Page 21 of Taking It To Overtime
“Vera Aster Novak. I am leaving in five minutes, with or without you.”
The threat was not a new one, not when she’d asked for extra time at least twice already. It’s not that she didn’t want to go run errands with her mother—although what kid would pick that option over a rousing game with friends?—but there was only one more week before school started and Vera wasn’t quite ready to face the music yet. Especially when this year would be Robbie’s first year of middle school.
Fifth grade was supposed to be fun, but she wasn’t exactly looking forward to long days without her best friend. Not that she and Robbie had ever been in the same grade. He was always one ahead of her, but they’d at least been able to ride the bus together. Now Robbie was going to get picked up a whole hour earlier, and she was still going to be stuck riding the little kid bus.
The twins would be with her, that was something, but they stuck together and she’d have to find a new seatmate. Between the different schools and the increased time the boys were going to spend at the rink this year, she’d see very little of her best friend at all. That’s why today was so important. Street hockey was not—and never would be—her favorite pastime, but it was sunny and warm and Robbie sent her passes with a wide smile and Vic and Erik had brought juice pouches for them to share when they overheated.
So yeah, she’d take this over errands any day.
“Be right there, Mom,” she called out as she sent a wobbly shot towards the goal. She was better than the first time Robbie had strapped skates to her, but the boys were being as patient as they could be. “I really gotta go.”
Vera held her stick out for Robbie to take. He skated toward her, hair blowing in the ruffle of wind as he tipped his head to the side. She’d asked him once what shampoo he used, wanting to get hers that smooth too, but he hadn’t known what it was called and when she’d had her mom ask his, it was the same kind she already had at home.
Her mom had had to explain hair texture then. Robbie had naturally soft strands. It wasn’t the shampoo. Vera thought that was just unfair. If she had to have “red”—not her words, thank you—then at least it could be soft and pretty too. She’d said so, hands on her narrow hip as she glared into the mirror and her mom had had the audacity to laugh.
“Life is rarely fair, sweetheart. That’s why it’s up to us to be good people, anyway.”
That hadn’t made much sense to Vera, but she was doing her best not to be jealous that Robbie’s hair was pretty even after two hours of chasing a little rubber ball around on wheels, while Vera’s hand had gotten stuck in tangles as she went to push her bangs back.
“You have pretty hair,” she said to Robbie, precisely because she was feeling jealous, and she thought it was funny when his cheeks turned pink. That was something else that was unfair. She was sweating, and she knew her face was the color of a tomato, but Robbie and the twins weren’t evening breathing hard.
“Thanks,” he said, frowning down at her as the tips of his ears flamed red. “Where are you going?”
“We have to go get all my dance stuff before classes start next week.”
“Dance?”
Did she talk about ballet all the time with her boy best friend? No, she didn’t, but she’d still assumed he knew where she went when he had hockey practice. She’d only been dancing since she was three.
“Didn’t know I needed your permission,” Vera said, jamming her hands on her hips with so much force she almost unbalanced herself.
Here she was, trying to get over her stupid thoughts about his stupid hair and be nice, and he couldn’t even be bothered to know what she did in her free time. Boys. They were stupid. What if she didn’t want to play hockey with them? Would any of them play any of the games she wanted? Robbie probably only cared that she was leaving because she was on his team and taking on the twins solo was almost impossible. Even for the great Robbie Oakes.
“You don’t.” Robbie wrapped his hand around her wrist, holding her up as she got her feet back under her. “Can I come with you?”
“I’d have to ask my mom. You really want to?” She asked, and he nodded. “Why?”
“Why not?”
Her mom hadn’t minded at all. In fact, she’d been smiling weirdly into the rear-view mirror whenever Vera caught her eye. Every time they went around a curve, Robbie’s knee pressed into hers. He was warm, if bony, a welcome heat in the frigid air conditioning of her mom’s old sedan.
“This is going to be boring for you,” she said as her mom pulled into the strip mall’s parking lot.
“It’s okay.” Robbie shrugged his shoulders. “I have a book.”
“You aren’t here to be some weird pervert, are you?”
It was probably too late to ask that question considering that he’d made it all the way to the dance store with them, but her mom could make him wait in the car if he was trying to be gross and catch her changing. Robbie shot her a disgusted look.
“I would never.” His face was red now for a different reason. “That’s not how you treat people.”
“Vera,” her mom said in a low hiss, “You are being rude.”
Vera thought maybe manners should be less important than making sure a boy wasn’t being inappropriate, but what did she know? She was only ten. She rolled her eyes so hard her eye sockets actually ached.
“It’s okay,” Robbie said. “I just wasn’t ready to stop spending time with you. I can wait in the car or something.”
Something warm unfurled in her tummy. Like a tiny kitten stretching in a ray of sun. This is why he was her best friend. No one else made her feel as important as Robbie Oakes did.
