Chapter 21

"TONY SIMS. PLEASE COME TO THE OFFICE."

Fuck! There is no way.

Mrs. Conners shot me a dirty look but didn't say anything as I closed my notebook. We were getting ready for a team debate, and I'd been jotting down ideas.

"ROBBIE TATE. PLEASE COME TO THE OFFICE."

Robbie grinned at me. "Maybe my little sister got into a fight too." Darlene was a month-and-a-half younger than Robbie.

"Maybe tomorrow you'll stay for the entire class," Mrs. Conners said dryly.

"The way things are going, I may not make it at all."

"Think Wa-say's ganging up on us again?" Robbie asked when we were out in the hall.

"Don't know, don't care. I'm going to think pleasant thoughts as long as I can."

"What?"

"Tami and me on a beach all by ourselves this summer."

"No road trip?"

I grinned. "You can drop us off, then pick us up on the way back."

We turned into the office. Melissa Bates was alone in the office. Instead of standing at the counter buffing her nails, she was sitting at the spare desk with her magazine in one hand and twirling a lock of hair with the other.

"You're supposed to go in there," she said, pointing at the conference room.

I held the gate for Robbie, and we walked toward the door.

"Wa-say," I sighed. "After yesterday, I don't know how much I can take." Traci's x-rays were clear, but as predicted, the phone call to Mom wasn't fun. It took almost an hour to convince her that Traci would be okay and she didn't have to jump on the first plane. The call to dad was less intense but not much better. I knew it wasn't my fault, but I still couldn't help feel I'd let them down.

"Maybe I'd better do the talking," Robbie suggested.

"Yeah, you're more concise," I said sarcastically, reminding her of a comment she'd made last month.

"True," she said, opening the door.

I considered a comment about three thousandths of a point but decided there was already one black-and-blue Sims.

We expected Spaulding, Kennedy, and Rosen from WSAA, but we got three boys and a girl about our own age sitting at the conference table. If Robbie was surprised, she didn't show it. "Hi, I'm Robbie Tate, and this is Tony Sims.

The boys stood. "Hi, I'm Billy Polaski," the tallest said holding out his hand to Robbie, then me. "This is Kyle Landers and Jake Liu." The two boys also shook hands. "And this is Marsha Zwicker."

"The devil," I said leaning across the table to shake hands with the seated girl. Robbie looked surprised. "The play contest," I explained, and she made the connection.

"You were the devil," I accused the girl.

Marsha smiled. "Most of my teachers didn't think playing the devil was much of a stretch. I'm surprised you recognized me, with all that make-up?"

I smiled. "You were excellent. I've watched the DVD twice." About a week after the banquet, we got a package from the foundation with six DVDs. One for each of the finalist plays. None of them had copyright warnings, so I used my computer to make copies for all of us. If they'd had copyright warnings, I probably would have made the copies anyway.

"Kyle was in it, too. He was one of my demons."

I was glad I hadn't added a comment about the rest of the cast not being up to her standards.

"We came to see you ... and ... uh..." Billy stammered. "We're from Lake," he admitted. I was surprised. I'm sure that the schools were identified in the beginning titles and end credits, but I hadn't paid any attention.

Robbie and I exchanged looks.

"Kyle, Jake, and I are on the baseball team. Marsha plays softball."

"Okay," Robbie said.

"We want to play ball."

Robbie looked at me, and I knew the ball was in my court. It was nice to know that she trusted me to be the spokesman. Of course that trust would only last as long as I said what she wanted said. "Why aren't you in school?"

"We cut. We wanted to talk to you."

"So this was your idea?" Robbie asked.

"Mostly," Billy said. "My dad and I talked about it."

I was glad I hadn't jumped to a conclusion. Spaulding from WSAA had assumed that teenagers couldn't make their own decisions and I almost followed in his footsteps, thinking their principal or athletic director had sent them.

"What do you want us to do?" Robbie asked, sitting down across from them. The boys sat and I followed suit.

"You're supposed to be our first game. Our first league game. We want you to play," Billy said.

"We heard about your team last year," Jake added. "You're the team to beat."

"We want our chance," Kyle finished.

"The problem is Coach Rich..." I said.

"He's the problem," Billy agreed. "I know he's a sexist."

"And a fascist," Kyle added. "I played JV football my freshman year, but not the last three 'cause I didn't want to play for him.

"And a pervert," Marsha added.

"But we're stuck with him," Billy finished. "The school board won't do anything."

"We're trying to make a point," I said.

"You've made it. But the fact is, Rich could care less if a few basketball games get canceled. Or baseball, softball, whatever. And he figures it will all blow over, over the summer. The ones who care are the players. We want to play ball."

When Billy finished, Marsha stood up and leaned across the table. "Look, we've got a pretty decent school. Most of the teachers are cool, and we've got good coaches in all our other sports. How come we're getting punished for one fucking jerk."

I looked at Robbie and had a feeling that she was thinking the same thing I was.

"It's your call," she said finally. "I just wanted to tackle the S.O.B. and take out both his knees."

I looked back at Billy and offered him my hand. "We'd be happy to come to Lake and teach you how to play baseball."

"In your dreams," he said, shaking it.

"No, it's going to be your nightmare."

"If it's any consolation, my dad's brought up Coach Rich at three different school board meetings. It gets tabled every time," Billy said.

"Other people have brought it up too. Every meeting since you guys walked out on us." Kyle added.

"My dad's going to try again at the meeting in two weeks."

"Um." I looked at Robbie. She had a look on her face that said somebody should be afraid. Very afraid. "Does your dad really want the board to fire Rich?"

"Maybe not fire him, but a letter of reprimand or something."

Robbie grinned. "I think that can be arranged."

'Now what?' I wondered as I shook hands with the delegation. And was it going to get me suspended again?

Tuesday was Traci's fight. Yesterday the Lake delegation ambushed us. I wondered what was left for today and tomorrow as I looked around the crowded cafeteria. Mikee and Tami were sitting on either side of me. Both were sipping the soup. I figured if they were still upright a minute from now, I'd have a taste. Chicken noodle was one of my favorites.