Boot Camp Blues

by Megan Sparks

  Jesse cocked an eyebrow. “There’s a problem with it?”

  “Oh, yes. A big one. See, the thing is, Valentine’s Day is absolutely lovely if you’re with someone. The problem is if you don’t have a significant other – that’s such a stupid term, isn’t it? Anyway, if you don’t happen to have one of those, then Valentine’s Day is just a big fat reminder of how completely and utterly alone you are. It’s as though all the florists and greetings card companies and chocolate manufacturers in the whole wide world are pointing at you and laughing their heads off. And while they’re raking in all their Valentine’s Day profits, people like you and me—”

  “You and me?”

  “Yes, you and me. Me and you.”

  Jesse grinned. “Just makin’ sure I heard you right.”

  “People like you and me who aren’t buying or receiving flowers and cards are simply left to feel forgotten and unloved!”

  Jesse scratched his chin thoughtfully. “Did I say I felt unloved?”

  “Well, no...”Annie shrugged. “I just assumed.”

  “Oh.”

  “Don’t you? Feel unloved, I mean.”

  “Well, I didn’t,” Jesse admitted with another crooked grin. “But after hearing this little tirade of yours, I’m thinking maybe I should.”

  “Oh, Jess. I’m sorry.” Annie reached over and touched his arm. “I didn’t mean to get you down.”

  “Ah...” Jesse chuckled. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll bounce back. Meanwhile, I’d better get over to the sound system. Carmen’s little brother Roberto is filling in as DJ while I ref. I burned an awesome anti-Valentine’s-Day CD for tonight’s soundtrack.”

  Annie smiled at last, the thought of cool music helping her to shake off her sulky mood. “I hope you included ‘Kiss Off’, by the Violent Femmes?”

  “Of course.”

  “Good. How about Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’?”

  Jesse nodded.

  “And ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’?”

  “Are you kidding? It’s practically the anti-Valentine’s-Day anthem.”

  Annie laughed, which felt surprisingly good after her angry rant.

  “I’m impressed that you got ’em all,” said Jesse. “You rock.”

  “Ha! You’re not the only one who thinks so,” said Annie. “That’s exactly what my Dad wrote on my Valentine’s CD. Great minds think alike, eh? By the way, you rock too.”

  “Thanks. Sooo ... you gonna be all right?” Jesse asked.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” Annie motioned towards the lockers and smiled. “In the immortal words of Billy Shears, ‘I’ll get by with a little help from my friends.’”

  “Good.” Jesse turned to leave, but swung back, blue eyes twinkling. “And for what it’s worth ... don’t write off secret admirers completely. They just might surprise you.”

  With that, he turned again and hurried across the rink to meet up with Roberto. Annie watched him go, feeling confused by his last comment. Then Liz was calling to her from the locker room doorway to come and join the others. It was almost time for the bout to begin. And there was nothing like a bad day to bring out the competitive spirit of a roller girl.

  Annie, or rather Anne R. Key, was more ready than she’d ever been to kick some serious butt!

  * * *

  Dad’s voice boomed through the rink. “Good evening, all you lonely hearts!” he said. “It’s Valentine’s Day, folks, and that means tonight it’s all about love. Do you know what I love? Roller derby!”

  The crowd roared as the Liberty Belles and the High Rollers took to the track, introduced by Dad. Both teams had gone all out in the wardrobe department. Everyone was sporting some shade of red or pink but they’d put a “down with love” spin on things. Tessa Distressa from the High Rollers was wearing a red T-shirt with shiny black lips printed on the front. On the back of her hot-pink booty shorts she’d painted the words: “CUPID CAN KISS MY ASS!”

  Roberto hit the play button and J. Giels Band’s “Love Stinks” blared out.

  “Right, Annie, you’ll start as jammer,” announced Coach Ritter.

  Yes! thought Annie, finally something good’s happening today. But her heart sank when she noticed that Dee Stroyer was her opposing jammer.

  The bout began and the fans cheered the girls as they buzzed around the track. In an effort to psyche Annie out, Dee Stroyer skated up close to her and actually snarled.

  Nice try, thought Annie. But after the day she’d just endured, it was going to take a lot more than a dirty look to throw her. She reminded herself that Dee was the reason her cool outfit of red shorts and a pink T-shirt with a heart split down the middle was marred by the ugly brace she still had to wear on her left ankle. Then for good measure, she summoned an image of Kelsey smirking as she strutted along on Tyler’s arm. These two visuals were all the inspiration Annie needed.

  Annie shifted her weight and leaned low, expertly accelerating and cutting in front of Dee Stroyer with no warning whatsoever. Pushing through the pack, Annie become lead jammer. After scoring four points, she quickly called off the jam. When she looked back at her opponent, she was pleased to see that she’d wiped the cocky snarl off Dee Stroyer’s face!

  Fuelled by Jesse’s clever anti-romance soundtrack, the Belles took an early lead and maintained it throughout the match.

  Annie was having an exceptional night. She was playing aggressively, but only had one brief stint in the sin bin. On her next outing as jammer, Annie scored eight points. I’m not a SKANK, Annie mused silently, after barrelling through the pack and scoring four more points. I’m a TANK!

  The hostility that had surfaced at the Belle’s last practice was gone entirely. They were playing like the league champions they were, completely in tune with one another. Annie helped Holly score by whipping her ahead of the pack, and when Annie was jammer, Holly returned the favour by bootie-blocking a High Rollers blocker so that Annie could bomb past her and score.

  The bout ended in a decisive 180 to 127 victory to the Belles.

  “Let’s show some love for ALL these roller girls who won our hearts tonight,” said Dad over the microphone, as the crowd erupted in cheers.

  As the Belles celebrated with fist bumps and high fives, Annie sought out Holly, catching her in a bear hug.

  “Nice work out there, roomie!” she cried.

  It took Holly only a second to understand. “You’re coming to boot camp!” Holly beamed. “We’re gonna be room-mates!”

  Annie shook hands with some of the High Rollers, but Dee Stroyer pretended that she didn’t see Annie’s outstretched hand.

  What a sore loser! thought Annie, hoping that Coach Ritter had clocked Dee’s poor sportsmanship.

  Dad was waiting at the side of the track to congratulate her with a hug and a kiss.

  “You sure you need to go to that boot camp?” he teased.

  “There’s always more to learn,” Annie assured him. “Hey, Dad, do you mind if I go to the Sugar Shack for ice cream with some of the girls?”

  “Not at all,” said Dad. “As long as you don’t mind if go out for dinner with Coach Ritter.”

  Annie was impressed. “You asked her out?”

  “Actually,” said Dad with a wink, “she asked me out.”

  “Wow!” Annie couldn’t suppress the slight twinge of envy she felt over the fact that her father was going on a Valentine’s date while she was single. Still, she was happy for him. And for Coach, too. Returning the wink, she gave him the same advice she’d given Mum: “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t.”

  In the locker room the girls hurried out of their derby clothes quickly in order to get to the ice cream parlour before it closed.

  “Just a warning,” said Lauren, “but if I see some starry-eyed couple sharing an ice cream sundae, I seriously might throw up.”

  “Oh, I wouldn’t worry about that,” said Annie, laughing. “After all, there’s nothing like a bunch of sweaty roller girls sitting at the
next table to kill a romantic mood.”

  “Wish I could join you,” said Holly, grinning. “But I just got a text from a hot guy in my Math class. He asked me to meet him at a party.”

  Annie rolled her eyes and pretended to be miffed. “Haven’t you ever heard the ‘Never Ditch Your Friends for a Guy’, rule?”

  “Yes, and I abide by that law three hundred and sixty-four days a year. But on Valentine’s Day, there’s a loophole.”

  Annie laughed. “Have fun, roomie.”

  As the group headed towards the rink exit, Annie spotted Jesse disconnecting his iPod from the sound system. She marched over to him, smiling broadly.

  “Hey, Jess, wanna go to the Sugar Shack for a sundae?”

  Jesse’s whole face seemed to light up at the invitation. He looked ready to accept then he noticed the rest of the girls waiting by the door.

  “You’re all going?” he asked.

  Annie laughed. “Yeah. We’re taking a stand against the commonly held belief that you can only enjoy Valentine’s Day in pairs.”

  Jesse gave her a strange look, then shook his head. “Thanks, but I think I’ll pass,” he said, then disappeared behind the rental booth to grab his coat.

  The girls were a little disappointed that Jesse had opted out. As they continued to the exit, Annie was about to propose that someone should go after him and talk him into changing his mind.

  But before she could suggest it, Carmen giggled. “Of course he doesn’t want to come with us,” she said in a knowing tone. “It’s Valentine’s Day. A hottie like Jesse is bound to have a major date lined up.”

  Annie stopped dead in her tracks.

  Jesse. On a date. The thought had never even crossed her mind. She’d just assumed he was single, but she’d never actually asked him.

  She followed the others out to the parking lot, where the girls divided themselves between Liz’s car and Carmen’s, which was actually her mother’s minivan. Annie tried to imagine who Jesse might be taking out. No one jumped immediately to mind. There was that redheaded junior girl she’d seen him talking to in the library last week. And hadn’t he mentioned a girl named Kiki (or was it Koko?) from the skateboard park once or twice? Annie seemed to recall that she’d asked him to help her replace the grip tape on her skateboard deck, but that didn’t sound like a hot and heavy romance.

  Well, it really didn’t matter, did it? Maybe Jesse was dating the library girl. Or maybe little Miss Halfpipe Rider was rocking Jesse’s world with her gnarly nose grinds and ollies.

  Maybe he was going on a Valentine’s date. Whatever. It really didn’t matter to Annie.

  Much.

  “When we get to the Sugar Shack, somebody has to remind me to order fro-yo instead of ice cream,” Lauren was saying. “I’ve been eating really healthily, and I don’t want to blow it now!”

  As the girls congratulated Lauren on sticking to her nutrition plan, Annie felt a rush of warmth. She knew how fortunate she was to have such a great, supportive group of friends.

  Deep down, she knew one thing for certain: even if Sgt. Pepper might consider her a member of his Lonely Hearts Club, as long as she was a roller girl, she’d never, ever be truly lonely.

  And that was the best Valentine’s Day present she could ever ask for.

  Chapter Nine

  “Excuse me,” said Dad, as Annie lugged yet another duffle bag down the front path, “but I was under the impression you were only going to be away for a few days.”

  “I am,” said Annie, hoisting the heavy bag of skates and equipment into the trunk.

  “Then why did you pack as if you’ll be gone for a few years?”

  “Dad, have you seen me after a skate practice?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then you may have noticed that I tend to get a little sweaty.”

  Dad grinned. “True. It’s actually pretty disgusting.”

  Annie didn’t take offence. “And since I won’t have time to do laundry at camp, I’m going to need fresh workout clothes for every day of the week.” She scanned the three nylon duffle bags in the back of the truck. “I just hope I didn’t forget anything.”

  “Did you remember your ankle brace?” asked Dad.

  “Ankle brace, check,” said Annie.

  “Helmet?”

  “Check.”

  “Mouthguard?”

  “Check.”

  “Good, because you wouldn’t want to borrow someone else’s mouthguard.”

  “Gross.”

  “Very. Hmm, what else? Toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss?”

  “Check, check, check.”

  “Socks, pyjamas, and other unmentionable girly type undergarments?”

  “Check, check, and awkward but yeah ... check.”

  Dad laughed, climbing into the driver’s seat. “Sounds like you’ve got everything,” he said. “I think we’re good to go.”

  “Wait!” cried Annie. “I did forget something.” She turned and dashed back into the house, where she’d left a pile of CDs on her desk, and scooped up a handful.

  “I thought we’d need tunes,” she explained.

  “Always thinking ahead, that’s my Beanie!” Dad chuckled.“Do we need to pick Lexie up?”

  “No,” replied Annie. “She’s meeting us at Rosie Lee’s.” The plan was to meet Lexie at the café and show her the ropes, so she could hold down the fort while Dad drove Annie to the university.

  As Annie climbed into the passenger’s seat, she was filled with a jumble of feelings. Mostly she was excited – pumped up about derby camp and ready to work as hard as she could. But she was also a little intimidated; she’d be skating with girls who were far more advanced than she was. She knew the whole point of camp was to improve, she just hoped she wouldn’t make too poor a showing.

  And there was something else, she realized, as she looked across the front garden at the colonial-style house that had once belonged to her grandparents. Annie was already feeling pangs of homesickness. It was silly, she knew, since she would only be gone for seven days. But she’d never been away from her father for that long before. For all his goofiness, he was truly the steadying force in Annie’s world. She was going to miss him, even if it was only for a week. She knew Dad was feeling sad about it too, because he’d spent the whole morning being extra cheery to cover it up.

  Annie would miss Lexie a lot as well. And as Holly was the only Belle who’d be attending camp with her, she’d also be missing her teammates.

  And Jesse.

  Just the thought of not being able to talk to him about, well, anything, really – from the artistic significance of the Ramones’ Road to Ruin album to whether her skates would get better grip by switching her fifty-nine-millimetre wheels to sixty-two millimetres – actually sent a stab of panic to her heart.

  That feeling took her by surprise. Seriously? she thought. I don’t like the Ramones that much.

  “All right, then,” Dad said, slipping the key into the ignition. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

  “Let’s do it!” chimed Annie.

  Unfortunately, the truck had other plans.

  * * *

  Maybe it was due to the fact that she’d just that minute been thinking of him, or maybe it was because she knew he was a genius about anything with wheels.

  Or perhaps it was simply that she wanted to say goodbye before she left town for a week. Whatever the reason, Annie’s immediate thought was to call Jesse.

  He was there in five minutes, surprising Annie by pulling up in his mother’s car. She’d only seen him on his skateboard before.

  “It sounded like an emergency,” he said, by way of explanation. “I figured you wouldn’t want to wait for me to roll here.”

  “Thanks for coming,” said Annie. “I really appreciate it.”

  “No prob,” said Jesse; then he got down to business, opening the bonnet and examining the truck’s inner workings.

  “So what do you think?” Dad asked.

  �
��Definitely the fan belt,” Jesse replied. “I think I could patch it up enough to get you started, but it would only be a temporary fix. I really wouldn’t go much farther than the nearest service station with it.”

  Annie’s heart sank. “How am I going to get to camp?”

  “Maybe you can catch a ride with Holly’s folks?” Dad suggested.

  But Annie shook her head, feeling the tears stinging behind her eyes. “They drove up yesterday to spend the night with family in the area.” She frowned, thinking hard. “Could I take a taxi?”

  “You could,” said Dad. “Except the fare would cost more than I earn in a month at Rosie Lee’s.” He shrugged and shook his head, looking on the verge of tears himself. “I’m so sorry, Beanie.”

  “Um...” Jesse cleared his throat. “Maybe I can drive you.”

  Annie’s eyes shot from Dad, to Jesse, then back to Dad. She felt a swell of hope. “Dad? Can he? Please?”

  “Gosh, Annie, I don’t know. It’s a long way...”

  “I’m actually a really cautious driver, sir,” Jesse assured him. “I’ve only had my licence for six months, but I swear I’ll be really careful.”

  Annie looked at her father with pleading eyes. Say yes, she implored. Please, Dad. Say yes.

  Dad sighed, weighing up the options, but it was clear they had none. “OK,” he said at last. “Jesse can drive you to camp.”

  “Oh!” Annie leaped into his arms and hugged him tight. “Thank you, Dad! Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”

  It was a moment before Annie realized that although most of her joy stemmed from the fact that she wouldn’t have to miss boot camp, she was also pretty pleased at the thought of spending the two-hour drive with Jesse. They’d have plenty of time to talk and catch up and just ... well, hang out.

  “Jesse,” Dad was asking, “would you mind trying to do that temporary fix you were talking about so I can get this old heap to a garage?”

  “Sure thing, Mr Turner.”

  “Thanks. I’ll go inside and call around to see where I might get the best deal on a fan belt.”

  “You should try Hank’s Garage on West Avenue,” Jesse suggested. “He’s the only mechanic my mom trusts.” He grinned. “Just tell him Jesse Mathieu sent you.”