I'm smiling as I stand next to Martina, despite the looming challenge ahead. I'm not sure if it was the sudden, recent closeness with Axel or all of our novel workouts, or the fact I have more confidence now than I had in the last four years combined.

"Okay, girls, happy morning!" Cindy calls, walking to the center of the gym.

Today she's decked out in light purple leggings and a matching tank top with gray sneakers. The consistent coordination of her workout clothes always makes my black-and-white attire look so banal.

"Welcome to your second team challenge," Melanie says, a new trainer who looks a lot like Aspen. She appears much less enthusiastic than Cindy, maybe understanding that we're not going to have any fun. "Today we have two separate activities planned, only this time you'll be competing team against team. Teams A and B will head outside, while C and D will stay here with us. I'll give you guys a couple moments to disperse."

I stay in my comfortable position, thankful I'm in team D. I look around for team C and find Adriana, Natalie, Joanna, and Alina dragging themselves across the padded floor. Cindy and Melanie lead us to the other side of the gym, another rope climbing station. The ropes are a bit shorter than the ones outside, only adding to my elation. Once again, Axel has trained me perfectly for the team challenge.

Thanks, king.

"For the first part of the challenge, you'll have to climb up this rope. You should have each tried this activity before with your trainers, but remember, we're judging on completion, not perfection." Cindy walks towards one of the ropes, getting a feel for it, before turning to us again. "You'll go head to head with another person to help increase your motivation, since the person with the fastest time will get the rest of this day off. Adriana, Willow, you're up first."

I stand back and watch as they walk to the two ropes and each clasp their hands around one of them. Adriana is visibly nervous, while Willow feigns confidence, posing like a true dancer.

"Three, two, one, go!" Melanie calls, and they shuffle up their ropes. I notice their strategies differ; Adriana climbs like a young child, pinching the rope with her feet, while Willow mirrors Axel's perfect form. It gives her a clear advantage over her struggling friend, whom she seems oddly determined to beat.

As I watch them, that stupid memory from high school resurfaces, making me wish Adriana would hurry the fuck up and pass Willow for my own sake. But, of course, the former reaches the top in seconds and then elegantly lowers herself down, dainty hand by dainty hand.

Martina is nudging my side, beckoning me to go. I snap out of my fantasies and notice Cindy gesturing to me and Joanna.

"Alright, ready, set, go!"

Melanie calls for us to commence, and I look over at Joanna's confident expression and long legs, almost half the length of the rope. I force myself to focus on me and no one else and spring upwards. I clutch the rope with an iron-like grip.

As I complete pull after pull, I pretend like I'm back outside with Axel, reminding myself how many times I've attempted this activity before. Almost there, Whitney, almost there. In what feels like seconds—because maybe it was that long—my hand hits the rope's fixture.

"Nice job, Whitney!" Melanie cheers when I descend, holding up her hand to give me a high five.

Adriana makes a face at her enthusiasm, and Natalie copycats it.

I ignore them both.

When the rest of the girls finish up on the rope, we are once again led to the other side of the gym, like a small herd of cattle. Martina grumbles curses all along the way, staring at her red and aching hands. I don't tell her that I think the next challenge will involve just as much arm strength, if not more.

"This next activity is usually one of the toughest on our beginner trainees," Cindy says, stopping in front of a set of pull up bars. "If you look to your left and right, you will find a series of bars. Each of you should aim to hang on as long as you possibly can."

Adriana interrupts Cindy with a question. "What happens if one person wins both rounds? Is there a double prize or something?"

Cindy blinks. "I don't think you have to be too worried about that scenario."

In a surprising turn of events, Willow snorts at Cindy's snide comment. She excuses herself and covers her mouth, while Adriana burns holes into the side of her supposed bestie's head.

The steel bars seem more like death traps as I walk towards them. While my arms haven't failed me while rope climbing, I'm not sure how they feel about holding up my whole unmoving body for at least a minute. I step under the bar to the far right, seeing the other girls on my team do the same with theirs.

"Clock starts in five, four, three—" I drown out Cindy's voice and focus on the task ahead. Before jumping up, I send a mini prayer to God that my arms won't fall off.

That's impossible, right?

"Go!"

I fumble for a firm grip on the bar, feeling the metal bite down on my soft palms. Martina seems relaxed as she holds on, while Willow stares down at her designer sneakers, sparing her neck.

"Thirty seconds in, girls!" I groan as I hear Melanie yell out that meager amount of time, because my arms are already aching. I bite down on the inside of my cheek and wiggle my legs a bit, trying to spread the pain out all over my body.

I notice Martina's arms beginning to shake, while Aspen, on the other side of her, already fell down a few seconds ago, looking like she was about to cry. In seconds, Martina follows her lead and hisses out a disappointed shit.

"One minute in, and two are already down. Keep going, Whitney and Willow!" Cindy's words aren't much solace to my hurting arms, but the prospect of Willow beating me lingers in the back of my mind and motivates me to keep holding on.

"You tired yet?" I ask her, looking to my left.

"No. You?"

"Nope."

I sigh to myself and adjust my grip. Willow's hands slip a few centimeters, probably covered in just as much sweat as mine. Seconds later, one of my arms begins to give out as well. I half let go of the bar to shake out my left arm but almost send my whole body careening to the floor when I try to regain my grip.

"I can't!" Willow gives up and falls to her feet, leaving me the last one still holding on.

I force a smile and wipe my sweaty hands on the back of my leggings as I land on my feet, unable to meet everyone's stares.

I thought finally beating Willow would make me feel happy.

Instead, all I have are two aching hands.

***

"Didn't you say you were terrible at exercise?" Martina asks as we sit outside on the benches, sipping from large glasses of iced tea. It feels good to do nothing after a long day of doing nothing, my reward for winning earlier today. "You won both parts of the challenge today, much to my sister's anguish. She ranted to me in the bathroom for, like, twenty minutes."

Oh, Adriana. "I guess I improved a little since I last said that. I don't know, Martina, I really owe it all to Axel."

"God, I'd do anything for his sexy ass," she muses dreamily, stretching out her legs and propping them up on the table in front of us. "You're so lucky."

I arch a very confused brow. "But isn't Austin really hot?"

"Oh no, he is," she says, finishing off the last of her tea, "but I learned he's been dating his girlfriend for over seven years, and commitment really turns me off. Is your dude cuffed?"

I shrug. "How would I know? And even if he is dating somebody, it's not like he's going to drop her for my eighteen-year-old ass."

"Your cute eighteen-year-old ass," she corrects, holding up a finger, "and you'd be surprised, Whitney."

I pretend like I'd hate for that to happen and switch the subject.

"Martina, can you tell me a little more about you and your sister? Like your relationship. It kind of confuses me."

She chuckles, putting down her empty glass. "Well, to start, Adriana is...a character. The main character. Everything has to be about her, which is why it's hard for me to relate, since I don't mind the sidelines. But, deep down somewhere, there is a really nice person, once you get past the narcissism, terrible taste in friends, and obsession with whitewashing herself." She gathers her shiny hair into a bun, finishing, "But, somehow, I still love all that craziness. The power of sisterhood is remarkable."

I think about my own sister, and the gap that was created in our relationship when she went off to college when I was fourteen. It wasn't that big of a deal, in theory, as everybody's siblings escaped the nest eventually, but after she left, she rarely came back, reducing our relationship to texts and occasional FaceTime calls. I needed her the most during that period of my life, and there was nothing I could have done to make her visit home more often, knowing our mom was at the root of the problem.

"Do you have a sister?" Martina asks.

I look up and nod. "Yeah, she's four years older. I love her, but I wish we were even closer."

"Is it because of the age gap? I guess that's normal."

I don't shake my head and tell her no. "Yeah, I suppose, but four years isn't all that much. The irony is that we finally had this summer to hang out and rekindle our relationship, but I chose to spend half of it at a fitness camp of all places."

"Don't feel guilty," she says. "Sometimes you gotta put yourself first, Whit."

"Gosh, why is that the most touching thing you've ever said?"

"I'm full of surprises," she replies, a devilish twinkle in her eyes, "just like this crazy camp."