Grade 8 · Story
The Tournament
From her corner of the crowded gym, Cory Walsh watched her opponent warm up for the final of the regional junior table tennis tournament. The gym smelled of floor polish, and the steady clicking of balls on six tables had faded to an expectant hush. Ingrid Hale had not lost a single game all day. She wiped her paddle with slow, deliberate strokes, bounced the ball precisely three times before every serve and never smiled, not even after her most spectacular points.
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