Hell's Belles (15 page)

Coach's eyes went from Brandon, to Abbey, to Annie, and finally to Annie's dad, who had just appeared in the doorway, holding the plunger. It only took her a second to figure out the specifics, and when she did, to Annie's surprise, Coach burst out laughing.

“Didn't I tell you?” she asked. “I really do need a referee.”

It took some persuading to get the kids back to sleep after all the excitement. Coach had to reassure Brandon several times that Quackers would dry out and recover.

In the meantime, Abbey offered him her favorite stuffed dinosaur to sleep with, which Annie thought was the sweetest thing ever.

Finally, both children conked out and Annie and Coach Ritter tiptoed down the stairs.

Dad was waiting in the living room, flipping through the scrapbook.

“Well, that's embarrassing,” Coach said, laughing, when she saw what he was looking at. “Those were my big hair days! Have you ever seen anything so unflattering?”

“Don't be silly,” said Dad. “I've always found the frizzy perm a very becoming look.” He managed to say this with an utterly straight face, but Annie noticed that his eyes were twinkling with laughter.

Coach rolled her eyes and smiled. “You're either a true gentleman, or you really need to have your eyes checked.”

Annie wasn't sure she liked the flirty tone in either her father's or Coach Ritter's voice. It was just too . . . weird.

“I'm really sorry about the mess, Coach,” Annie piped up, eager to change the subject.

“Oh, honey, it's not your fault at all. In fact, this isn't even the first time something like this has happened to ol' Quackers. Let's see . . . there was that one time he went through the dishwasher, and then the time he nearly got devoured by the neighbor's labradoodle.” She shook her head, chuckling. “Believe me, that little duck has had more than his share of near-death experiences. But he always bounces back.”

Annie sighed. “I hope the same can be said for the toilet.”

“Fished a toy car out of there just last week. We've got the plumber on retainer.”

“Well,” Dad said, laughing, “I'm very impressed with how calmly you're taking this.”

“It's part of the job description,” said Coach. “Now, David, may I offer you a cup of coffee for your trouble?”

Annie watched as a strange expression flickered across Dad's face. He looked as though he really wanted to accept the offer, but after a moment's hesitation he shook his head. “Thanks, but I've got an early start tomorrow, and I'm sure Annie's still got homework to finish.” For some reason, Annie was relieved. “Maybe another time?” he added.

“I'd like that,” said Coach. She gave Dad a glowing smile, which he returned with a bashful grin.

Annie just stood there, feeling like a spare part.

Suddenly, she was in a hurry to go home.

“So,” she said, as soon as Dad began backing out of the driveway, “do you like her?”

She'd considered being more subtle, but then decided to be direct. She wanted an answer, so she might as well just come out and ask the question.

“Of course I like her,” said Dad. “She's your coach.”

“Not what I meant,” said Annie. “I was asking if you
like
her. Meaning, do you want to date her?”

Dad frowned. “Would that be a problem?”

Truthfully, Annie wasn't even sure. Part of her loved the idea of Dad having someone to spend time with. Coach Ritter was fun, smart, and pretty. Dad could do a lot worse.

But there was another part of her that still hoped for a miracle. There was always that slight chance that Dad and Mum would get back together, and she was afraid that Dad dating would be a step away from that possibility. “I don't know,” she answered finally. “I honestly don't know. All I do know is that I want you to be happy.”

Dad smiled. “Back atcha, Beanie,” he said softly.

Annie closed her eyes and they drove the rest of the way home in silence.

As Halloween approached, the buzz around school about the dance increased. Pretty much everyone who intended to go had asked or been asked, and the couples were obsessing about their costumes. From what Annie had heard in the halls and cafeteria, there were going to be an awful lot of Bella and Edwards bopping around the dance floor. There would also be a few Raggedy Ann and Andys, and a handful of Superman and Wonder Woman pairs.

Before their first class, Annie and Lauren hung up posters all over school. Lexie had made the original drawing and Annie thought it was great. It was a sketch of two roller girls, one dressed as a witch and the other as a vampire, facing off on the jammer line. Lexie had made the wheels on their skates neon so they'd catch people's eyes.

Annie had just pinned one up on the bulletin board outside the art classroom when two junior girls came sauntering down the hall. They stopped at the board and studied the poster.

Annie and Lauren pretended to be engrossed in a flyer advertising SAT tutoring, so they could eavesdrop.

“Roller derby?” said one. “Are they kidding? Who would waste time watching a bunch of sluts on wheels beat each other up?”

Sluts on wheels? Annie felt the insult like a kick to the solar plexus. Did people really think that?

“Don't they know it's on the same night as the dance?” said her friend. “What kind of loser would choose roller derby over the coolest dance of the year?”

When the junior girls flounced off, Annie turned to Lauren. “Sluts on wheels?” she asked, aghast. “Is that really what they call us?”

“I guess so,” said Lauren. She looked equal parts angry and heartbroken.

“That's ridiculous.” Annie shook her head. “They think we're slutty just because we wear fishnets?”

“Who knows?” Lauren shrugged. “Maybe they just don't get that roller derby is a real sport!”

“If they'd come to the bout they'd know,” Annie said, sighing. “But I'm starting to feel like we're putting this exhibition on for nothing.”

Which means I turned down Tyler for nothing.

Annie felt miserable. It was one thing to sacrifice a date with Tyler Erickson to take part in a bout that was going to attract lots of fans, but to miss the Halloween dance when no one was even going to show up? Not to mention the fact that she might not even be able to skate!

Tessa came around the corner just as the class bell rang. Even though Annie was now completely crutch-free, they'd got in the habit of walking to English together.

“Hi, Tessa,” said Lauren.

“Hey.” Tessa turned to frown at the poster. “I hate to tell you this, but you know the poster you hung up outside the chem lab?”

Annie nodded. “What about it?”

“Somebody took a magic marker to it.”

“Oh, no!”

“Let me guess,” Lauren said, sighing. “Someone drew moustaches on the faces?”

“Among other things,” said Tessa with a grimace. “To put it delicately, the roller girls are now anatomically correct.”

Annie gasped. “They didn't?!”

“They did!”

“That's just rude,” said Lauren. “Did you take it down?”

“I was going to,” Tessa replied, “but the principal beat me to it.”

Well, that was a relief. Annie could only imagine how furious Lexie was going to be when she heard that someone had defiled her drawing.

Lauren excused herself to rush off to her history class and Annie and Tessa headed to English. Along the way they stopped to put up a poster outside the music room, and another on the bulletin board near the main office.

Tessa chatted pleasantly about how excited she was that she and her whole team, the Derby Dolls, would be coming to watch the Halloween bout, and how the Liberty Belles were going to look so awesome dressed as vampires. Annie laughed and agreed, but no matter how much she nodded and smiled, she just couldn't stop the phrase “sluts on wheels” from ringing in her ears.

They got to English before the bell.

Annie almost wished they'd been late. Because what she saw when she walked into the classroom made her sick to her stomach.

Tyler, looking gorgeous as always, was seated at his desk.

And Kelsey was draped across the top of it.

Okay, maybe “draped” was a little dramatic. But she was posing with her perfect legs crossed and her shoulders back, tossing her hair like she was caught in a hurricane. Kelsey seemed to be completely engrossed in whatever it was Tyler was saying, and every so often she'd let out a giggle.

So that's what flirting looks like,
Annie thought glumly, sliding into her desk behind Tyler's.

When the bell rang, Kelsey slipped gracefully off the desk and put her hand on Tyler's shoulder. “I can't
wait
for Saturday night,” she said.

Annie's heart sank as she realized that Tyler must have asked Kelsey to the dance. Annie felt her throat tighten and there was a stinging sensation behind her eyes. But there was absolutely no way that she would allow herself to cry! Not here. Not now. It was highly likely that later, at home, she'd curl up in a ball on Granny's ugly plaid sofa and sob her heart out. But she wasn't going to let Kelsey have the satisfaction of seeing that she'd won.

As Annie forced her eyes to remain dry, she tried to work out why Tyler had even pretended to be interested in her in the first place. Obviously he hadn't really liked her all that much if he could so easily bounce back from her rejection to ask Kelsey out.

As Ms. Schwartz began her discussion of the doomed love between Heathcliff and Catherine, Annie tuned out. Any other day she would have been fascinated by the study of such an iconic literary masterpiece, but today she simply didn't give a hoot about the fictional characters' heartache.

Today, she had her own broken heart to deal with.

Annie was sitting on the sofa, half-heartedly doing her ankle exercises, when the doorbell rang.

The bad mood that had begun before English class in response to the sluts on wheels remark (and had steadily declined when she'd witnessed Kelsey flirting with Tyler) was only getting gloomier now as she worried about her chances of skating on Saturday. The rehab exercises didn't hurt like they had at the beginning, so that had to be a good sign. And she was walking perfectly now, without even a hint of a limp.

But walking and skating were two very different things, and she knew it would all depend on what Dr. Borden said at her appointment tomorrow. The suspense of not knowing was really taking its toll.

The bell rang again; Annie got up and went to answer the door.

“Who is it?” she called out.

“Reverse trick-or-treater!” came a friendly voice.

“Huh?” Annie laughed as she swung open the door to see Lauren grinning on the front porch. “What on earth is a reverse trick-or-treater?”

“Someone who doesn't wear a costume and brings
you
candy!” Lauren explained, producing an enormous bag of miniature chocolate bars from behind her back. “Ta da!”