Falling Hard

by Megan Sparks

  There were loads more people in the rink than Annie expected. At least forty. There were some girls she recognized from school or the Fresh Meat workshop, but on the whole, they were all new to her.

  “Are there really this many on the team?” Annie asked Lauren who was skating next to her.

  “This is the whole league, and there are four teams in the league. We play with them, and against them.”

  “That’s a bit odd, isn’t it?” Annie asked, though she remembered in the Illinoisies’ bout how everyone seemed to be friends rather than rivals.

  “That’s roller derby for you,” Lauren explained. “Teams in a league usually practise together, unless they’re too far away.”

  A brown-haired girl with wide hips and tiny waist skated past them, switched direction and skated backward while talking to them. “Hi, I’m Carmen, a Liberty Belle. Do you know what team you’re on?”

  Annie and Lauren shook their heads.

  “Go find out.” Carmen jerked her head to the wall. “Coach Ritter put up the rosters.”

  Annie and Lauren looked at each other and raced towards the wall. Annie got there a second before Lauren and did a perfect tomahawk stop in front of the list. She found her name on the third list, along with Lauren’s and about eleven others. They were Liberty Belles too, still coached by Coach Ritter, and Liz was their captain. Brilliant. Holly was also a Belle. Good. Even though Annie and Holly were cool now, she wouldn’t have liked competing against her; the bruise on her thigh from their crash last week was still the size of Wales.

  Lauren linked her arm through Annie’s and stood tall. Even so, she only reached just above Annie’s shoulder. “Now you can officially be my wife.”

  Annie shook her head and smiled. “Pardon?”

  Lauren let go of her but kept a mischievous gleam in her eye. “Derby wives. Good friends that have each other’s backs and are there for the other in a jam. Whatcha think?”

  Why not? Lauren was a great roller girl and Annie really liked hanging out with her. Besides, it was all in good fun. “I think I better tell my parents I’ve got hitched.”

  Lauren laughed and punched her on the shoulder.

  The Prairie Girls’ coach, Shanti Morningstar, called everyone to the middle. Her thick blonde dreadlocks bouncing, she explained the first drill.

  “Welcome everyone. Today we’re playing a variation on tag called Jaws. We’re starting with one shark and the rest of you are fish. If the shark catches you, you become a shark too and need to skate over here and put on a helmet panty so the fish can avoid you. If you skate out of bounds, as a fish or shark, you’re out of the game. Newbies, really keep an eye out. It’s your responsibility not to get tagged and avoid crashing into anyone. Sharmila, you wanted to be the first shark.”

  A gorgeous girl with brown skin, green eyes and black hair glided more than skated to the middle of the rink and beamed. With her perfect glittering make-up, designer skirt, and workout shirt, Annie would have thought she was a Bollywood star not a roller girl. She hadn’t been part of the Fresh Meat so that must mean she’d been in the league for a while. Annie got a feeling that in this girl’s case, looks were deceiving.

  She was right. As soon as the whistle blew, Sharmila proved that being gorgeous didn’t mean she wasn’t tough. Within ten seconds, she had tagged three people. Now with four sharks on the loose, and about forty people trying to get away, Annie really had to concentrate. There were so many girls, skating in every different direction. Twice she almost got forced out of bounds, but just managed turn sharply to avoid getting tagged. Every once in a while a whistle would blow and a coach would signal a girl out of the game for going out of bounds.

  Annie spotted Carmen coming up behind her, and twisted away across the rink. Her head whipped around in every direction, keeping a look out for skaters wearing helmet covers. Carmen whizzed past, switched targets, and pelted across to a girl with short black pigtails.

  The fish were dwindling and the sharks were gaining force. Half of the girls, including Lauren and Liz, had been sent off for going out of bounds. There were only about five fish left in the entire sea. And Holly the Shark locked her eyes on a British delicacy. Annie stared at Holly for a second before a small grin crept over her face. She knew Holly was competitive, but Holly probably didn’t know that she was as well. At the same instant Holly lunged at her, Annie sprinted off. She darted from one end to the other, weaving around other sharks who were after the remaining fish, but there was no shaking off Holly.

  Annie felt a hand brush across her arm. She’d been caught. Holly wore a smug smile but nodded to indicate she was impressed with Annie’s performance.

  The rest of the fish were caught before Annie had a chance to put on her helmet cover.

  “Great work, everyone.” Coach Ritter and the other coaches clapped. “Now let’s work with packs of blockers, passing them and going through. Four separate packs on each side of the rink. Carmen, Bea, Lauren, and Annie form a wall over here, Holly you’re jammer.”

  The four got together and Carmen took charge. “Have you two been part of the pack yet?”

  Annie and Lauren shook their heads. Annie gulped. She was not looking forward to this.

  Carmen continued while slipping on a helmet cover with a broad stripe. “I’ll pivot, which means I set the pace and call orders. You three stay with me. If we spread apart, she can pass us easily. If we’re a solid wall, we can hold her back.”

  Coach Morningstar blew her whistle. Lauren squatted down to her derby stance and looked so intimidating there was no way any jammer would try getting past her. Annie tried to copy Lauren and knew the result was more like a rabbit glaring at headlights than intimidation.

  The whistle blew again and Holly charged towards them. In just a matter of seconds, Annie had to focus on skating with the pack and keeping Holly from scoring. She couldn’t imagine what it’d be like with five more players on the track. How could she possibly play offence and defence at the same time?

  Annie, holding onto Lauren’s hips, did what Carmen had suggested to block Holly. It didn’t work. Holly passed them as if they weren’t even blocking her way. And just to prove her point, she cut through the middle of the rink, got behind, and passed them again without even trying.

  “Newbie,” Carmen called to Annie. “Don’t be afraid to block her. Your job is to not let her get by.”

  Annie nodded. She understood what she needed to do though she wasn’t really sure she could put it in action.

  “It’s OK, wifey.” Lauren punched her on the shoulder. “Just got to work on being more solid.”

  Easy for her to say. Lauren was about as solid as they got. Annie hadn’t seen her get knocked over once.

  She tried blocking a few more times with different people as jammers. The plus side was that she was getting better; she actually blocked a couple of girls and when they broke through, it wasn’t because of her. The downside was that they were newbies as well.

  When it was her turn as jammer, she was determined to prove her worth. Crouched low, she pushed off and ran on her toe stops as soon as her whistle blew. She reached the pack in an instant but couldn’t get through. Derby wife or not, Lauren wasn’t going to make it easy for her. And Holly might only be forty-five kilos, but she was super quick and in the way whenever Annie tried to pass. She only just managed to get past another newbie when the whistle blew, signalling that the two minutes were up.

  “Good job, peeps. Take five, grab a breather,” Coach Ritter called out and motioned to Annie come towards her. Oh dear lord. She was being kicked off. Coach realized she had made a mistake and Annie didn’t really have the skills to play.

  “Go get your skates checked out, Annie. I think your wheel bearings might need cleaning.” Coach Ritter pointed to Jesse behind the skate rental booth. Annie let out a sigh of relief. She wasn’t being booted off. Yet.

  She took off her skates and handed them to Jesse to clean up. He whistled when he gave a wheel a test
spin. “Yup, they need some juice for sure. So, have you come up with a cool derby name?”

  Annie shook her head. “No, I haven’t thought about it really. Have you got any ideas?”

  His face lit up as he cleaned the skates. “Loads: I-Tarzan U-pain, Lady Gagya, Buffy the Tramp Slayer, Sin Bin McQuinn. If you were Lexie, you could be Lex Lethal.”

  Not bad, though Annie knew her best friend well enough that if she were a roller girl, her name would be something along the lines of Freaka Kahlo. “What would your name be, if you played?” Annie asked.

  Jesse didn’t even pause to think about it. “Death Vader. It’s my ref name.”

  That was a good one.

  “I guess I want something I can relate to. That says who I am.” Annie pulled out her hairband to redo her ponytail.

  “What about Hairy Slaughter?”

  Annie pushed him lightly on the arm. “I don’t have that much hair.”

  In response, Jesse tried to blow his black fringe out of his blue eyes before handing back her skates. Annie took hold of her skates slowly. He really had gorgeous eyes. With his hair covering his face most of the time, his eyes were easy to overlook.

  “All right peeps, let’s get back to work,” Coach Ritter called them back for practice.

  Annie laced up quickly and rejoined everyone on the rink. The difference in her skates was unbelievable. Like she could turn just by thinking about it. Now if that would only help her blocking, she’d be in good shape.

  Over the sound system came the Sex Pistols’ song, “Anarchy in the UK”.

  Great song, Jesse. Annie sang the lyrics in her head when it hit her. Anarchy. Anne R. Key.

  She couldn’t help it. Even though the coaches had called them over to the middle, she had to tell him first. Jesse saw her racing to him and leaned over the barrier.

  “Skates too slick?” he asked.

  Annie shook her head with a huge smile and pointed to the speakers. “That’s me. That’s my derby name. Anne R. Key!”

  “Sweet! That’s definitely you.” He gave her a high five and cranked the volume a bit higher.

  Annie spun around and soared back to group. Of course Jesse would think it was brilliant. He’d named his mutt Sid Vicious.

  “Let’s hold a scrimmage. Liberty Belles versus Prairie Girls and High Rollers versus Derby Dolls. Each set of teams will skate one jam on, one jam off. Jesse, if you’re free, we could use you as a jam ref.” One of the coaches waved his clipboard. Jesse nodded. In less than a minute he’d hopped over the barrier in battered quad skates, a whistle swinging around his neck.

  Annie watched the first couple of jams from the bench. At the Illinoisies’ bout she hadn’t fully appreciated how chaotic it all was. It was impossible to watch what everyone was doing. Girls went every which way and the coach refs kept sending players to the penalty box for things Annie couldn’t figure out. When Coach Ritter put her out as a blocker it dawned on Annie that she was finally going to play roller derby, even if it was just a scrimmage. Wicked!

  She huddled next to Lauren. That had to work. No one could get by Lauren.

  Good thought, but not very realistic.

  The whistle blew and the jammers sprinted towards the pack. Annie looked over her left shoulder, over her right, over her left again. The Prairie Girl jammer, LaTicia, was right at her side, trying to barge her way through. But Lauren was also at Annie’s side and she wasn’t budging. LaTicia darted to Annie’s other side. One of the opposing blockers got in Annie’s way, allowing LaTicia to slip right through. Jesse blew his whistle twice to indicate LaTicia was the lead jammer and followed her from the middle of the rink with his arms in an L-shape. Holly got through the pack seconds later.

  “Newbie,” Carmen shouted to Annie. “You can block other players too. Not just the jammer.”

  “And don’t forget to move. You’re on skates, use them,” Liz added.

  Annie crouched low and looked over her shoulder. LaTicia was seconds away. Carmen and Lauren huddled around Annie. She felt the jammer push against her and she pushed back. LaTicia tried the other side and Annie didn’t let her through that way either. She knew it was because her teammates were glued to her side but Annie was glad she managed a good block. The Prairie Girls’ pivot came to rescue LaTicia. Annie gathered herself up for a big bootie-block swing at the pivot.

  And landed on her hands and knees.

  That wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it’d be.

  She pushed herself up and returned quickly to the pack. Just because LaTicia had passed her didn’t mean she had to give up. Moments later, Annie bootie-blocked LaTicia out of bounds before she could score more points. LaTicia quickly called off the jam. When Jesse blew the whistle, Annie welcomed the quick break while the High Rollers and Derby Dolls took the track. Her hair was plastered with sweat underneath the helmet. That was much more tiring than she had expected.

  But so much fun!

  In their next jam, Lauren was put as jammer.

  “Who’s got my panty?” Lauren shouted with a grin before someone threw her the starred helmet cover that identified her as a jammer.

  As Annie watched Lauren slip the panty over her helmet, she felt a twinge of jealousy. Lauren was great, Annie had agreed to be her derby wife after all, but they had started at the same time. Annie knew she was the better skater and wondered when it would be her turn to have a go as a jammer.

  Coach Ritter seemed to know what she was thinking. “You got to learn to block before you can be a jammer. Keep working on it.”

  Annie did. She was put in as a blocker for a few more jams. Jammers still sneaked right by her but at least she could delay them now. In one brilliant jam, Annie, Sharmila, and two other girls managed to hold off the jammer while Holly almost danced on her toe stops to get in front and become the lead.

  Soon, Annie thought. Soon, I’ll be a jammer too.

  She focused on that and it helped with her blocking. It didn’t scare her so much any more. It helped that she also had a motive.

  “Annie, good improvement.” Coach Ritter clapped as they skated off to let the other two teams play. “If you’re not too tired, why don’t you try being jammer next jam.”

  Holly threw her the helmet panty. “Look, the secret isn’t to barge your way through. It’s to find opportunities, even the smallest, and grab them.”

  Annie gave her a smile. “Thanks.”

  Holly rolled her eyes as if to say whatever, but then smiled back.

  Annie got ready ten metres behind the pack and was out running as soon as she heard the sound of the second whistle. She headed straight for the centre of the pack. If she could just duck between them... Wait, was there a gap to the side? Yes! She squeezed through and she was past the pack. Jesse had his arms in an L-shape and was grinning so much the whistle slipped out of his mouth. That meant she was the lead jammer!

  With a great burst, Annie raced around the track. The other jammer, she knew, was not far behind. If she could only make it through the pack again, she could call off the jam before the other jammer scored points.

  When Annie had nearly reached the pack, Carmen held out her arm. Annie knew what to do – she’d seen the Illinoisies do it. With a mighty swing, Carmen whipped her to the front of the pack. Or what had been the front. In a flash, the Prairie Girls’ pivot was in front, breaking Annie’s momentum. With no time to change direction, Annie crashed smack into the pivot. The two hit the floor hard, along with Carmen and two others whose limbs could be seen flailing about. It was a pile-up.

  And it was all Annie’s fault.

  Annie scrambled back to her feet and called off the jam before the other jammer could score more points, but it had been a total disaster. She knew she wouldn’t be picked as jammer anytime soon.

  And here she’d been thinking that she was finally good at something again.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Unsurprisingly, Coach Ritter didn’t play Annie as jammer again at the next practice, but she mad
e sure Annie got a good amount of time blocking.

  “You got to learn to block before you can be a jammer.” Coach Ritter’s words played like a mantra in Annie’s head. If that’s what it took, she was going to do it. The thrill of breaking through the pack and skating around the rink at top speed was something she hadn’t felt since she retired from the uneven bars. She got Lauren to stay with her an extra half an hour after practice on Thursday to work on the blocking.

  “I really think you’re getting the hang of it.” Lauren unclipped her helmet after they had finally made it around the rink with Annie blocking Lauren and not letting her pass.

  “Thanks for the help. I couldn’t have done it without you.” Annie took off her own helmet and crumpled onto the bench.

  “No sweat.” Lauren wiped her drenched forehead and laughed. “That’s what derby wives are for.”

  “Do you think I’ll get a chance to play jammer on Saturday?” Annie asked. Saturday, their first bout. Just thinking about it terrified her.

  Lauren shrugged. “Coach seems really fair. If she thinks you can to do it, she’ll let you.”

  Annie sighed. She’d been skating everywhere around town to build up her endurance and thought she’d done better today at blocking than last practice, but Coach hadn’t seemed to notice. On the other hand, she hadn’t criticized Annie’s blocking so maybe that was a good sign.

  “Hey, I just remembered. What’s your playing number going to be?” Lauren peeled off the zebra-patterned duct tape securing her kneepads.

  Annie squinted. She hadn’t thought of a number. “Won’t Coach just give me a random number no one else has?”

  “Not in derby. You can be creative and can use letters, symbols, whatever. Liz’s number is ‘1000rpm’, Holly is ‘97lbs’, lucky duck. There’s a woman in the adult league who’s ‘–0’ and another who’s ‘50ish’. She’s actually fifty-six years old and still playing derby!”