Hell's Belles
Page 14
Then Coach Ritter came over and quickly checked Annie’s ankle.
“I feel fine,” Annie said. “Really.”
“Well, kiddo, it looks okay, but if you want to rest it for a jam or two, I’ll understand.”
Annie shook her head. “No thanks. It feels great and I’m not even tired. I’d really love to be jammer again, Coach.”
“We’ll see,” said Coach.
Halftime ended and the girls took to the track. When Annie heard a series of wolf whistles, she turned to scan the crowd, certain it would be Dad, pretending to be a werewolf.
But then she remembered he was the timekeeper, and at that moment he happened to be consulting with a sideline ref. So it couldn’t have been him whistling.
Lexie? Annie wondered, but realized immediately that if Lexie were capable of whistling like that, Annie would have heard her do it before. And Jesse was too busy tinkering with the sound system to whistle at her.
Curious, she continued to search the faces — some masked, others made-up — seeking out the whistler.
And then the loud whistling sound came again, followed by a shout, “Hey, Anne R. Key! Give ’em hell, baby!”
Annie’s eyes swept the crowd in search of where the deep, masculine voice had come from.
The masked monster!
“Looks like you’ve got a fan!” said Lauren, giggling. “Who is it?”
“I have no idea!” whispered Annie.
“Too bad he looks like Frankenstein’s uglier brother,” Lauren teased, pointing to the rubber mask.
“Well,” joked Annie, laughing as the masked monster pressed a hand to his distorted rubber lips and blew her a kiss, “I suppose looks aren’t everything.”
In the first few minutes, the Belles scored three more points. Pleased with their lead, Coach waved Annie over.
“Ready to be jammer again, kiddo?”
“Absolutely!”
“Well, then,” said Coach, laughing, “like the guy in the rubber head said, give ’em hell!”
Give ’em hell?
That was exactly what Annie intended to do.
As the jam kicked off, Jesse played “Werewolves of London” and Annie felt a surge of power because she knew the song was a tribute to her.
Once again, she found herself facing off against Dee. As they took their places on the line, Dee opened her mouth, ready with a rude remark. But to Dee’s shock, Annie narrowed her eyes and spoke first.
“I’ve had it with your mouth, so why don’t you save us both the trouble and keep it shut for a change?”
Dee gaped at her, speechless.
The whistle blew and the teams took off, skating hard. The rowdy fans sang along to “Werewolves of London” and in Annie’s mind they were all singing just for her, especially when they howled along with Warren Zevon as he wailed out the “Ahhhh-OOOOOHHHH” refrain again and again.
In no time, she became the lead jammer. And on her second lap of the track Annie passed through the pack again, scoring four points.
In the crowd, Dad and Lexie went nuts, and the masked monster shouted her name!
But the attention Annie was getting seemed to rile Dee. Furious, she slammed into Annie from behind.
The ref’s whistle blared. “Penalty!”
Fuming, Dee skated off toward the sin bin, flashing a furious look in Annie’s direction as she went.
Annie actually laughed. She wasn’t scared any more. If anything, she was exhilarated. With Dee out of action for a full minute, Annie would have the opportunity for a power jam.
As play resumed, the Belles skated as though they were of one mind. They formed a wall, expertly blocking in one of the Rollers’ blockers, which forced the rest of their blockers to stay near. This left Annie with a free lane, and she took full advantage of it. She flew around the track, letting the fans’ cheers fuel her as she racked up an impressive thirty-seven points!
The bout ended in a dazzling victory for the Liberty Belles and the team collided in a joyous group hug. In the center of the happy huddle, Lauren caught Annie in a crushing grip, which Annie returned.
“We’re tied for first place in the league!” cried Lauren.
“I know!” Annie shouted back. “I don’t think anything on earth could be better!”
But as it turned out, Annie was wrong about that.
Because when she looked into the crowd she saw the masked monster removing the ugly rubber face.
And underneath it was Tyler.
Annie could only stare.
As she followed her team off the track to the sidelines, she was vaguely aware of the High Rollers joining the Belles to shake hands and offer their good-natured congratulations.
Then Jesse was there, holding up a high five, which she accepted, but she still couldn’t bring herself to take her eyes off Tyler.
“That power jam was unbelievable!” said Jesse. “You totally owned it!”
“Uh-huh,” said Annie, her gaze still locked on Tyler. “I mean . . . thanks.”
“Listen,” said Jesse, leaning closer so only she could hear him. “I know it’s kind of lame, but I was wondering if you might wanna —”
He stopped talking when he realized that Annie was still staring straight ahead. He followed her gaze, and frowned deeply when he saw who she was looking at.
“Great,” he grumbled. “So he’s a derby fan now?”
Annie felt a little flutter in her chest and smiled. “Looks like it.”
Jesse shook his head. “I’ll see ya later, Annie,” he said, then turned and walked away. But Annie was still too focused on Tyler to even notice.
His blond hair was rumpled from having spent so much time beneath the monster head, but it only made him look more boyishly handsome. He was smiling at her and Annie could have sworn those green eyes were actually sparkling.
Now he started walking toward her. She wished she could take at least one step in his direction, but she remained rooted to the spot, heart pounding like a drum. Then again, maybe he’d think she was playing hard to get by allowing him to come to her. She’d heard some guys liked the thrill of the chase. She sincerely hoped Tyler Erickson was one of them.
When Tyler reached her, he said, “You were amazing out there, Annie!”
“Thanks,” she managed to say. “But, um, what are you doing here?”
“Watching an extremely cool sport I didn’t even know existed,” he said, chuckling. “Although, I gotta say, if someone had told me there was a sport where the girls wore fishnet stockings and dresses like that, I probably would have checked it out a lot sooner.”
Annie felt her cheeks flush as she realized he was referring to her sexy vampire dress. God bless you, Lexie Jones! I owe you big time!
“Seriously though,” Tyler was saying, “I was totally impressed.”
“I’m glad you enjoyed the bout,” said Annie, relaxing enough to give him a smile. “But I thought . . . I mean, I was under the impression you were going to the dance.”
With Kelsey, she added silently.
“Well, I was planning to go,” he said in a teasing voice, “but see, the girl I really wanted to take had other plans. Something about a roller derby bout.”
Annie’s breath caught in her chest.
So he hadn’t asked Kelsey after all. Annie had turned him down and he hadn’t asked anyone else! It was all she could do to keep from bursting into a dance of absolute joy!
“Oh,” she managed to say.
“Ya know,” he said, reaching out to brush a strand of teased hair off her forehead, “the dance will be going on for at least another two hours. As long as we’re already in costume . . .”
Annie swallowed hard, holding her breath.
“. . . do you want to go with me?”
Don’t scream. Don’t throw yourself
into his arms. Just say yes.
“Yes.”
“Great. Why don’t you go change out of those skates and I’ll meet you out front?”
“Perfect,” said Annie, giving him what she hoped was an alluring smile.
She watched him make his way through the crowd and out the door.
“Hey!” cried Lexie, bounding up to her and giving her a hug. “What exactly did I just witness between you and Tyler?”
“He asked me to the dance! He still wants me to go with him!”
To Annie’s confusion, Lexie didn’t begin jumping up and down and shrieking with delight. “Oh.”
“Oh? Is that all you can say?”
Lexie shrugged. “Well, I mean, I’m happy for you. But what about the party at Liz’s house? The whole team’s going, and Liz said that since I’m the official costume designer, I’m invited, too.”
Annie felt her stomach drop to her skates. In the excitement of Tyler asking her to the dance — again — she’d forgotten all about the party Liz’s folks were hosting for the Belles. She glanced over her shoulder to where her teammates continued to celebrate their win. Some of them were making plans to car pool over to Liz’s house. Others were chomping into what was left of Dad’s collection of baked goods.
“I don’t think they’ll mind if I miss the party,” she told Lexie. “Do you?”
Lexie’s reply was a disapproving silence.
“They know how much I like Tyler. They were so sweet the day I had to turn him down. Some of them even told me I should miss the bout to go out with him, because it would be my first American high school dance.”
“That was very understanding of them,” said Lexie quietly. “And loyal.”
Annie sighed. “It’s just one party. Honestly, I’m sure they’ll be okay with it.”
Before Lexie could say any more, Annie felt two arms encircle her from behind. “Way to go, Beanie!” her father cried. “You were outstanding!”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Why don’t you go grab your things and I’ll drive you to the party?”
Annie wriggled out of Dad’s hug and bit her lower lip. “About the party . . . I was thinking I might skip it. I’ve just been asked to the dance at school.”
Dad seemed a little surprised, but he was also clearly pleased.
“That’s exciting,” he said cheerfully. “I’m sure it will be a lot of fun.”
Annie gave Lexie a look that said, “See?”
Lexie just rolled her eyes and walked away.
Annie turned back to her father with a hopeful look. “So I can go to the dance?”
“Sure,” he said. “Just tell Jesse I’d like him to have you home by midnight.”
Annie blinked, confused. “Jesse?”
“Isn’t that who asked you to the dance?”
“No, of course not!” Annie laughed. “In fact, I doubt Jesse Matthieu would ever be caught dead at a school dance! And besides, he doesn’t think of me like that.”
Dad looked as though he wasn’t entirely convinced, but thankfully, he didn’t say so. “Well then, who’s the lucky guy?”
“Only the coolest, cutest, most popular boy in the whole school. Tyler Erickson.”
“Ah,” said Dad, nodding. “The soccer star.”
“Yep!” Annie was smiling so broadly she thought her cheeks might pop. “It’s still okay if I go, isn’t it?”
“It’s still okay.”
Annie clapped her hands. “Okay, great! I’ll see you at midnight, not one minute later, I promise!”
“Have a good time, Beanie. But Annie . . .”
“I’ll be on time, Dad,” Annie said, laughing. “After all, I don’t want to turn into a pumpkin.”
Annie was about to sprint off to the locker room when Coach Ritter appeared at Dad’s side, smiling. “Ready to go, David?”
David? What happened to Mr. Turner?
“You two are going somewhere?” Annie asked, forcing her voice to remain casual.
“Susan and I are just going out to celebrate the win with a cup of coffee,” said Dad. “And it’s also a good chance for me to check out the local coffee shop competition.”
Annie was surprised to realize that the idea of Dad and Coach chatting over a cup of coffee — some place where Dad wouldn’t have to be the one to brew it — actually made her happy.
“Well then, you have fun, too,” she said. She gave her coach a big grin. “Just have him home by midnight!”
“Will do,” said Coach. “And, Annie, I’m so proud of you! You really proved yourself to be a true roller girl tonight!”
Annie thanked her, but deep down inside, she felt the slightest pang of guilt.
Would a true roller girl miss a team victory party to go to a dance with a boy?
Maybe. If the boy was Tyler Erickson.
Annie pushed away the guilty feeling and hurried to the locker room to change out of her skates. Minutes later, she was rushing through the rink, dodging the lingering fans who were picking up schedules for future bouts.
As she reached the door, she caught sight of Jesse. He was helping his little sister put on her jacket.
“Hey, Jesse . . .” Annie called.
She thought she saw him lift his head at the sound of her voice, but instead of turning in her direction, he continued to zip up Katie’s jacket.
Guess he didn’t hear me, Annie thought.
She briefly considered going over to say goodbye, but then she spotted Tyler through the glass doors. He waved and smiled.
The flutter turned into a full-on shiver as she pushed open the door and went out to meet him on the pavement.
“Ready, roller girl?” Tyler asked in that flirty voice.
“Ready,” Annie said, returning his smile. “I hope you’re not disappointed that you weren’t able to go to the dance as David Beckham.”
“Well,” said Tyler. “I’m sure you would have made a gorgeous Posh Spice, but this is fine too.”
As they started walking, Tyler took her hand.
As far as she was concerned, this was miles better than fine.
Annie’s first American Halloween was officially perfect!
Roller Girls is published in the United States by
Capstone Young Readers
A Capstone Imprint
1710 Roe Crest Drive
North Mankato, Minnesota 56003
www.capstoneyoungreaders.com
First published in 2013 by Curious Fox,
an imprint of Capstone Global Library Limited,
7 Pilgrim Street, London, EC4V 6LB
Registered company number: 6695582
www.curious-fox.com
Text © Hothouse Fiction Ltd 2013 Series created by Hothouse Fiction
www.hothousefiction.com
The author’s moral rights are hereby asserted.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on the Library of Congress website.
ISBN: 978-1-62370-024-9 (paper-over-board)
ISBN: 978-1-62370-022-5 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-62370-153-6 (ebook)
Summary: Annie’s roller derby team is finally on a winning streak. They plan a special Halloween bout with their arch rivals, the High Rollers. But Annie sprains her ankle. Will it heal in time for the bout?
Cover original design: www.spikyshooz.com
Photo: Getty Images/Vetta
Designer: Russell Griesmer, Kay Fraser
With special thanks to Lisa Fiedler
For Shannon and Ricky, who skate on blades, not wheel
s. Thanks for being my team!