Chapter 27

There wasn’t any time to find Alex and congratulate her. There wasn’t even time to give her team a final pep talk or consult the playbook. It was time to jam, and Slugs ’n’ Hisses were still trailing by twelve points. Time to pull ahead, Dorothy decided.

Time out.

Dorothy and Gigi kneeled next to Jade. She was curled up in a ball and holding her ankle.

“Make way!” a voice cried. Nurse Boils pushed through the ring of skaters who had gathered around Jade.

“Stay calm, deary,” the nurse said, opening her bag. Her green eyes looked worried, but she gave Jade a gap-toothed smile just the same. “We’ll have you all fixed up in a minute.”

Nurse Boils began untying the laces on the injured foot and Jade cried out in pain.

“Let me through,” said a firm female voice. The crowd parted, and a petite Asian woman in a blazer knelt down next to Jade. Her heart-shaped face was a mask of worry.

“Ms. Song?” Gigi yelped.

“Mom?” Jade gasped, trying to focus on the woman.

“It’s me, Blossom,” the woman said, pushing a strand of hair out of Jade’s eyes.

“But how did…” Jade cringed as Nurse Boils pulled her skate off.

“Hush,” Jade’s mom said. “I’ve known about this,” she gestured to the skate floor, “for a while now.”

“But how?” Gigi said.

The woman pointed to a purplish, greenish welt on Jade’s leg. “You don’t get bruises like this from Cupcake Scouts.”

“But…why didn’t you stop me?” Jade said through a grimace. Nurse Boils was turning the hurt foot one way, then the other, examining the ankle.

“Because you were happy,” she replied. “I haven’t seen you happy—really happy—for a long time. Not since before your dad died, anyway.”

“So you’re not mad at me?” Jade winced.

Ms. Song shook her head. “But I am disappointed that you lied to me.”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” Jade said. “Really sorry.”

“It’s my fault, too, Blossom. I realize now that I shouldn’t have held you back so much.”

“Really?” Jade said.

Her mom nodded. “And if you promise to be honest with me from now on, I promise to give you more freedom. Okay?”

Jade smiled. “Okay.”

Nurse Boils pulled a couple of ice packs and a bandage out of her bag and began wrapping Jade’s ankle. “Well, it’s not a break,” she said, “but the ankle is badly sprained. I’m afraid you won’t be skating for a few weeks, deary.”

“But the game,” Jade said. “Who’s going to be the jammer?”

Dorothy and Gigi looked at each other. This was a problem. No one else was trained to play that position.

Suddenly Dorothy had an idea. “Hey, can you guys trust me?”

Gigi shrugged. “We made you the coach, didn’t we?”

“Uh-huh,” Dorothy said. “But you may not like what I have planned.”

“Does this idea of yours give us a chance against the Cheerbleeders?” Gigi asked.

Dorothy nodded.

Jade unstrapped her helmet and handed it to Dorothy. “Just do it already!”