flipped. charlie conway

23

leah was incredibly relieved to hear adam was alright, having zero broken bones. sure, he had a mild concussion, but the doctors said he would be okay - and he looked perfectly fine. adam didn't really care about his concussion; he only wanted to know how the rest of the game went. adam was thrilled to hear of the ducks' winning outcome, let alone the fickle attack his sister took to mcgill.

the next day, leah and adam were browsing the hockey shop. they'd been rewarded twenty dollars each from their parents, which adam and leah agreed to put together if they could find something to share.

"what about this green tape?" leah offered, to which adam shook his head.

"no!" adam exclaimed incredulously, "besides, we have tape already. we should just save the money, lee."

although leah wanted to instantly reward her and her brother's hard work, she knew adam was right. leah hummed in agreement, placing the green roll of tape back on the shelf.

"smoothies, then?" leah offered sheepishly, knowing adam would never turn down a smoothie. adam sighed, battling his own thoughts within his head.

"alright." adam sighed with compliance, already feeling his mouth water at the thought of a mango smoothie. even though it was cold, spring was approaching. either way, smoothie season was evergreen to leah and adam. before the two could leave the shop, the owner and coach bombay's mentor approached the banks twins.

the greyed man chuckled, holding his arms out praisingly. "adam and leah - it's a pleasure to formally meet you. i am hans." he grinned at the children, shaking their hands politely. the children smiled, appreciating his dedication to the hockey shop and all the time he spends sharpening their skates.

"how'd you meet coach bombay?" adam asked, recognising the elderly man from their games. hans took a dramatic sigh at the question, placing his hands onto his hips.

"many, many years ago. when gordon used to be a hawk, like you." hans nodded, patting the young children on the shoulders. "he sees himself in both of you."

"thank you." leah humbly thanked for her and her brother. leah could tell that hans cared about hockey a lot, proven by his support to the ducks. hans seemed lovely, but leah knew now was not the time to get to know her coach's mentor.

"we best be off to get our smoothies, nice to meet you." adam smiled, to which hans returned the favour and waved happily at the two. adam and leah left the store hurriedly, almost running across three blocks to the edina smoothie booth.

to no one's surprise, leah and adam bought a mango smoothie each. the children returned home to rest, spending their time together as siblings do.

charlie conway also strolled the city, however accompanied by lester, who was occasionally pointing out cool tees and jeans in shop windows. charlie's joyful mood quickly grew sour at the mention of their final game.

"i still can't believe we actually won the season!" lester exclaimed, chortling to relieve his remaining surprise.

"right!" charlie agreed, "wasn't the game absolutely awesome - we all did so wel—"

"leah was on fire - especially after adam was wheeled out!" lester sighed thankfully.

charlie narrowed his eyes to correct his friend and teammate, "we all were 'on fire'."

lester took a nervous gulp as he stared at his friend, "well, yeah. but without adam and leah there's no way we would have even made it to the final."

"we didn't need them." charlie scoffed. charlie hated the way people praised the banks twins for their hockey.

"to win, yeah we did." lester sassed, laughing as charlie rolled his eyes annoyedly.

"would you shut up about leah and adam already?" charlie snapped, huffing a breath of anger as he threw his arms into the air frustratedly, "god, soon you'll be even more annoying than leah!"

lester grimaced at charlie's rage, scratching the back of his neck. "charlie, you're literally the only one who doesn't like them."

"no, it's just leah i don't like." charlie corrected.

the thick-lensed boy smirked, elbowing his friend teasingly. "you know," lester began all-knowingly, "coach, guy and connie all think you have a crush on her."

charlie scoffed, "yeah, and you have 20/20 vision." he rolled his eyes, shoving his shivering hands into his pockets.

lester gave a suggestive wiggle of his eyebrows, "maybe i do, which would mean tha—"

"i hate leah banks!" charlie fumed, unable to control his frustration any longer, "she's a try-hard, and a cheat, and a stalker!"

"come on, charlie. you don't mean tha—"

"she sniffs my hair in class," charlie hissed, "sniffs! yes, i hate her." lester gulped as he made eye contact with the two standing behind charlie. charlie rolled his eyes and turned around, expecting to see leah banks in all her glory. charlie hoped she heard every word.

"i hate leah banks too." the tall, hawk-clothed, scrawny boy known as mcgill sneered. with a new source of annoyance, charlie groaned to himself. larson awkwardly shifted his stony gaze, clearly objecting to mcgill's hatred toward leah.

lester laughed, "not as much as charlie!" he said as he threw an arm over charlie's shoulders.

"obviously," larson scoffed, disappointed in the people who failed to see his old friend like he did. sure, larson wasn't the greatest friend to leah, but if there were a way for larson to be friends with leah again, he certainly would.

a malicious smirk grew on mcgill's face, "tell you what, girls," mcgill folded his arms, "you actually gonna do anything to stop leah's obsession with charlie?"

hope sparked in charlie - would mcgill find a way to finally end leah's stalker phase? charlie shook his head, eager to hear mcgill continue.

"that's what i thought. how about we make a deal?" mcgill proposed.

"wait a minute," lester interrupted, "a deal for?"

mcgill groaned, "a deal to ruin leah's life, duh. no more leah banks? no more schoolgirl crush on conway. simple."

larson shook his head, "like that would ever happen." mcgill elbowed larson harshly, causing the blond boy to groan in pain.

charlie bubbled with glee and malice, eager to put an end to the nonsense he had put up with for so long.

"so, do we have a deal?" mcgill encouraged as he held his hand out.

charlie shook mcgill's hand eagerly, "deal."

ruin leah bank's life.