She can see it. She is standing on the podium in Danvers with first place in bouldering. Halle takes second, just one step down, and in the audience, Courtney and Jim and Lucy and Noah are all cheering. Sam’s dad is missing but it doesn’t matter, because winning is so good. Sam is famous; she is rich; she is standing far above. That’s her dream. The problem is her mom won’t let her compete. Fourth grade is hard, but Courtney doesn’t care. Sam has to catch up, or she can’t climb. Courtney will be the bad guy. She will be that person if necessary, because she wants Sam to learn something get a
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