I had a few ideas to make Win Or Lose fics, so I made a separate tumblr for them bc I'm addicted to making tumblrs. I don't own Win Or Lose, Disney does. Sadly.
When you reread your fics and realize all the typos you made and the stuff you didn't write out properly (I already broke three of the made up rules I made for the fic)
Weeks passed quickly, and Laurie got used to the new team easily. Everyone was really nice, and super supportive. They treated any small win, every single one, as a huge victory.
Dasher was a Jammer, and she had a hard time with jumping in her skates. So they had her working on it these last couple practices. She only jumped a few inches, just barely getting off the ground, but she followed through and stuck the landing. According to Barbie, it was something she never did, and of course everyone went wild. They all cheered and howled and barked, and CC went up to her and smacked her helmet into Dasher's before they started screaming at each other. Apparently, it was called a Victory Scream. At least, according to CC.
All the girls had their own celebration for a victory, actually. The twins, VantaBlacke and Blacke & Blue, would so Fortnite victory dances and hype each other up. Wrath would grab whoever was closest to her, usually Sailor, and spin around in a circle while screaming happily. Goldie would drop to her knees and do the air guitar, Dasher would do a wolf howl, Shortie would start happily punching whatever was in her vicinity, and Barbie would just...scream. Everyone joked that Salty (Laurie) needed her thing, her own victory celebration scream thing. Whatever she wanted to call it.
Laurie hummed softly, weaving her way around the cones Hex had set up for her on one skate and occasionally watching the scrimmage that the rest of the team was doing.
"Pepper."
K.C. had to do a Star Pass, handing the cap off to Barbie, who was the Pivot for the red team.
"Pepper!"
Laurie watched the brunette race off around the track and take the lead-
"PEPPER! Less gawkin', more skatin'!"
"Yes, Coach!" She slammed her other skate down and continued to weave through the cones. She kept watching them, and cheered once Barbie had won the Jam. "Bar-bie! Bar-bie! Bar-bie!"
Barbie just smiled and giggled, giving a bow to her one person audience. "Thank you, thank you! It's hard carrying my team!"
"Carrying? Puh-lease!" Cutie said. "I can out Jam you any day of the week!"
"Oh, you wanna go?!"
"Yeah! Let's go!"
"Ladies, ladies! Save the rage for the bout!" Femme said as she stepped between them.
"The bout?" Laurie skated over as Hex cleaned up the cones.
"Yeah! First bout of the season!" Barbie smiled and held up her hand for a high five.
"When is it?" Laurie seemed hopeful. Maybe she was ready to play?
"Tomorrow, right here! Playin' on our home turf." Jamilton high fived Barbie so she wouldn't be left hanging.
"Oh..."
"It's ok, Salty-Babe!" Belle skated over and gave her a side hug. "You'll be ready in no time! You're already doing great!"
"She's right, kiddo," Queen said. "We just gotta work on your backwards skating then we can put you in the scrimmages. A few more practices and you'll be on the rink in no time."
Laurie gave a weak smile. "Thanks, Coach."
"I mean it. You're good at this. I have a feeling you're gonna take us to the championship."
Laurie felt a sharp sting to her heart. "Championship?" She asked, her eyes wide with fear.
"Yeah! We never get past the qualifiers, but every year JRDA have a national junior championship tournament!" Barbie said excitedly. "If we make it to finals, we'll be skating in New York City! And we can meet the New York Nukes!"
"I hope we can go! I'd love to see Circle Jerk in person!" Brawli squealed. "She's, like, my biggest derby inspiration."
Laurie gave a nervous smile. "Awesome..." she said weakly, giving them a thumbs up. She was gonna blow it. Again. And she thought junior roller derby was better than softball.
"Awesome?! It's better than awesome!" Barbie screamed. "It's amazing! It's fantastic! Wonderful! Awe inspiring! Kick ass unbelievable spectacular phenomenal stupendous miraculous Grade A fucking amazeballs!"
"BARBIE! I TOLD YOU TO STOP SWEARING! YOU CAN SWEAR WHEN YOU'RE 16!"
Barbie winced and smiled. "Sorry, Mama... But still! WE COULD TO NEW YORK AND MEET THE NUKES!"
Laurie just gave another weak smile, muttering about how it was awesome and amazeballs before skating off the rink and taking off her gear with the rest of the girls.
"Alright! Already making a plan!" Sweaty said to her. "If we start doing some extra training now, then we'll definitely kinda sorta be not terrible enough to play and we might not fail the team again!"
"You need to stop talking," Laurie said, swatting at her shoulder.
"I...didn't say anything..." Big Red said, looking confused.
"Oh!" Laurie looked up and giggled softly. "Sorry, just talk to myself sometimes. I know, I'm crazy! Ha ha!" Laurie blushed heavily and became incredibly focused on untying her skates.
Big Red just nodded. "Anxiety?"
"Yeah..."
"Want me to beat it outta ya?" Big Red held up her skates.
Big Red just shrugged and put her skates away. "Got it."
"So... The tournament?"
"Yeah. I doubt we'll go to finals, but it's at least fun to play. Our qualifier bout is against the Minions of Mayhem. They have a low win rate, so we'll be able to crush them to dust." She stood up and grabbed her derby bag. "See ya tomorrow!"
"Huh?" Laurie just cocked her head.
"The bout," Big Red clarified. "Just because you can't play, it doesn't mean you have to miss the game."
"Yeah! We need a cheerleader in the stands!" Rythm said, nudging her in the side with her elbow.
Laurie smiled and nodded. "Yeah, totally."
"Awesome! See ya!"
Laurie finished getting her gear off and went outside where Paula was waiting and warming up the car.
"Hey, Salty! Wait!" Sailor raced over, Barbie and CC at her heels.
"Huh? What's up?" Laurie turned back to them, waiting for them to continue.
"You're coming to my sleepover, right?"
"What sleepover?" Laurie cocked her head in confusion.
Sailor groaned and slapped Barbie upside the head. "This is the last time I tell you anything..."
"I got busy!" Barbie defended.
"Busy with what? Searching for Italians?" CC said, rolling her eyes with a smirk.
"Both of you hush!" Sailor yelled. "Anyway, we usually have sleepovers before our bouts or whenever we need to kinda calm down. Also like a last night of fun before the Big Game kinda stuff, ya know? It's usually just the three of us, like a tradition thing, but we wanted to invite you."
"Like a show of good faith, welcome to the team thing."
"Yeah! Party with the OG 3!" Barbie shouted enthusiastically.
"Oh..." Laurie looked nervous. "Umm-"
"You can totally say no! If it's not your thing, we get it!" Sailor said.
CC backed her up. "Yeah, we totally appreciate boundaries. If you just need some me time and self care, that's totally ok. You do what's best for you. It's gonna be an all weekend thing, and the whole team is gonna be there after the qualifier anyway. It might be too much."
"No, no, I'd love to! But... It's my Dad's weekend and..."
"Ohhhhhh, you're a Double Christmas kid," Barbie said softly. "Got-"
Sailor slapped her up side the head, cutting her off. "Barbie! You can't say that!"
"WHAT?! IT'S TRUE!"
"I'll ask my dad and see what he says," Laurie said simply, trying to keep the peace.
"Yeah! Text the group chat and let us know."
"What group chat?" Laurie cocked her head in confusion again.
Sailor and CC slowly turned their heads to Barbie. ".....you didn't invite her to the group chat?"
"I FORGOT!"
"You're a terrible derby godsister," CC said simply.
"I'm going to kill you." Sailor started to follow Barbie as the girl ran away.
"Do you have Discord? I can send you an invite." CC pulled out her phone, ignoring the screams of mercy in the background as she found Laurie's profile and added her into the Discord server they made for the team.
"You should get going so you can pack and stuff. Hopefully I'll see you at Sailor's." CC smiled and waved goodbye as Laurie got into the car and drove away with her sister. She stared at her phone intensely, smiling and giggling at the group chat antics.
Yay, you made it, Laur!
Goldie Today at 4:43 pm
CHANGE YOUR NAME!
VantaBlacke Today at 4:43 pm
WE CANNOT KNOW YOUR REAL NAME IT SHALL RUIN THE MYSTERY!!!!
🧂Salty🧂 Today at 4:46 pm
This good?
VantaBlacke Today at 4:46 pm
Yee yee. All good.
🎀Barbie🎀 Today at 4:47 pm
Nooooo make it pink so we're matchy matchy!
🧂Salty🧂Today at 4:47 pm
Lol
Better?
🎀Barbie🎀 Today at 4:47 pm
Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay!
CC Today at 4:47 pm
Text us here when you get the yes or no from your dad
🧂Salty🧂Today at 4:47 pm
Got it
"Who are you texting?" Paula teased. "Is it a boy?"
"No!"
"A girl?" Paula seemed excited by that.
"No! I'm talking to my team! They finally added me to their group chat..." Laurie curled up and watched them all texting each other, smiling in her silent observance.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Practice was running later than usual. Laurie tried to keep her mind and hands busy by playing some Mario Kart, but she kept getting distracted by car doors opening and closing outside. Every couple minutes or so, she paused the game and looked out the window, getting disappointed when it wasn't Dan.
"Dad'll be home soon." Paula tried to keep her calm. "You can hang out with your friends soon."
"Yeah, yeah..." Laurie just got back to playing her game and trying to beat the hard CPUs.
Laurie paused the game when she heard her phone buzzing repeatedly, playing the loud Jam buzzer. She thought it was from her team, getting into another argument about if pineapples and kiwis could go on pizza, but it was just the Pickles. She forgot she was part of the group chat.
Roshie Today at 5:57 pm
Omg pls tell me you all saw what Sammy did
Kai Today at 5:57 pm
I still can't believe it tbh
The Mighty Yuwen Today at 5:57 pm
I could've done it blindfolded with my hands tied behind my back
Taylor Today at 5:58 pm
Shut up, Yuwen! At least I'm not getting a scalded in the face with hot beans! 🙄🙄
Sammy Today at 5:58 pm
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 oh my god
Laurie Today at 5:58 pm
Huh?
Roshie Today at 5:58 pm
Oh, it's an inside joke
Hannah Today at 5:58 pm
You had to be there for it to make sense
The Mighty Yuwen Today at 5:58 pm
I honestly forgot you were still here
Kai Today at 5:59 pm
Hi, Laur!
Laurie Today at 6:00 pm
Hi, Kai!
Kai Today at 6:00 pm
How's derby so far?
Laurie Today at 6:00 pm
Pretty good! Everyone's super nice.
Kai Today at 6:00 pm
Awesome!!!!! Can't wait to see your first game!
The Mighty Yuwen Today at 6:01 pm
Wasn't one of us supposed to remove Laurie since she's not on the team anymore?
Kai Today at 6:01 pm
YUWEN!!!!
Taylor Today at 6:01 pm
YUWEN!!!!
Roshie Today at 6:01 pm
YUWEN!!!!
Sammy Today at 6:01 pm
YUWEN!!!!
The Mighty Yuwen Today at 6:01 pm
WHAT?! I HAVE A POINT!
Tom Today at 6:02 pm
What are we talking about?
Roshie Today at 6:02 pm
Oh my god 🤦🏽♀️🤦🏽♀️
Laurie bit her lip, feeling another sting to her heart.
"We should probably leave just make it easier on them," Sweaty said. "They're gonna forget again anyway."
Laurie Today at 6:03 pm
Don't worry, Yuwen. I got it 😊
Laurie left the group chat server and tossed her phone aside, trying not to cry as she focused back on her game. She seemed to perk up when she heard the door open.
"I'm home!" Dan called out, setting his stuff on the kitchen table.
"Dad!" Laurie got up and rushed over, hugging him tight.
"Hey, Lare-bear," Dan said as he pulled her into a side hug. "How was derby practice?"
"Yeah, practice was fine. Is it all right if I go to a sleepover at my friend's house for the weekend?"
"Oh, did Taylor invite you? I overheard her talking about it after practice." Dan turned away, pulling some stuff out of the cabinets to start on dinner.
"O-Oh..." Maybe Taylor just forgot. They aren't on the same team anymore, so they don't see each other much. "No, it's one of my teammates, Sailor... He invited-"
Dan turned around, looking furious. "A boy?! Absolutely not!"
"No, no! Dad, Sailor is AFAB."
"A-what?"
"AFAB. It means Assigned Female At Birth," Laurie explained. "He's like Kai, but in the opposite direction."
"Oh..." Dan turned back around, continuing to gather ingrediants. "I still don't want you going over at a boy's house. Especially a boy I haven't met. When does this expire....?"
"No, Dad, Sailor is still figuring that stuff out!" Laurie tried to reason. "Plus, CC and Barbie are going to be there tonight, and the rest of the team will be there tomorrow! Sailor wont hurt me!"
Dan turned to face her, seeing the desperation in her puppy dog eyes. "You're absolutely sure?"
"Absolutely! Please... They invited me so I could feel like a real part of the team and be a part of their traditions..."
He sighed heavily. "Alright. Text me when you get there and if they try anything, and I mean anything, you call me immediately, got it?"
"Of course!" She rushed forward and hugged him. "Thank you thank you thank you!"
Dan gave a gentle smile and patted her back. "Anytime. Go pack your bags." He watched her run off to her room before calling out, "And don't forget your toothbrush again!"
"I won't!" Laurie started shoving clothes in her duffel bag before grabbing her phone and texting her derby team.
🧂Salty🧂Today at 6:07 pm
HE SAID YES
🎀Barbie🎀 Today at 6:07 pm
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
My mama said you're riding with me. Send the address and we'll be there soon
Laurie quickly sent over her address and finished packing, giving her sister a hug and her dad a kiss on the cheek before waiting outside.
Laurie smiled up at Paula. Her sister wasn't really much of a sports person, but she was glad she was trying.
"So the games aren't called games, they're call bouts," Paula said, looking for the next highway exit.
"Yes."
"And each bout is separated into two 30 minute halves with a 15 to 30 minute half time in between."
"Yes." Laurie held onto the "Oh Shit" handle (as Paula and her dad called it) as her sister cut across two lanes to get to their exit in time. "You probably just broke at least 3 traffic laws."
"We'll deal with it later," she said as she slowed down to the speed limit. "Now, the actual action is called a Jam, right?"
"Yeah. Action, moments of play. Whatever you wanna call it, but in roller derby it's called a Jam."
"And each Jam is 2 minutes long."
"Unless?" Laurie looked up at her, waiting for her answer.
"Unless..." Paula went silent, biting her lip as she tried to think of the answer. "I know this, I know this..." She tapped her palm on the steering wheel, groaning as the answer continued to evade her.
"Unless the lead-"
"Unless the lead jammer calls off the Jam early! I knew I would get it soon."
Laurie just smiled and rolled her eyes. "Now, positions. Jammer, Blocker, and Pivot."
"Jammer scores the points, Blocker stops the Jammer, and the Pivot is a Blocker unless the Jammer does a star pass, in which case the Pivot is now the Jammer until the Jam is called off." Paula pulled into the parking lot of the rink, thankfully finding a spot close to the door.
"And what is a star pass?" Laurie asked as she grabbed her bag from the floor.
"The Jammer takes off the star cap on their helmet and gives it to the Pivot."
"Yes!" She high fived her sister before getting out of the car. "I knew you would get it soon."
"Yeah! It's kinda easy when you think about it." Paula locked the car and went up with her into the rink.
"I know! Everyone says it's too hard or complicated, but there are like 5 other sports that are more complicated than roller derby and people understand them easily."
"Hey hey hey, it's my favorite Jammer!" Queen said as she skated over, ruffling Laurie's hair.
"Hey, Coach!" Laurie smiled and giggled to herself. Just a few weeks ago, she never thought she'd get to say those words again.
"Ready for your first practice?" She asked as she handed Laurie a spare hair tie.
"Ready as I'll ever be!"
"Great. Get your gear on and I'll introduce you to the team." Queen skated away and Laurie sat down at one of the tables, pulling her hair into a low ponytail and putting on all of her pads and her skates.
She looked up at the rink, seeing all of the girls her age skate around the track and talk to the friends they made on the team. It made her excited and nervous at the same time. New team, new friends, but what if they didn't accept her? What if she was shunned from the clique before the practice was even over? She swallowed her nerves (and ignored Sweaty) before she skated onto the track, standing between Coach Femme and Coach Queen.
"AA-OOH!" Femme barked out.
"AA-OOH!" The girls all barked back, turning their heads to the coaches.
"TAKE A KNEE!"
Laurie watched as the girls fell onto a single knee and skidded to a stop or stopped with a Double Knee Fall and sat on the heels of their skates. One girl caught her eye, decked out in bright Barbie Pink gear. She ended doing a baseball slide and stopped about 10 feet or so away from the coaches.
"Ladies, and Sailor," Coach Femme called out. "I'd like you to meet your newest teammate." She smacked her hand onto Laurie's shoulder. "Assault and Pepper."
Everyone's hands shot up.
"Yes, I said there wasn't any tryouts. There was a little mix up and we decided to give her a shot. Now put your hands down."
Everyone slowly put their hands down, except for the girl in Barbie Pink.
"Yes, Barbie?"
So, her name is actually Barbie.
"Is she scrimmaging yet?"
"Not yet," Femme said. "We got a couple things we need to work on, but she should be in scrimmages in a couple of months. I want you all to help her where you can. Whipping, zippering, even just a couple tricks to help with stopping and starting. Help her like you help each other. She has some serious potential."
"Lastly, we have a new coach. Everyone, say hi to Hex Appeal." Queean gestured to the other adult by the edge of the rink, leaning on the half-wall separating the rink and the seating area.
"Coach Hex is here to help when we need to work one-on-one with Pepper, or with any of you, so you can all get the attention and focus you need in your training. So be nice to Hex."
"I don't take lightly to any of your little pranks," Hex called out. "So I better not see any fake spiders in my derby bag or stink bombs in my car. Remember, if you can go low, I can go lower." She gave a devilish smirk and most of the girls looked away.
"Keep doing laps. Get those legs stretched out and we'll start in a few minutes."
Laurie watched them get up and start skating around, going back to their conversations from before.
"You too, kiddo." Queen pushed her forward towards the taped down track. "Go talk to them, make a couple of friends."
"Yes, ma'am." Laurie gave a little salute, skating onto the track before practically being tackled by a hug.
"Hiiiiiiiii! I'm Roller Derby Barbie!" The girl in pink pulled away and skated backwards in front of her. "Everyone on the team calls me Barbie or RDB. What's your nickname?"
"Laurie," she said simply as she continued to skate.
Barbie cocked her head in confusion. "How do you get Laurie from Assault and Pepper?"
"No, my name is Lauren, but everyone I know calls me Laurie."
Barbie just smirked, giving her a knowing look. "You're new to derby, aren't ya?"
"Yeah, how-"
"See, you might know all the rules of derby, but you don't know the rules of derby," Barbie said, leaning in close. "Are you picking up what I'm putting down?"
"I...think so..." Laurie just looked confused. Was this girl making fun of her?
"So, I officially appoint myself as your derby godsister!" Barbie declared loudly. "And I will teach you all the inside and secret rules of junior roller derby!"
"Leave her alone, Barbie! It's her first day!"
"Yeah, you're gonna scare her and weird her out!"
"I AM NOT WEIRD!" Dang, Barbie was loud. Laurie backed away as best as she could while still skating forward, covering her ears.
"Sorry. Anyway, rule number 1-" Barbie held up one finger, keeping eye contact with Laurie. "Never call your teammates by their real names."
"Why?" Laurie asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.
"Because it's not cool. Duh," Barbie said as if it were the most obvious thing. "Like, I'm Roller Derby Barbie, but everyone just calls me Barbie. That girl passing on your left-" She pointed to the shorter girl passing Laurie.
"Hi, new kid!"
"Is Cold Cutter," Barbie continued. "We call her CC. The girl passing on your right-"
"Heyo, newbie!"
"Is K.C.D.C., but we just call her K.C. It is pretty easy to get them mixed up since they look similar, but I tell them apart is by the stains."
"Stains?" Laurie just looked more confused.
"Yeah! CC has natural black hair, and K.C. dyes her hair black. The hair dye she uses is a blue-based black dye, so it stains her scalp when she washes it or sweats and you can see it kinda drip down sometimes. K.C.! Show her your helmet!"
K.C. skated back over and took off her helmet, showing Laurie the dark blue stained helmet pads inside.
"Good to know," Laurie said as she nodded. "Who else is on the team?"
Barbie smiled and pointed to two girls across the track. "That's Wrath Matician and Sailor Doom. We just call her Wrath and him Sailor. Also, Sailor is going through a gender journey and trying to figure out what pronouns work best, so use as many different ones you can. The weirder, the better. Currently, he doesn't like she/her or they/them. But he doesn't mind being referred to as girl or girlie."
"GIRLIE IS A STATE OF MIND AND I WILL DIE ON THAT HILL!" Sailor shouted from across the track. Wrath just giggled and kissed him softly.
"Oh, yeah, and they're dating, so no flirting with either of them."
"I wasn't planning on it..." Laurie said awkwardly.
"Alright, Lightning Round!" Barbie pumped her fists in the air, pointing to the other girls skating around them. "VantaBlacke, Vanta or V! Blacke & Blue, BB! Brawlipop, Brawli! Rythm & Bruise, Rythm! Dixie Dasher, Dasher! Electrocutie, Cutie! Short Fuse, Shortie! Golden Stitch, Goldie or Stitch but she prefers Goldie! Deci-Belle, Belle! RedruM, we call her Big Red! And we just call her Jamilton, no nickname!" She smiled and looked back at Laurie. "You catch all that?"
Laurie just gave her a blank stare. "Uhhhhh...."
"You'll catch on soon. So-" Barbie moved to skate beside her. "What should we call you?"
"I guess... Salty or Pepper..." Laurie said with a shrug. If it was the cool thing, she'd do it.
"Alright. HEY, EVERYBODY! THE NEWBIE WANTS TO BE CALLED SALTY OR PEPPER!" Barbie announced to the entire rink. She smiled and looked back at Laurie. "Any preference?"
Laurie winced softly as her yelling. "....Salty..."
"SHE PREFERS SALTY!"
"Hi, Salty!" All the skaters called out sweetly.
"AA-OOH!"
"AA-OOH!"
"That's the Mad Dog Call," Barbie whispered to Laurie. "That's how the coaches get our attention."
Laurie nodded, giving her attention to the coaches as they explained their next exercise. She had only been here for 5 or so minutes, but she was already liking it... Roller derby was a pretty good choice...
Laurie sat nervously in the passenger seat of her dad's car, holding her new black helmet tightly as they drove to the rink.
"Are you absolutely sure about this, Laurie?" He asked, looking over at her.
"Yes, Dad. It seems interesting."
"I've seen sports clips of the games and they seem violent," he said nervously.
"If I can't handle it, I'll quit. Simple as that..." Laurie sighed softly and looked at her lap.
"I'm just worried about you, Laurie. I know you've been desperate to find a sport, but this just doesn't seem like the right option." He parked the car close to the entrance and turned to her. "I don't-"
"I know! I know. But I'm 13! I can handle it." She gave him a gentle smile and got out of the car. She started putting on her elbow pads and wrist guards as she went in with her dad. She could feel her body bounce with excitement and her stomach churning with unease. Would she be good enough to make the team? She had only been practicing for a month. Technically 3 weeks since she had to gather all the gear and find a large flat area to train on. If the other kids didn't train at all, then she would definitely be the best for the team. But if they had been training their whole lives-
She paused, looking over at the rink as she entered the building. There was a group of women, shoving into each other as two of them raced around the track and tried to break through the wall of other skaters.
"What are they doing?" Her father whispered, leaning down to her.
"It's called a scrimmage," she whispered back. "It's a practice game so they can work on their skills. That girl right there-" She pointed to one of the women with a star on her helmet. "Is called the jammer. The jammer scores the points. That girl-" She pointed to one with a thick stripe on her helmet. "Is the pivot. If the jammer does a star pass, then she's the jammer for the rest of the jam. The rest are blockers, and they have to stop the other team's jammer from getting through the pack, which is a wall of blockers, and earning points."
"I....did not understand half of what you said."
"I'll explain it later."
With all the pointing and whispering they were doing, the women took notice and broke up their scrimmage. One of them skated off the rink and went up to the two of them. "Is everything alright?" She asked, taking out her mouth guard.
"Yeah, my daughter wanted to try out for your junior league," her father said, putting an arm over her shoulder. "We're a little early."
The woman just looked confused. "I-I'm sorry, I don't- Um, we're not- I- Why is she staring at me like that?" She looked down and pointed at Laurie, who stared at her with a hard look.
"I apologize. Laurie, you know-"
"Fightingale!" She smiled and pointed up at her. "Number 99 of the River City Mad Dogs! I knew there was a reason you looked familiar! That move you did it the bout against the New York Nukes was amazing!"
The woman, "Fightingale", smiled slightly. "The apex jump or the move on the outside?"
"The outside. They were just wide open and you zipped on past like- KAPOW! It was amazing!"
Fightingale blushed slightly and tossed her low ponytail over her shoulder. "Well, it's always nice to have a fan."
"I've seen every recorded bout of the team. You guys are awesome!"
"Thank you, sweetheart. I really don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't think we're having tryouts for the junior league."
Laurie's smile dropped. "But... But I saw your flier..."
"You- I- We-" Fightingale sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to gather her words. "I don't know what's going on, but Femme and Queenie didn't say nothing about fliers or tryouts this year. Gimmie a sec. FEMME! QUEEN!" She turned around and skated over to the other women, meeting two of them halfway. As they spoke quietly, Laurie started bouncing excitedly.
"Dad, Dad! That's Femme Fatality and Queen Of The Jammed!" She whispered excitedly. "They're like, the best on the team! Femme Fatality is one of their blockers and no one has gotten past her yet. And Queen is one of their jammers. She scored 58 points in the first half of her first game. She's a Mad Dog legend!" She watched them look over nervously before skating over. "Oh my god, Dad, they're coming over! Be cool!"
Femme went down on one knee, skidding to a stop in front of Laurie while Queen was a foot or so behind. "Hey, sweetie. I'm-"
"Femme Fatality! I saw your bout with the Van Buren Velvet Skaters! I wish I could've been there live!"
Femme smiled brightly. "Well, well, looks like we got a little fan."
Laurie just smiled and blushed, looking down at the ground.
"So, why'd you come out here, kiddo?" Queen asked.
"She wanted to try out for your team," Dan said, since Laurie's words became caught in her throat.
"Sir, unless your daughter has dwarfism, I think she's a little too young for our team..."
"No, your junior league. The tryouts are today, right?"
Queen and Femme look at each other nervously, and Laurie's excitement quickly died down.
"That's- That's the thing. Me and Queenie are the coaches for our junior team and we didn't put out fliers this year."
"Which one did you see, kiddo?" Queen dropped to her knees beside Femme, watching Laurie pull out the crumpled folded up flier from her pocket.
"I saw it on one of the community boards in Peaks Valley." She handed it over to them, watching their faces turn from confusion to nervousness and upset.
"Sweetie, this is last year's flier." Femme handed it back to her sadly. "I thought we took all these down in Peaks, but I guess we missed one. We're not doing tryouts this-"
"I mean, if the kid is good..." Queen said softly.
"We have a full roster."
"Well she probably isn't going to be a pro on Day One," Queen said while rolling her eyes. "We can train her and when she's ready to compete we can rotate your damn roster."
"Language!"
"She's heard 'damn' before!" Queen stood up and skated over the the women resting in the dining area of the rink. "AA-OOH!!"
"AA-OOH!!" The women barked back as if on command.
"Ok, ladies! We're calling off practice a little early today! We have a little impromptu tryout! Go home, get some rest, and Banshee, ice that leg and keep it elevated! We're not taking you to the ER again! Got it?! Got it! Good! GET OUT!"
Everyone started taking off their gear, swapping their skates for sneakers or boots and heading out of the rink. Some of the women gave Laurie a thumbs, or finger guns and a wink, or a simple "you got this, kid." It was only a few short minutes until it was just Laurie, Dan, Femme, and Queen. And one of the other players, who wouldn't take her harsh eyes off the three on the rink.
"Oh, Hex," Queen tried to say. "You can head out if you want. Practice is over."
"I wanna see what the kid's got."
"....o-kay..." Queen turned back to Laurie, taking a brief look at her clipboard. "You know there are 4 levels of Junior Roller Derby."
"Yes, ma'am." Laurie stood stiffly in the middle of the rink, listening to her intently.
"Each level is marked with different skills and shows the progress you made."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Now, we're not expecting you to be Level 4 immediately, we just wanna see how far you have to go and how much one-on-one you'll need before you're ready for a game."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Skate around the track. When I call out a skill, I want you to try and do it. Simple enough?"
Laurie was already skating around the track before she finished talking. "Yes, ma'am!"
Queen smiled as she watched Laurie, already taking the correct stance. "I like you! I can tell you're gonna be my favorite!"
"You can't have favorites, Queenie."
"I can and it's her! Single knee taps."
Laurie slammed her right knee down, her pad hitting the wooden floor of the rink, and bounced back up before she came to a stop. She did the same with her left, continuing to skate around the rink.
"Double Knee Fall."
She dropped her right knee, then her left, coming to a stop and up on her skates in the blink of an eye.
"Four Point Fall."
She fell to her knees, her hands turning to fists and going out in front of her as her wrist guards hit the floor. And again, she was up in the blink of an eye.
Laurie continued to skate, doing every skill to the best of her ability for the next 30 minutes or so. She was sweating profusely and breathing hard, trying to keep herself calm and steady her nerves. She had to get on the team...
"Alright," Queen pulled out her phone as she started to speak. "Last test is to time your laps. For Level 1, you have to skate 8 laps in 2 minutes, about 15 seconds per lap. Think you can do it?"
Laurie panted softly. "I'll try."
"Get to the line and we'll count you down."
Laurie wet to the red line, taking a deep breath and getting into the right stance. Their voices became muffled, barely hearing "go" as she took off on the taped down track. Her legs felt numb and her skates felt heavy as she raced around as fast as she could. Just look straight ahead, keep going, don't stop until they say-
"And stop!"
Laurie stood up and did a T Stop, panting as the coaches looked at her time. She felt her nerves buzzing as Queen tilted her phone to Femme and Hex, writing something down on a clipboard. Femme's eyes widened and Hex just looked up at her.
"We kinda timed it wrong on our end. Could you redo it for us?"
"Yeah, yeah!" Laurie went back to the line and at the shout of "go", off she went again. It felt longer this time, pumping her legs as she tried to go as fast as she could.
"Stop!"
Laurie went into another T Stop, watching as they all look shocked.
"One more time, sweetie.
Laurie sighed and went back to the line. If she didn't have a mouth guard in, she'd definitely chew a hole through her lip from the nerves. Was she no good enough?
"Go!"
She raced off again, going as fast as she could and trying to hold off tears. She definitely went past 8 laps this time, and they seemed to be time her a lot longer. What was going on?
"Stop!"
She did another T Stop and watched nervously.
"Jesus motherlovin' Christ..."
"Hey, kid." Hex looked away from the phone and gestured for her to come over. "How long have you been training?"
"Umm..." Laurie skated over. "About a month?"
Hex rolled her eyes. "Don't lie. How long?"
Laurie held her head in shame. "3 weeks..."
"And I'm the Queen of England. How? Long?" Hex asked firmly.
"She's telling the truth," Dan cut in. "She's been doing this for 3 weeks."
Hex looked back at the phone in total shock. "What the fuck..."
"Language. Sweetie, you got faster times than any of the other girls on the team. We time you for all three levels."
Laurie looked up in shock. "Really?"
"See for yourself." Queen turned her clipboard around and showed her the times. 8 laps in 58 seconds, 15 laps in 2 minutes and 47 seconds, and 27 laps in 3 minutes and 54 seconds. "I mean, you're not necessarily the best. There's a few skills we need to work on with you. But you're definitely fit to be a jammer."
"Really?" Laurie smiled brightly and bounced slightly in her skates.
"Of course!" Femme copied her bright smile.
"We don't joke about this stuff." Queen smirked and crossed her arms.
Hex leaned forward and held out her hand. "Welcome to the River City Mad Pups."
Laurie giggled and happily shook her hand. "Thank you so much!"
"Practice is on Fridays and Saturdays at 5," Queen said. "We expect you to attend at least one practice a week, but we'd rather have you a both, ya know?"
"I'll walk here if I have to!" Laurie said excitedly.
Queen just laughed and shook her head. "Have you picked a derby name and number yet? We can get your game jerseys ready by next practice."
Laurie's smile couldn't get bigger if she tried. "Assault and Pepper, Number 4."
I just finished Win Or Lose and I am OBSESSED. I had an idea of what Laurie would do after quitting softball and the urge to write was toooooo strong. I hope you like it, and if you don't then I don't care! I wrote this for me! :3
It was the right choice for Laurie to quit softball. In the passing weeks, she felt calmer, happier, and she hadn't heard from Sweaty since the night of the championship (with the exception of a couple of tests, but that felt like a different matter.) With every week that came and went she felt herself feeling more like... well, herself. She started painting and drawing, and she was pretty good at it. She started learning the violin, and it sounded like a dying cat every time she played, but you gotta start somewhere! But as softball season crept closer and closer, and practices started happening more often, she started to feel left out.
She went to every game, cheering her friends on from the stands, but she still felt like she was missing something. Kai, Rochelle, and Taylor were all laughing at new inside jokes she wasn't a part of, Yuwen and Tom somehow started getting along and wouldn't stop calling each other "bro", and the new kid, Sammy, who took her place was leaps and bounds ahead of her in terms of skill. They were all still friends, of course. And Sammy was pretty cool. But every outing, every school lunch, every sleepover, she felt a little pushed aside. Like she wasn't part of the "in" crowd anymore. She wanted to get back that feeling of unity. That sense of belonging. Of being a part of a team. Something bigger than yourself, where every person and piece, no matter how small, made some kind of contribution to help score a win.
She needed a new sport.
"They're having some soccer tryouts at school," she mentioned to her mom at dinner.
"Oh, that's nice. Do you want to give it a try? You could reuse your softball cleats!"
She somehow managed to hit the ball into the face of both goalies, three teammates, and herself. Soccer was not a good choice.
"I heard the youth club has a volleyball team!" Paula said as she drove them both to their dad's. "Maybe you'd be better at that."
The uniform kept giving her a wedgie and all the girls were mean. Also, she lacked hand-eye coordination. No volleyball.
"Basketball?" Her dad suggested.
The girls were all twice her size, she kept getting hit in the face, and hand-eye coordination again. Basketball, 1. Laurie, 0.
"Maybe tennis."
Hand-eye coordination.
"Track and field!"
She almost died after running one lap.
"Ice hockey?"
No teams nearby to even try that option.
Every failure left her feeling smaller and smaller. Was there any sport she was good at? She almost felt like giving up at this point.
She waited around during practice, watching over the fence as her friends honed their pitches, swings, and catches. She did little cheers for them as they went up to bat and whooped and hollered for every hit. Her voice was sore when they all walked off the field, rushing over for a hug or high five.
"Hey, Laur!" Rochelle hugged her tight. Was she gaining some muscle? She seemed stronger than when they hung out last time. "How's the search been?"
"Could be better..." She said sheepishly.
"Search for what?" Sammy asked from his spot on the ground as he took off his cleats.
"A new sport. Just been feeling kinda bored without something pass the time, ya know?" It wasn't a total lie, but also wasn't the total truth.
"I get that. Anyway, I need to help my mom with dinner and do my chores." Sammy stood up, now wearing a pair of roller skates, and started skating away. "See you guys at school!"
"See ya!" Everyone shouted, waving a quick goodbye to the disappearing boy.
"It's still a few hours before most of us have to go home," Laurie said. "Wanna ride around and see if there's anything to do?"
"Absolutely!"
"Sure!"
"I got nothing better to do."
And off they went on bikes, skateboards, and roller skates, rolling around Peaks Valley to pass the time before they inevitably had to call it a day.
"So you've tried every sport?" Kai asked, slowing down a bit to keep up with Laurie's speed.
"Yeah. I've tried basically everything in Peaks Valley," Laurie said with solemn tone. "I'm just... I'm not good at anything."
"That's just a hobby."
"Don't say that!" Kai reached over and playfully shoved her shoulder. "There's got to be something you're good at. What about your art?"
"But if you work at it, you could be a professional artist and sell it to galleries and stuff."
"Yeah, and when you die, it'll be worth millions!" Oh God, Sweaty was back.
"You gotta remember me when you're a famous painter," Kai said with a playful smirk.
Kai just smiled and shook her head. "As if that'll ever happen..."
Laurie smiled back. "And you better remember me when you're a professional athlete."
"C'mon, slow pokes!" Yuwen yelled from up the sidewalk. "Keep up!"
"We're coming!" Kai sped up on her bike, leaving Laurie struggling in the dust.
Her legs started to hurt, so Laurie stopped and rested. Leaning against the community board outside the park, she watched her friends turn the corner and sighed softly.
"We're probably slowing them down," Sweaty said in her ear. "We should go home."
"You should go home." Laurie swatted at her face, pushing Sweaty away as she tried to catch her breath. She looked up at the posters and fliers, trying to keep her mind occupied. Missing pets and rewards, babysitting services, sports tryouts (that she already failed at). She sighed and went to get back on her bike before something caught her eye. A small poster, hidden by all the others stacked on the board. She reached out and tore it off, holding it close.
"Junior Roller Derby..." It was faded, warped with rain damage. There were two kids drawn on, shoving at each other with their shoulders, decked out in protective pads and wearing roller skates. "Tryouts in River City, April 5th and 6th..." She pulled out her phone, about to search something up before she heard someone skidding in front of her.
"Yeah. I just needed a minute." She shoved her phone and the poster back into her pocket, racing off with Rochelle and trying to keep up.
The group rolled around a little bit longer, until the sunset painted their town in golden and orange hues. They rode with everyone to their houses, saying reluctant goodbyes as their group got smaller and smaller until Laurie was riding home alone, her path lit up by the occasional street lights as she went to her mom's house for the night. She tossed her bike in the yard like usual, rushing in and grabbing a plate of food.
"Hi, sweetie! Did you have-"
"Can't talk gotta research love you bye." Laurie took her plate of food and raced upstairs, going to her little laptop and opening way too many chrome tabs. What is roller derby, what are the rules of roller derby, what gear do you need for roller derby, buy skates good cheap, buy pads good cheap, buy skating pads good cheap. She stayed up late into the night, looking up everything she needed, everything she had to practice, all the rules and regulations.
River City was pretty close, so it was still technically a local team. This was the last sport she could try. Her last chance to prove to herself she was good at something. She had one month to tryouts. Hopefully it was enough time...
germansingergirl
romaincrisis
origamiaround
turnnoffyourmind
jbbartram-illu