In A Jam

by Megan Sparks

  She shifted to kiss him full on the lips. A long, sweet kiss she felt all the way to her bare toes. In the background the movie continued playing, but she had no idea what was going on. His hands switched from her back, to her hair, to cupping her face as she leaned into his gorgeous chest and ran her own hands down his strong arms.

  From the dining room, Annie’s phone rattled against the glass table with an incoming call. Annie stopped kissing Tyler but didn’t break away from him. She didn’t want to be one of those people who stopped everything for an incoming call; she didn’t want to be like her mum. But what if it was an emergency?

  Tyler kept his arms around her as she wondered what to do. She was just about to ignore the call when she caught sight of the time on the television set. The phone stopped ringing but she knew who it had probably been. Lauren. Asking if Annie needed a ride to practice.

  She slumped back down against Tyler and sighed. “I’ve got to go. I have roller derby in fifteen minutes.”

  Tyler brushed a strand of hair from her face and gave her a sad look that reminded her of Lauren’s basset hound, Prudence. “Don’t go.”

  Annie averted her eyes. He looked so disappointed it wrenched her heart. “I have to. With the championships coming up...”

  His hand stayed on her face, drawing little swirls on her cheek with his fingertips. “I know, but it’s just that we don’t get to spend much time together.”

  True. Between school, sports, and helping out at Rosie Lee’s, it wasn’t very often that it was just the two of them.

  “They’re counting on me,” Annie said, although she didn’t make any effort to move. She and Tyler were having so much fun. And there was still half of the film to “watch”.

  “But it’s just a practice, and you’re already really good. It won’t matter if you don’t turn up just this once. Please?”

  Annie took a deep breath. She hated missing practice. Even when she sprained her ankle last month, she had still helped out the team as a non-skating official.

  On the other hand, he had a point. Yes she was a good jammer, but Holly was just as good or even better (not that Annie would admit that to her). And there were others who played jammer too. They could practise without her and be fine.

  “I suppose I don’t have to go.” She snuggled back against him as he held her tight.

  “It’s just that you’re so great. I don’t want to be away from you.” He gave her his heart-stopping smile. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Me too,” she grinned and leaned into another lingering kiss. What was one little roller derby practice in the grand scheme of things? The team could get by without her. Just this once.

  Chapter Six

  Annie read through her English essay as she slumped against the lockers at school on Friday morning. She’d got home late from Tyler’s and had stayed up even later to get the homework done. It certainly wasn’t her best. If she had a few more hours she could make it better, but she didn’t. It would have to do. She felt like her mum, working until all hours of the night, except Philippa Bradley always did a good job when she pulled an all-nighter.

  Annie put the essay back in her bag. Grabbing the books she needed for her morning classes, Annie slammed the locker shut and jumped at the sight of the person next to her.

  Feet shoulder width apart, arms crossed over her chest, Lauren gave her a disappointed scowl. “Where were you yesterday? I tried calling you. You missed practice.”

  Annie couldn’t look at her teammate. “Yeah, sorry about that. I, uh, had quite a bit of homework.”

  “Really? I thought you said your classes here were easier than in England.”

  Annie shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “Well, I was kind of helping Tyler. You see, he didn’t understand—”

  Lauren shook her head. “I get it. I just never thought you’d be the kind to bail on your team. Especially for a guy. He wouldn’t have done the same for you.”

  Annie was too tired to defend Tyler. Not that she had a case. She hadn’t thought about it last night but now that she did, she knew Lauren was right. Tyler lived for his soccer team; she couldn’t see him missing out on practice because of her. But it’s different for him, she argued with herself. He knows that soccer is his best chance at getting into a good college.

  Annie put a hand on Lauren’s arm. What Tyler would have done was beside the point. Annie had made her choice; she had wanted to hang out with him. “I’m really sorry – time slipped by and...”

  “You should have called,” Lauren insisted. Annie knew roller derby wasn’t just a sport to Lauren; it was her life. “Coach Ritter was not happy. Carmen couldn’t make it either, but at least she called to say there were mechanical problems at the dry cleaners. Sharmila was late. But you being a no-show really sent Coach over the edge. She thinks no one is taking the team seriously.”

  “Sorry,” Annie apologized again. She was good at that.

  “Well, don’t do it again. We need you. You’re part of the team and the team needs all of its members. Especially if we want that championship.”

  “Trust me, I’ll be there next time.”

  Lauren relaxed and then smiled. She wasn’t the sort to stay angry for long. “Good. Because I miss you when you’re not around.” She gave Annie a friendly punch on the shoulder and headed off to her class.

  Annie leaned back against the lockers, drained of any energy. She knew she shouldn’t have done it but really, it was just one practice. It wasn’t going to make a difference. And as she watched Tyler walking down the hall towards her, she knew it had been worth it.

  Jeans, untucked shirt, and a cashmere jumper, he looked like a model from Abercrombie & Fitch. She felt weak at the knees as he approached. He greeted her with a quick kiss and put his arm around her waist. “Hey, babe. Going my way?”

  Annie grinned, her confrontation with Lauren forgotten. “As a matter of fact I was. How did you guess?”

  Tyler tapped his head. “Intuition.”

  The bell rang and they headed to their English class together. People passing gave them a quick hello or waved. Everyone seemed to know them. Or rather, they knew Tyler. And they all seemed eager to be considered his friends.

  Except one person.

  Lexie.

  She had returned to the Japanese theme again, wearing a dark blue kimono and chopsticks in her elaborate hairdo. Annie waved and gestured for Lexie to come over, but Lexie darted off to class with her friend Aaron from manga club.

  Understandable, Annie reasoned. The bell had just rung. But she couldn’t help suspecting that Lexie was still punishing her for what happened in Rosie Lee’s, even though Annie had apologized.

  The two free desks in the room were not together so Tyler left Annie in the middle and went to sit in the back with the other jocks. Ms Schwartz, their English teacher, was shuffling through her recycled bottle caps bag and didn’t seem ready to start the class. Kelsey went up to Annie and sat on her desk like they were best mates.

  “What do you want?” Annie asked, narrowing her eyes.

  Kelsey gave Annie a smug grin. “Oh, someone’s grumpy! Up late last night? I’d offer some concealer for those bags under your eyes, but I don’t think I have enough. Besides, I wouldn’t want your freakish germs contaminating it.”

  “Yes, I did have a late night, actually,” Annie said. Giving Kelsey her sweetest smile, she added, “With Tyler.”

  With a grunt of disapproval, Kelsey slid off Annie’s desk and went back to her seat just as Ms Schwartz looked up from her bag.

  “Hello, class. I believe you have papers to give in.” Ms Schwartz rubbed her hands as if Christmas had come early. For her. Everyone else, including Annie, grumbled at having to hand in their essays.

  Annie sneaked a look at Tyler. He didn’t look nearly as tired as she felt and he didn’t seem worried either. She wondered if he had even finished his paper last night. Hopefully he had. She couldn’t stand the idea of him failing and getting kic
ked off the soccer team because of her.

  * * *

  Grades seemed to be on other people’s minds as well. At lunch, Annie almost crashed into Liz. The Liberty Belles’ captain had an apple in her mouth while marking a textbook with her finger and trying to pay for a sandwich.

  “Do you need help?” Annie asked.

  Liz shook her head as she handed crumpled notes over to the cashier. “No hank you. Ah haf to go hudy.” She put her wallet and sandwich in her open bag and took the apple out of her mouth. “All the colleges will be looking at this semester’s GPA to decide whether I get in. I’ll catch you later.”

  “Good luck,” Annie said. Liz lifted the arm holding the textbook in acknowledgement as she headed to the computer lab. Annie was only just starting to understand Grade Point Averages. She knew a 4.0 was the highest GPA only because that was Carmen’s derby number and she got straight As. Other than that, the system still confused her.

  The way colleges here accepted students was so different from England. Back home, university acceptance was conditional based on A-level results, tests taken at the end of their last school year. Annie remembered the older girls at school anxiously awaiting their results, which didn’t come until August, to find out what university they would go to. She thought it was weird that colleges here accepted students months before they had finished high school and got their final marks.

  Annie scanned the cafeteria and found Lexie at a table in the back focusing more on her sketchbook than her lunch. Not that Annie could blame her. The cafeteria was not known for its fine cuisine.

  “Konichiwa,” Annie said as she set her bag down next to Lexie. “You’re all by yourself.”

  Lexie looked up from her drawing, a variation of the famous painting “The Scream” but with a brown-skinned girl with wild ringlets instead of a ghoulish guy. From Lexie’s MP3 player, Annie could hear the distinct throaty voice of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Lexie set down her brown pencil and gave Annie a small smile. “I guess I just wanted to work on this piece.”

  “It’s looking amaz—” Annie started to compliment her before she got interrupted by a voice booming across the cafeteria.

  “Yo, Ann-nie!” Tyler stood in the middle of the crowded room surrounded by his teammates, beckoning her to his table. “We’re over here.”

  Annie held up a hand to indicate she’d be there in a minute. When she turned back to her friend, Lexie had raised the volume of her music and picked up her pencil to shade in the girl’s hands.

  “Why don’t we go and sit with them?” Annie suggested.

  Lexie kept her eyes on the drawing. “I don’t feel like it.”

  “I know Tyler’s said some things that came out wrong, but he’s really funny and sweet. If you got to know him better...”

  “No, thanks.”

  Annie glanced from the soccer players back to her best friend. Maybe if she tried a different tactic... “You know, Javier is a great footballer. He’s really nice and cute, too. And apparently he writes poetry. I don’t think he’s seeing anyone.”

  “He’s gay,” Lexie muttered.

  “Is he?” Annie turned back to the table. The possibility had never even occurred to her. Not that it changed anything. He was still the guy on the team she liked the best. After Tyler, of course.

  Lexie made a noise in the back of her throat as she switched from the brown to the blue pencil. “That’s what he told me when I asked him out last May.”

  So Lexie DID fancy him. At least I’m on the right track. Annie wasn’t going to give up. She searched the other guys at the soccer table. Jackson, Aidan, Sergei, and Ricky were all taken. She didn’t really know Cameron, but Tyler seemed to think he was a bit of an idiot. Ethan, Hasan, and Ezekiel weren’t artsy in the least, so they probably wouldn’t have anything in common with Lexie. But now that the idea had crossed Annie’s mind, she was determined. Lexie needed a boyfriend. If Lexie was dating someone as well, she wouldn’t mind Annie spending time with Tyler.

  “How about Damien? Have you seen the leather armband he made? It’s really cool.”

  Lexie scrunched up her nose. “Eww, no. He’s my cousin.”

  “He can’t be.” Annie spoke without thinking how that sounded. She hadn’t meant to be rude, but Damien was Native American.

  “All right, step-cousin or whatever. Anyway, in my mind, we’re related.”

  Annie sighed. “Well, who DO you fancy?”

  Lexie finally put her pencils down and stared at Annie. “Look, don’t get me wrong. I like boys, but I don’t need one to make me happy.”

  Annie frowned. She certainly didn’t need a boyfriend, but she loved having one.

  She looked across the cafeteria again and caught Tyler’s eye. He jerked his head towards his friends and gave her a puzzled look that asked why she wasn’t joining them. She didn’t know what to do. Lexie had gone back to her sketch. Why was Lexie forcing her to choose? If she was going to ignore Annie, then there was no point in staying, right?

  “Do you mind if I go and sit with them?”

  Lexie didn’t say anything, just kept drawing.

  “I’ll stay if you want me to,” Annie said.

  There was still no response from Lexie. Annie shrugged, picked up the sandwich she hadn’t even started and headed to the table where Tyler sat with his teammates. It was difficult to tell with all the noise in the cafeteria, but she was pretty sure she heard Lexie mutter, “Sayonara.”

  Maybe she should go back to her friend ... except Tyler had seen her coming and was making room for her at the table. He gave her his heart-breaking smile as she slid in next to him.

  “Hey, Annie.” Javier nodded when she sat down.

  “Hiya,” Annie said.

  Tyler put an arm around her and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “I was getting lonely without you.”

  “Me too,” Annie said automatically as she unwrapped the sandwich she’d brought from home: chunky peanut butter and strawberry jam.

  Tyler kept the arm around her as he turned back to his team. “Did I tell you? Coach said a scout from Illinois College was at our last game.”

  “Dude, do they give free rides?” Ethan asked.

  “What kind of grades do they want?” Damien wondered.

  “Do you think they’ll send scouts again in a couple years?” Javier turned his attention to Tyler.

  The soccer players continued to fire off questions. Annie looked for opportunities to say something, anything, but what did she know about American colleges? She was only in ninth grade. There wasn’t anything she could contribute to the conversation; she didn’t know which schools had the good teams. She didn’t even know whether a free ride had anything to do with transport. Every once in a while, Tyler would give her shoulder a squeeze, reminding her that he hadn’t forgotten she was there. Over in the corner, Lexie had been joined by her friend Aaron, who had dyed black hair and a nose ring, and his equally cool-looking girlfriend, Becky. They were all studying something in Lexie’s sketchpad. I guess she didn’t really want to be alone, thought Annie.

  At another table, Annie caught Holly, Sharmila, Jesse, and some other kids laughing as they ate their lunches. Holly was laughing so hard she spat out some of her drink, making everyone laugh even harder. They all looked like they were having so much fun that Annie couldn’t help wishing she knew what the joke was.

  Leaning more into Tyler’s shoulder, she did everything to focus on the conversation at her table. Soccer. That’s all they ever talked about. OK, so she and Dad had enjoyed going to a few Chelsea matches back home but it had never mattered that much whether their team won or not. To these boys, soccer was the only thing that mattered – even now that the season was over.

  Annie finished her sandwich in silence and nursed her water bottle just to have something to do. Who knew being popular could feel so lonely.

  Chapter Seven

  Saturday night was roller derby bout night.

  Tyler had mentioned going to the m
ovies but there was no way Annie was going to miss the bout. If the Liberty Belles won this one, they would be competing for the league championship in December. If they didn’t win, well, at least they weren’t out of the running yet.

  Annie got to the rink early, ready to show Coach Ritter that she wasn’t skiving off this time. Her skates were on the counter, waiting for her, when she got to Jesse’s rental booth.

  He brushed the hair out of his eyes and beamed when he saw her. “Hey, I was worried when you didn’t show last practice. Ankle holding up?”

  “Yeah, sorry about that.” Annie grabbed her skates, avoiding his eyes. There was no way she would say what she had really been doing that night. “Lost track of time.”

  “Coach Ritter was real pissed. I think you might have some grovelling to do.”

  Annie sighed. “Lauren told me. Did I miss anything important?”

  Jesse shrugged. “I think they were working on some new plays, but I don’t know what they were.”

  Crumbs. Just what Annie needed, everyone on the team knowing what to do except her. Well, at least Carmen hadn’t made it to practice either so maybe the two of them could pick up the plays together. “Thanks. I got here early to make up what I missed.”

  “Good luck – but try to think of a better excuse than losing track of time. If you want my advice, start kissing up now.” He jerked his head in Coach’s direction and then turned to organize the rack of skates behind him.

  Annie turned. Her stomach tightened into a massive knot. Sure enough, there was Coach Ritter skating over the faded carpet towards her. Her auburn hair was pulled into two messy buns on the top of her head. But instead of looking pretty, the hairdo looked menacing. Probably because of the deep scowl etched into Coach’s face.

  Jesse was right. Better start apologizing now before she felt really sick.

  “I’m really sorry I missed practice. It’s just with homework and helping Dad at Rosie Lee’s...” Annie trailed off. Dad and Coach Ritter were friends. She didn’t know how often they talked, but the last thing she wanted was for Coach to catch her lying. Better stick with the kissing up. “Anyway, I’m sorry and it’ll never happen again. I’ll do some extra laps to warm up and will stay after the bout and help clean up. I can—”