Page 40 of Salto

I could only hope it appeared like I was keeping up.

I'd seen Eva a few times throughout the camp, and she was doing well. Really well. I had a feeling she'd get accepted. After all, she'd been training for this.

Sloane and Tatum also seemed to be keeping up quite nicely.

Compared to them, I honestly didn’t know if I’d make the cut.

By hour four, Vanta had gathered us all back onto the main floor.

“Stretch and cool down. We will be back in twenty minutes."

Hana and Rove followed Vanta into a hallway that appeared to lead to a row of offices.

I collapsed into my cool-down stretches, grateful it was finally over.

I was shaking a little from the exertion.

As I lay there and trembled, conversations slowly started back up around me.

Eva was laughing with another gymnast.

Sloane looked completely unbothered, like she already knew she'd be invited.

I kept my head down.

There was no point trying to guess how I'd done.

I'd survived. That was about all I knew.

Every few minutes, my eyes drifted toward the hallway they'd disappeared into. Twenty minutes suddenly felt like an eternity.

Finally, footsteps echoed from the hallway.

All three coaches returned to the floor, and Hana was the first to speak. “Thank you all again for coming. We’ve taken the time to decide who we would like to offer a spot on our elite team. If we call your name, would you please come stand over here? We will have a brief one-on-one with you before you go.”

She passed the piece of paper to Vanta, who began reading the names.

“Tatiana, Eva, Jordan, Sloane, and—” There was a brief pause, and I couldn’t help but hold my breath. “Scarlet.”

For a second, I thought I'd imagined it.

My head snapped up, and unintentionally, I met Rove's gaze.

His lips tugged into the faintest hint of a smile before he gave a small nod.

My pulse picked up, and I looked away as the girls around me started moving, some congratulating each other while others tried to hide their disappointment.

I sat there for a moment, unable to move, trying to convince myself I'd actually heard him right.

They wanted me on their team.

“Thank you all for coming. If those of you whose names were read could please wait here while we speak with you briefly one-on-one, that would be great,” Hana said.

I watched Eva and Sloane hurry over to Tatum, who hadn't made the cut.

She looked absolutely crushed.

Any excitement I'd felt at hearing my own name was immediately overshadowed by guilt.