Kenzie turned to her family and smiled.
“OK,” she said. “The Dynamic Duo is forming a team!”
CHAPTER THREE
The next afternoon, Kenzie perched on her favorite rock at the park downtown, waiting for Shelly.
Sundays were Shelly’s only full day with her dad, which meant she usually didn’t have time to meet. But Kenzie texted their secret emergency code—M&M SOS!—around lunch. Kenzie knew she was supposed to let Shelly hang out with her dad, but forming a derby team in six days was hard enough. They couldn’t afford to lose any more time.
As she waited for Shelly to show, Kenzie watched a game of tag on the field. Every time a new person was tagged, the group of kids scattered in all directions. Some of them were really fast, Kenzie noticed. But they all looked too young to join derby.
She glanced at the playground. A couple of older boys sat on the swings watching videos on their phones. Some smaller kids were shifting around huge piles of woodchips. One girl ran in circles spinning a roundabout as her friend crouched inside.
“I think I’m going to be sick!” the friend cried out.
Kenzie shook her head. That kid did not have the stomach for roller derby.
“Kenzilla!”
Shelly flew down the sidewalk and scrambled up to join Kenzie on the rock. They bumped fists twice and spit in opposite directions.
“What’s the SOS?” Shelly asked.
Kenzie fished the brainstorm list out of her pocket and handed it over. Shelly read through the bullet points in Kenzie’s purple scrawl.
“Three more players . . .” she murmured. She looked up at Kenzie. “We’re forming a whole team? That's awesome!”
Kenzie smiled. She pictured skating next to Shelly around the track, leading a pack of rough-and-tough derby girls behind them. Their team would twirl and jump and spin in really fast circles and—
A worrying thought popped into her head.
“Hey, Shelly,” Kenzie said.
“Yeah?”
“Tricks are really hard in derby.”
Shelly nodded. Kenzie turned to her.
“Skating is really hard in derby.”
“I guess,” Shelly said. “What’s your point?”
Kenzie knitted her hands together. “What if we can’t find anyone who can skate backward or flip around? What if we have to do all the work for a whole team?”
Shelly swiped at the air.
“We’ll find lots of girls just like us,” she said. “Our team will be full of derby pros!”
“Maybe,” Kenzie said, frowning a little. She wasn’t sure if there were lots of girls like them.
“Do you have a pencil?” Shelly asked. “We can come up with some team names. That’s how we’ll advertise!”
Kenzie took a pencil from her pocket and handed it to Shelly. Shelly made a squiggly line under the purple crayon.
“The Scream Queens,” Shelly said aloud as she wrote. She grinned at Kenzie. “And we can be known for screaming every time the whistle blows!”
“But that’s only for our Banshee move,” Kenzie reminded her. “How about the M&Ms?”
Since Kenzie’s full name was Mackenzie and Shelly’s name was Michelle, “M&M” was Kenzie and Shelly’s special friend nickname.
“Hmmmm . . .” Shelly chewed on the eraser. “We might not get a team full of M names, though. Plus, in derby you’re Kenzilla, not Mackenzie. And I’m Bomb Shell, not Michelle.”
Kenzie stared at the ground. What Shelly said made sense. She liked being Kenzilla way better than she liked being Mackenzie. Still, something seemed wrong. Her heart stung, the way her finger stung when a splinter was hiding right under the skin. Shelly used to like being the M&Ms. What was different now?
“How about the Dynamic Duo?” Kenzie asked.
Shelly laughed. “Duo means ‘two,’” she said. “You wrote it right here. Hey, maybe we could do something like that, but for five people. Like the Fierce Five, or the Ferocious Five.”
“Ferocious?” a voice asked.
Kenzie and Shelly looked up just as Bree, Kenzie’s neighbor, skidded to a stop in front of their rock. She kicked up her skateboard and caught it at her side.
“Can we help you?” Kenzie asked. She twisted to block the paper in Shelly's hands.
“Who’s ferocious?” Bree asked.
“No one,” Kenzie said right as Shelly yelled, “We are!”
“Ha!” Bree laughed. Her teeth glinted. “I’ve known Kenzie for a long time,” she said. “But I never knew she was ferocious.” Kenzie’s pale cheeks turned bright red. She wished she had deep brown skin like Bree’s so people wouldn’t know every time she was embarrassed.
“Have you seen her on the derby track?” Shelly asked. “She’s ferocious there. Hey! You should come to Free Skate nights sometime.”
Bree spread her arms wide. “It’s free skating here. Why would I go skate in circles when I can board wherever I want?” She winked at Kenzie, then threw her skateboard in front of her and rolled down the sidewalk.
Kenzie’s face burned an even brighter shade of red. She scowled at Shelly.
“Why did you have to tell her about Free Skate?”
“Why not?” Shelly asked. She watched as Bree disappeared around the corner. “She’s really good. I’ll bet she’s good at skating too.”
“I doubt it,” Kenzie mumbled. “Skateboarding and roller skating are completely different.”
She snatched the paper back from Shelly and hopped off the rock.
“Hey!” Shelly called. She followed Kenzie toward the playground. “Wait up!”
Kenzie dipped under the monkey bars and climbed up to the highest slide. Shelly paused at the bottom rung of the ladder. She shielded the sun from her eyes and shouted toward Kenzie.
“Why don’t you like her?” Shelly asked.
Kenzie could feel her face turning red again. She thought about the way Bree winked right before she jumped on her skateboard. Why did Bree always make Kenzie so nervous? The feeling sloshed and bubbled in her stomach.
“I don’t not like her. I don’t like her or not like her. And that’s not the point! Bree doesn’t skate, and she thinks it’s stupid. OK?”
She drew her legs in close to her chest.
Shelly climbed up the ladder and sat next to Kenzie.
“OK,” Shelly said softly. They sat still together, listening to the shouts and cheers from the game of tag on the field. Shelly leaned her head against Kenzie’s shoulder. “So what kind of players do you want for the team?”
Kenzie let go of her knees and turned toward Shelly. “Well . . . you and I are both kind of short,” she said. “So maybe someone tall.”
“Good thinking,” Shelly said. Kenzie smiled. The weird, unhappy splinter was starting to come out.
“How about someone to be our jammer?” Kenzie added. “Then they can focus on skating really fast, and we can focus on our blocking moves.”
“That means we’d have to find someone even better at skating than us,” Shelly said.
Both girls had to think about that one.
“Hey! You’re holding up the slide.”
Two younger kids from the game of tag stood at the base of the ladder.
Kenzie pushed herself forward and whooshed down the metal slope. Even though it was February, the slide was hot under her legs. Kenzie slowed down at the end, but before she could hoist herself off, Shelly came flying after.
“Look out!” Shelly called. “Bombs away!”
Shelly ran into Kenzie, and both girls sailed right into the giant pile of woodchips. They sat with their legs splayed out, giggling as they pulled woodchips from each other’s hair.
“Hey!”
Kenzie looked up. The same boy was yelling again.
“We got out of your way,” Kenzie said. “Slide all you want.”
The boy cocked his head. “I wasn’t talking to you.” He tapped his friend’s shoulder. “Who’s that kid at the hoops?”
/> Both Kenzie and Shelly swiveled toward the other end of the park. A giant group of people was forming around the basketball court.
“What’s going on?” Kenzie asked.
Shelly pushed herself up and pulled Kenzie after. “Let’s go find out,” she said with a grin.
CHAPTER FOUR
Kenzie and Shelly ran toward the shouts and cheers.
They rushed past squirrels chattering on tree branches and old couples reading side by side on benches. By the time they reached the court, they could only see the backs of other kids. Kenzie heard hip-hop music blaring from a phone.
“Is someone dancing?” Shelly asked.
“I don’t think so,” Kenzie said.
They leaned in and listened. Under the sounds of music and yelling, they heard something tap-tap-tap against the concrete.
“It’s dribbling,” Kenzie said.
“Show ’em, girl!” someone yelled.
“That’s it,” Shelly said. “I’m going in.”
She and Kenzie poked their way through the crowd. A tall, broad-shouldered girl stood at the center of the court. The basketball in her hands was a blur. It zipped from side to side, weaving under one leg and over her knee, around her waist and up over her head. She tossed the ball in an arc and caught it behind her back. She closed her eyes, bounced the ball hard on the ground, turned in a circle, and caught it in one hand.
The crowd cheered. Kenzie and Shelly gaped at each other.
“Doesn’t she go to our school?” Shelly asked.
Kenzie nodded. “Yeah, she’s in my computer class. Her name’s Tomoko, I think.”
“I thought she was really shy,” Shelly said.
“Me too.”
They watched as Tomoko threw the ball in a perfect shot through the hoop. It didn’t even touch the backboard.
“Nothing but net!” someone said.
Tomoko dribbled the ball fast between her legs. She bent her knees and cocked her arm back.
“Shoot! Shoot!” the kids chanted.
The music was ramping up. Kenzie closed her eyes and let the beat pulse through her. She could still see Tomoko behind her eyelids. But this Tomoko was decked out in crisp white roller skates.
“Skate! Skate!” the audience called.
Tomoko glided around the track, tossing the basketball and catching it again. She held the ball close to her and spun on one skate, around and around.
“Shoot it!” Shelly yelled.
Kenzie opened her eyes. If only Tomoko could skate. Then she would be perfect for the derby team.
Tomoko stepped back little by little until she was standing on the far side of the court. As the music swelled, she lined up her shot and flung the ball high. Everyone watched it arc through the air, spinning as if in slow motion.
The net sang as the ball dipped through—Swish!
The crowd went bonkers. “Wooooo!”
Tomoko made a small bow and jogged over to her basketball. As she picked it up again, the clapping faded and the music stopped. Kenzie watched the rest of the crowd scatter. A pack of boys with their own basketball rushed onto the court.
“Come on,” Kenzie said. She tugged on Shelly’s sleeve. “I think it’s over. Let’s get back to brainstorming team names.”
Shelly turned. “We don’t need the team name,” she said excitedly.
“But what about advertising?” Kenzie asked.
“Don’t you see?” Shelly said. “We don’t need to advertise! We can get another player right now!”
“Who, Tomoko?” Kenzie pointed at the court. “But she doesn’t skate!”
“Not yet,” Shelly’s eyes gleamed. “Maybe she’ll want to!
“Didn’t you see her out there?” she asked. “Tomoko’s already great at getting crowds excited. All you have to do is put her in skates and wa-bam!—instant derby star! Can’t you picture it?”
Kenzie paused. She thought of Tomoko in skates again, flying along the derby track. She smiled.
“I can picture it,” Kenzie said.
She and Shelly turned back to the court. The group of boys had formed a circle.
“OK, teams,” one boy said. He separated the others into two groups.
Tomoko emerged from the sideline. Her basketball was tucked under one arm.
“Which side am I on?” she asked.
The boy looked her over. “We already have enough players,” he said gruffly. “It’s even on both teams.”
“But you’re not on a team yet,” Tomoko pointed out.
The boy rolled his eyes. He was tall, even taller than Tomoko. He was probably in sixth grade, Kenzie guessed. He exchanged a look with one of his friends. Tomoko’s face was so hopeful. Kenzie wanted to hide. She hated seeing other people embarrassed almost as much as she hated being embarrassed.
“Look,” the boy said to Tomoko, “you shoot good baskets. But when you play a basketball game, you need people who can run. And you’re not really a runner. Sorry.”
Tomoko’s shoulders slumped.
“All right,” the boy said, turning away from her, “which one of you cheeseballs is going to be ref so I can play?”
Shelly gritted her teeth and balled up a fist. “I’ll show him.”
“Wait,” Kenzie said, grabbing Shelly’s shoulder. “He’s in middle school.”
Kenzie watched as Tomoko shuffled down the sidewalk. “Let’s help Tomoko instead.”
Shelly didn’t listen at first. She sent angry dragon breaths through her nostrils. She glared at the back of the boy’s head, then slowly turned toward Tomoko.
“You’re right,” she said, softening. “Come on!”
Shelly bounded around the court. Kenzie followed her.
“Tomoko!” Shelly called. “Hey, Tomoko!”
Tomoko stopped walking, but she didn’t turn around.
Shelly jumped in front of Tomoko. “That was awesome!”
“Oh. Thanks.” Tomoko kept her chin nestled to her chest. She was back to being the shy girl Kenzie knew from class.
“Where did you learn how to do that?” Shelly asked.
Tomoko shrugged. “My uncle has a basketball hoop. He lets me practice in his driveway.”
“You must really love basketball,” Kenzie said as she joined them.
“Yeah . . . but basketball doesn’t really love me,” Tomoko muttered. She glanced over at the court.
“Forget those guys,” Kenzie said. “They’re jerks.”
“They’re totally jealous of you,” Shelly added.
Tomoko sighed. “They never let me play on a team.”
“Funny you should say that . . .” Shelly tried to throw an arm around Tomoko’s shoulder, but Tomoko was so tall that it ended up on her back instead.
“As it so happens,” Shelly said, “we have another team you might be interested in. Come with us.”
Shelly ushered Tomoko out of the park, over toward South Congress Avenue, the main street bustling with shops. Kenzie followed behind. Sometimes, when Shelly got really excited, she exploded with energy. Kenzie could see Shelly’s heels bouncing with each step. Hopefully she wouldn’t scare Tomoko away from derby.
The three girls stopped at Kenzie and Shelly’s favorite ice pop stand. The ice pop flavors were always weird combinations that no one else could think of.
“Give me three Sour Birthdays, please,” Shelly said to the man behind the counter. She turned to Tomoko. “You’ll like it, I promise.”
The man took out three speckled ice pops. Sour Birthday was Kenzie’s favorite flavor. It was a mix of birthday cake, sea salt, and vinegar. She licked her lips as Shelly handed her an ice pop.
“You’re a total star on the basketball court,” Shelly said when they found a table. “But you need a better place to shine.”
“What’s the team?” Tomoko asked suspiciously. “Is it a basketball team?”
“Sort of,” Shelly said. She took a large bite of the Sour Birthday. “But without the basketball.”
Kenzie
smacked her forehead. Tricking Tomoko into derby wasn’t going to work.
“We’re trying to form a roller derby team,” she said. “You have to be on skates, and it’s not that much like basketball.”
“You do get to show off lots of tricks, though. Derby crowds love that kind of stuff,” Shelly said.
Tomoko licked a corner of her ice pop. She wrinkled her nose. Kenzie crossed her fingers under the table.
“Skates, huh?” Tomoko said after a moment.
“Skates,” Shelly echoed. “Which means no dumb boys talking about running. Heck, on skates you’d have them eating your dust.”
Tomoko’s eyes lit up.
“I like the sound of that,” she said. “I’m in.”
CHAPTER FIVE
On Monday morning, Kenzie waited outside of her classroom. Shelly bounced around the corner and collided into Kenzie’s hip.
“Incoming!” Shelly cried.
Kenzie laughed and held out her hand. They bumped fists and pretended to spit (since actual spitting wasn’t allowed in the hallway), then ducked into their M&M morning hideout, the bathroom.
“Do you think I could pull off a fauxhawk at derby practice?” Shelly asked, looking in the mirror.
“If most of your hair was gone, sure,” Kenzie said. She pulled her own hair tight at the sides and pushed the middle up until she looked like a horse with a mane. “Like this,” she said.
Shelly laughed and pushed her own hair up. “Hey! That could be our team name. The Fauxhawks.”
“I’m not sure Tomoko would go for that,” Kenzie said.
A muffled sound came from one of the stalls. Shelly let go of her hair.
“Tomoko?”
The door squeaked open. Tomoko peered out nervously.
“Hey!” Shelly said. “We were just talking about you! Come hang out with us at lunch today.”
Shelly tapped Tomoko’s elbow with her knuckle, but Kenzie noticed Tomoko dip away. Tomoko seemed a lot quieter now that they were back at school. They would need to work on pulling out her derby attitude.
At lunch, Kenzie and Shelly showed Tomoko how to press your finger over the water spout and squirt people. At recess, they showed her their invisible hopscotch obstacle-course game. After school as they walked downtown, Shelly demonstrated how to play hot lava on the sidewalk.
Kenzie Kickstarts a Team Page 2