Hour of Need (Scarlet Falls #1)(23)

Another door leads to the locker room. Sweat gathers in my armpits as I traverse the narrow hall and push through the door marked Girls. If Regan and Autumn aren’t on the ice, then they must be in here. What can I do? Victor saw me. I have to get my butt on the ice or he’ll tell Mom I’m wasting my practice time—and her money. He seems to have taken an interest in me.

Not that this is a biggie. He’s not the greatest coach in the world. But his praise feels good anyway.

Voices ricochet on cinder block walls and rows of metal lockers set up in four U-shaped sections. Six girls are changing in the first niche. No sign of Regan or Autumn yet, but I know they’re here. My pulse skips, and my stomach turns queasy. I walk past the second alcove, and there they are, dressed and packing their equipment into duffels. Five more minutes and I would have missed them.

With their pretty highlights and trendy mall clothes, they look more like California natives than me. Like every other day, the aggression and hatred in their eyes makes me shudder inside. The metallic din fades into the background. Their hostility becomes palpable, an invisible force that presses against my body and squeezes the air from my lungs.

They hated me from the very first time they saw me skate. Why? Is it my Goth clothes? Compared to my friends back home, I’m pretty tame. I don’t even have any tats. Black hair, combat boots, and a lip ring aren’t exactly unusual. Plenty of kids dress like me at school. But at the rink, pretty is as pretty does. I stand out like Frankenstein on the ice. I only made the novice skate team, so why do they want to get rid of me so badly?

I lift my chin and turn my eyes toward the third section, where three younger girls are closing their lockers and gathering equipment bags to leave. As I pass Regan and Autumn, my foot catches and I hurtle forward. My chin hits the concrete. My teeth snap together, sending an ear-ringing shaft of pain through my face and head. My duffel slides across the floor and hits the feet of one of the girls walking toward me.

“Hey, watch where you’re going, freak.” She kicks it away.

I look down. The corner of Regan’s bag sticks out into the aisle. She approaches me. “Oh my God. Are you all right?” Her voice is sickly sweet, and the evil slant to her lips sends her true message.

“I’m fine,” I mumble as I get to my feet. My chin burns where it scraped on the floor.

“Too bad you’re so clumsy.” She returns to Autumn and whispers something in her ear. Autumn’s shoulders shake as she laughs.

I give her a glare, then roll my eyes at her, but my attempt at pretending she doesn’t bother me isn’t fooling anyone. Humiliation heats my skin and stirs the orange juice in my stomach into a nasty, acidic combination. My face is hot. My skin is pale, so I know my cheeks are flaming red by the time I get to the empty alcove and claim a locker. The commotion draws girls out from their locker nooks. Half the kids are smirking. The other half look away and pretend not to notice. No one else wants to be Regan and Autumn’s next target. I don’t blame them. It sucks. Why should they stick up for me? They don’t even know me.

My eyes burn, but I will not cry.

Instead, I try to shrink, to blend into the gray metal lockers around me as I change into the black tights I wear for practice.

Regan and Autumn leave, heads bent together. They are talking about me, maybe laughing, maybe planning something awful for my future. I can tell. I can feel their animosity wafting through the air even after they’ve left the locker room. The other kids won’t even look at me. A girl walks by, listening to her iPod. The tinny sound of music leaks from her earbuds. I sit on the bench to lace my skates. Once I get out to the rink, I’ll be fine. The locker room is their main torture chamber. On the ice, Coach Victor is strict.

I don’t even want to skate anymore. I know that’s their ultimate goal, so I guess they’ve already won. With a deep breath I launch to my feet and walk out to the rink. Regan and Autumn are standing with their dads and Victor. They watch me with way too much interest as I leave my skate guards on the wall and start to warm up. My muscles loosen. A sense of freedom flows through me, as it does every time I lace up my skates.

“Get warmed up. I want to see you working on that double axel,” Victor shouts as I skate by.

I see Regan lean over and say something to Autumn. They laugh.

“If you want to make nationals next year, you don’t have time to worry about anyone else. Focus on your own routine.” Victor’s admonishment echoes across the ice.

I appreciate his support, but the reprimand will give them one more reason to hate me.





Chapter Nine


The sunlight gleamed on a fresh layer of snow. Ellie turned into the narrow alley that ran alongside the firm. Her tires grated on the inch of snow the plow left on top of the gravel. She emerged in the rear parking lot. Fresh powder clung to the budding branches of the mature oak at the rear of the plowed square. From a brilliant blue sky, sunlight glittered blindingly bright on whatever it touched.

If she hadn’t been worried about her family’s safety, the scene would have been lovely.

Ellie parked in the rear of the lot. Her heart drummed as she unlocked her doors and got out of the vehicle. She crossed the lot. On the rear stoop, she knocked snow from her boots and gave her surroundings a final scan before inserting her key into the door. She disengaged the alarm. With hesitant steps, she glanced into the break room-kitchen combo. Empty. Her ears strained for sound but she heard nothing except the rumble of the furnace and whoosh of hot air from the radiators.