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CHAPTER5
JESSA
“I thinkhe’ll need new skates too. He’s growing like a weed,” Joann chuckled.
I shifted the phone from my right ear to my left, turning in my chair. My ear had gone numb from being on the phone with her for the past fifteen minutes.
“What size did we give him last year?”
“Eight, I think. He’ll probably need a nine or a nine and a half, I bet.”
I pulled up Joann’s son in the database we used to keep track of all applicants and found Markus. I navigated through all the tabs until I found the equipment Markus had borrowed last year.
“We gave him a nine.”
“Jesus,” Joann mumbled, and then laughed. “He’s growing like a weed.”
I wanted to tell her that she had already said that. Joann rotated through the same three comments almost every time she called. Markus was always growing like a weed, he was faster when he was in Bauer gear, and she always mentioned that she wouldn’t be able to put him through hockey if it wasn’t for Power Play.
“Crazy, huh?” I replied instead.
My phone vibrated against the desk, and I lifted it, glancing at the unknown number that had sent me a message. Joann rambled on as I unlocked my phone and read the message.
Unknown
Hey, it’s Zach. Do you still need a Power Play success story? I’m your guy. ;-)
Oh,God. I had forgotten about our totally awkward exchange near my car last week.
I typed a response, but erased it and turned my phone facedown as Joann asked when she could bring Markus in for a fitting.
“Not yet, we’re still processing applications.”
“Well, he’s going to be placed, right? He’s always been placed. He’d be crushed if he couldn’t play hockey this year.”
Shit. I couldn’t tell herno, but I also couldn’t tell her yes.
“We’re doing our best to place as many applicants as possible.”
“But will Markus be placed?”
I exhaled slowly. “You know we’ll always try to place him. He’s just not placed yet because registration isn’t open yet.”
That seemed to suffice, and Joann switched gears to chatter on about how important Power Play was to her family because she had three kids and couldn’t afford to put her kids through programs on her own.
“I think the girls would like to join this year, too. When’s the deadline again?”
Panic began to surge through me at an uncomfortable rate. “The seventeenth.”
“I’ll ask them after school if they want to join, and I’ll drop down in the morning with the applications. I’d say they’ll join; they love watching Markus play. Macie has been on skates before, but Maisie hasn’t. Is that alright?”
“If they’re over ten, then they need skating experience, so yes, the girls are good.”
“Right, because Macie is nine and Maisie is seven,” she explained, like I didn’t know how old her children were. She told me often enough that it was hard to forget. “Yeah, I might just pop down with the applications now, and if they say they don’t wanna join, then we’ll just get rid of the applications.”
Rolling backward in my chair, I rested my forehead against my desk. “Sure. Sounds good.”
“See you soon, honey.”
