Hell's Belles (19 page)

Carmen was a 1970s vampire, wearing dangling disco-ball earrings and a smiley face T-shirt with the words “Have a Nice Day” printed on it. Sharmila was a vampire nerd complete with taped horn-rimmed glasses, bow tie, argyle socks, and a Kick Me sign stuck to her back. Liz had borrowed Coach Ritter's cowgirl hat and was wearing a pair of rhinestone-encrusted holsters on a leather belt slung low around her hips. Lauren was surprisingly believable as a vampire biker chick, in a leather jacket and Harley-Davidson T-shirt.

And Holly . . . well, she outdid everyone! She was dressed in jet black from head to toe; she had fangs, like Annie, but in addition to these, she wore a headband with two pointy ears on it.

“I give up. What kind of vampire are you?” Annie asked.

In reply, Holly grinned and raised her arms to reveal two enormous black wings. “I'm a vampire
bat!”

“Brilliant!” said Annie, laughing along with the others.

While the Belles touched up their spooky makeup, the High Rollers arrived in the locker room. They were already in their witch costumes, and although their outfits lacked the creativity of the Belles, Annie had to admit they looked pretty spooky. They all wore heavy green face paint and a few of them had glued on fake warts.

Their captain, Allison, was the only exception; she was dressed as a good witch in a shiny silver dress and a white conical hat with pink feather trim. Her eyes were enhanced with extra-long blue glitter false lashes.

True to form, Holly kicked off the trash talking. “Hope you girls are ready to work some magic, because you're gonna need to cast a major spell to beat us tonight!”

“Please!” huffed Allison, waving her glow-stick wand at Holly. “We'll be sending you vampires home in your coffins!”

“Did you say ‘vampires?'” said Dee Stroyer, sending a wicked look in Annie's direction. “I think you mean ‘tramp-ires!'”

“Don't listen to her,” Carmen whispered. “You look amazing. She's jealous, that's all.”

Annie smiled gratefully, but she couldn't help feeling self-conscious.

“That was uncalled for, Dee,” said Allison, frowning at her teammate.

Dee made a face and rolled her eyes.

“C'mon, Annie,” said Lauren, taking her arm. “Coach wants us to sell tickets.”

Annie was more than happy to get out of the locker room. The more distance between her and Dee Stroyer, the better.

All the posters the girls had put up around town and at school had really paid off! To Annie's surprise, the turnout was amazing. People of all ages were streaming into the rink, and even better was the fact that most of them were in costume.

As she and Lauren handed out tickets and counted change, Annie felt positively elated. “This is great,” she said. “I never dreamed so many people would show up.”

“Hey, there's your doctor,” said Lauren, pointing toward the middle of the line.

Sure enough, Dr. Borden, his young twins, and a pretty woman Annie assumed was his wife were waiting to purchase their tickets. Martha and her husband were with them.

“I guess that's one way to drum up business,” joked Annie. “Sprain something!”

Lauren laughed.

The next customer was completely unrecognizable in a hideous monster mask that made Dad's werewolf head look like a cuddly puppy.

“How many?” Annie asked hesitantly.

“One,” the monster grunted, handing Annie the money. Annie handed one ticket to the monster.

“Thanks, Annie,” he said, but his voice was so muffled inside the mask she couldn't place it.

Annie watched him shuffle away and continued to watch until he disappeared into the crowd.

Must be someone who knows me from school,
Annie thought.

She was jolted out of her thoughts by the sound of her phone ringing. She answered it without even checking the number.

“Hello?”

“Annie, love. It's Mum!”

The sound of her mother's voice after so long made Annie's heart swell. She hurried to a quiet corner where she wouldn't be overheard.

“Oh, Mum,” she began, her words coming out in a flurry of emotion. “I was so rude the last time we talked, and I've been avoiding your calls. I'm so sorry!”

Back in London, Mum laughed and Annie could hear the relief in it. “I know, darling. I know. Dad explained how upset you were and I realized I was being unreasonable. So I'm sorry, too.”

Annie smiled. “Mum, you should see me right now. I'm wearing a vampire costume my friend Lexie designed!”

“Sounds incredible! Get Dad to take a photo so you can send it to me.”

“Okay.”

“Well . . . I just wanted to wish you good luck in your match tonight.”

Annie stopped from pointing out that it was actually called a bout. Mum was making a huge effort and that was all that really mattered. “Thanks. Maybe someday you'll be able to see me skate. I think you'd be really proud of me.”

“I'm always proud of you, honey,” said Mum, and Annie could hear the catch in her voice. “Always.”

Annie felt tears forming in her eyes. “I miss you, Mum,” she said. “I'll call later and let you know how it went.” She hung up and went back to the ticket table, only to find Lauren closing up shop.

“Time to skate,” Lauren said, grinning. “Ready?”

Annie smiled and pulled her helmet on over her teased hair. “You have no idea!” she said.

Laughing, they headed for the track.

“Ladies and gentleman!” came Jesse's voice through the loudspeaker. “Please welcome the Liberty Belles . . . although tonight, they're going by a different name!”

On cue, AC/DC's rock anthem “Hells Bells” exploded through the rink and the crowd roared.

Annie swore she could feel the music pulsing inside her as she and the team skated in a pace line, then as a wall, shouting, waving and blowing exaggerated kisses to the crowd. After two exhilarating laps, they skated to the sidelines.

“And here come the High Rollers!” Jesse segued out of “Hells Bells” into the lyrics of The Doors' “Roadhouse Blues.” Jim Morrison wailed, “Let it roll, baby, roll . . .” and again the fans went wild.

While their opponents worked the crowd, Liz had the Belles huddle up for a quick pep talk. “I want you all to remember that tonight is about having fun!” she said. “I know the Rollers aren't exactly the most sportsmanlike team in the league, but like Coach said, let's not sink to their level. There are lots of people watching tonight and we want to show them what derby is really about!” She turned to flash a big grin at Annie. “Okay, Annie, how about you start us off as jammer?”

Annie felt a rush of excitement as she got into position. Unfortunately, standing right beside her on the jammer line was Dee Stroyer.

“Might wanna take it easy tonight, tramp-ire! Don't want to hurt that ankle again, do you?”

Annie opened her mouth, hoping a snappy retort would come to her. But of course, no such luck. In fact, suddenly the only thing she
could
think of was how incredibly badly her ankle had hurt when she'd fallen on it three weeks before.

Annie knew a threat when she heard one!

The ref blew his whistle and the bout began.

Annie's head swam as she ran on her toe stops and zoomed around the track. She was the jammer. She had a job to do!

She let her body do the work, pushing and gliding. But Dee's cocky remark about hurting her ankle kept whirling in her mind. Annie winced, remembering the sharp pain and the lingering ache.

The three weeks without skating!

If she fell again, what would happen? Was her ankle more vulnerable now? She had her ankle brace on, but was that enough?

Dee had her head down, skating hard.

Annie was right beside her, matching her stroke for stroke. She could pass Dee with just the slightest effort.

But what if . . . ?

Maybe it wasn't even a conscious decision, but in the next heartbeat, Annie felt herself tightening up . . . holding back . . . and slowing down.

Dee took lead jammer position. Annie stayed close. But not close enough.

Four points later Dee slapped her hips to call off the jam. The crowd cheered and the Rollers celebrated with high fives and gleeful shouts.

Annie had accomplished nothing!

She hung her head, skating toward the side.

Liz was next to her immediately. “Shake it off, Annie! It's only the first jam. We'll get 'em!”

Annie nodded. She bent down, resting her elbows on her knees to catch her breath.
Shake it off,
she repeated in her mind.
Don't let Dee Stroyer psyche you out.

She stood up and carefully rotated her ankle, then flexed it.

No pain. She was fine.

Stop being such a wimp.

“You okay, kiddo?”

Annie looked up from her skates to see Coach Ritter.

“I'm fine,” she said. “Honestly fine.”

Coach frowned. “Even so, let's not press our luck with that ankle. Take a breather.”

As Annie took her place on the bench, she glanced into the crowd. Lexie and Tessa, who were sitting with Tessa's teammates, were waving, but they both looked a little concerned — worrying about her ankle, obviously. She let her gaze sweep the spectators again. And there he was.

Madly pumping his fist in the air and shouting like crazy, it was the hideous masked monster who'd called her by name at the ticket table.

When he saw that Annie had spotted him he waved.

Without even thinking, Annie waved back. Then she smiled and the monster threw both hands into the air in a gesture of triumph.

Annie couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiastic support. But she was thoroughly puzzled.

Who are you?
she wondered.
Take off the mask!

When Annie joined the pack for the third jam, Jesse blasted Talking Heads' “Psycho Killer” and Annie decided with a snarky grin that she'd dedicate this song especially to Dee Stroyer. As David Byrne sang, “Better run run run run run run run away,” she imagined herself belting the words out, right in Dee Stroyer's face! She felt her confidence return in a powerful rush.

Thanks, Jesse. I owe you one!

The whistle blew and the roller girls took off.

Holly was amazing! Fast and skillful, she bombed around the track with a take-no-prisoners smile on her face. When the jam finished, Holly had scored seven points and lifted her arms in triumph to show off her bat wings. Jesse responded by blasting a snippet of Meatloaf's classic “Bat Out of Hell” and the crowd went absolutely crazy!

When one of the High Rollers, Mae Hem, was given a penalty against Lauren for an illegal elbow block, the ref appealed to the crowd with a knowing smile. “How about we spin the penalty wheel?” he cried.

The crowd cheered their approval.

Annie laughed; she hadn't even realized that the High Rollers had set up one of these wheels before the bout. It was basically a large, circular piece of cardboard that whirled on a spinner, a big version of what you'd get in a board game.