Ale’s my pit crew. Quick as a bee sting, she pushes the helmet onto my head, and I clip the chin strap a half second later.

I don’t think.

I move.

Hands on wheels. Spin back around. Shove hard, hurtling over the stage. Gathering speed and launching right off the edge.

Whoosh. Wheels. Adrenaline.

One glorious moment of wind rushing around me.

One impossible beat of weightlessness.

Air.

Then, the fall.

Back wheels, then front, kiss the floor.

Landing smack on the thin wrestling mat Markus sneaked onto the floor in front of the stage when the lights “malfunctioned” earlier. Exactly like I asked, he’s played sweeper for me, in case this ended up being one of the hundreds of times I lost control of a landing.

But it isn’t.

I don’t land on my head, or the knee or elbow pads I’ve got hidden under the long, flowy sleeves and skirt of Mom’s made-over green fairy dress.

Oh my God—I did it.

I hear Ale let loose a victory yell.

It’s a toss-up who’s more shocked—me or the stunned-silent crowd.

I don’t stop to figure it out. I keep moving, shoving hard to get my chair off the mat onto the smooth floor and flying up the aisle between the packed rows of folding chairs. The crowd explodes from shocked silence to wild applause.

On cue, Zeke and Devontae slip out of aisle seats and jog with me. They’re my testudo, making sure nobody gets in my way. Shouts, whistles, and flashes erupt around us like fireworks, shaking the gym like a little storm. Questions are already flying at me from both sides, but I ignore it all and push harder.

We race to the door, which opens right on cue. Logan’s holding it, and even going this fast, I see the grin about to split his face in two. Asking him to be my escape hatch was a last-minute decision, but I can’t help grinning back as I sail through the door into the hallway.

“You killed it!” Zeke says when the door bangs shut behind us, abruptly muffling—but not completely quieting—the roar of the crowd.

Tina and Ale appear from opposite directions, Ale out of breath from running down two hallways. She doesn’t stop until she crashes into me and hugs me so hard we almost tip over. “You flew like a fairy,” she whispers, and I poke her for being so goofy.

“She’s right,” Devontae says. “That was amazing.”

“That what Shuri said?” I joke.

“Yeah. And me.” He drops his voice lower and adds, “I think I get it now.”

Good thing my face was already flushed. Nobody’ll notice one more blush.

Surrounded by Team Emmie and fresh off the rush of the gutsiest—or most fool-headed—thing I’ve ever done in public, I feel like I can take on the world. I pull off my helmet and smooth down my hair.

Then the door swings open again, and people flow into the hall like a flash flood. Dr. Grayling’s at the front of the pack, mad as heck, and I wonder which of the stunts I pulled has him more fired up. He starts toward us, mouth already open.