𝗕𝗔𝗦𝗛 𝗦𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥?

21 : old school

the following day rolled around slowly. when i had woken up, i couldn't even move my legs. they felt heavier than ever before.

some of the players, mostly dean, insisted we worked out for the day since our coach was gone again. we were out in our track suits, on a field, stretching together.

"coach isn't here. why do we have to be here?" connie asked aloud as dean was calling out the stretches. "we have a game tonight. we have to work out."

goldberg stood up and let out a sigh. "i say mutiny. who's with me?" i chuckled quietly to myself and shook my head. "oh c'mon, we haven't even gotten to the fun part yet," i mentioned to goldberg. he shrugged his shoulders at me.

"goldberg, i'm too tired for mutiny," dwayne said as a few drops of sweat rolled down his forehead. it was bright and sunny in los angeles today.

"come on, guys, it's not like we couldn't use the conditioning," julie said to everyone as she continued to do the stretches. dean scoffed to himself.

"speak for yourself, babe." even though he meant it jokinly, adam took it a little too far. he lunged forward towards dean. "her name is julie, not 'babe.'"

dean took a couple steps forward and yelled in the boys face, "don't tell me how to talk, rich boy." everyone came crowding around them and then soon enough fulton and dean were yelling at each other.

"dean, chill out. it isn't a huge deal," i said as i tried pushing them apart from each other. but they both completely ignored me and continued to bicker.

suddenly, a voice was heard from behind us. "yo team usa. what're you gonna do today, a million jumping jacks?"

as i turned around to see who was talking to us, he looked quite familiar to me. where had i seen him before?

"man, this kid is crazier than me. forget about him. look, fulton!" dean exclaimed as he was about to keep going at it with fulton.

jesse then stepped out from our group. "hey man, i'm getting sick of you!" he told the other boy. "i'm getting sick of seeing the usa represented by a bunch of whining babies."

jesse lightly scoffed to himself. "too bad you can't back up that mouth." the other boy easily responded: "man, me and my boys can take you anytime, anywhere."

everyone else stood quiet as it was only jesse and the other young boy arguing. "i don't see no 'boys,'" jesse said back to him.

"i got 'em waiting. grab your gear and let's go play some schoolyard puck. or maybe you forgot what it's like to play for real pride," the boy said as he was then taken away by one of the security guards for not having a pass.

we all stood there for a moment looking at one another. "well, what are we waiting for. let's go prove them wrong," jesse said as he followed where the other boy had left.

i looked over at dean who was giving a death stare to fulton. i shook my head and followed along with jesse.

when we arrived, there were multiple kids skating around, playing against each other. as i stepped over to set my stuff down, russ came over to me.

"well well, look who's also here," russ said as he sat down on the bench. a silly smirk was plastered on his face.

"how are you russ?" i asked as i sat next to him to put my roller blades on. he looked over at his friends and nodded his head.

we talked for a few minutes before both of the teams were ready. we stood in front of each other, staring at one another before one of the boys spoke up.

"my little brother russ here has been telling me that you have been chokin' big time." jesse had to step right in and talk back to the boys. "well your brother's got a big mouth."

it was quiet between russ and his brother for a moment. though they looked at one another and the older brother said, "he does, doesn't he?" russ had a dumb smirk on his face.

goldberg and averman breathed a sigh of relief when the boys said those words. i quietly giggled under my breath.

we talked for a few more minutes before the game began. immediately, my teammates were being thrown into the fence, easily getting shot on, and even slipping on their own two feet.

connie and i, with some of our other teammates, were sat on the bench yelling at our team. it looked like we didn't even know what a puck was. i felt a little embarrassed.

sooner than later, we were beginning to get the hang of it. both luis and charlie had scored, and fulton had accidentally hit it over the fence, making one of the car alarms go off.

i switched out with guy and took a seat on the bench. i grabbed one of the bottles and took a swig of water. as i looked at all of us playing schoolyard puck, we really did look like the usa hockey team.