Page 2 of Red Light, Green Light
I should have followed my gut and listened to the sinking feeling that this was a bad idea because Legacy Bitches like this weren’t to be trusted. Instead, I stupidly asked. “Really?”
Chrissy smiled before saying in a saccharine sweet voice that made my inner caribou-deer want to run far away. “Why, of course! No one knows these halls better than me! The bathrooms are right this way.”
Silly me had followed Chrissy underneath Dasher’s statue, down a lengthy ramp, and into a hallway. Her friends were close behind us, but they were noticeably silent now. That should have been another red flag for me.
If there were points given for naivety or trust, I would be the next Rudolph, for sure.
“Here we are!” Chrissy gestured to the door as we arrived.
“Thanks!”
“Oh, don’t mention it!”
The meaning of that phrase hit me once I stepped inside.
Not only were thesenotthe bathrooms, but this was the Locker Room.
TheNine’sLocker Room.
I wasnotsupposed to be in here.
One of the highest rules in the Sleight Team Handbook, trespassing was expressly prohibited. As soon as the book arrived with my Sleigh Hopeful Welcome Package, I had read that book forward and backward until I knew all the rules by heart. If I was discovered, I wouldn’t even get a chance to compete.
I have to get out of here!
Summoning my powers to push me faster than my supernatural legs could on their own, I blurred over, but Chrissy and her girls were already closing the door. If I put my fingers in between to grab the door, she would have crushed themandI would still be stuck.
As I slammed into the closed door, I could hear Chrissy’s laughter along with her minions. “Let’s see you get Rudolph now!”
She mumbled something else too low, even for me to catch on the wind. Then I heard retreating footsteps.
This is so fucking Flight School, I thought, remembering how many times I or one of my friends had played this prank as teenagers. I didn’t even bother trying the door, knowing too well that there was a group of women likely using their powers to hold it shut.
I turned around. Across from me was another door, but it was locked. I sighed, blowing one of my ringlets off my forehead.
Well, I am already here…
The locker room for the Nine was structured not too differently from the rest of the Stable. The walls were white, and the concrete floor a dark shade of evergreen. On the far side of the room was a row of five large with studio lighting around their mirrors. The other three walls held eleven lockers, all made of the same reddish-brown wood as the stables, a long bench with leather seating in the middle of them. The massive lockers were made of the same warm reddish-brown wood as the rest of the Stable instead of the traditional metal. The locker doors resembled smaller versions of stalls, complete with little windows made of wrought-iron bars. Above the iron window in large curling cursive, each locker bore the name of a member of the Nine with the two closest to either door sayingSecond String LightAlternate. Underneath the title and window was the actual name of the team member written on a plate of frosted glass.
As soon as I sawtheirnames on the lockers flanking Rudolph’s across from the vanities, I stopped in my tracks.
Dasher — Felicity Hathaway.
Prancer — Merrilee Darrow.
My jaw dropped. I shouldn’t have been surprised, but it was still wild to see. I had looked up to these two ever since before their tryouts when I was still in Flight School as a teen. Before I was called the possible first Rookie to Rudolph, Felicity wasthe most likely to become a Rudolph in less than three Reindeer Games, a never-before-seen record. In her first Reindeer Games, she had immediately ranked as a Dasher. Meanwhile, Merrilee was confident almost to the point of arrogance, making her the embodiment of Prancer. Yet, she was affectionately called Moose because she was an absolute fucking powerhouse and a star athlete. Her form was a disaster and some of the lowest scoring in the history of the Game, but her scoring in speed, agility, teamwork, adaptability, durability, and poise was more than high enough for her to rank. When I was studying the current Nine, I had taken the most notes on Felicity and Merry. I knew every detail about how they launched, their flying styles, when they used their wind powers versus not, and so much more. Coach Woods may or may not have said I was a little obsessed with them, but I always said they needed the extra study time. They were my biggest competition, after all. I had to know my enemy.
It wasn’t like they would give me the time of day, anyway.
Not thatthatwas what I was thinking about.
No, definitely not.
I reached into the pocket of my skirt, pulled out my phone, and snapped a few pictures of the lockers and me in front of them. I had just hit send on my favorite ones to my family group chat when I heard voices approaching outside the door. My stomach fell through the floor. If I got caught in here, not only would it be a scandal, but I could get kicked out of the Games before I even got to compete.
As fast as I could, I rushed into the only open locker in the room, Cupid’s, and closed the door softly behind me. The inside of the locker was incredibly spacious, more like a wardrobe, likely due to female reindeer needing the space for their enchanted uniforms they wore when they shifted so they weren’t nude when they shifted back and change of clothes when theyweren’t running. An illustration of this point, Cupid’s locker was packed with clothes. Eve was the member of the Nine with the most modeling contracts, but it still felt excessive. I moved them along their rack, so I could lean as far away from the window as possible.
Then, the door opened.
