Page 3 of Red Light, Green Light
“Wait, I know I saw someone suspicious come in here! I swear I did, Coach Tannebaum!” I heard Chrissy whine.
That bitch…
“I don’t see anyone in here, Beckett,” a deep female voice declared, her nonexistent patience clear. I had heard Coach Tannebaum could be a hard-ass, having been a five-time Rudolph herself, but she allegedly had a heart of gold.
“But—”
“I don’t have time for these shenanigans, and neither do you. Instead of worrying about your competitors, you should be worried about your durability or adaptability scoring. It’spitiful. Now, get back out of here. Once I finish with the other girls, I will be starting orientation, and anyone I don’t see there will be risking disqualification.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Chrissy said dejectedly.
They left the locker room. I waited for a breath. Then another. On the third, I took a deep breath and blew it out to relax my nerves. When I still didn’t hear anything, I figured the coast was clear.
I pushed against the locker door, but it didn’t budge. I shoved it with my shoulder, using all the momentum I could muster in the small space. Still nothing. I even tried to use my air powers to mess with the locking mechanism. But unlike my older sisters, I spent very little time breaking locks with my powers. Desperate, I even tried to summon enough wind to push the door open. Nothing. The locker remained closed, and I was stuck within it.
Well.
Shit.
I shook my hands out to expel some of my mounting energy. I wanted to scream. I had come all this way, and now I was going to miss my chance because of a technicality. Not because of how well I could fly or how long I had trained. No, it would be because I missed Orientation. I was going to be a laughingstock, an embarrassment. Not to mention everyone I was disappointing. All the little white-tail-deer-shifter girls who looked up to me back home, who called me Rudolph and said they never thought they could pull Santa’s sleigh… My mom and sisters who had worked so hard at so many jobs to pay my way… I would be a failure. I would be a loser.
I had never lost before.
I won every single game I ever competed in. I was flying before I could crawl or even stand. I was scouted by the best Flight Schools in the country before I could talk. When I got into Saint Clarice’s Reindeer Academy for the Gifted, I was at the top of my class. Every record I could, I broke: Fastest Launch, Best Landing, Best Form, Top Speed, Best in Strength, Best in Magic, and so many more. Reporters called me a legend in the making to rival Rudolph with her powers over light and air. No one had seen someone able to tame the wind like me, to push faster than was thought possible. I was destined for greatness, and all without being a Legacy. In fact, it was while having my father’s White-tail deer side. Many said I shouldn’t be able to do it.
The thing was, if you were chasing a Legacy, you weren’t nearly as motivated as someone like me who was chasing air I was supposed to breathe in the first place.
But none of that mattered now.
Because I was going to lose it all.
Just when I was about to spiral, my phone vibrated rapidly in my hand. I had forgotten that I was even holding it. Severalnotifications came from my group chat with my sisters called the Frosty Hotties.
It was their idea of the name. Not mine.
CAROLE (CAREBEAR):YOU’RE IN THE STABLE???
CAREBEAR:YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO CALL US WHEN YOU LANDED!!!
CAREBEAR:WHERE’S OUR CALL, YOU HEIFER?!?!
BELLE (JINGLES):Omg I can’t breathe. Is that the LOCKER ROOM?!
NORTH (STARRY):You little rebel.
STARRY:I knew you had it in you to break some rules. About damn time!
STARRY:Carebear owes me $10.
STARRY:I told her that you were a little rule-breaker, but noooooo.
JINGLES:Mom is going to kill you. You might not make it to the games at all.
I shook my head. My sisters and I were each two years apart, incredibly close, and told each other everything. While I was an athlete, my sisters were heroes in their own right. Carole was a doctor. Belle owned the most amazing handmade clothing boutique. And North was an Air Traffic Controller. I wouldn’t be who I was without them. They were my best friends. I was about to text that my locker situation would do Mom’s job for her, but then one of the doors slammed open, followed by a rough moan.
“Fuck me, Moose…”
Moose?! No way they were talking abouttheMoose.
