Poker Faces, Roses With Thorns

"Do you ever miss competing?" Kayleigh asks out of nowhere today, face on the beam, looking at me.

"I do," I say.

"Can't you still compete?"

"Aren't there, like, alumni meets?" adds Maddie.

"I'm thinking about it," I say. "For old people like me."

"You're still so good," Kayleigh says. Then she adds, "And you're not old. You're nineteen."