“I can’t believe I did that. I’m so sorry. I—”
“Hey. It happens, Grace. To the best of us.”
“I know, but—”
“No buts. You guys did great. You had a slip-up, but you’ll recover. Your relay team will recover.” I wanted to believe him, but I heard the disappointment loud and clear in his voice.
I’d failed the team.
“Hey, Gracie.” Preach wove through our teammates. “Try not to worry about it. Everyone drops the baton in a race at some point.”
“Jeez, thanks?” I snapped and hustled to the grass, needing some space. Some air. Too many people crowded around me all at once.
Becca, Harper, and Aanya milled around within a few feet of me. Each had their hands planted on their hips, and their chests were heaving.
A zip of pain ripped through my hand, and I fisted my fingers best I could with this brace on. I was so freaking sick of this thing. Anger’s heat raged through my stomach and into my chest.
“Shit!” I yelled and threw the baton onto the grass and leaned over, planting my hand on my knee.
Preach’s shoes stepped into view and then his hand as he picked up the baton. “Shake it off. You’ll land the next one.”
I didnotneed to hear this right now, especially from Preach. I’d dropped a baton before, too, but right now, with all the other shit happening, the drop was that much more of a punch to the gut.
“I dropped one in the meet against Twin River last year. Totally sucked, but you know what?”
I lifted my eyes to meet his. “What?”
“I nailed the next ten, including the most important one at Sectionals.” He offered me the baton and grinned. “It’s better to get it out of your system now than at an important meet down the road, right?”
“He’s right, Grace.” Aanya’s green eyes flickered beneath the intense sunlight spilling over us.
I barely remembered watching the rest of the track meet. All I saw was the baton hitting the track. At least Preach had run well. He even helped out with the 4x400 relay because one of the guys sprained his ankle during his first event.
As I headed back to the bus, my phone buzzed.
ALEC: How’d it go today?
ME: Not great.
ALEC: What happened?
ME: I dropped the baton.
ALEC: Oh shit.
ME: Yeah…
ALEC: I’m sorry.
ME: I let my team down.
ALEC: Shit happens.
ALEC: Don’t dwell on it.
ALEC: You’re amazing!
I didn’t feel amazing.