Boyd returned her attention to the rest of the class. “All right, recruits, line up for a couple of announcements.” The students formed a line and stood at ease, feet shoulder-width apart, chest out, chin back, hands clasped behind their backs. Alphas on Boyd’s right, Misfits on her left.
“I heard that there are still rumors floating around about Halloween,” Boyd began. “We will find out who stole from this institution. And they will be punished.”
She paused, letting the threat sink in. “Next. We’re starting a new physical fitness unit. By now you should be at the level of fitness expected of those who choose to serve. If you aren’t, the gym’s open twenty-four hours a day.” She shot another glare at Molly, then hit a wall switch. The heavy vinyl curtain that divided the gym into two workspaces groaned open to reveal a large obstacle course that looked like it had been designed by a sadist: climbing walls, swaying ladders, hurdles, balance beams, rope netting, seesaws, punching bags, monkey bars, and too many other instruments of aerobic torture for Teddy to name.
Next to her, Pyro shifted uneasily. The course looked hard, and Boyd appeared far too delighted with it for the outcome to bode well for anybody, even a former police officer.
“Oh my God,” Dara said, still panting from their run. “At what point do we just give up?”
The sergeant strode across the gym to stand at the entrance to the course. “This is an official SWAT tactics course, designed to replicate the kind of obstacles you might encounter in the field. You will face similar physical barriers during your midyear exam in a few weeks, so I suggest you take this exercise seriously.”
Teddy’s wistful hope that the sergeant might give them time to acquaint themselves with the course’s various obstacles was instantly crushed.
“Team challenge!” Boyd bellowed. She went down the line, assigning each of the Misfits, and then each of the Alphas, a number. “You will complete your section of the course before signaling your teammate to begin. First team to successfully reach the end of the course wins.” She paused, giving Teddy a hard stare. “Remember, in my class, there are always consequences for allowing your enemy to win.”
Teddy was second to last in the Misfit lineup. She looked over her portion of the course, mentally preparing to tackle it. Boyd blew her whistle, and the challenge began.
Teddy watched as both teams erupted in shouts of encouragement. Pyro led the Misfits. He was up against Henry Cummings, for whom exercise meant a round of golf at his father’s club.
Pyro took off fast and didn’t slow down. He shot through a pipe, crab-walked over a strip of netting, climbed up a steep incline wall, grabbed a rope, and hurled himself toward Dara.
The Misfits flew through the course. Teddy watched, caught between awe and excitement. Her teammates were kicking some Alpha ass. Dara finished fast, and so did Jeremy. The Alphas remained a solid three obstacles behind. Their lead wavered a bit when Jillian was matched with Liz Cook, who flew over the balance beam as though walking on air. But Jillian was stronger. She burst through a maze of foam pads far faster than Liz, and smacked Teddy’s hand.
Teddy ran, Zac Rogers trailing behind her. She swung across monkey bars, sprinted up and down a seesaw, and high-stepped through a tire course. She couldn’t believe that only a short time ago, she’d spent every evening balancing a bag of Tostitos and salsa on her stomach while scrolling through dumb Instagram feeds in her bed. Now she felt—strong. Sure, her muscles ached from Boyd’s torture, but she could rely on her body in a way she never had before. All those years she’d never played team sports because of her epilepsy diagnosis. And now, as she pushed off the wooden board and propelled herself forward to tag Molly waiting at the next station, she felt a high similar to what she felt while playing poker.
She loved to win.
Teddy tagged Molly, finishing her round of the relay. Molly took off running. To everyone’s surprise, she handled her obstacles like a pro, running, leaping, crawling, climbing, gaining speed as she went. Molly scampered up to the top of the climbing wall and grabbed the rope to rappel down the other side. The Misfits erupted into pre-celebratory cheers. For once, finally, they were going to win.
“Don’t do it!” Kate Atkins shouted to Molly, hurling herself over the obstacles as she raced toward the climbing wall. “Look down! You’ll fall and break your neck!”
Molly froze, the rope caught in her hand.
Teddy stared at Kate, dumbfounded. Everyone knew that Molly was scared of heights. It seemed impossible that anyone could be so mean.
“It’s too high!” Kate shouted.
Molly’s face drained of color.
Teddy clenched her fists so hard she felt her fingernails bite into her skin. She was going to get Kate for this.
Kate reached the top of the wall and pulled the rope out of Molly’s hands. She rappelled down the other side, landing in a crouch. As Molly slowly, painstakingly, made her way down, the Alphas celebrated their victory.
Teddy caught Kate’s upper arm. “What the hell was that?”
Kate jerked her arm free. “That’s called winning, Cannon. You ought to try it sometime.”
Rage surged through Teddy. Unbidden, she felt her electric wall flare in her mind. She wanted to humiliate Kate the way Kate had humiliated Molly.
Pyro stepped between them. “Chill, Teddy. It doesn’t matter.”
“It doesn’t matter? How can you say that? She cheated!”
Suddenly, Boyd was by her side, too. “Let me make one thing perfectly clear, recruit. There is no rule prohibiting the use of verbal tactics against a classmate.”
“But that’s not fair!” Teddy protested.
“Fair?” Boyd’s eyes went cold. “You expect the enemy to play fair?”
Teddy swallowed hard, biting back her words. She wanted to take Boyd
