Demon Derby by Carrie Harris

possible. Yes, he was hot, but that meant nothing. The guy from the alleyway had been pretty hot too, and he’d flicked lit cigarettes at me. It just went to show that you couldn’t trust appearances.
    Michael started pelting me with questions: “Are you dizzy? Do you feel faint? Do you need to sit down?”
    “Quit patronizing me!”
    He flinched, and I lowered my arms, partly because he didn’t seem dangerous now, but mostly because I felt even stupider than when I’d assumed he was asking me out. He opened his mouth, and I think he was about to apologize, when Ruthanasia charged into the locker room.
    “What’s going on here, kids? You’re making a scene,” she said. Her voice was perky and playful and full of utter crap. “You’re not going to faint, are you, Casey?”
    “She’s fine,” Michael said.
    He shifted to stand shoulder to shoulder with me, or head to armpit, I guess. He was a lot taller than me. I appreciated the gesture of solidarity and
really
appreciated the fact that he made it a point not to touch me. I wasn’t about to risk a repeat of the shock wave until I knew what the heck was going on.
    “Good.” Ruthanasia took his wrist and tugged gently. Her hand didn’t spark or shimmer or anything vaguely weird, which sucked. She could have used a good shock. “We need to talk about the plan for tonight.”
    Michael pulled his arm away. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
    “We can’t start without you; you know that,” Ruthanasia said, pouting.
    “In a minute,” he growled.
    But she didn’t leave. She folded her arms and waited with ill-concealed impatience, practically tapping her skate on the floor. This more than anything else made me answer Michael’s next question in the affirmative.
    “So, Casey? Would you like to go out with me tomorrownight?” he asked. “It’s freshman night at the University Quad. I was thinking of checking it out after practice.”
    “Sure,” I said, trying not to crow. Not only was he hot
and
a college guy, but it was going to piss off Ruthanasia. I couldn’t keep from smirking when her mouth fell open. “Do you have my number? Just in case?”
    He nodded. “It’s on your derby paperwork, right?”
    “Yeah.” I made a big show of pulling out my phone and checking the time. I didn’t want Ruthanasia to think she’d scared me off. “I should go put my skates on. Talk to you later.” I didn’t need to look back to know that her laser eyes were burning a hole between my shoulder blades.
    Darcy managed to contain herself until I sat down, but only barely. I got my skates out of my bag, and less than a millisecond passed before she started squealing.
    “Ohmigod! What just happened? Because I was going to store my stuff in the locker room, and I couldn’t help overhearing! Are you really going on a date with Michael?”
    “I guess.” I looked over my shoulder to see Ruthanasia and Michael bent over a clipboard and talking quietly. As I watched, she sidled closer. If this went on much longer, she’d be in his lap. I almost felt bad for her.
    Darcy was still talking. “Gosh, you’re quick. I mean, not that I think you’re a slut or anything, but you just met him, and he’s like the team manager and stuff.…” She trailed off in embarrassed uncertainty.
    “Frankly, I only said yes because I knew it would piss Ruthanasia off.”
    “Oh.” Darcy considered this for a long time, longer than necessary. It wasn’t that complicated. “Well, it’s still awesome. And we’re gonna be rollergirls too.”
    “Yeah, I hope so.”
    I tried to keep my nerves in check as I glanced at my competition. They looked good. Limber and toned and not hobbling around like they’d been in a train wreck. Only two of the six of us were going to make the team; I’d have to be on top of my game to avoid being cut.
    Ruthanasia rolled up and looked us over. Actually, that’s not entirely true, because she made a point of completely ignoring my existence, which was