“The rest of you, count off to eight.One,” she said, gesturing to Eva Gardner.
“Two,” the girl next to her announced.
“Three,” Lily counted.
“Four.”
So it went until everyone had a number, and then their coach had them team up by number into groups of four.“Group one, with me.”
Eva and three other girls followed her out to the track.Misty found herself in the fifth group, wishing she could’ve been teamed up with Tish for the first time.She watched from the bleachers along with the others.Everyone on the track put helmets on, then assumed their positions.They took off down the track, vaulted themselves into the sled, and disappeared into a tunnel.A few minutes later, the sled came roaring back.“Group two!”Ms.Coolidge called as the first four got out.
Tish was part of it, and Misty flashed her a thumbs-up on the walk to the ice.She followed Tish’s bright coat to a position on the side.She was tempted to cheer or start a chant, but maybe now wasn’t the time.
“How was it?”she asked the girls from the first group once the sled was out of sight.
Eva ignored her, but her greenish eyes looked wider and brighter than usual.Vanessa all but bounced up to answer the question.“Scary at first, but now I kind of want to do it again.”
“And you will.We all will.”Misty took a deep breath.
Group three was up and about halfway around the track by the time Tish’s group got back to the bleachers.“How’d you do?”she asked.
“It was tricky not to get swept up in the momentum of—”
“Get in!”Ms.Coolidge shouted from the track.
Her outburst attracted everyone’s attention.One of the girls—it was too far to tell who—was now about halfway in the sled, but was obviously far behind the others.She lowered herself into the seat just as it sped out of sight, and the group on the sidelines let out a collective breath.
“Anyway, as we’ve learned lately, the sled is fucking heavy.But I felt myself speeding up from the momentum of it, and it was hard not to get swept up in it.I can’t wait to go again.”
The sled returned to the starting line, and everyone climbed out stiffly.There was a long pause before Ms.Coolidge called group four, and group three returned to the bleachers with chagrined expressions.
“Everybody okay?We’re all learning here,” Misty offered.
“I was a little...surprised when we took off like that.”The speaker’s cheeks were red, and evidently not just from the cold: She wore a coat that hit her at mid-thigh, but it didn’t hide the telltale shadows down both legs.
Another girl from the group had a large stain across the back of her coat and a strong stink-eye.Lily, on the other hand, shrugged.“Could’ve happened to any of us.I thought it would be me for a minute there.”
“I peed myself too,” someone else whispered.
“It’s gonna happen, so sorry in advance to whoever’s in front of me,” Angela said matter-of-factly.“Giving birth was murder on my pelvic floor.”
Group three girl, whose name Misty had never caught, looked less than reassured.“Yeah, but we probably handed her a reason not to choose any of us for the team.Getting in late, wetting the sled...She’s not going to like that.”
“If you’re not peeing constantly by now, you’re doing this wrong.”That line over halfway down Misty’s water bottle had always amused her but suddenly struck an ominous note between this and the water she’d gulped after their strength session.Would she be able to get all her layers (lined leggings, a second pair of leggings, and snow pants) off in time to pee before her group was up?
She didn’t get to find out.The fourth group had taken their turn around the track through the conversation, and now hers was being called forward.
“You got this!”Tish said as they got up.
“Thanks.”Misty had been impatient to get going, but now, she wasn’t sure she was ready for it.There was nothing she could do but follow her groupmates onto the track.Ms.Coolidge handed out helmets, and she did her best to stuff the hat covering her topknot into it.The other girls seemed to fare only slightly better, and Tallulah slid hers on neatly over her braid.
“Everybody ready?”Ms.Coolidge asked once the last girl had lowered her hands.
“Ready!”Misty’s hair felt like it was sitting weirdly on her head under the helmet, but this was no time to complain.
“Ready!”the others echoed.
“Okay, line up.Let’s get our pilot in front.You two”—she pointed at Misty and Tallulah—“will be in the middle, and you, in the red coat, will be on brakes.”
