her suspension. My elation at hearing Natalia’s voice on the other end of the line that day had crashed like Kal-El’s spaceship.
But Jaycee had thrived under the punishment, spending each day on the phone to various schools.
Dad, did you know that studies show art education can improve students’ entire high school performance?
Look at this place. The whole school is built around the arts. Dance, drama, visual arts.
I wonder if a summer program would work for Preston.
I hadn’t seen my daughter this fired up since Cierra had enrolled her in a summer art program. Jaycee had loved every minute while my heart had broken. Cierra had only put Jaycee in that place so she wouldn’t have to deal with her daughter.
I was wandering back to the register to cash out and do end-of-shift paperwork when my gaze caught on the Minneapolis Mean Streaks flyer. I’d looked up their website—and every social media site they could possibly create. For reasons.
Their season hadn’t started yet, but they did clinics and recruiting workshops.
A date snagged my attention. Tonight, they were having a special holiday scrimmage against the St. Paul Pinup Punchers as a fund-raiser.
How stalkerish would it be to show up there? It’s not like I had anything else going on.
I thought about it while wrapping up my paperwork and storing the cash in the safe. It wasn’t like Natalia had to know I was there. And I was insatiably curious to see how Shaw Shank dressed for roller battle.
Once I closed the store, I trotted to my vehicle and climbed in. Glancing down at my jeans and red T-shirt with a lightning bolt, I shrugged. Pretty sure I’d blend.
I was across town within minutes, the traffic sparse this time of night, and Arcadia wasn’t far from the community center.
More cars lined the lot than I’d expected. I searched for Natalia’s. What if she wasn’t here? At least I’d have something new to tell Jaycee.
So wild, Dad.
The aged brick building looked like two square boxes shoved together. One was smaller and probably housed offices. People were filing into the other one through two white double doors.
Young girls disappeared inside dressed like Jaycee usually did when she wasn’t in her school uniform, their shoes brighter than the rest of their subdued outfits. And their hair was colored like Jaycee’s had been the day Natalia had called me. One girl’s was short, purple, and shaved on one side. Another girl’s hair was pitch black and spiky.
Would Natalia have suspended Jaycee over pitch black? It was a natural color.
I tried not to be bitter. Some of Preston Academy’s rules were outdated, but they hadn’t been changed—yet.
Just like their course curriculum. Outdated. Created when all things male and athletic were thought to be the determining factors for success.
I wandered through the doors and stopped to pay the attendant with a black star painted over her eye and a two-tone ponytail. I handed her a twenty. She smacked her gum and gave me a smile that would’ve given me pause if I were here for anyone other than an uptight rule-follower-slash-assassin.
She gave me a ten-dollar bill back. “The children’s hospital thanks you for your donation.” Cocking her head, her gaze landed on my shirt. “The Flash, huh? We like fast guys here.”
I chuckled and walked away. The more she talked, the younger she seemed. She was probably still in her twenties, but the gap between us could just as well be decades.
And I wasn’t fast when it counted.
People milled around the corridor outside the arena. The buttery smell of popcorn filled the air, and next to the last entrance into the gym was a stand full of souvenirs. The game wasn’t supposed to start for fifteen minutes and it wasn’t going to be a full house. I went to the table. Christmas tree ornaments of gold and silver roller skates hung from a three-foot tree. A couple skates had the Mean Streaks’ logo painted on them. I marveled over the crafting.
The rest of the table was littered with eye patches in a variety of shapes and colors, crazy hair ties that would get Jaycee expelled from school, and face-paint kits—also with the derby team logos.
I bought a few scrunchies for Jaycee’s Christmas stocking, and to show Mara for ideas of what to bring into the store. Arcadia could carry items like these from local events and use it as a promotional gimmick. Win-win for both parties.
There. I was thinking about work. Now I didn’t feel like a creeper hunting