Page 83 of Ice Princess

“This is our community too.” Mom smiles gently at me. “We want to do our part to take care of it.”

Emotions roll to my throat, making it hard to speak. Inhaling a few deep breaths, I regain my composure and point in the direction of the basketball court. “I need two people on the bleachers. The swings, too, could use a fresh coat of paint. Also…”

Mom takes in everything I say. She turns to our neighbors and repeats my instructions, helping to divide everyone into groups.

Time flies as I flit from one project to another, checking on progress, pitching in where I can, and running to solve problem after problem.

It’s a monumental task to cover an entire neighborhood in one day, and so many things go wrong.

The water pressure slows to a creep, making it impossible to wash down the side of the school.

Pet control got all but one of the dogs and the animal ran into the park, startling one of the volunteers who turned over a paint can. The dog then ranintothe spilled paint and left yellow paw marks all over the freshly painted basketball court.

The volunteers in charge of mowing the abandoned lots accidentally sent a stone crashing into a vehicle driving by and the owner was yelling and arguing at the top of his voice, demanding repayment.

But on the bright side, with so many hands pitching in, the school building is halfway painted. If we keep going at this pace, we’ll hit every task on our list by five p.m. the latest.

“Rebel,” mom calls me to the house while I’m enroute to the school for another check in, “the ladies and I packed sandwiches for the men. Can you help us share them out?”

I agree and switch routes to pick up my mom and the sandwiches instead.

Almost all the volunteers have congregated at the school along with the hockey team. Theilan and Watson are on top of ladders, painting the upper half of the building. Max and Chance are below, holding the ladders steady.

“Is anybody hungry?” I yell, lifting the bags of food.

My statement is met with cheers and a crowd quickly gathers around us.

“I’m sorry we don’t have anything better than sandwiches,” mom says sheepishly. “I know you just ate sandwiches for breakfast.”

Theilan somehow manages to scale down the ladder in a blink and gets to her first. He accepts his sandwich with a gleeful smile. “Are you kidding? I was starving!”

Benji walks over to get a sandwich from me. “How’s it looking?” He gestures to the school building.

“Great.” I notice the sweat seeping into his fancy white shirt. “You’re working hard.”

He bobs his head and says something else, but I’m not paying attention. My eyes swoop the field, looking for a tall hockey player with dark hair, cold blue eyes, and a could-care-less expression.

Gunner is nowhere to be seen.

“… anyway,” Benji is saying, “I decided I didn’t mind monster truck shows all along and?—”

“Sorry, Benji. Can you hand the rest of these out?” I stuff the basket into his stomach. “I need to find Gunner.”

He blinks.

I walk off and then abruptly turn back.

There’s a hopeful look in Benji’s eyes as I approach him.

Awkwardly, I snatch two sandwiches from the basket. “Forgot these,” I mumble.

Weaving through the crowd, I keep looking but I can’t find Gunner anywhere.

“Chance,” I approach April’s boyfriend, “have you seen Gunner?”

The famous hockey player glances up with a sandwich halfway to his mouth. “Yeah, I think he went that way to wash the paint off.”

“Thanks.” I head around the school building to the outdoor sink.

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