Call the Shots (Swim the Fly #3)(4)

There’s a loud thunk, followed by a high-pitched scream, which, if I’m being totally honest, I think came from me.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” the girl says as she lands on top of me. “I told them I didn’t know how to skate.” She’s all bony elbows and knees, and smells a lot like Swiss cheese.

“It was my fault,” I say, scrambling to get out from under her.

It shouldn’t take this long to extricate ourselves from each other, but we’re slipping around on the ice like a couple of hot-oil wrestlers.

Two rink guards skate over to help us up and out of the gates. Thankfully, everyone is treating this like an accident and not something I stupidly did on purpose.

We get to the benches, and a quick inspection reveals we’re both okay. Just a little bruised up. Nothing major.

“Evelyn,” the girl says to me when the rink guards finally take off. “Evelyn Moss.”

“Sean,” I reply, since we seem to be introducing ourselves. “Hance.”

“I know.” Evelyn smiles shyly, her eyes cast down to her doe-brown rental skates. “You were in my computer class last semester.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s right. Computer class.” I nod like it’s all coming back to me. She must have been one of the ninth-graders we tended to ignore.

“You don’t remember me. It’s okay.” She glances over at me. “The only reason I remember you is because I used to eavesdrop on you and your friend Matt. You guys were pretty funny.”

“Thanks,” I say, trying to wiggle some life back into my strangled toes. I should probably take off my skates, but if I do that, I’ll never get them back on. And I’d still like to take a few more laps before I call it a night.

“Are you taking any computer classes next semester?” she asks, picking at the fuzz BBs on her avocado-colored sweater.

“Web Design. Maybe. I don’t know if I’ll get in; I handed in my forms late.”

“Me too,” she says. “Web Design, I mean, not the late part. I always get my schedule in way before the deadline. Hey, maybe we’ll get lucky and be in it together.”

“Yeah. That’d be cool.”

Okay, let me get this out of the way right off the bat. I am not attracted to Evelyn Moss.

At all.

Sure, she has reddish hair, but it’s stringy and dull. Not long and lush like Valerie’s. And she’s got a raccoon mask of freckles, which isn’t a good look for a girl with the sort of pinched-thin nose that she has. Also, her voice is all nasal and shrill. Like a crow with a cold.

And then there’s that cheese smell. It’s weird. It’s not like it’s so awful as much as just really there. Like maybe she works in a deli or something and is exclusively in charge of slicing the Swiss. Don’t get me wrong, I actually like Swiss cheese. Just not wafting off a girl’s body.

“Are you here with anybody?” Evelyn asks.

“Just some friends. Matt and Coop,” I specify, reminding myself that she was in our computer class. “You?”

“My Girl Scout troop. We took a vote for our winter break outing. Needless to say, this was not my choice.” She snort-laughs like an excited piglet.

“Girl Scouts? Really? Do people still do that?”

“Sure. I’m a Senior Scout. I’m also a Counselor-in-Training. It’s cool.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that.”

“Shut up.” Evelyn giggles as she punches me in the shoulder. Hard. “Is too. We go on all sorts of cool trips. Plus it’ll look great when I apply to college. It shows I’m committed.”

“Like, to a mental institution?”

“Oh, funny, funny. No. But once I finish the Counselor-in-Training program, I can get a job at a summer camp.”

“I sure hope you can swim better than you skate.”

“Okay, Mr. Graceful.” She whales me in the arm again. Jesus. “Or maybe you slid into me on purpose so you could start talking to me?”

“Um, no. I definitely did not mean to run into you. I’m actually a pretty good skater.”

“Good.” And before I know what’s going on, Evelyn grabs my hand, stands, and yanks me up. “Then you can teach me how to skate better. To make up for knocking me over.”

God, she’s strong and pushy.

I glance around and don’t see my so-called friends anywhere. So, fine. I’ll be the nice guy and show Swiss-cheesey how to balance on her skates. What could it hurt?





OH, MAN, HER PALM is super clammy. Ick.

I didn’t notice at first because I was so shocked by her bossiness. And her superhuman strength. But now that we’re skating around the rink, hand in hand, it’s like I’m holding a warm soggy dinner roll.

“How’s this?” Evelyn says, shuffling clumsily along on her skates. “Pretty good, huh?”

I nod. “Yeah, you’re doing great.”

She’s gripping my hand tight, cutting off all the feeling in my fingers. I’d really like to let go of her, but she’s using me for balance, and if I pull away right now, she’ll do a face-plant onto the ice for sure.

Evelyn looks over at me and smiles. “You’re a good teacher, Sean.” She stumbles and nearly falls. I have to use all my strength to keep her on her feet.