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C-Block

A block where the blocker is side by side with the target and then laterals quickly across the front of the target impacting with her front. The c-block name comes from the skates almost carving a c shaped path on the track.

Chapter 9

EPOV

After all of the work and drama of the last two weeks, it's nice to just sit back, drink a beer, and wait for the bout to start.

To say that the last couple of weeks have been hectic would be quite the understatement. We've been working on the app non-stop, and by "we", I don't just mean me and Jasper. Cherry and Barbie have put in a lot of time and work on it, too. The more we get into the development, the more invested we all are. It will be devastating to all of us if this isn't a success.

The great thing about working on the app so much is that I get to see Cherry; the bad thing is that we hardly ever have any personal time alone. We've put off guitar lessons for the past two weeks and I can tell that Cherry's feeling stressed; my guess is that it has to do with Paul.

A couple of nights after the incident at Willie's, we were sitting in the parking lot at 5th Cell and she started telling me about her history with Paul and "how things got so screwed up", as she put it.

She said that she and Paul started out as really good friends back in high school. Their parents had been friends, so they'd spent a lot of their childhood growing up together. When it was time for them to leave for college, they both chose the University of Washington. During their freshman year, they decided to try and have a more romantic relationship. Cherry said for a while, things were good, but Paul started partying a lot and eventually started using drugs.

After their second semester, Paul dropped out of college and lived with her in an apartment off-campus. Cherry said that she felt a responsibility toward him, as if it was her job to make sure he was okay and that he got help.

She finally called it quits a few years ago, but because she hasn't been in any serious relationships since him, Paul refuses to believe that she's not his girlfriend. Cherry thinks the fact that we've been spending time together is what has sparked his recent 'tantrums', as she calls them.

Apparently, Paul's always been like this. If things don't go his way, he throws a fit and tries to bully people into doing what he wants them to do.

Just the thought of him hurting Cherry in any way sends fire through my veins. I've never been one to take things to a physical level, but I would for her. I'm not saying I'd win, but I'd try.

I let out a deep breath and relax my posture as the girls skate out onto the rink.

Cherry has her fishnets on tonight, with these tight black shorts that have two glittery cherries on the backside - of which I'm getting a nice view - as she stands in the middle of the rink, talking to Punky.

I quickly adjust myself, inconspicuously, as Jasper slides into the seat beside me.

"Hey, man! I thought you were running stats?"

"They've got a few people down there, so I'm taking the night off. Besides, Alice has been really moody lately. I'm afraid being that close to the rink, she'd try to take me out and make it look like an accident," he says, a nervous expression on his face.

"You are so pussy-whipped, dude."

"I'm serious. She's scary."

"What's been her deal?"

"I have no idea and I'm afraid to ask. She just bites my head off all the time, and..." he leans in, covering his mouth so no one can hear, "the other night, she was crying. I didn't even think she could cry!"

"Maybe it's like that time of the month or something?"

"Shhhhhhh!" he says, covering my mouth. "You don't say stuff like that out loud...ever." The last word comes out slowly and over-pronounced. "Whether she is or she isn't, it's not a good idea to ask. Trust me, it's baaaaad!"

I jerk my head away from Jasper's hand with a disgusted look on my face. "What is this, Menstruation 101? Can we please talk about something else?"

Jasper rubs his face vigorously. "All right, man, I'm cool. I just never thought I'd fall for Punky, you know, the real Alice, so quickly. I'm in deep, Edward, and I can't lie, it's fucking awesome."

I can't help but smile at my best friend. I'm happy for him, I really am. I hope to soon be able to show my true feeling for Cherry, out in the open for everyone to see, too.

Jasper must be reading my mind because the next thing out of his mouth is a question for me. "So, what about you and Bella? You two shared quite the mack-down the night we celebrated at One-Eyed Willie's. Anything happen since then?"

I drain the rest of my beer before shrugging. "No, man, you know how it's been lately. We've all been so busy with our regular jobs during the day and then working all night on the app. There's been no time for privacy."

"Bullshit!"

My eyes fly to Jasper's face, shocked by his outburst. "What?"

"What you just said about being too busy - that's bullshit. You make time for that! Sneak kisses in a closet, touch her whenever you're near her; hell, at least text her to let her know you're thinking about her outside work! Have I not taught you anything?"

My stomach now feels like a load of bricks is weighing it down. I swallow the lump in my throat to try and alleviate the sickness I'm suddenly experiencing. Running my hands through my hair, I lean over and hang my head over my knees. Fuck. That's why Cherry's been acting so irritated. I just thought she was stressed and I didn't want to make it worse or put any more pressure on her by kissing her again. I feel like such a dumbass. I've got to make this right. I can't lose her, not now. Not fucking ever.

I hear someone whistle and look up to see Cherry watching me. The look on her face tells me she's not just irritated, she's pissed off. Her eyes are narrowed and her lips are drawn tight...she's fuckhawt!

She points to the doors that lead back to the locker rooms and motions with her head for me to go there.

"Uh, I'll be right back," I tell Jasper, getting up out of my seat and quickly making my way over.

Right before I get there, she walks through the doors, and I assume she means for me to follow her. Looking around, I don't see anyone there to stop me, so I go on through. I expect her to be waiting on the other side of the door, but she's not. I keep walking down the hall until I find her in one of the locker rooms, pacing back and forth.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, hesitantly.

(BPOV)

I whip my head around to face Edward, mentally berating myself for allowing my emotions to get so out of hand.

Lock that shit down, Bella. Don't blink, don't blink.

"No! Everything's not okay!" I finally answer.

He walks toward me slowly, hands out in front of him like he's approaching an injured animal.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Why haven't you kissed me again?" I blurt out. My mind is running a hundred miles a minute and I feel like I've lost all control over what comes out of my mouth. Everything that's been bothering me for the past couple of weeks comes exploding to the surface.

His eyes are wide as he stares at me; I can tell he's trying to think of a good answer, but I don't have time for that. I can't wait any longer; I'm tired of waiting.

"Edward, you can't just kiss a girl like that and then not do it again! It's really, really unfair! Do you have any idea what that kiss did to me?" I pause, but not for him to answer, because I know that he doesn't know...there's no way that he can.

"That kiss, Edward..." I breathe deeply, trying to calm down and not let the tears fall. "That kiss was everything I've ever wanted in a first kiss...passionate, full of unspoken feelings and emotions. It made my stomach do flip-flops! I think I even saw stars or some shit like that. It made my heart beat out of my chest!"

My hands fly to my chest and grip my jersey, trying to express what it did to me. "Now, I don't know what it was like for you..."

"Same here," he whispers.

"Really?" I ask, cocking my head to the side. "Because, if it was the same, then why haven't you kissed me like that again?"

"I...I was just..."

"What, Edward? Waiting? Do you not think we've waited enough?!" I laugh out loud, but it's not for humor's sake.

"Do you know what Alice just told me out there?" I ask, pointing toward the rink, my emotions getting the best of me.

"No," he answers, shaking his head with an almost painful look on his face.

"Well, it's a game-changer, Edward." I blow out a deep breath, preparing myself for what I'm about to tell him. The thought of saying it out loud makes it more real, and makes my knees feel weak.

Slowly sitting down on the bench, I look up at him. "You might wanna sit down for this one."

He sits down on the other bench, never taking his eyes off me.

"It seems as though Alice has a nine-month injury."

His expression changes from concern to confusion, as he pushes his glasses up. "A nine-month injury?"

I stand up abruptly, arms flailing. "Yes! As in, she's pregnant! Alice is pregnant! And your dumbass friend knocked her up! And you wanna know what's even better than that? He did it on their first time together!" I smile and I can feel that it looks crazy, I feel crazy...I feel like I'm about to explode!

"So, thanks to Jasper's swimmers, my best friend is out of commission for nine months!" I yell. "And what makes it even better is that they've known each other half the amount of time that we have and they've already had sex!" I know I must be yelling really loudly, because my throat hurts from straining so much. My voice is echoing throughout the entire locker room, but I don't give a fuck. I'm frustrated and angry...and yelling seems to be helping me feel better. If I can't have sex, I'm going to scream.

Edward sits up and makes a motion like he wants to say something, but I don't let him. I continue on with my tirade.

"Sometimes, Edward, you've just got to make a move. Just take what you want...like you did the night you kissed me. I don't know if you've noticed or not, but I kinda dig you."

That's the understatement of the century. I'm actually pretty sure that I'm falling for him hard, but if he doesn't feel the same, I don't want to embarrass myself by putting my heart on the line...out where it can be trampled on and smashed to pieces, like I do to my opposing team members on the rink.

"Uh, Cherry," a nervous voice comes from the doorway. I look up to see Katie Cutabitch standing there, not knowing whether she should come in or run for her life.

"What?" I say, a little too harshly, but I don't care. I'm pissed and I can't just turn off the switch; I'm not wired like that.

"The bout is getting ready to start and Coach said if you're not out there before the whistle blows, she's gonna have you on suicide watch."

I fucking hate suicides! I fucking hate sperm! I fucking hate the fact that I haven't had sex in six months! I fucking hate the Portland Derby Girls - and their fucking rainbow uniforms - and they're going to fucking hate me when I'm finished with them tonight!

"We'll finish this later," I tell Edward, as I stomp out of the locker room, not so gracefully, thanks to these fucking skates.

As soon as I get into position, Emmett blows the whistle and I take off. Maybe I should argue with Edward before every bout, because the way I'm blowing past people is ridiculous. I easily score five points, lapping the jammer for Portland on my way around. When I come up behind their two best blockers, I see that they're walling up. Pushing my way through, I take an elbow to the face. It doesn't knock me on my ass, but I can taste the blood pooling in my mouth. Emmett blows his whistle and signals Cindy LopHer to head to the sin bin.

"Do the crime, pay the time!" I hear him yell at her, after she spews obscenities at him for nailing her on her first offense. I would have been pissed, too. I add Emmett to my list of people I plan on having words with after the bout. I can hold my own out here and I don't need any fucking special favors or treatment.

After scoring 20 points, I call the jam. I'm not interested in breaking my record tonight. I just want to win the fucking bout...and I need a tampon to shove up my nose, thanks to the elbow that Clitty Clitty Bang Bang just gave me on the last lap. As much as I have it out for them, they seem to have it out for me tonight.

"Cherry!" Coach yells. "Take a timeout. KC, you're in!"

Oh, hell no! "Coach, I got this!"

"No, you don't! You're bleeding more than a sorority house on rag week and I don't want your blood all over my track! Sit your ass down and get that under control. If there's time, I'll send you back in."

For the next twenty minutes, I watch my team fight tooth-and-nail to keep us in the lead, but Portland is being ruthless and relentless. They still have it in for us after we shut them out last season. It's not our fault that half their team got knocked up and they were working with a bunch of fresh meat, which brings my mind back to Punky. She should've kept her damned legs closed. Just thinking about it gets me all fired up again.

"Put me in, Coach!" I yell, tilting my head back to show her that the bleeding stopped.

She throws my panty at me and tells me to get my ass out there and score us some points.

Katie Cutabitch comes off the track, giving me a low-five as we pass each other. "Slaybia needs to go down," she says, looking back over her shoulder and giving the girl a go-to-hell look.

I take KC's warning and head out to the track. Looking up at the clock, I see that I have four minutes to make up a six-point deficit...I got this.

Finishing my first pass around the track, I get ahead of Slaybia, which makes me the lead jammer. As I come up behind the blockers, Barbie and Punky both hold their hands out behind them, setting me up for a double whip.

The next few things happen so fast that I have no other choice but to act on instinct and self-preservation. I'm soaring past Portland's blockers, just as their pivot takes a nasty spill, landing right in my path. I use the momentum from being whipped forward and leap into the air, jumping over her. Somehow, while I'm mid-air, I feel my legs being swept out from under me.

And then everything goes black.

A/Ns:

Jiff: *twiddles thumbs and whistles* Sooooo...how's everybody doing? Still with us?

Jenny Kate: Do you think we're in trouble? I kinda think our readers were expecting some lovin' in this chapter.

Jiff: Of course they were expecting some loving! And, what do we do? We knock Cherry out! What is wrong with us?

Jenny Kate: I don't know?! Cherry just had other plans...and Edward didn't have any.

Jiff: Yeah, our precious GeekWard, bless his heart. He still needs a clue sometimes.

Jenny Kate: He's getting there! It's just taking him a little longer than Cherry would like. I think he might have a clue after what happened in the locker room...maybe he's finally on the same wavelength as Cherry?

Jiff: I sure hope so! If this story took place in the south, Cherry would be saying "Heeeere's your sign!" LOL

Jenny Kate: Yes! I'd like to hand out signs to people. It might save me some frustrations. I actually have some signs in my car that I hold up while I'm driving down the road: "Are you drunk?", "Smile", "Call Me"...they're very handy.

Jiff: I just need one sign when I'm driving...a picture of a middle finger. That one gesture says so much.

Jenny Kate: I have one! However, it's the least used sign, because I'd prefer to use my own. LOL

Jiff: True! Save a tree: Use your finger! LMAO

Jenny Kate: We should probably wrap these up! We've still gotta do A/Ns for Bella Donna!

Jiff: Okay! Thank you to Mauigirl60 for her awesome beta skills and patience with us! Let us know what you think of Punky's nine-month injury when you review!

Jenny Kate: Yes! And tell us what you think is going to happen next! Do you think Jasper knows? We love hearing from you guys! Thanks for reading!