An email from Coach Connelly had landed in my student account after the game on Friday. The subject line read: Mandatory Volunteering. It'd detailed how he signed up the Sea Lions and Dragons to hold a car wash in the town square and out of the back of the Beanery car park.
He had to pick the one fundraiser that no one with a heart could bail on.
Who could say no to raising money for the local cat shelter?
The aim was to contribute positively to the local community while easing tensions between the two groups before our rematch.
Any forms of violence from either team would result in an immediate expulsion. The word 'expulsion' was capitalized, red, underlined, bolded, and highlighted. It was a very desperate bluff, or it couldn't have been any clearer of a warning.
Our first and hopefully last shift began on Sunday morning at ten.
The bus door swiveled shut behind me and the driver took off from the school straight away. Coach Connelly usually sat up front with the driver, but the seat next to the driver remained empty today. His black SUV wasn't parked in the car lot, either.
I made my way down the back and slumped into the chair beside Izzy. She was too occupied applying lip gloss to even offer so much as a 'hello.' But she lowered my head onto her shoulder and gave my hair a quick pat before focusing back on the handheld mirror in front of her face.
My eyes were heavy, and my brain was fuzzy after two whole hours of sleep the night before. I was in no fit shape to entertain any conversation; conversations that would no doubt be about the fact I'd ghosted everyone since the game on Friday.
That's what happened when you discovered your boyfriend had cheated on you and probably had been for a while.
My lack of response hadn't stopped the team from sending piles of supportive messages all weekend long.
They'd mostly consisted of Izzy updating me on Eduardo's condition, Dan asking if he could slash Carter's tires, then finding out that Carter didn't have a car, and offering instead to egg his house, and the rest of the team offering their anecdotes of how to get over someone.
The only thing that kept me sane was snuggling up inside my dad's big black hoodie that he used to wear when he painted. He'd splashed the cuffs with yellows and blues and reds. It still smelled like him; a smokey cedarwood. It helped that I'd sprayed his cologne onto the hoodie before I left the house this morning; an extra boost to get through the day.
I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hand and snuggled my cheek against Izzy's shoulder.
"You, my friend, look like you need to get stoned," Dan said from the seat in front of me, offering a rolled joint between his fingertips. He positioned himself upright, so he knelt backwards in his seat, and motioned toward my red eyes. "Had one already?"
"Shaving cream, remember?" I reminded him, not wanting to explain that I'd cried in the shower earlier that morning because Carter's smelly Lynx bottle was next to the sink.
"We've been talking about that," he said.
"Without Eduardo chaperoning? That's dangerous," I said.
Izzy glanced away from the hand-held mirror, hovered the lip-gloss an inch from her lips and ordered, "Hear Dan out."
"Connelly getting you like that before the game wasn't cool," Dan said. "We should've had your back more."
"The thrall of the hair curlers in their locker room blinded us," Jasmine joined the conversation, swinging around in the chair beside Dan. She unzipped her backpack, showing a purple and black device inside. "I grabbed one for you, actually."
"You stole a hair curler?" I asked, peeking inside, flattered she'd thought of me.
"Not exactly," Jasmine denied, biting her lip. "I stole one for me, you, Izzy, Liza and Eoghan."
"I rock the Superman curl, huh?" Eoghan asked, standing in the middle of the aisle.
A singular strand of his hair curled on his forehead. He blew it up and out of his face with childish glee. The bus driver shouted for him to sit down. But getting yelled at didn't ruin his good mood. He jumped back into his seat and twisted the curl, showing it off.
"Can we get back on topic, please?" Dan asked, frustration leaking into his voice.
"Don't forget about the other Sea Lion girl who stole Kate's boyfriend," Liza supplied, not even bothering to raise up from her seat a little.
"Thanks for the reminder, Liza," I said.
"Anytime," she replied.
"Yeah, dude, that sucked," Dan agreed. "Point is, this shit isn't fair today. We need to focus on the actual war and that war is putting the Sea Lions in their place for good. Are you in?"
The voice of reason at the game remained quiet today.
"Izzy?" I probed. "You're in on this?"
"The other Connelly broke my brother's arm, Kate. Two months in a cast is his worst nightmare. Even if we go to Seattle, he's just going to watch from the sidelines, and that's just plain wrong," Izzy explained why she changed her stance. "He's still wearing the same sweats as Friday, surviving on nothing but Jolly Ranchers. He hasn't even tried showering yet."
Yikes.
"Still sticking to that story, huh?" Liza asked.
"Okay, so I pushed Dorothy, and she fell on my brother's arm," Izzy admitted.
"I had Mr. Photographer recording the game yesterday," Liza said, referring to Carter.
"Fine, Liza, I shoved her hard," Izzy admitted before muttering, "How was I supposed to know her head was harder than a load of bricks?"
Dan placed his hand in between the aisle, and asked, "If you don't want payback for you, Kate, what do you say, payback for our fallen captain?"
The team placed their hands on top of each other one by one and waited for me with bated breath.
"Why the hell not?" I said, placing my hand on the top of the pile.
"We do nothing today. That'll be too obvious. And we're not doing that one-two-three lame shit, but we're all in agreement, yeah?" Dan asked.
The team simultaneously nodded and withdrew their hands.
The bus drove around the roundabout. Our town center wasn't anything special; it had the Beanery, a bank, a hair salon, and general clothing and grocery stores. The park had the odd bench here and there, and an ice cream truck camped next to a lone tree near the sidewalk.
Only one thing stood out among the mundane town.
Carter and Hazel sat at an outdoor table beside the Beanery. They shared one cup and used two straws to drink from what looked like a pink smoothie.
My stomach tightened.
Cranberry Crush.
That had to be a coincidence, right?
Dan banged on the windows as the bus pulled over into the Beanery car lot. The cozy pair ripped away from each other. I didn't get to see their reactions beyond that because I hid behind Dan's towering back as we descended the bus.
"One punch?" Dan asked, leaning against the side of the vehicle.
"Did you plan a rebellion to defend my honor because you wanted an excuse to punch Carter?" I asked.
"Did it work?" he asked, unaffected by my assumption.
"No."
"Fine. But take this. He doesn't get to see you look like shit," he said, offering the pair of sunglasses that hung on the neckline of his shirt.
"You can be such a dick, you know that, Dan?"
"Yup."
"Thank you," I said, slipping on the glasses.
He patted my arm and walked away.
The team sought reprieve inside the café from the scorching heat while we waited for the Sea Lions to arrive.
I was really starting to dislike smoothies.
A high-pitched honk made my team stop goofing around outside the Beanery. A yellow minibus made its way toward the bus stop on the other side of the road beside the park.
Coach Miller led his players off the vehicle and made them line up on the nearest sidewalk. Rosie was the last to get off. She wore blue overalls with a long-sleeved yellow shirt. All she needed was an ice-cream to finish the aesthetic. How could someone so adorable on the outside be so annoying?
She thought her ex-girlfriend cheated on her with me. I got that. But the person she should've focused all that demon energy on was right there, slurping on her second Cranberry Crush of the day.
The Dragons enjoyed their ice-creams and murmured who they had dibs on. It wasn't the type of dibs you'd be happy to be on the receiving end of, not unless you wanted to be kicked in the nuts and wanted ice cream shoved down the back of your shirt.
Coach Connelly's Uber pulled into a spot two spaces behind the Sea Lions' bus. He spoke to them while gathering Rosie's blue denim backpack onto his shoulder. A grown ass man carrying a bag with a rainbow tailed unicorn plastered across the front elicited giggles from the Sea Lions, but neither of his daughters even cracked a smile.
Both teams made their way over to the car wash zone in the Beanery's car lot. Coach Miller placed a sign that said 'Car Wash! Help the Local Kitty Cats!' and barricaded the entrance with a rope so no cars could come in and park while we set up.
Three groups assembled.
Hazel and Carter stood side by side, hands intertwined against his stomach. The Sea Lions positioned themselves next to the donation box table, and the Dragons took the space on the far right next to the washing equipment and the hose.
While some students spoke to each other quietly, others created as much noise as possible. Dorothy opened a bag of chips and crumpled the packaging between her fingers. Dan slurped on the droplets at the bottom of his smoothie in retaliation.
Rosie? Well, she was the only quiet one who messed with a ribbon between her fingertips, pulling it taut as she surveyed the car lot.
Coach Connelly clapped and approached the groups with a tired smile. His eyes squinted and were red like my own. He hid the bags under his eyes by procuring yellow glasses from his daughter's bag.
"Hey everyone. For those who don't know me, I'm Coach Connelly. That is Coach Miller, and today we are a team."
Coach Miller jabbed a thumb into his chest, mustache ruffling as he greeted us.
"We all know why we're here," Coach Connelly said. "The behavior at the game Friday was unacceptable. But let's not focus on that today, because today, as a unit, as a team, we get to give back to the community. The aim is simple. Work together seamlessly. Let go of grudges. Learn something that humanizes the opposing team. I'm sure complaining about the fact that you're here is a good ice-breaker."
"What are we actually doing today, Dad?" Dorothy asked after his long rant.
"We're going to pair up to run this car wash as efficiently as possible. We will donate any money raised today to our team sponsors. That's the Beanery for us, who are kindly letting us use their car lot today," he said, and motioned toward his daughter, "and for you guys?"
Dorothy opened and closed her mouth, eyebrows squished together.
Welp, what sort of team captain didn't know that?
"It's still Furry Friends, Dad. You know Shirley, our neighbor? She's their lead volunteer," Rosie answered on her sister's behalf.
"Right," he said with an over-the-top smile to counter Rosie's frown.
"She's here to tell us what they plan to do with the money," she said, nodding toward a woman heading our way.
"Hi! How are you all doing? I'm the Furry Friends' lead volunteer and it's so nice to see so many faces participating!" Shirley, a gray-haired woman who looked in her sixties, greeted the group and shook hands with the coaches. "I'm sure you don't want to listen to me ramble. I wanted to take the time to thank you all. There's only so much us volunteers can do at Furry Friends to make it the best place possible for our felines. We're going to be using the money you raise today toward an outdoor jungle gym, which you are more than welcome to visit any time you want."
"You hear that, folks? Great incentive to do your best today," Coach Miller said.
"That's right, we'll do everything we can to help you," Coach Connelly added, like he'd be in the trenches with us.
"Thank you! You folks look ready to get started. That's all I wanted to say, so I'll leave you all to it," she said, offering a wave goodbye.
But she didn't leave right away. She pulled Rosie away from the group and chatted to her while holding her hand. They looked like close neighbors. It was kind of sweet how Rosie smiled at her.
Coach Connelly resumed his instructions. "Turn your surly frowns upside down. Make sure you put on sunscreen and come on up to see who you're partnered with!"
He waved a bunch of papers.
No one moved to get up.
Dorothy gestured toward the space outside of the shaded area, lips curling in disgust. "Dad, due to the unexpected weather and us having not been prepared with the essentials, sunscreen, sunglasses, hats, bathing suits, and whatnot, I believe it is my duty, as captain of the Sea Lions, to move for the motion of dismissal of our attendance."
"We watched the weather forecast last night," Coach Connelly mumbled.
"These working conditions are bordering on torturous. Nay, they are torturous," Dorothy insisted.
"I told you girls to pack everything you'd need. It's in the email I sent to everyone too." Whatever email he spoke about never landed in my inbox. No one else received the message either, based on everyone's blank faces. He opened Rosie's bag. "Cat food, cat treats, is that a laser pointer? Rosie? Get over here."
"Dad?" she said, coming back to the group.
"Care to explain why you have a catnapping kit?"
"I have a sprained finger, so I thought I'd—"
"If you can deal with kittens, you can hold a hose. Did anyone bring sunscreen?" Coach Connelly asked, scratching the back of his neck when no one answered. He leveled his gaze at the paper in his hands. "I take that as a 'no.' Listen closely, because these are the people you're assigned with. I don't want to hear any complaints about not being with friends. I want Dorothy, Eoghan, Hazel, and Izzy to take charge of the cleaning. Tim, Jasmine, and Dan control the flow of traffic. Kate and Rosie, you two will hose the cars down. Marvin, Liza, and Preston, you guys will be our donation box crew. Which leaves Akira and you. I'm sorry, you're not on the list. What's your name?"
"Carter Baker," he introduced himself.
He wasn't even on the team—why was he still here?
"Kate's boyfriend?" Coach Connelly asked. I'd mentioned nothing about Carter to him before. But Carter had come to a lot of our practices, so Coach must've put two and two together. "It's nice to see you come along and support your school's team. Goes to show there's true school spirit to spread around."
"Dad, seriously?" Rosie said.
"What?" Her dad glanced back at Carter, who was still holding Hazel's hand. "Wait. Rosie, why is your girlfriend holding hands with a boy?"
She hid her face in the palms of her hand. Fair enough if he didn't know about my breakup with Carter, but not knowing about his own daughter's relationship ending? That had to hurt.
Dorothy muttered, "Unbelievable."
Coach Connelly took the hint to move on and said, "Okay, Carter, you can join Akira in canvassing and sending people our way. Go team, go!"
Everyone groaned.
"There's one more thing. Shirley had these custom-made Furry Friends button pins for us to wear," Rosie said, plucking a few of them out of her backpack on her dad's back.
"You heard her. Line up and pin a button on your shirts." Coach Connelly said. "When you're done, stick to your groups. I'll come find you with sunscreen."
I joined the back of the line to get a cat button. By the time I counted to forty, I stood at the front of the queue and rocked back and forth on my heels.
"You're not going to prank me today, right?" I asked.
"Depends if you can keep your hands to yourself," she muttered, looping the button's pin through the fabric of my dad's hoodie.
"I'm sure I'll manage," I responded.
I might've responded with something wittier if I hadn't noticed the little cat doodle on the compression wrap still on her finger.
I headed toward the hosing station and peered down at the button, only then noticing she'd stuck it on upside down.
That counted as a prank in my book.