American Gauntlet by Allie Lewis

Author:Allie Lewis [Lewis, Allie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-06-13T16:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

MY MIND is wheeling after the drama of Dramamine-Gate. Production let us know that we wouldn’t be competing for another couple of days, giving me a few extra days of recovery and providing each of the teams the space to unpack everything that went down with the Twisted Twins. I’m aware that the extra days are a rare gift from the typically ruthless American Gauntlet producers, but something tells me they need the additional time as much as I do; they’ll be scrambling to come up with a game plan after Ivy and Blaire’s unexpected early departure. Either way, I’m grateful.

Just a few hours after the commotion, Lana and I are decompressing in our cabin when a gentle knock comes at the door. Before either of us can jump up to open it, Kelly pokes her head in.

“Hi girls! I hope you both are doing okay after…what happened,” she says with the tenderness of a baby kitten. “I figured now would be a good time for you two to take your video call.”

Lana and I shoot up out of our beds. “Penny!” we shout, our eyes wide with excitement.

Every season, teams are allowed one or two video calls home to their families, and the timing of this call couldn’t have been more perfect. Kelly tells us she already notified Penny that we’d be calling soon, and she leads Lana and I to a crew cabin where a laptop has been set up for us. There are, of course, cameras there to record the entire conversation, and while it feels like an intrusion on what could be an intimate family conversation, I’m also glad that the world will get to meet Penny, if only for a moment.

Lana and I are shaking with anticipation as the video call loads, and suddenly, all I see is Penny’s smiling face and rosy cheeks on the laptop screen. I want to reach right through it and hug her as hard as my heart is squeezing itself right now.

“Hello, dears!” she exclaims before immediately bursting into tears.

“Aw, Pen, don’t cry,” Lana says tenderly.

“Oh, look at me,” Penny says with her classic housewife-meets-grandma demeanor. “I know I’m crying, but I’m not sad. I’m happy. So, so happy to see you two.” She smiles even wider as she wipes the tears from her cheeks. “Mom is at work, but she wanted me to say how proud she is of you. We both are.”

“Aw, we love you, Penny,” I say, my heart swelling with every word. “We miss you so much. Are you keeping an eye on Ford for me?” I ask because I know the subject of Ford will immediately clear up the tears.

Penny’s face lights up. She looks like sunshine incarnate. “Of course I am! In fact, we’ve been—”

She cuts off her sentence as she looks beyond the laptop, and that’s when I know Ford is in the room with her. Since he’s not technically “family,” he’s not supposed to know that we’re here and

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