Lucky number seven? People liked the number seven . . .
Relax. Breathe out. Throw.
Number seven popped—but no ticket.
She groaned.
“Easy as piemy—” Carter caught herself.
And then.
A thought.
Easy as pie?
Or easy as. . . pi?
Her attention zeroed in on balloon number three. She threw the next dart . . . but missed the balloon by millimeters. She grabbed another dart. Aimed. Threw.
Number three burst and . . .
A beautiful paper ticket fluttered down from the board, right into Beck’s waiting hand. “You did it!” he cried, waving it at Carter. “We got one!”
One down, three to go.
Carter grabbed another dart. Aimed at number one.Pop!
Another ticket!
Number four.
Pop!
“Oh my giddy aunt, Carter!” cried Beck. “How are you doing that?”
A disbelieving laugh escaped Carter’s lips as she picked up the next dart. Most people only knew that much of the sequence. 3.14. But she’d memorized pi out to a hundred digits, just for fun. Because, dammit, she was Kick It Carter. Math whiz. Solve Specialist. Total dart-throwing badass.
3.1415 . . .
She couldn’t very well pop number one again, so fifteen it was.
Carter grabbed the next dart, weighed it in her hand, took aim, and threw.
Number fifteen burst, and the fourth and final ticket fluttered down to her teammates. The light bulbs around the fun house sign flashed and carnival music blared from hidden speakers.
She’d done it. The dexterity challenge was over. The fun house was open for business.
Let the games begin.
37
Beck
Beck held up both hands for high fives as Carter rushed downfrom the balcony. She smacked his hands then turned to high-five Adi, too, but to Beck’s surprise, Adi swooped Carter up and spun her around.
“That was incredible!” Adi yelled.
“I bet that’s the fastest anyone has ever gotten through the challenge,” said Beck. “How did you—”
