Overtime Read online

  “Yeah, it sure has,” Charlie said mechanically. He was watching the two girls turn the corner.

  Scott put a hand on his shoulder. “Joyce, I’m very impressed by the way you remembered your own name,” he said. “I think Trisha was impressed also.”

  His buddies were grinning from ear to ear. He had to laugh at himself.

  “I can spell it too,” he said.

  “You are one special kid,” Scott said.

  A crack of thunder interrupted the ribbing.

  “Gents, I suggest a mad dash to the school before the tsunami hits,” Nick said.

  “All in favour,” Scott said, “say ‘Aye’.”

  A chorus of Ayes sounded as they started to run. Charlie kept thinking about Trisha and Emily. Those two could play. He wondered what they could do on the ice.

  5

  MOVIE MARATHON

  Out of the corner of his eye Charlie caught sight of Zachary kicking his board into high gear. He cruised into a nose grind and stopped a metre in front of Charlie.

  “Howdy, Mr. Charlie.”

  They exchanged a high-five. “Where’s everyone else?” Charlie asked.

  Zachary flicked his eyebrows and nodded over his shoulder. Charlie heard the unmistakable whirl of skateboard wheels growing louder. Pudge, Scott and Nick rounded the corner of the school and rode over.

  “Zachary Jackson, you better slow down or you are going to hurt yourself,” Scott said in a high-pitched voice.

  “Yeah. He’ll get wind burn,” Nick said. He pointed to Charlie’s board. “How’s the Buy-A-Real-Board fund coming along?”

  Charlie held his board up. It was so old and beat-up the nose was falling apart. He was saving up money by working at his mom’s café.

  “A few more weeks and the new board is mine,” Charlie said.

  “You should buy this one,” Scott said. He had nicknamed his ride Black Beauty, on account of its shiny, black deck.

  “The deck is too wide,” Zachary said. “I’d go with a slimmer model.” He held his board out.

  “I’ll take them both,” Charlie said.

  “You’ll go twice as fast,” Nick quipped.

  “Not sure the weather’s gonna cooperate,” Pudge said.

  “Yeah, and the rain’s scared off the competition,” Scott said.

  Charlie had convinced the guys to play ball hockey after school. The rain had let up, but it looked bad now.

  “We wanted a tougher game, but we’ll take you guys on,” someone called from a distance.

  Charlie turned in the direction of the voice. Alexandra was laughing as she made her way towards them, with Julia and Rebecca at her side.

  “Let’s divide up and play before we get dumped on again,” Zachary said.

  “Sure, sounds good,” Julia said.

  An awkward silence followed. Rebecca crossed her arms, and Alexandra pulled her hair back from her face and tied it with a scrunchie into a ponytail. The boys kept their eyes on the ground or looked off into the distance.

  Charlie knew they needed to clear the air. He took a deep breath.

  “We were talking, some of us, about how you girls were right, about the ball hockey. I mean, that we were sort of hogging the Tuesdays — the boys, I mean …” Everyone was staring at him. He felt his heart pounding, and he prayed his voice wouldn’t crack. “I think we should speak to Dalton about the days, and share them, I mean the boys and girls, and maybe … we should … share the pad.”

  Alexandra raised her eyebrows and stuck her tongue in the side of her mouth. Rebecca looked down at the ground.

  “That would be awesome,” Julia said. “We don’t have to play all the time — but some of the girls have been talking …”

  “It works for me,” Alexandra said.

  Again, there was quiet, but it did not feel so uncomfortable to Charlie now.

  “Actually, it’s good that you guys are here,” Julia said, finally.

  “It’s always good that we’re here,” Scott said.

  They all laughed.

  “It’s good that you’re here because we were trying to come up with ideas to present to the fundraising committee,” Julia said.

  “Do you really think we can raise that kind of money?” Nick said.

  “I think you’re forgetting my penny collection,” Scott said.

  Nick slapped his head. “Oh yeah! What are you up to?”

  “Twelve bucks,” Scott said.

  “TFH is saved!” Nick proclaimed, shaking Scott’s hand.

  Julia eyed the two jokesters. “Maybe we should come up with one or two more ideas?”

  “Car washes, bake sales and chocolates are too lame,” Nick said. “I pray we don’t have to do that.”

  “Never diss chocolate,” Scott said.

  “You can count on those,” Pudge said, “and probably the parents will be asked to contribute. We have seven hundred fifty kids in school. If every parent puts in a hundred …”

  Charlie suddenly felt worried. That would give them seventy-five thousand dollars, which was a huge amount — but only half way there. He felt a drop of rain — as if he were not depressed enough.

  “Whatever we come up with will have to be indoors. It’s been raining every day,” he muttered.

  “Do you have an indoor idea?” Pudge said.

  He paused, hoping one would come to him — and then it did! “What about a movie, for the whole school, in the gym, and we can sell popcorn and drinks and charge admission.”

  He waited for Scott and Nick to make a joke.

  But they didn’t.

  “That’s a great idea,” Pudge said, and the other guys seemed to agree.

  “We could easily raise a few thousand,” Zachary said. “People would pay ten dollars each, for sure. The whole school will show.”

  “We could do a double-feature — clear out the cafeteria and everyone can spread out sleeping bags,” Rebecca said.

  “What movie?” Zachary said.

  “It’s gotta be a zombie flick,” Scott said. “Who doesn’t love to see humans eating raw flesh?” He started chewing on his arm.

  The girls groaned.

  “I saw a great movie on the weekend with my folks,” Pudge said. “It’s an old movie, about poor people trying to raise money by winning a dance marathon. It’s called They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? It’s from the sixties. It’s really funny — even Scott will like it.”

  “Do the zombies eat the horses?” Scott said.

  “Or do the horses eat the zombies?” Nick said.

  “Or do the zombies ride the horses eating themselves?” Alexandra added.

  Pudge flushed and lowered his eyes. Charlie knew they were only being funny. But Pudge was sensitive sometimes.

  “I like the idea of an old and a new movie,” Charlie said. “We should mix it up. Maybe we could watch the movies ahead of time to make sure everyone would like them.”

  “As long as I don’t have to watch more than one zombie movie, I’m in,” Rebecca said.

  Pudge cheered up. “I have it on my computer. We can watch it any time.”

  “I didn’t know there was money in dance marathons,” Scott said. “Are you guys thinking what I’m thinking?”

  “We’re never thinking what you’re thinking,” Nick said. “That’s what makes us normal.”

  “We don’t dance … but we can skate!” Julia cut in. “We should have a skate-a-thon. We can get pledges and skate for eight hours, at ten dollars an hour, or whatever.”

  Zachary agreed. “I actually like that too. At least it’s not chocolate.”

  “If you don’t stop insulting chocolate …” Scott began.

  “And both ideas might even be fun,” Rebecca said, ignoring Scott.

  A roll of thunder crashed overhead and the sky darkened.

  “I’m not sure we’re going to get our game in,” Zachary said, looking up.

  “It’ll blow over,” Scott said. “Nick, you get the sticks and nets from the shed and I�
�ll watch and cheer you on.”

  Another sharp crack sounded and suddenly the rain began to pour down. In seconds they were all soaked.

  “You might want to hold off on that,” Scott said to Nick.

  “Why don’t we watch that movie?” Charlie asked Pudge.

  “Sure. If you want,” he said.

  “Anyone into Pudge’s movie?” Charlie said.

  “Yes!” they all answered emphatically.

  “Let’s move!” Nick yelled.

  The boys took off on their boards, with the girls running alongside. But the rain fell even harder and Charlie decided hurrying was pointless. He was totally drenched already. He got off his board and began to walk.

  “Those were good ideas,” Julia said, coming up beside him. She wiped the rain from her eyes and smiled. “We should present them to the committee. Don’t you think?”

  “Yeah. I guess.”

  “We could do it tomorrow. The committee is meeting before school.”

  She seemed to be suggesting that they go together, but he wasn’t sure. “Do you want me to come along? I can if you want, or not. Whatever. I’m easy.”

  “Movie night was your idea,” she said quietly.

  “I guess,” he said. “What time?”

  “I think it starts at seven-thirty.”

  He gulped. Usually he wasn’t even awake by then. “If my alarm clock cooperates, I’ll be there,” he said.

  They walked along, in the rain, not saying anything for a while.

  “You really are getting wet, Charlie Joyce,” Julia said.

  His conversation with Trisha must have made the gossip rounds. It was amazing how that worked. It was probably on Facebook already. The water was streaming down the street and they hopped up on the sidewalk.

  “I’m thinking this walking thing is a bad idea,” she continued.

  He scrunched his mouth to one side. “I see your point.”

  Together they took off towards Pudge’s house. Charlie was a good long-distance runner, but Julia had no trouble keeping up.

  “There it is,” he said, pointing to the house.

  The others were waiting.

  “Shark!” Scott yelled out to them. “Swim for your lives!”

  Julia pretended to do the front crawl. Scott took off his shirt and threw it at them. “Use this as a raft. It’s your only chance,” he said.

  Julia picked it up, and pretended to smell it. “I think I’d rather drown.”

  Pudge opened the door. He was holding a pile of towels. “Come on in, guys.”

  Charlie followed his friends inside. Pudge handed him a towel.

  “Is this movie really any good?” Charlie asked.

  Pudge pointed to the door. “You want to stay outside?”

  Charlie rubbed his hair with the towel. “Where’s the popcorn?” he asked.

  6

  WHERE’S THAT?

  Charlie ignored the drizzle as he half ran, half walked his way to school. He did not want to break his promise to Julia and be late to present their ideas to the committee. Unfortunately, when he was leaving, he couldn’t find his left running shoe, and then he somehow misplaced a science assignment. The result, as usual, was a mad rush.

  “Hey, Charlie. What’s the hurry?”

  He stopped short. Julia waved at him and came over. She held a garbage bag in her hand. Peering at him, she added, “Did you just wake up, or something?”

  He looked down and realized his jacket was unzipped and his shirt was half tucked in.

  “I encountered a few setbacks on my way out the door,” he said. “Maybe I should have stuck with the pyjamas.” He hurriedly pulled his shirt out.

  “I’m impressed you actually got here on time,” she said. “That’s got to be a record for you.”

  It was obviously no secret that he had issues with punctuality. He changed the subject. “What class is that for?” he said.

  “It’s not for class,” she said. “I thought it would help if I laid out our ideas on Bristol board. I’ll show you when we get inside. I don’t want it to get wet.”

  Charlie held the door open, and then she pulled out her work.

  “When did you have time for that?” he said. “It’s totally awesome.” Julia was a massive brainiac, so he knew he should not be surprised. Even still, he had spent all night playing video games, and now he felt a bit guilty.

  “I finished up my homework early and whipped this off,” Julia said. “I figured it would help the committee. I had to make up some stuff, especially the costs. They will have to give us some money up front to rent the ice.”

  “Looks good to me. You’ll blow them away,” Charlie said. It was a total understatement. He could spend two weeks on something like that and it wouldn’t look half as good.

  She interrupted his thoughts by pointing at the cafeteria. “We should probably actually show them … ?”

  “Right. Sure. In we go.”

  Six students were sitting at a table near the stage.

  “Hey, guys,” Dalton said. “Great to see you.”

  “How are things going?” Charlie said.

  He made a sour face. “We were hoping for a more enthusiastic turnout,” he said, looking around the empty room.

  “It’s still early,” Julia said.

  Dalton nodded. “Perhaps you’re right; and maybe more students will present tomorrow. Anyway, did you come up with some ideas?”

  “We did,” Julia said. “I prepared this to make things easier to explain.” She held up the Bristol board.

  “Can I see it?” Melissa said.

  “I’ll hold it for you,” Charlie said to Julia.

  “A few of us came up with two ideas,” Julia began. “First we thought it would be fun to have a movie night in the caf, show a double feature — maybe a zombie flick and a classic too. We found one about a dance contest, which is sort of like raising money — anyway, it’s a great movie, and we can sell popcorn and drinks and treats, and charge admission.”

  “I see you want to charge fifteen dollars a ticket,” Melissa said. “I think that’s too much. I don’t think people will come. That’s more than going to a real theatre.”

  “We could change it,” Julia said.

  “Five dollars for a bag of popcorn,” a girl next to Melissa said. “That’s bit of a rip, no?”

  “It’s good idea, A.J.,” Dalton said to her. “Like Julia said, we can always adjust the pricing.”

  A.J. shrugged. “I like my idea for a pancake breakfast better,” she said. “People love breakfast.”

  “We can do both,” Dalton said.

  “We will also need the school’s permission. And we have to get a permit, and that’s not always easy. What if things get out of hand? We’ll need teachers to supervise, and they might not want to,” Melissa said.

  Julia’s eyes narrowed and she looked over at Charlie.

  “We can take care of the permit,” Charlie said. He had no idea how, but he had to say something. “And we’ll make sure there are lots of people around to organize things.”

  “Like who?” Melissa said.

  “Like … me … and Julia … and our friends … and we’ll ask some teachers.”

  “You’re in grade ten, right?” A.J. said. She did not sound impressed.

  Charlie nodded.

  “This isn’t gonna work, Mel,” she said.

  Julia kept at it. “As you can see here, we could raise between four and seven thousand dollars, and maybe more if …”

  Melissa cut her off. “What’s your other idea?”

  Julia stopped, took a breath and answered slowly, “We also thought that we could organize a skate-a-thon, at the Ice Palace or somewhere else in town. If kids get sponsored, and I’ve guessed fifteen dollars an hour, or something like that, we could easily raise a few more thousand. The ice costs around a hundred and fifty an hour, and maybe we can get a deal from the rink since it’s for charity, so with only a hundred kids participating you can see here that w
e can make …”

  “It seems like you’re being rather optimistic,” A.J. interrupted. “Maybe we should shelve this one.”

  “I also don’t think you can get that many kids to show up,” Melissa said. “Look around. So far we’ve had three people, other than you, come up with any ideas. As usual, the student council is going to have to do all the work.”

  “But we have it figured out,” A.J. said.

  “I know, but still, it’s irritating that we have to do it ourselves,” Melissa said. “And as if we’ll be appreciated.”

  “I hear ya,” A.J. said.

  “If I may interject,” Dalton broke in gently. “This is a unique idea. I agree that your ideas are going to be very successful. Everyone loves chocolate, and certainly the bake sale and pancake breakfast should bring in some funds. But perhaps we could let Julia and Charlie see if they can organize a movie night and a skate-a-thon, and report back to us in a week or so. Then we can judge.”

  A.J. looked even less impressed than before. “They’re in grade ten. It’s a lot of work.”

  “We can do it,” Julia said. “We can raise some good money; and chocolates are …”

  “Great,” Charlie cut in. He could tell Julia was mad; and he could also tell Melissa and A.J. would freak if she criticized their ideas. “We just want to help out. Give us a chance. Our friends are totally stoked about the skate-a-thon, and we’ve already found a great movie.”

  Melissa took a deep breath. “I guess it’s good to get the younger grades involved.” She leaned forward. “Let us know by next week how things are going.”

  “I think we should focus on the other ideas,” A.J. said. “This is a waste of energy.”

  “Maybe you’re right, but it can’t hurt,” Melissa said. “Just don’t expect this committee to have any time to help you guys out,” she added, looking at Charlie and Julia.

  “I’ll be happy to lend my assistance,” Dalton said. “I’m only organizing a ball hockey tournament.”

  “Thanks, Dalton. That would be awesome,” Julia said.