“Bring it on!” Tanisha agreed.
Janet approached the kids. “Looks like you two are all ready for training today,” she said.
“Definitely,” Tanisha agreed. “And we got an e-mail with additional rules about the course. You can help your partner on the terror wall and infinity monkey bars.”
“But if one of the players falls off an obstacle, he or she has to start the obstacle all over again,” Derek added.
Janet walked the kids over to the gym’s climbing wall. “Speaking of walls, I think today is the right time for both of you to practice some climbing.”
Tanisha and Derek looked up at the climbing wall in front of them. It stretched all the way to the ceiling.
“Whoa,” Tanisha said. The wall seemed even higher than she remembered.
Janet helped both Tanisha and Derek with their climbing harnesses. Then she secured their bungee ropes.
“When climbing, remember that your legs are stronger than your arms,” she told them. “So focus on your foot and leg placement. And take your time today. This is new for both of you.”
Derek approached the wall first. “I’ve got this,” he said under his breath.
Tanisha watched as Derek started to climb. She froze where she stood as she realized how tall the wall was.
“Tanisha, are you going to start climbing?” Janet asked.
Tanisha gulped nervously. “Um, yeah,” she said. “I was just watching how well Derek is doing. I’ll get started.”
Derek was already near the top of the wall as Tanisha began.
“I can do this. I can do this,” Tanisha repeated to herself. She placed her foot on the first foothold.
As Tanisha neared the halfway mark on the wall, she paused. Looking up, she saw Derek start to make his descent back down. Then she looked down. Janet looked like a tiny speck down below.
Tanisha started to sweat. Her fingers tingled. She’d never been up this high before.
“Hey, T, are you OK?” Derek asked, pausing near her. He looked concerned.
Tanisha sweated even more. “Um, I’m not feeling so well all of a sudden. I’m sorry.”
“It’s all right,” Derek said. “Do you want me to help you down?”
“No, no, it’s OK,” she said. “Just give me a few minutes. I’ll get down.”
Tanisha wheezed. Only halfway up the wall, and she felt as if she couldn’t breathe, let alone move. If she looked up, the wall seemed even more terrifying. If she looked down, she felt like she was going to puke.
She’d never felt this way before, but it suddenly hit her—she was afraid of heights. And if she couldn’t conquer her fear, she’d embarrass herself on television—and let down her teammate.
CHAPTER 4
FEAR
Later that week, Tanisha was sitting at the kitchen table, doing her homework, when Terrell walked in.
“Hey, T,” he said. He headed to the fridge to grab a drink. “Rugged Reaper is on. You want to watch?”
“That’s OK,” Tanisha said, looking through her textbook.
“But you never miss an episode,” Terrell replied. “I’m sure Mom and Dad won’t mind if you finish—”
“I said I don’t want to watch it!” Tanisha snapped.
Terrell looked shocked. “Geez. What’s your problem?” he said.
“It’s nothing,” Tanisha said, shaking her head.
Terrell pushed Tanisha’s textbook away and sat next to her at the table. “C’mon, what’s wrong?”
Tanisha sighed. “Derek and I were training earlier this week, and I froze on the climbing wall. Apparently I’m afraid of heights. Now I don’t know if I can do this. Maybe you were right. Maybe I can’t do the Rugged Reaper after all.”
Terrell shook his head. “I was just giving you a hard time. You and Derek have been working too hard on this for you to quit.”
“But what if I mess up? I’ll be letting Derek down too,” Tanisha replied.
“You’ll never know unless you try. And I believe in you. You should talk to your trainer or Derek about this. Maybe they can help,” Terrell said.
* * *
Tanisha got to her next training session early, in the hopes of shaking her fear. She put on her climbing harnesses and secured her bungee rope. Looking up at the wall, she began to climb.
