In A Jam

by Megan Sparks

  Lexie didn’t stop, although when she got to the door, she called out over her shoulder. “Thanks for the hot chocolate, Annie. It really warmed me up.”

  What? Annie turned to the counter where Lexie’s drink was melting over the sides. Oh, crumbs. Annie thought Lexie had known it was there. She ran outside to catch up with Lexie and apologize, but her friend was nowhere in sight. The chill bit into Annie as she shuffled back to Rosie Lee’s.

  She didn’t know what to do. She seriously thought Lexie had known the drink was waiting for her on the counter. She put the mug in the sink and wiped the countertop before going back to Tyler’s table. “She’s gone.”

  “Her loss, but you look frozen. Here, let me warm you up.” Tyler motioned Annie back onto his lap and held her in his arms as he kissed her. Annie instantly felt better. It was so sweet of Tyler to comfort her. It was just what she needed. She pulled out her mobile phone and tapped in a quick text to her best friend:

  Sorry, m8. U always look amazing. You should come to school dressed as Loki from Thor tomorrow, just 2 wind Kelsey up :-)

  Tucking her phone back in her pocket, Annie decided she’d try to go over to Lexie’s later to smooth things over. Now that the soccer season was over, Annie wouldn’t have to drag Lexie to any more games, which would help.

  Three people came into Rosie Lee’s and Annie had to peel herself away from Tyler to serve them. She normally liked helping out at the café, but right now she wished the place made just a bit more money so Dad could hire a proper barista and Annie could spend more time doing the things she wanted. Like hanging out with Lexie and snogging Tyler.

  People kept coming in for their after-work treats, sometimes sitting down and enjoying a pumpkin spice scone with a cup of tea, sometimes taking pastries home in a white box. Between making drinks, ringing up orders, and clearing up tables, Annie didn’t have time to sit with Tyler and the gang again. She had just cleaned up the counter by the espresso machine when the door jingled.

  “Hey, wifey, ready to roll?”

  Annie’s “derby wife” Lauren swaggered over to the counter and helped herself to a sample of the cheddar cheese scones Dad had put out. Lauren always had a smile on her round face and was wearing a beanie hat that looked like a penguin on top of her spiky brown hair. While Lexie was Annie’s all-around best friend, Lauren was her most trusted friend on the rink. They were the only two freshmen on the Liberty Belles roller derby team. Annie had tried some bold moves while playing that she would have never dared if Lauren hadn’t been there to help her out. Lauren was definitely the perfect “wife”.

  Annie glanced at the clock, surprised it was time for roller derby practice already. “Let me just tell my dad I’m leaving.”

  She hung her apron on a hook, grabbed her coat and bag, and blew a kiss at her dad. She wished she could say goodbye to Tyler in private, but he gave her a long public kiss anyway.

  “C’mon, Keith is waiting for us,” Lauren urged.

  Annie pulled away reluctantly, her face a deep crimson. “I’ll call you later,” she told her boyfriend.

  “You better.” Tyler winked and settled back down with his teammates. Annie hesitated for a second. Maybe she could stay with Tyler a bit longer. But then Lauren cleared her throat and jerked her head to the door. Annie sighed and followed her friend.

  Keith was Lauren’s burly linebacker brother and just as big a sweetie as Lauren. Still, getting on the bad side of your driver, particularly on such a cold November day, was never a good idea.

  “Aww, you two are so cute,” Kelsey smirked at Annie and Lauren leaving together. “Looks like you have some competition, Tyler.”

  “Shut up, Kelsey,” Annie and Javier said at the same time.

  “I don’t know why you’re wasting your time with that freak.” Kelsey pretended she was only talking to Tyler, but her snide voice echoed throughout Rosie Lee’s as Annie headed to the door.

  “Annie is awesome,” Tyler said in her defence.

  Annie beamed but Kelsey didn’t back down. “But everyone knows roller derby is just for lesbians and losers.”

  Lauren turned around sharply, her face no longer sweet and smiley. “Excuse me?”

  Annie lowered her red face and grabbed Lauren’s arm. “Let’s go. I don’t fancy Coach Ritter’s wrath if we’re late.” Although she secretly wished Lauren would punch Kelsey. Not that Lauren was the type to hit someone.

  Not off the roller derby track at least.

  Chapter Three

  Roller derby was nothing like Kelsey made it sound.

  Yes, all kinds of girls were encouraged to play regardless of size, shape, or background, but that’s what made it so great: everyone was treated the same. It was the total opposite of the cheerleading squad, where it was an unwritten requirement that you had to be conventionally pretty and skinny.

  Coach Ritter had made it very clear when Annie first learned about roller derby that anyone was welcome to join as long as they had the basic skills to play safely. Cheerleading try-outs, on the other hand, had been all about picking the “best” girls. Annie was proud to say that even though she had succeeded in making the cheerleading squad, she had turned it down to play roller derby and hadn’t looked back since.

  And for good reason. Nothing beat roller derby. Out on the track, four girls from each team would huddle together to form a wall and prevent the other team’s jammer from getting past, while trying to help their own jammer get past the other team. After breaking through the pack once, every time a jammer passed opposing players, she’d score a point. It was easier said than done. The blockers did everything they could to stop the opposing team’s jammer from passing them. And it was all done on roller skates. The result was a fast-paced, full-contact sport that was seriously fun to play.

  Usually Annie looked forward to practices, but not today. Her mind went back to Rosie Lee’s, wondering what was going on there. Had Tyler told Kelsey off for her rude remark? While Lauren and Keith chatted about American football, Annie checked her phone four times to see if Tyler had texted. He hadn’t. Maybe Annie should contact him. Just a quick text to let him know that his girlfriend was thinking about him. That’s wasn’t stalker-ish, right?

  Yes.

  No.

  Argh! Annie threw her phone into her bag, unable to make up her mind. It’d be so much easier if Tyler would just text her to start a conversation off. She’d never had a boyfriend before and there were so many “rules” she didn’t know.

  When they got to the rink, Annie headed over to the skate rental booth where her friend Jesse worked. A skater boy, he liked the emo look and today was no exception with his black hoodie, black skinny jeans, and black chequered Converse. His shaggy black hair hung over his incredibly blue eyes. As Annie waited for Jesse to fetch the sturdy quad skates she regularly borrowed, her mind wandered back to Rosie Lee’s.

  “I just downloaded this great new album from Cradle the Grave called Been There. Heard it?” Jesse asked, passing her the skates.

  Annie blinked. She’d been so lost in her thoughts, she’d almost forgotten Jesse was there. “Ah, no. Who are they again?”

  Jesse brushed the spotless counter with his hand, no longer looking at her. “Local punk group I was telling you about the other day.”

  Annie remembered now. Jesse had impeccable taste in music, both in the classics and in new stuff, and was always turning Annie on to new and unknown bands.

  “That’s right. You were gutted that they were playing at a twenty-one-and-over pub. Any good?” she asked.

  “Awesome. You and your dad would dig it. Some great guitar solos he can play on the broom,” Jesse teased. Half the town knew about Dad’s weakness for blasting rock music and playing the broom guitar while “sweeping” the café after hours. Some Liberty Heights residents still remembered when he was in a garage band as a head-banging teen.

  “Great,” Annie laughed, although what she really wanted to do was check her phone again. Instead she focu
sed on putting on her pads.

  “Hurry up, Annie,” Lauren called from the rink where she was already warming up.

  “All right,” she said, trying to focus on something other than Tyler.

  “I can burn you a copy of the album if you like,” Jesse offered.

  “Cheers.” Annie removed her sock from her left foot and pulled on her ankle brace before putting her sock back on. Last month she had sprained her ankle and although it was fine now, the doctor wanted her to wear the brace for extra support. Indefinitely. She tried to remind herself that she should feel proud of her battle wounds, like when she had a brilliant purple bruise on her hip from being knocked over by another skater. But for some reason the bandage always made her feel weak.

  She laced up her skates and gave Jesse a little wave before joining the rest of her team out on the rink to warm up. Normally they practised with the whole league but with the championships coming up, the teams often met by themselves now. Not that Annie minded. While most of the roller girls were friendly and supportive, it had been because of a girl named Dee Stroyer – a player on another team – that she now had to use an ankle brace.

  Annie changed direction with the rest of her team to skate clockwise. A couple of times, Coach Ritter had got them to play a whole scrimmage going clockwise instead of the usual counter-clockwise direction. Annie hoped she wouldn’t do that today. It required more muscle work – and brain work – than she felt she had the energy for.

  Is Tyler still at Rosie Lee’s or has he gone home now? Maybe she should have sent him a text, just to tell him she got to the rink OK. Although why wouldn’t she? Lauren’s brother Keith was a great driver.

  “Annie, did I tell you?” Sharmila interrupted Annie’s thoughts. Always in flawless make-up and the latest fashion, Sharmila was the perfect example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover – she might look like she belonged on the front of Vogue, but she was one tough roller girl. “My cousins are coming over from London for my sister Priya’s wedding.”

  All thoughts of Tyler and what he was doing now left Annie’s mind at the sound of her hometown. “Ooh, whereabouts do they live?”

  Sharmila shook her silky black hair and laughed. “Uh, I don’t know. I’ve never been there. My ammi is going crazy though getting everything ready since we have relatives coming from all over. You should see what I’m wearing for the wedding: a gorgeous pink silk sari with hand-sewn gold embroidery. I feel like a princess. I swear, there’s nothing sexier than a sari.”

  They skated past Jesse in the skate booth and as he looked up, Annie noticed his blue eyes widen at the mention of a sexy sari.

  Not that she could blame him. Sharmila, with her heart-shaped face and striking green eyes, was one of the most gorgeous girls in school. In a sari, she would undoubtedly stop traffic all the way to Chicago.

  “I’ll be doing Priya’s make-up, of course,” Sharmila went on as they stopped skating and stretched out their legs. “But she and my mom are fighting about whether she should pierce her nose. It’s traditional for women to wear a nose ring when they marry but Priya doesn’t like it. It’s funny – in most cultures it’s the mothers who don’t want their daughters to get piercings! I don’t know if I—”

  “Ladies, this is roller derby, not the social hour.” Coach Ritter skated through the row of girls stretching, not looking the least bit impressed. “You can catch up with your gossip on your own time. Has anyone heard from Liz?”

  Just as she said that, Liz, the team’s captain, came dashing in. Long blonde hair in a mess, one wrist guard on, the straps of a knee pad threatening to come off, one ear missing two of its three earrings, Liz had obviously been trying to get dressed while driving.

  “Sorry, sorry I’m late! Had to send a form off for my college applications. When they say there’s a five o’clock deadline, they mean Pacific Time, right?” Liz dumped her bag and finished getting ready in less than a minute.

  Coach Ritter sighed and shook her auburn head. “OK, I know there’s a lot going on with school, and weddings and Thanksgiving coming up, but we still have the championships in a few weeks and this year, we actually have a chance of winning it. If anyone is going to be late for practice, I need to know.”

  Carmen raised her hand. “I have to work on Thursday so I might be late.”

  Coach Ritter nodded. Carmen worked more hours than was probably legal at her family’s dry-cleaning business. Annie didn’t know how her curvy, brunette teammate managed to squeeze in roller derby and still get perfect marks at school. Helping Dad at Rosie Lee’s for a couple of hours after school was hard enough and Annie’s marks weren’t anywhere close to perfect.

  “All right, let’s focus.” Coach Ritter clapped her hands. “Simon Says sprint to the opposite wall.”

  Thirteen girls took off at various speeds to the wall. Annie and Holly, a short, feisty girl with flaming dyed red hair, got there at the same time.

  “I won, Princess Slowpoke,” Holly said with a proud smirk.

  “You wish. You were the one lagging,” Annie retorted. The two glared at each other before laughing. Yes, they were competitive with each other, but it was all in fun. Like Holly calling Annie “Princess” for her slight resemblance to Kate Middleton.

  “Simon Says run on your toe stops.”

  Here Holly did excel – she practically danced on her brakes. And just to make sure Annie knew she was beaten, Holly blew her a patronizing kiss. Annie rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue. She’d get her own back.

  “Simon Says sidestep. Stop and turn around.”

  Two girls stopped before they realized Coach hadn’t said Simon Says. They laughed good-naturedly and went back to sidestepping.

  “Simon Says touch the ground with your hands while lifting your skates off the rink.”

  There was a roar of laughter as the girls did their own variations. Lauren sat on her bum with her hands behind her and skates lifted up in front. Holly did something that looked like a donkey kicking up its heels while Liz straddled her legs and pressed against the rink to muscle herself a few centimetres off the ground. Annie took the opportunity to practise one of her guilty pleasures: gymnastics on skates. She kicked up into a handstand and walked around Lauren with her legs perfectly straight in the air. When she was ready to come down, she sent a leg over her head in a walkover. The wheels rolled her away gracefully as she stood up. After having to retire from gymnastics last year because she got too tall, it was fun to incorporate moves in the rink whenever she could.

  There, Holly, let’s see you beat that. Sure enough Holly was shaking her head and trying to hide a surprised grin that Annie had one-upped her.

  “All right peeps, now that I’ve got your attention back, let’s get working on forming walls. All of you, huddle together for a game of Blood and Thunder. Using legal moves only, try to knock down or push your teammates out of bounds. If that happens, you’re out of the game. Also if you’re more than ten feet from the pack, you’re also out. Last girl standing is the winner. Ready?” Coach blew her whistle and all at once there was pushing, shoving, and blocking from all directions.

  Holly pushed against Annie, but Lauren caught Holly off guard and sent the shorter girl sliding to her knees. Annie skated away to avoid being Lauren’s next target. Just because they were derby wives didn’t mean Lauren would go easy on her. And there was no way Annie could bring Lauren down. She was too good.

  As Annie hovered at the rear of the pack, her mind went back to Rosie Lee’s and to what Kelsey had said.

  Why was Tyler dating her? She wasn’t really awesome, despite what he’d said. OK, so she wasn’t ugly, and she was athletic, like Tyler, but was that enough for the most sought-after guy in school to want her?

  It doesn’t matter why. It’s enough that he does like me. He said I’m great. Annie pushed her insecurities aside and dashed to catch up with the pack. Lost in her thoughts, she’d fallen behind and would be dropped from the game if she didn’t catch up. Th
ere were only three other skaters left: Lauren, Sharmila, and Liz. Lauren saw Annie coming and got ready to block her. Annie dodged, knocking into Sharmila instead, who lost her balance. In a second, all four of them came crashing down to the rink. With no one left standing, there would be no queen of the rink this time.

  Coach Ritter blew her whistle while shaking her head. “That was pitiful. It’s like you’re not even trying. Everyone’s mind is somewhere else. Just because we’re currently at the top of the league it doesn’t mean we’re going to win the championship, or even get to play in that bout. Our spot isn’t secured yet. Don’t get overconfident; we still have a long way to go. Next practice, I don’t want to see any slacking off. Laps around the rink for five minutes – go!”

  Annie pushed off with her toe stops. As much as she wanted to complain about Coach Ritter’s nagging, she knew the coach had a point. In her prime, Coach Ritter had been “Miss Demeanour” – one of the best roller girls in the state. Annie remembered what her gymnastics coach used to say: “If you want the gold, you can’t take your eyes off it or someone else will snatch it up.”

  Annie upped her speed and passed three teammates who had been in front of her. She wanted to win and she was going to do her best to make sure it happened. Maybe she didn’t have to think about Tyler all the time. No matter how good-looking he was. He’d still be there after practice.

  She had the boy; now she needed to get a championship of her own!

  Chapter Four

  Annie jumped in the shower as soon as Lauren and her brother dropped her home. It didn’t matter how cold it got, roller derby had a way of working up a sweat unlike any other sport.

  Clean and refreshed, she pulled on some flannel bottoms and a comfy sweatshirt for pyjamas. She ran a comb through her wet brown hair and then plaited it into two pigtails. If her plan worked, she’d have wavy hair in the morning. Annie didn’t change her look daily like Lexie did, but now that she had a boyfriend, she liked to make an extra effort.