“So?” Lilly asks when I join her outside.
“She’s still at work. I can’t believe this! She promised.”
“Maybe something happened, and she couldn’t leave. That happens to my mom all the time,” Lilly says.
“I want to go home!” Duncan says.
He paces back and forth at the bottom of the stairs.
“I can still babysit if you want,” Lilly offers.
“Really?”
“Sure.”
“Hey, Duncan? Will you be okay if Lilly walks you home?”
“I like you, Mary Jane,” Duncan says, grinning from ear to ear.
“I guess that’s a yes.” I smile at Lilly and then reach into my pocket for the key. “You’ll need this for the back door. Duncan, you’ll have to tell Mom who Lilly is.”
“She’s my girlfriend,” Duncan giggles.
“He was talking about you at supper the other night. My mom thinks your name is Mary Jane for real.”
“You were?” She smiles at Duncan. “How sweet is that? So, is there anything else I need to know?”
I’m in such a rush, I don’t give her question much thought. “Nope,” I say.
“Sounds like there’s nothing to it then. Come on, Duncan. Let’s go.”
I fling my hockey gear to the ground, lace up my skates in record time and scan the pond for Cody. He’s not here.
I check again.
Bonus, no Cody!
As I step onto the ice, the puck glides toward me. I bolt toward it like I’m Sidney Crosby. My stick scrapes against the ice as I maneuver the puck, not letting anyone at it.
“Go, Max!” Ian yells.
I dart in and out of the Red Eagles and make a shot. The puck hits one of the boots and bounces away from the net.
“Nice try,” Ian says, skating toward me.
“That was just a practice shot, man. I’m just getting warmed up,” I say as I race one of the Red Eagles up the pond. It’s like I’m playing for an Olympic gold medal and everything rides on this game. I snag the puck, break away and fake a pass before I move in for a shot on goal.
“And he scores!” Ian yells, raising his stick in the air.
I lean on my stick for a few seconds to catch my breath. The Red Eagles grab the puck and pass it a few times before Ian steals it and passes it to me. I dodge around them before I slam the puck into the net.
“And he scores again!” Ian hollers.
The whole game, I don’t let up. In the end we win five to three.
“Way to play, Max!” Ian whacks my butt with his stick.
“I knew we needed you to win. Man, you can skate,” Ian says.
“That was a blast.” I sit down on the bench to remove my skates. “Boy, that was sweet Cody didn’t show. I wonder where he was?”
“Haven’t a clue,” Ian says, taking off his skates.
“I wish I knew why he has such a hate-on for me. It’s starting to really bug me.”
“I know what ya mean.” Ian rubs his foot. “Oh, man—my feet are numb. You ready to go?”
“Yup.”
As we walk, I think about Cody until Ian says, “Man, I’m hungry!”
The words slam into my chest like one of his punches.
“Oh! No!”
“What’s wrong?” Ian asks.
“I forgot to tell Lilly about Duncan’s snack!”
“Lilly’s not stupid. She’d get him something.”
“But she won’t know the only thing he eats after school is macaroni and cheese with a big blob of ketchup.”
“You worry too much, Max,” says Ian.
“Yeah, well, I have no choice.”
When we reach my street, a fire truck is parked in front of my house with the red lights flashing. My legs go weak. I drop my gear and tear home, running as fast as I can.
“Wait up!” Ian yells.