Demon Derby (17 page)

Her lip quivered, and I couldn’t keep from hugging her. “Maybe she’s sick. Like mono or something. That makes people really tired.”

“Isn’t mono from kissing?” She wrinkled her nose.

“Yeah.”

“Eeeeew.”

I chuckled. “Either way, I’m sure once she sees you at home, she’ll perk right up.”

“Yeah, prolly.”

“So whatever happened to Malachi?” I asked, and we started running down the list—who’d gone home, and who’d died, who’d gone on a Make-A-Wish trip and whose parents had shaved their heads in solidarity. It didn’t take us long to get the rest of the stuff off the walls; I’d just perched on the end of the bed when I noticed something on the nightstand.

I froze. “What’s that?”

“It’s Edward Cullen, duh.”

She picked up the little figure and held it out for my inspection. The head jiggled back and forth as she thrust it at me.

I didn’t want to take the bobblehead. Maybe it was from that factory. Maybe it was evil. Maybe Little Casey’s recovery didn’t have anything to do with that pink-pee drug. Maybe her mom didn’t have mono. People would sell their soul for a lot of things. My parents would have done it for me in an instant.

Now I felt really horrible for laughing at Michael. Because either it was my imagination or this thing was evil. I couldn’t see the black cloak around it, but I swore I could feel it.

“What’s wrong?” Little Casey grinned. “Are you scared of vampires now?”

“Nah.” I laughed it off weakly. “Just remembered there’s somewhere I need to go, is all. I’m late.”

“Awww.” She hugged me. “Well, I’ll Facebook you sometime, okay?”

“Of course you will,” I said, but we both knew we’d talk once or twice at the most before we fell out of touch again. We needed to look forward, not back. Although, when I got to the door, I couldn’t help myself. I looked back at that bobblehead.

After I left the hospital, I had dinner with my parents. It seemed like the least I could do after pretty much ignoring them all this time. I had every intention of calling Darcy and trying to hunt down Michael, but I actually fell asleep on my plate, and Dad had to carry me up to my bed. The last time I’d
done that, I was seven. But I had to admit, this time I’d probably earned the exhaustion.

The next day crawled. I messaged Kyle with a bunch of derby videos and texted Darcy, with no response from either of them, since they were both at school. I didn’t have Michael’s number, which felt like a major oversight on my part. So I worked my way through a chapter on the Reformation and took the exam online before going back to bed. My body craved sleep; I’d been pushing it awfully hard, and it wasn’t happy. At least I didn’t hurt quite so bad anymore. I was beginning to think I might be over the hump.

I set my alarm to wake me up just in time for derby practice, because it was the only way I could think of to get in touch with Michael. Dad made me have some pizza before he agreed to drop me off. This time, I missed all the potholes on my way in, and no one tried to beat me up. I fully expected to meet Ruthanasia at the door and get thrown out on the street, since I technically wasn’t supposed to be here, but for once things turned out in my favor. Barbageddon saw me first. One minute I was scanning the rink for Michael, and the next I was smothered in dreadlocks as she gave me a hug.

“Casey!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad to see you! How are you?”

“Fine,” I said, but that sounded really abrupt, so I added, “Thanks. Do you know where Michael is?”

“Not here yet, as far as I know.” She slung an arm over my shoulder. With most people, the gesture would have felt fake, but Barbageddon was friendly to everybody and probably
didn’t have a poser bone in her body. “Hey, I know you’re not on the team, but before we start, would you show me those tricks you did at tryouts? I’ve jumped fallen skaters before, but it wasn’t half as fancy as those.”

If I didn’t find a way to distract myself until Michael showed up, the pressure would drive me mad, so I said, “Sure. We can start with the front tuck. That one’s easy, and it should be legit to use in bouts. Some of the others aren’t.”

I sat down, pulled off my shoes, and put on my gear. Pretty soon, I had about half the team leaping over each other. The jump itself wasn’t tough once you figured out how to handle the skates, but when you started adding defenders and turns, it got difficult quickly. Ragnarocker sent me flying twice, and the second time, I skidded right into the nubby carpet-covered wall with my head.

There was a shocked silence.

I leapt to my feet, whipped off my helmet, and exclaimed, “That was so cool! Let’s do it again—”

But a voice interrupted from behind me. “Not now.”

I whirled around. “Mike! I need to talk to you.”

“Mike?” The corners of his mouth started to twitch, although he did a pretty good job of keeping them under control. “Really?”

I edged closer and said in a quiet voice, “It could have been worse. I almost called you Mikey.”

He laughed out loud, and I swear I felt lighter.

“Let’s talk after practice,” he said, and I nodded. I needed the time to get my emotions under control. I felt like I might
cry at any second. After an eternity of feeling guilty over things I’d done or said, it seemed like I might finally be free.

“It’s nice of you to visit us, Kent, but those of us who are actually on the team really need to get to work. Can we start practice now?” Ruthanasia said, skating right past me like I’d suddenly developed a serious case of invisibility, and practically batting her lashes at Michael. “That bout with the Tilt-a-Girls is at the beginning of December, and I want to make sure we’re ready.”

“We will be,” Michael said. “Now, before we start, I think we need a team vote. Casey’s been coming to practice even though she didn’t make the team, and it’s pretty obvious she has valuable skills that could benefit us—”

Ruthanasia didn’t even give him a chance to finish. “Even if that were true, we don’t have any space on the roster. This conversation is totally useless.”

“She could be an alternate,” he persisted. “Her aerial skills alone would be worth the paperwork.”

She just snorted, turning her back on all of us like she couldn’t stand our faces any longer. I scanned the rest of the crowd, seeing expressions that were varyingly forbidding, approving, and something in between.

“Let’s vote,” Michael said. “Majority rules.”

“Wait.” I held up a hand. “Let me say something?” He nodded, and I continued. “I know I might seem high-maintenance. But I swear I’ll play it smart. I just want to be a part of a team again. Heck, I’d dress up as your mascot if that’s what it took.”

Some of the girls giggled, and a few quit scowling at me quite so hard. I wasn’t sure if it would be enough, but at least I’d tried.

“All right,” Michael said. “Let’s vote. Anyone who wants Casey Kent to be admitted to the team as an alternate in case of injury or absence, please raise your hand.”

Darcy’s shot right up into the air, followed only a moment later by Ragnarocker’s and Barbageddon’s. A few other hands went up, some more reluctantly than others. Ruthanasia, naturally, didn’t budge.

Michael’s lips moved as he counted up the votes. “Six … seven … eight. That’s eight out of sixteen. Which means we need a tiebreaker.”

“We already know how you’re going to vote, Michael.” Ruthanasia sounded beaten. As a knee-jerk reaction, I wanted to celebrate, but I squashed the feeling firmly. We could be an unbeatable team if we’d only work together. And right now I needed a victory.

He smiled at me. “That does it, then. Casey is our new alternate.”

I grinned, and the girls broke out into uneven, scattered applause. But I didn’t care. I’d win them over eventually, even Ruthanasia.

“Thank you so much,” I gushed. “Let’s start training before you all come to your senses.”

Finally things were looking up.

I couldn’t believe how tough practice was; the Hotsies had never worked me this hard. I was the newest, but there were two other Fresh Meat—Darcy and a chick named Monique, who looked more like a librarian than a derby girl. The Fresh Meat usually worked on basics separate from the rest of the team, but since it was already the middle of the season, we jumped right in with everybody else. First we did speed drills. This time, I easily outpaced Darcy, who didn’t seem like herself. She’d barely said a word to anyone and was skating at about half the speed she’d skated at tryouts.

I edged up to her during our first water break. “You okay? I was hoping to ask you if we could hang out later, but you look like crap. I mean … Oh, heck. You know what I mean, right?”

She nodded, flopping onto a bench coated in peeling yellow paint.

“Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look so hot.”

“My throat hurts,” she said, and it did sound a little scratchy. “I’ve got a cold or something.”

Eventually Michael split us into groups. Some of the girls worked with Ragnarocker on booty blocking. It was a heck-load of fun. If only I’d had more booty to block with. But I couldn’t complain too much, because my no-curve boyish figure was good for acrobatic stunts. Even though I was having fun, it was still a relief when Michael pulled me, Ruthanasia, and Barbageddon aside to work on jammer stuff.

“You do know what a jammer is, don’t you?” Ruthanasia said, and elbowed me.

“Yes, Casey knows,” I said in a stupid voice. “Casey not idiot. Casey’s sister skate for Hotsies. Casey wish you would give it a rest already.”

“Hey.” Barbageddon waggled a finger at us. “We’re all on the same team now, right?”

“I guess,” Ruthanasia said, and then she really surprised me by holding out a fist for me to bump. “I’m not going to make it a secret that I still don’t think you belong here, and I don’t like your attitude. But on the rink, I’ve got your back. All right?”

“Fair enough,” I said, touching my knuckles to hers. “I don’t like your attitude either, so I guess we’re even.”

A faint smile touched her lips. “Touché. Let’s get to work.”

The three of us made a good jamming team. We took turns trying to pass the defenders without going out of bounds. Ruthanasia was an aggressive skater; she barreled into people and sent them sprawling more times than I could count. Barbageddon was faster and had a knack for spotting the weak points in a defense. And I could squeeze through tiny spaces without losing my balance, even on one skate. We each had skills the other two could learn from, and a half hour passed without anyone making a single nasty comment.

Of course that had to end.

We’d just finished up and were guzzling water when Michael ambled over.

“Hey, Casey,” he said. “Want a ride home? We could talk more about the … er … stuff from yesterday.”

“Cool,” I said.

Ruthanasia looked from him to me and back again, rolling her eyes. “We all know why you’re on the team, but you don’t have to flaunt it.”

It felt like a punch to the stomach. It hurt even more because the thought had crossed my mind too. Had Michael championed me because of my derby skills, or did I really not belong here? Maybe he just wanted to keep a close eye on me.

From the look on her face, she knew she’d scored a point. I couldn’t even come up with a witty retort.

“You’re wrong,” Michael said, but that just made it worse. I wanted to stand up for myself, but every time I did, I ended up picking fights and feeling crappy about it later. There had to be a sweet spot between being a doormat and a bully, but I hadn’t found it.

“Whatever,” she said.

Then she walked away, but she glanced at Michael first. It was the kind of look that begged him to notice. Like any second now, she’d be flinging off her clothes and throwing herself at him full-bodied. I wondered if all Sentinels had this effect on the ladies or if it was just him. It was going to be fun when she found out I’d kissed him. And that I wanted to do it again.

I’d just finished packing up my stuff when Darcy sat down on the bench beside me. I expected her to launch into a longwinded complaint about not getting to train with the jammers, or to twitter on about pink skates or random hairstyles or dojo gossip,
anything
. But she was uncharacteristically quiet.