Maple Faucher's Arc

Chapter 3 of 3

Thursday's tryout was two days off when Maple walked into the gym. Maya waited by the mats, arms crossed, her whistle still. A flyer sat on the bench nearby, an ice pack pressed to her ankle. Maya turned as Maple came in. "We lost a flyer," Maya said. She kept it short. "Bad landing during warmups. She's out for Thursday." She looked Maple over. "That leaves the top spot on the pyramid open. The hard one. I want you in it." Maple's mouth went dry. "I haven't drilled that spot. Not once." "I know." Maya didn't blink. "You've got the balance for it. Nobody else has your tail." She handed Maple a folded uniform, indigo with gold trim, a bright "C" on the chest. A pair of white sneakers with indigo stars sat on top. "Change. We start now." Maple pulled the uniform on in the locker room. It fit. She laced the sneakers, breathed, and told herself the beam had been higher than this. When she came back, Katharina stood near the mats, already stretching. Maple knew her from the empty gym two days ago. The soft face, the cold eyes. The girl who called her a house cat and swore the squad would hear how she got in. Katharina watched the uniform slide over Maple's shoulders and said nothing at first. Maya set the count. "Top of the pyramid. Two bases lock your feet, you rise, you hold, you dismount clean. Ready." The bases lifted Maple. She wobbled at the top, then found it. Her tail snapped out and steadied her, level, high above the mats. She held four counts and dropped into their arms. "Again," Maya said, and turned to check the other stunt group. Maya's back was to them now. Katharina moved in close under the pretense of spotting. "You're a beat slow," she muttered. "You keep dropping early. She'll see it Thursday." Maple rose again and held. "Still slow," Katharina said, flat. "That's charity, not cheer." Maple's tail puffed. She caught it, forced it flat, and used it. She rose a third time and held six counts, dead steady, then five, then landed clean each drop. Maya glanced back once and nodded, then moved on. She never heard a word Katharina said. Practice ended. Maple peeled off the sneakers, arms shaking, the spot half-learned but hers. She had held the top. She hadn't fallen. Katharina waited by the door. She looked at the uniform in Maple's bag, then at Maple. "You held it today," Katharina said. "With me two feet away." Her voice stayed soft. "Thursday there'll be a crowd. Judges. Every eye on you." She pulled her own bag onto her shoulder. "You'll have to try harder than that." She walked out. Maple stood alone with the uniform. She had won the spot. Now she had two days to make a stranger's routine her own, under a hundred eyes, with Katharina watching for the wobble.