Free Overtime by David Skuy Page A

said. “We bleed Terrence Falls High blood. As a natural centre, and the obvious choice for captain, probably coach too —”
    “What about general manager?” Nick said.
    “I figured that goes without saying,” Scott said, without skipping a beat.
    Julia laughed. “I didn’t know you were a forward.”
    “I didn’t know you played hockey?” Nick said.
    “You’re hurting my confidence,” Scott said.
    “We have a practice this Thursday after school,” Rebecca said seriously.
    “Your captain-coach-general manager will be there,” Scott said.
    That garnered a groan.
    “I’m glad you decided to play,” Julia said to Charlie.
    Trisha and Emily walked away.
    “We need to win that money,” he said, flustered.
    “We definitely do,” Julia said. She looked down at the floor. “Maybe we should meet to organize the skate-a-thon?”
    “Yeah. We should. Definitely,” Charlie said.
    “Sounds like you’ve practically got it done,” Alexandra said sarcastically.
    “Thanks for the encouragement,” Julia joked.
    “I gotta blow this place,” Alexandra said. “See you guys later.”
    “I’ll come with you,” Rebecca said.
    “I should probably just do my homework,” Zachary said, shooting a glance at the other guys. “I’ll catch you dudes later.”
    “Me too,” Matt said.
    “I keep hearing about this strange thing called homework,” Scott said to Nick. “Is that a kind of sandwich? I’m starving.”
    “It’s more like something you do between meals,” Nick said.
    “Okay, we could go to the library and plan things out,” Charlie said to Julia. “We can also get movie night going.”
    His friends were grinning from ear to ear.
    “See you guys,” he said, and he and Julia walked towards the staircase to the library, Charlie feeling his friends’ eyes on him the whole way.
    “You don’t really have to play if you’re too busy,” she said.
    “I said I’d play,” he said.
    “But you don’t have to. I don’t want you to think I’m pressuring you.”
    “I don’t. It’ll be fun — and if we win, that’s a mess of money.”
    He hoped she didn’t notice the lack of conviction in his voice. He couldn’t understand exactly why, but for some reason playing with the girls made him uneasy.
    Julia stopped at the first step. “I kind of had another idea too … sort of didn’t want to talk about it in front of everyone. I was talking to Dalton earlier and he wondered if Bee-Bees would care that we want to use the prize money from the tournament for the roof. It’s supposed to go for athletic programming.”
    “Good question. We should probably find out before the practice.”
    She pulled him back from the stairs. “I gave them a call already, and I’m supposed to meet someone at the mall in an hour, and I thought, well, I could use the company … and we could talk about the skate-a-thon and movie night at the same time.” She paused. “That is, if you’re not doing anything …”
    Charlie tried his best to keep his voice casual. “Sure, I guess. I don’t have anything going on, and we can figure stuff out: movie night, and the skate-a-thon … and whatever.”
    “Awesome. Thanks.”
    “Yeah. Sure. No problem.”
    They looked at each other.
    “We should probably just get going then,” she said.
    Both slightly red in the face, they headed out of the school.
    * * *
    “Hey, they have the new BBs in,” Julia said, pointing at the black yoga pants displayed in the store window. She laughed when she saw his expression. “You should pick up a pair.”
    “I assume that’s your zany sense of humour,” Charlie said.
    “Okay. We’ll start you off with a sweatshirt.”
    They went to the front counter.
    “Is Joanne Bettencourt in?” Julia asked the girl behind the counter.
    “She’s in the back,” she said. “I’ll buzz her.”
    They did not have to wait long. “Are you the young lady that called me about the hockey tournament?”
    “Yes, Ms Bettencourt.”
    She