Free Making the Cut by David Skuy Page A

saw Trevor say something to Jen and she shook her head.
    “We need to get back,” Jen said to them. “You can grab a snack from the cafeteria, and then it’s time for practice. It’s only a silly race … but … it looks like Charlie did interfere with Team 2’s rope. I have no choice but to declare Team 2 the winner, and they will receive their prize. At the same time, let’s all forget about this, and I hope no one will harbour any grudges. Again, it’s just a race.”
    The Team 2 players let out a huge roar and a bunch of guys clapped Jake on the back and shoulders. Markus raised Jake’s arm over his head like a boxer who’d won a fight.
    “So who wants to run back?” Jen asked cheerfully.
    A chorus of “No”s answered her.
    “Excellent. Then let’s all run back together. Follow me,”she said laughing, before setting off at a fast clip.
    Charlie followed along, trying to figure things out. It might have been the Team 2 player who ran with Savard. He’d have been behind, and it would have been easy for him. He tried to remember who that was. It came to him in a flash. “Nathan,” he practically shouted. A few guys looked at him as if he’d lost his mind. He didn’t care. It made perfect sense now. Nathan was the culprit, and Charlie bet Jake had put him up to it. So now he had three guys to worry about — Jake, Zane and Nathan, and maybe he could add Markus to the list. Who else, he wondered? It was easy enough for Jen to say it was only a silly race. All of Team 1 would blame him. How could they not? He’d be the least popular guy on the ice from now on. And it wasn’t fair.
    “Thanks a lot, teammate,” Richard muttered as he ran past, which confirmed what he’d been thinking.
    Slogger jogged up beside him. “No worries, dude. Bad decision. Forget about it.”
    Scott and Nick veered over.
    “I don’t see how Jake could’ve done it,” Nick said. “It must have been Savard. The rope probably didn’t go back over.”
    “Savard said he was positive he threw the rope to the right side,” Slogger interjected.
    “I bet Jake was behind it somehow,” Scott said.
    Charlie kept quiet. If Scott or Nick found out about Nathan they’d make a big deal about it. He didn’t want to draw any more attention to himself. It was enough that he’d figured it out and he could be on his guard. Hefelt really bad about involving Savard, however. Charlie spotted him running with Burnett and Cameron off to the side. He drifted over towards him.
    “Hey, J.C.,” he started.
    Savard and Burnett stopped their conversation and looked over. Neither seemed too happy.
    Charlie felt himself flush. “Sorry about all that … garbage. I didn’t mean … I mean I didn’t want … I mean I know you didn’t forget …” He knew he sounded like an idiot, but the right words wouldn’t come. “I’m sorry,” he blurted.
    Savard shrugged. “I doesn’t matter — like she said, just a race.”
    “It’s weird, though,” Charlie said. “I swear there was only one rope when I got to the wall and …”
    “Forget about it,” Savard said. “It’s cool.”
    He didn’t continue, and Charlie felt the growing silence made things awkward. “Okay. Great. I’ll catch up with you guys,” he said finally.
    They nodded, and Charlie dropped back to Slogger, Nick and Scott.
    They all looked so serious and worried that Charlie felt doubly bad. He didn’t want to bring them down too. “No big deal, guys,” he said. “Whenever something sinister happens, Jake’s gotta be involved. No mystery there. I’ll figure out how he did it if it kills me. I’m not stressing. Besides, there’s a good part to all this.” He put an arm around Scott’s shoulders. “It’s snack time.”
    “I like your thinking, Joyce,” Scott said. “I’m so starved I’m gonna need a whole buffet for myself.”
    “We’d better get there first,” Charlie said, “or there won’t be anything to eat. Pedal to the metal,