“You’re here,” I said, struggling to hold in my smile as she dropped her bag in front of us.
“Yes, I’m here,” she grumbled. “But only to prove I’m right; this whole idea is ridiculous. You won’t even be able to get me on the ice without my dad flipping out.”
“You need to have a little faith.”
“Yeah, Parker’s got a plan,” Seth added.
She looked between the two of us. “Well, what is it?”
“A disguise,” I answered quickly, although now I’d said it out loud, it sounded a little stupid. “Well, it’s not exactly a disguise, but we’ve got some goalie gear stashed inside the refs’ locker room. We’ll sneak you in, you’ll get suited up in secret, and as long as you keep your helmet on, no one will know it’s you. Simple.”
“That’s your grand plan? Wear goalie gear to the goalie tryouts.Genius.”
“It’ll be fine,” I continued, ignoring the look of concern on her face. “Your dad has been trying to play down the importance of these tryouts, so Coach Rainer is taking the lead while Coach Foster runs the team’s practice as normal. By the time we get in there, everyone will be warming up already, and you’ll be able to join in without anyone asking any questions.”
“What if someone asks me my name?”
“I’ve thought of that. You’re on the tryouts list as Ken Manly.”
Seth spluttered out a laugh. I nudged him with my elbow but a smile escaped my lips too. Mackenzie scowled at us.
“Don’t worry,” I continued, before she could pick any more holes in the plan. “I even got you one of my practice jerseys. You’ll fit right in.” I pulled the jersey from my bag and handed it to her. She immediately scrunched up her nose.
“Ew, no thanks.”
“What? It’s clean.”
“I don’t want to wear any jersey that belongs to you.”
“Must be the first girl to tell you that,” Seth said under his breath.
I ignored him and thrust the jersey toward Mackenzie again. “Do you want to play or not?”
She gave a small nod.
“Then you’ve got to do what I say.”
She shook her head but muttered, “Okay, fine.”
“Great. Just tuck your hair in, keep your helmet on, lower your voice when you talk, and then play better than you’ve ever played before.”
“Oh, that’s all, is it?” She bit her lip, clearly still uncertain.
“It’ll work, trust me, Ken.”
She glared at me, but her gaze quickly softened and she released a breath. “You’re not exactly trustworthy, but what have I got to lose, right?”
“That’s the spirit.” I grinned. “Come on. Let’s get inside.”
Seth headed for the boys’ locker room, while I ushered Mackenzie into the referees’ room so she could change. We needed to make sure no one saw her, so even the girls’ locker room was too risky.
“These pads are going to be too big for me,” she said, grimacing as she got a look at the gear I’d taken from the school’s storage room. It was the smallest I could find.
“You’ll just have to make do,” I said. “You won’t be the only one out there today in gear that doesn’t fit perfectly. I’m sure your dad will get you the right size when you make the team.”
“I think you meanifI make the team.”
“You will.”
