ALICE Ch 281

Shaken, Alice Wilde makes her way uneasily down the hallway. Everything seems surreal.

She knocks, then fidgets as she waits.

Coach Riley answers the door, lighting up at the sight of her. She’s wearing an oversized Washington Spirit tee.

“Hey!” she says delightedly and hugs Alice. “Babe, Alice is here!”

“Alice who?” Coach Adella calls from inside.

“She thinks she’s funny. She’s not funny.” Riley looks Alice up and down. “Man, you’re taller than Adella.” She frowns at the stains on Alice’s chest. “What happened to you, kiddo?”

There’s no good way to say this. “Can I come in?” Alice asks.

“Yeah, yeah!” Riley yanks her inside and shuts the door. Alice follows her down the short hall to find Adella on the bed in a matching set of boyshorts and sports bra. She’s not quite as cut as she used to be, but she still looks powerful. That’s not enough to get Alice out of her head at the moment. Even Riley jumping on the bed to shake Adella into putting down her phone and flashing her panties in the process isn’t enough to distract her.

Alice runs her hand through her hair. “Glynda just used me for a body pillow and cried on me for an hour.”

Riley hops onto her knees and Adella sits up straight.

“What? Why?” Riley asks.

“Do you guys not look at social media? People aren’t talking?”

“Alice, Colby’s got us practicing ten hours a day. We’re lucky to get a pee break,” Riley says.

“What happened?” Adella puts her arm around Riley, looking worried.

“Mio punched KMag in the dick.”

“K who?”

“Kevin Magnussen from Haas. He’s another driver. Mio beat the shit out of him, and like twenty people got in a fight at bar like a quarter of a mile from here.”

“Oh my god.” Riley covers her mouth. “Is that a big deal?”

Alice begins to pace. “It’s not great. Mio can’t drive on Sunday, and people are saying that Glynda put her up to it.”

Adella makes a face. “Why?”

“I guess they’re saying it’s all about Akiko Tanaka. She’s started driving well, and this is gonna be really bad for her.”

Riley and Adella exchange a look. They sigh in unison.

Adella catches Alice’s eye. “Don’t assume that this is calculated.”

“But don’t rule it out,” Riley adds. “They did this Game of Thrones shit constantly with FUTA. It’s one of the reasons I bailed in the end. Glynda’s the lady with the glasses? Huge boobies?”

“That’s her,” Alice confirms.

“Is she OK?”

“I don’t know. But I do know that she didn’t put Mio up to anything.”

“I don’t know what to do,” Alice says. This is like driving a car with no power. She’s helpless.

“Your job’s to drive,” Adella says, waving a hand. “Let the money people worry about it.”

Riley jabs her with an elbow. “That’s not what she needs to hear right now.” She crawls to the edge of the bed to get her phone from the table.

“What are you doing?” Adella asks tiredly.

“What else? Calling Annette.”