gives me even more time to get nervous.”

  Noah laughed. “Or more time to picture perfection,” he said.

  But Ty wasn’t paying attention to the two of them. “Well?” he said impatiently. “What about me?”

  His dad glanced at him and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, son. Everyone showed up, so they won’t need any alternates.”

  Ty didn’t respond—​he couldn’t. It felt as if his entire world had just come crashing down. He’d been so sure . . .

  “Sorry, Ty,” Kevin said.

  “Yeah,” Mackenzie added. “You’ll get ’em next year.”

  Ty’s mother didn’t say anything. But she reached over and squeezed his shoulder.

  Ty took a deep breath. “Um, thanks, guys.”

  He shook off his mother’s hand and walked away, needing some space to deal with this. He watched from a distance as the rest of the group dispersed, with Izzy, JJ, and Kevin heading to the cooler to get more water and Mackenzie walking over to take photos of the course. Meanwhile, Noah wandered off by himself and sat down. He started rubbing his left ankle, grimacing.

  Ty’s heart thumped. Hold on, he thought, hope flaring inside him. Maybe there’s still a chance.

  He rushed over to Noah. “What’s wrong?” he demanded. “Are you injured? If you are, you should tell someone right away so the alternate has time to get warmed up.”

  Twenty-Seven

  Noah was startled when Ty suddenly rushed over and got in his face, yelling something about injuries and alternates. But after a second, he got it.

  “Sorry,” he said quickly. “I’m not hurt or anything. It’s just an old dance injury that gets a little sore sometimes—​no big deal. I’m definitely not dropping out.”

  Ty’s face fell. Noah braced himself, guessing that Ty might snarl at him or something. It was pretty obvious that he resented that Noah was competing and he wasn’t. Actually, it seemed like he just resented Noah—​period.

  But Ty took a deep breath. “Okay, whatever,” he said. “I mean, it’s cool that you can work through some pain. I had a hamstring injury last soccer season, but I still started every game. I just powered through it.”

  “Yeah.” Noah tried not to let his surprise show. Ty was actually being . . . nice! “I know what you mean. Even if my ankle is killing me, I can’t let the audience see that I’m sore.”

  Ty laughed. “You can’t let the opposing team see it, either. Otherwise they’ll tear you apart.”

  Noah smiled. “Listen, Ty . . .” He paused, not sure he should say what he was thinking. But maybe it was better to be honest, the way he’d been with his mom. “Um, I’m sorry you didn’t make the finals. And if it’s my fault in any way, you know—”

  “It’s not,” Ty broke in. “You did your thing, and I did mine. I just didn’t make the cut this year, that’s all.” He shrugged, then grinned. “But next year, look out! I’m not only planning on making the finals—​I’m planning on winning!”

  Noah smiled. “Cool.”

  “Yeah.” Ty shrugged again. “But in the meantime, I’m hoping one of my teammates will bring home the championship. You know—​keep it in the family.”

  Noah nodded, glancing toward the rest of the group. “JJ’s really strong,” he said. “And Izzy’s amazing—​she could win the whole thing if she has a good run.”

  “Yeah. And so could you.” Ty clapped him on the shoulder. “You’re on this team too, you know.”

  For the first time, Noah felt as if that really might be true. It was a nice feeling.

  “Thanks,” he said, shooting Ty an uncertain glance. “Since we’re on the same team, I have a favor to ask.”

  Ty looked a little surprised, but he nodded. “Sure. What?”

  “I was, um, whispering with JJ for part of the course walk.” Noah grinned sheepishly. “Want to give me some tips on a few of the tougher obstacles so I don’t have to admit that to Tara?”

  Twenty-Eight

  Breathe, Izzy told herself as she bounced from one foot to the other on the start mat. Don’t forget to breathe.

  She wasn’t sure she’d ever been so nervous and jittery in her life. But she was excited, too. Okay, so going first wasn’t ideal, since she wouldn’t get to see how the course was running. On the other hand, she couldn’t wait to try some of the new obstacles!

  Mellie Monroe was talking to the camera. Izzy couldn’t hear her very well over the noise of the crowd, but it didn’t matter. She’d catch that stuff later on TV. Right now she kept one eye on the first obstacle, Stepping Out, and another on the production assistant who was supposed to tell her when to start.

  Izzy mopped her brow with the back of one hand. It was a hot day, made even hotter by all the TV lights. But she wasn’t really thinking about that.

  “Whenever you’re ready, ninja,” the PA said.

  A buzzer sounded, and Izzy took off, skipping easily through all six balance steps. She could hear the crowd going wild, and she knew she’d just laid down a time for the rest of the competitors to beat. But she was already focusing on the second obstacle, Monkey Business. Mackenzie had said it was similar to a ropes obstacle Noah had faced in his tryouts, which made Izzy wish she’d gone to see him.

  But whatever—​she’d seen the demo ninja do it, so she knew how it worked. She had to climb a long rope and then swing through a series of shorter ones. Tara had warned that the dismount might be the hardest part, since it was a pretty good jump from the final rope. If Izzy missed and fell into the net instead, she’d be disqualified.

  But no worries, she thought, flexing her hands as she caught her breath. It’s no harder than climbing the drainpipe to Jess’s room, and I’ve done that a million times.

  She felt a flash of sadness at the thought of her friend, or ex-friend, or whatever Jess was. But she pushed it aside, putting all her focus into what she was doing as she grabbed the rope.

  Izzy’s arms were tired by the time she made it through Monkey Business and a set of stationary bars called Bar None. She was glad that a balance obstacle came next. It was called Touch and Go. Ninjas had to skip across a series of blocks without knocking over a bunch of vases and stuff that were perched precariously on extra blocks in between. It looked like it was tricky but fun—​like jumping a flower garden on her skateboard without damaging anything.

  Izzy grinned when she landed on the mat at the end of the obstacle. That had been fun! Four down, six to go . . .

  The fifth obstacle was the Loco Ladder. That had always been a tough one for Izzy, especially since she sometim
es got nervous near the top, due to her fear of heights. She couldn’t help noticing that this particular Loco Ladder was a good four feet taller than the one from the semis.

  But by the time she neared the top, she wasn’t really thinking about the height. Just about her arm muscles, which were screaming as she wedged the right-hand peg into the second-to-last hole . . .

  “Ugh!” she cried as she felt her left hand slip. She scrabbled for a better grip, but it was too late—​she tucked and rolled as she fell down, down, down into the safety net.

  “Good try, Izzy!” Mellie Monroe cried on the loudspeaker. “You almost made it to the top.”

  Izzy forced herself to smile and wave to the crowd, which was roaring with applause. Where was her family? She hadn’t thought to look for them before she started, so she didn’t know if anyone had told them they could come down to the alley for her run. This was their first time seeing her do her thing in person, though of course they’d watched her episode on TV. Would they be disappointed that she hadn’t done better? Would it make them think that this whole ninja thing was pointless, that she should go back to running, like them?

  “Izzy! Yo, Iz!” a familiar voice cut through the chaos.

  It was Izzy’s older brother, Charlie. He was grinning and pumping his fists as he ran toward her. Izzy’s sister, father, and stepmother were right behind him.

  “Wow!” Hannah skidded to a stop in front of Izzy, breathless. “I had no idea you could do stuff like that! I mean, I saw you on TV before, but this was different.”

  “Yeah.” Izzy’s father enfolded her in a huge hug. “I’m so proud of you, Isabella.”

  All four of them started asking all kinds of questions about the course and about being a ninja. But Izzy was too stunned and out of breath to answer at first.

  Luckily, her teammates appeared just in time. “That last thing is called the Loco Ladder,” Mackenzie told Izzy’s family, pointing up. “It’s super hard! You need to be really strong, and also really careful . . .”

  With that, she was off and running, talking a mile a minute the way she always did. Ty and Kevin added some comments, too. JJ and Noah didn’t say much, but they nodded and smiled.

  “I know Izzy went first, so you don’t have much to compare her to,” Kevin put in. “But she’ll probably have one of the best performances through the balance things.”

  JJ nodded. “She’s better than any of us at balance stuff.”

  “Hey.” Ty frowned. “Speak for yourself.” Then he grinned. “But yeah, he’s right. Izzy’s a beast on balance obstacles.”

  Izzy felt herself blushing as her family stared at her, looking impressed. “Thanks, guys,” she said. “I wish I’d made it farther. But wow, that was cool!”

  Twenty-Nine

  “I think that camera’s pointing at us!” Mackenzie poked Kevin in the arm, excitement surging through her. “Quick! Wave! Maybe they’ll show our T-shirts on TV!”

  She jumped up and down, waving and whooping. Beside her, Kevin did the same thing. Mackenzie could see her dads out of the corner of her eye. They were in the bleachers a little ways back from where she and the others were watching.

  She glanced around for Ty, wondering if he was still wearing the shirt she’d made for him. But he was too far away to notice her. He and Noah were watching together as a ninja struggled through the bar obstacle.

  She stopped jumping when the camera turned away. “That’s weird,” she said.

  “What?” Kevin asked.

  “Ty and Noah are hanging out together all of a sudden.” Mackenzie squinted at the pair, curious.

  Then she shrugged, figuring it didn’t matter what had happened. She was having a great time, and she was glad that all her teammates were, too. It was amazing to be at the finals! She was taking lots of pictures for her blog and trying to remember everything so she could write about it later. She wouldn’t be able to give away what had happened until the show aired next week, of course—​everyone there had signed a paper saying that. But she could write it all out now and post it later. She couldn’t wait!

  “Uh-oh!” Kevin’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “He almost hit the first vase.”

  The ninja on course had just started Touch and Go. Mackenzie groaned along with everyone else when he knocked over the second vase and was eliminated.

  Izzy rushed over. “The Mighty Mini goes next,” she reported. “Let’s get closer.”

  Mackenzie nodded, eager to see if Chen did as well as she had at semis. She followed as Izzy wriggled her way past some adults to the ropes that separated the spectators from the course.

  “There she goes,” Kevin said as Chen leaped onto the first step of Stepping Out. “Where’s JJ? He should be watching his competition.”

  “I think he went up to say hi to his family, since he’s not running until tomorrow.” Mackenzie didn’t take her eyes off Chen, who was already moving on to Monkey Business.

  By the time the Mighty Mini raced up the Crazy Cliff and immediately slid down the far side to attack the next obstacle, Mackenzie was holding her breath. Chen was amazing! Mackenzie still wanted one of her teammates to win, but she couldn’t help cheering as the Mighty Mini danced across the next balance obstacle and reached Door to Door, in which ninjas had to swing and jump through a course consisting of several door frames hung at different heights.

  After that, there was just one more obstacle to go, and once Chen finished it, she was facing the Wall Crawl.

  “She’s so short, I wonder if her arms and legs will even reach the walls,” Mackenzie said, holding her breath as she watched.

  She didn’t have to hold it for long. Chen almost had to do a split, and her arms were stretched out nearly straight—​but she crab-walked up the wall without hesitation!

  “Oh my gosh! She did it!” Izzy cried. “She finished!”

  “That was incredible! And so fast,” Kevin added. “Go, Mighty Mini!”

  The crowd was going wild, just as they’d done at the wildcard show. Mackenzie hurried over to Ty and Noah, who had been watching nearby.

  “Look out, Dancing Ninja,” she told Noah with a grin. “That time is going to be hard to beat!”

  Thirty

  Noah was feeling confident as he stepped onto the start mat. He waved to his parents and teammates, who were all standing together in the viewing alley. Then he turned to watch the big screen beside the course as his package started to play.

  All the finalists had filmed new packages, since the producers didn’t want to show the exact same videos that viewers had already seen in the semis. This time Noah had told his mother about it. He’d been afraid she might try to take over, maybe make the whole thing about his future Broadway career or something. But she seemed to have taken their talk to heart. True, she’d fussed with his hair forever and kept gesturing for him to smile, but she’d mostly let Noah and the producers decide what to include. Because of that, the package felt like the real Noah.

  I hope Mom notices that this is the real me, too, he thought as the final shot focused in on him powering up the Fit Kidz climbing wall. Not the me she’s been imagining all these years. I think she’s finally starting to get it.

  He shot a look toward his parents, who smiled and waved. Then the PA told him he could begin, and Noah immediately turned all his focus onto the course in front of him.

  Stepping Out and Monkey Business went smoothly. Bar None was a little trickier—​the bars didn’t move at all, and Noah was surprised by how far apart they really were once he was up there. But he called upon his trapeze experience again and made it safely to the landing mat.

  Next came Touch and Go, which was actually fun. Skipping across from block to block, jumping a little higher when there was a vase in the way—​it reminded Noah of some choreography he’d done in his jazz class a year or two ago. The boys in the number had had to jump over the girls, and the girls were sure to threaten the boys with horrible things if they landed on any part of their bodies!
>
  After that, this is a piece of cake, Noah told himself with a secret smile.

  Then he got serious again because the Loco Ladder came next. He took a few deep breaths, pausing on the mat to make sure he was ready. One of the pegs missed its mark halfway up, but he managed to recover without losing his grip, shoving it in on the second try. Before he knew it, he was at the top!

  “Climb that Cliff! Climb that Cliff!” the crowd chanted as Noah approached the next obstacle. He barely hesitated, pushing off into a run. Both hands grabbed the lip, and he swung himself up.

  “Go, Noah!” someone shrieked as he hopped down the steps on the far side of the wall—​he was pretty sure it was Mackenzie, though he didn’t look. He was studying the next obstacle, Round and Round. It was another balance obstacle, but it looked trickier than most, since the steps he had to leap across were round balls of varying sizes.

  I can do this, he told himself. It’s just like hitting a mark onstage.

  He hit the first three balls just right. But the fourth one was smaller and set a little lower than the rest, and he landed on it crooked.

  “Oooh!” the crowd moaned as Noah slipped, windmilling his arms but unable to stop himself from tumbling into the safety net.

  For a second, Noah’s heart clenched with disappointment. He glanced at the final three obstacles. He’d come so close . . .

  Then he saw Ty waiting for him with a bottle of water at the edge of the course. That reminded him of his teammate’s new, improved attitude about not making the finals. Ty was determined to come back better and stronger next year—​and so was Noah.

  He climbed out of the net. “Thanks,” he said, accepting the water Ty handed him.

  “Good run, buddy,” Ty said. “That ball thing looks brutal.”

  “Yeah.” Noah grinned. “I’ll be ready for it next year, though. Hope you are, too, if you want to have any chance of beating me.”

  “Oh, it’s on,” Ty said with a smirk. He raised his hand, and Noah laughed and gave him a high-five, glad that they were finally friends.