Overtime (16 page)

“Much appreciated,” Nick said. “It’ll be nice to smell something other than these guys.”

“How are your ribs?” Scott asked Rebecca.

Touching her side, she said, “I broke three right here. I’ll be fine in a few weeks, apparently. It hurt so much on the bus I swear I thought I was going to stop breathing.”

“You were pretty calm, though,” Charlie said.

She blushed. “You guys were awesome.”

Alexandra cleared her throat. “I wanted to thank you too, you and Pudge, and I’ve already thanked Julia about a million times. I have to hunt Dalton down as well. I don’t remember much, only that I was so unbelievably scared. Anyway, you guys were truly heroic, and I can’t believe what you did to save the bus driver.”

“What did he do?” Scott said.

“No one told you?” Alexandra said. “It’s the most amazing thing ever.”

“Why am I always the last to hear about amazing things?” Scott said.

“Because you get all teary-eyed and it’s embarrassing,” Nick said.

“That’s true,” Scott said, wiping his eyes.

“Be quiet, you two,” Alexandra said, pretending to scold them. “If you behave, I’ll tell you how Charlie and Julia saved the bus driver from certain death.”

“Our little Char-Char? For real?” Scott said, clasping his hands under his chin and sighing.

A knock on the door interrupted, and a tall, thin woman wearing blue jeans and a red sweatshirt entered. She flashed a toothy smile. “I hope I’m in the right room. Sorry for just barging in. Is there a Charlie Joyce here?”

He’d never seen her before. What could she want with him? He raised his hand slowly.

“Wonderful. I’ve been looking all over town for
you.” She reached out and shook his hand. “I’m Lorie Sherman, a reporter for
The Examiner.
I went by your house, and spoke to your grandmother and your very interesting and talkative sister, Danielle. Your grandmother directed me to your mom’s café, and after a nice coffee and a delicious pastry, your mom told me you had come to the hospital to visit your friend, Nick.” She pointed at his broken leg. “I assume you’re Nick.”

“You can if you want, ma’am.”

She laughed, and as she looked around her eyes got almost as big as her round glasses. “Is it my imagination, or do I have all the kids from the bus, right here, right now?”

“Everyone except for Dalton,” Charlie said.

She laughed again and clapped her hands. “This is too perfect. I spoke to the bus driver and his wife — such lovely people — and he told me the beginning and the end of the story, but he was trapped in his seat for the middle. I’m going to write a feature about the accident. Do you mind filling me in?”

“Not at all,” Scott said. “What you need to keep in mind is the guys were pretty scared. I had to chill them out so they wouldn’t lose it. They all look up to me — in hockey and in school, and, well, basically everything — on account of my athleticism and general grace under pressure … and … well … that’s probably what you should write about.”

Lorie took off her glasses. “And your name is … ?”

“You can call me Scott … or Murray … although Murray isn’t my name so it wouldn’t make as much sense.”

Rebecca was holding her ribs, trying desperately not
to laugh. Nick had a hand on his cast, trying to do the same. Lorie held up a camera. “How about we start with a group shot. Scott or Murray can be in it. I’m not fussy. Now where’s Julia Chow?”

Julia raised her hand.

“And I also understand Pudge Moretti was part of the rescue?”

He raised his hand tentatively as well.

“Can I get the wounded around Nick on the bed, and Julia, Pudge and Charlie standing at the back.”

They shuffled into position.

Lorie sighed. “Nick, do you have some extra shirts for your wet friends? I know the bus fell into the lake, but I think our readers will wonder why Charlie and Pudge are still soaking.”

“We forgot an umbrella …” Charlie began, but the laughter cut him off.

“In fact, I do happen to have some snazzy shirts in that dresser over there,” Nick said.

Charlie and Pudge went over to the dresser and took out a couple of T-shirts. They had to endure a few whistles and catcalls as they took their shirts off and put Nick’s on.

“Fabulous,” Lorie said, as they took their places again. “Don’t forget to give me some big smiles. You’ll want to look your best. This will be on the front page.” She took several shots.

“Now, Charlie, can I start with you?” She put her camera on a table and took out a tape recorder from her pocket. “What do you remember about the accident? And don’t leave anything out.”

It was strange but he hadn’t thought a lot about it.
After the three days in hospital, he had gone home and slept the next couple of days away. Now, sitting amongst all his friends, all at once it came back to him, the sudden thud of the mud smashing into the bus, the feeling of falling, the splash … the screaming, and the shock of seeing his friends so badly hurt … He remembered Pudge’s toughness and calm — and he felt a surge of pride knowing they were best friends. He thought of Dalton’s leadership and especially his willingness to return to the bus to help the driver. And of course he remembered Julia coming back to help. The terror of it flooded back to him.

All his friends had been brave. Those that were hurt never complained. He was unbelievably proud of all of them, and of himself.

“There was a huge sound of thunder,” he began, “and Scott made a joke about it …”

Charlie leaned on his left knee with his hand and carved around the end boards, slowing so he wouldn’t bang into anyone. The new skates felt great. The Rebels’ sponsor had donated new ones to the kids who had lost theirs when the bus sank. Charlie’s old ones had been getting tight. But that wasn’t the only good thing to happen since the accident. The rink was completely packed; it was hard to do anything more than shuffle along.

The sight of so many kids at the skate-a-thon made his heart swell. What a difference! He had collected over 150 pledge sheets. Julia had done a quick estimate and thought they might make about $15,000. Lorie, the journalist who had interviewed him in the hospital, had come to take pictures.

Charlie could have done without the attention, but he was grateful to Lorie. It seemed everyone in Terrence Falls had read her article, and it made people want to help, from the students and parents, to local businesses and the general community.

The next pancake breakfast had sold out in forty-five minutes and ended with A.J. blaming the committee for
not giving her enough money to buy more stock. Donations from the parents flooded in; practically every parent gave something. Business owners kept calling the school with offers of money. It almost made the accident worth it! Almost.

Ms Cummings had suffered a serious concussion, two broken ribs and a badly bruised arm. Without a coach, and with so many players hurt, the tournament team was done. That was a potential $25,000 lost. Charlie doubted they could hit their target without it.

He spotted Dalton in the players’ bench. He was pouring cups of hot chocolate.

“Hey, dude. How’s this for a skate-a-thon?” he said.

“It is gratifying to see such support for the school,” Dalton said. “This past week has been nothing short of remarkable.”

Charlie would never get used to how he talked, but since the accident, he didn’t find it odd anymore — that was just Dalton being Dalton.

“Does the committee know how much money we’ve raised so far?”

“It is hard to say exactly. I have not had the opportunity to speak with the treasurer, and Mr. Hilton is handling most of the corporate donations. But the latest ballpark figures I heard at our update meeting yesterday were nearing one hundred thousand, and not all the parent donations were counted. In other words, we haven’t hit our target yet, but there is hope.”

Charlie thought of the tournament team. “If only we could have fielded a hockey team,” he said. “That would have been huge.”

Julia stopped in front of Charlie. He looked down at
the snow that had shot halfway up his leg.

“Was that really necessary?” he asked.

“I felt it was.”

“Dalton was telling me the fundraising is getting close. A tournament win could have been the difference,” Charlie said.

Julia pouted. “I admit I was looking forward to it, just to play — for fun. We had a good team.”

Before the accident the tournament was the last thing he wanted to do for fun, what with Alexandra and Trisha as his wingers and a simmering feud between the girls. Now that it was over he agreed with her. It would have been fun.

“Just the people we wanted to talk to.” Trisha trailed her left foot behind her and slowed to a stop next to Charlie. Emily came over also.

“Me and Em were talking about the team,” Trisha said. “Even though so many players got hurt, when you think about it, we could still put out a good team.”

“We’d have two boys, who’d be on every second shift,” Emily said, “and the rest of us girls can kick the butts of the girls on any other team.”

“I asked Jake and Liam and Thomas if they’d play,” Trisha said. Charlie’s stomach tightened. “But they turned out to be total jerks and just started dissing everyone and … I told them to forget it.”

Charlie liked the sound of that.

“What do you think?” Emily said. “Why not?”

“I don’t know … It seems almost disrespectful, after the accident, and with Ms Cummings hurt …” Charlie began.

As he listened to himself, he realized those reasons
didn’t hold any water. The truth was he simply assumed he wouldn’t play because his friends weren’t playing.

“We don’t need a coach. It’s only a three-game round robin,” Emily said.

“Three wins, and that’s twenty-five grand. We have to play,” Trisha said.

“It would be a substantial contribution to the roof fund,” Dalton said.

Charlie was not going to make this decision himself. He looked at Julia. “What do you think?”

She shuffled her skates. “I never really thought about it,” she said.

“I can understand if you don’t want to,” Emily said.

“I’d be totally freaked out by that bus crash, and if you don’t want to play that’s cool with us,” Trisha said. “But I know Li wants to play and Sophie and Sandra and Cassie. And with you two, and Pudge and Michelle, then we have ourselves a team.”

Julia did not say anything.

“Please? For TFH?” Trisha said. She tapped Charlie’s skate. “I want to play on your line,” she said. “We’ll be awesome together.”

“You’ll be unstoppable together,” Emily said.

Charlie was tempted. Maybe it was worth the try. “It might not hurt to give it a go,” he said. “I mean, if we actually win it …”

Trisha put her arm around his shoulders. “Sweet. I knew you’d come through, Charlie Joyce. You’re awesome. Isn’t he awesome, Em?”

“Definitely,” Emily said.

He hadn’t actually agreed to play, had he?

“I guess … if Charlie will play … I’ll play too,” Julia
said.

“I’ll talk to Pudge, and see what he thinks,” Charlie said. An idea popped into his head — a familiar one. “And I’ll ask Hilton if he’ll coach us. He might do it considering what happened.”

“Has he coached before?” Trisha said.

Charlie laughed. “I forgive you, since you’re new to TFH, but the answer is yes.”

Trisha slapped him on the back. “Then I like him already.”

“This is an excellent idea,” Dalton said. He handed them each a hot chocolate. “Let’s toast your success in the tournament.”

Charlie picked up another cup and handed it to Dalton. “We’re toasting our success,” he said, “because you’re going to be the manager.”

Dalton coloured slightly. “I’ve never done something like that, and I’m not sure you really need me.”

“We do,” Julia said. “Tournament teams need an organizer.”

“And Hilton will be more likely to coach if he knows there’s a manager to help,” Charlie said.

Dalton pulled his shoulders back and held up his cup. “Then a toast to the Terrence Falls Terriers.”

“I didn’t know that was our team name,” Charlie said. “How could I not know that?”

They all laughed, Trisha loudest of all. “You really are funny, Charlie Joyce.”

Charlie thought he saw Julia’s eyes narrow momentarily, but he couldn’t be sure.

“To the Terriers, then,” Charlie said, and they clinked cups.

Charlie took a sip, and it burned his tongue slightly. Trisha was right. They should play. Why not? And if they won — then he could actually let himself think the unthinkable.

The dressing room was quiet, completely quiet, which was weird because it was usually anything but. The boys had finished dressing in the other room and were sitting with the girls in their room waiting to be called onto the ice for the first game of the Bee-Bees tournament. It was a large space, and with only ten players they were spread out. Trisha, Emily and Li were together, with Cassie, Sandra and Sophie huddled nearby. Julia and Michelle were at the opposite corner. He and Pudge were in the middle.

Dalton came in and leaned a small whiteboard against the wall. “Apparently, there is a delay of about ten minutes because of the Zamboni. I’ll keep you informed. Mr. Hilton has asked me to tell you he will address the team in four to five minutes.” He picked up the whiteboard and gave it a wipe with a cloth. “The arena is filled to the brim with students from Terrence Falls. Practically the entire school is in attendance. It’s really quite exciting.”

He smiled and left.

The players mostly just continued looking at the floor or fussing with their equipment. Only Trisha and Emily
spoke to each other in whispers. The quiet was driving Charlie crazy. It was wrong. The team was flat — no energy. He knew you couldn’t win hockey games like that, and this tournament was too important for him to just let it go. Before the accident, the team had been about Julia’s and Charlie’s friends. Now he realized it was about a bunch of people who had not played much together. Five minutes was not enough time to unite a team through friendship. But they had something else in common, and Charlie decided to go with it.