I already knew that speed wasn’t going to be my selling point, but it was clear within the first thirty seconds that about half the people trying out were way faster than me. A handful seemed to have no trouble gaining on Kat and then keeping pace with her. This small group of speedsters lapped another small group of super-slow folks. Luckily I wasn’t in that last group, but I wasn’t too far ahead of them either. With Kat’s posse only a few feet behind me, I pushed every bit of strength I had into my quads, down my knees and calves, and out through my skates. I may not have been the fastest, but I knew how to push through pain.

After several laps, Dominique finally let loose a whistle and we all slowed to a stop in front of her. As I huffed and puffed into my knees, Kat whooped, and I looked up to see her high-fiving the six girls in her group of show-offs. I wiped the sweat off my forehead and straightened up. This wasn’t the strongest start, and I felt frustrated with myself already.

I was further irritated by the fact that Kat still hadn’t even made eye contact with me, and I wasn’t sure what that meant. Did she not want to be associated with me? In case I was shit on the track? Or maybe she’d just forgotten about me.

“How many of you shaggy Muppets think you wanna be jammer?” Lena shouted, hands on her hips, skates slipping forward and back like she was revving up her engine. Two long black braids stuck out from her helmet and swung back and forth as she swiveled her head around at us. Alma’d be glad to see another “chocolate” girl on the track.

A few girls looked confused, like they didn’t even know what a jammer was. Jesus. At least do your homework, I thought, with a little smugness. Several girls did raise their hands, though. Lena took a long look at all of them and snickered. “Can’t wait to see you try, tater tots. Everyone always wants to score points. You’re gonna have to be as good as Kat here before we let you anywhere near jammer. For now, don’t worry about positions—just focus on the drills and skills, baby bees!”