"Ha," Molly said when she watched me jump rope. "Not bad," she commented when I collapsed with exhaustion. "Now watch me," Molly commanded. The ground seemed to disappear beneath her feet she was jumping so fast. I looked at her blond, perky ponytail as it bounced up and down.
"Teach me how you do that," I said after Molly put the rope down, not the slightest bit out of breath.
"It's easy," Molly said, rolling her pine green eyes. "Just jump." I glared stonily at her.
"I was jumping!" I retorted.
"No, you weren't," Molly informed me, "you were walking." I narrowed my eyes.
"Molly! Of course I was jumping. I just. . . wasn't in the mood!" Again, Molly rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, right. Let's see if you can get 1,000 in two minutes, like me," she challenged.
"Oh yeah?" I doubted that I could do it, but I wanted to see her be stunned at how much I could do. "Try me."
"Let's see you move." Molly sat criss-cross-apple-sauce. I guess she was waiting for me to struggle- again. I picked up the plastic rope with green and white plastic stripes. My beat up, white sneakers tapped, waiting for me to jump. My heart pounded. My breathing came out in soft little puffs, warning me not to do this.
The rope began to spin. One, two, three. "Hurry it up, you're never going to do it!" Molly laughed. The rope spun faster and faster. My feet began to flutter and take to the air. The basketball hoop in the background became blurry. My shoelaces became untied, but I barely noticed. My heart beat faster and faster. Molly became clearer when I stopped.
"Hey, you have another minute and 45 seconds," Molly snickered with delight. My heart skipped a beat and I stared at her.
"WHAT?" I snapped.
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