flipped. charlie conway

38

to say team usa's ego inflated was definitely an understatement, and adam and leah were borderline horrified. sure, they loved to feel uplifted and optimistic alongside their team, but it was almost growing too much.

that's why leah was wary of their first interaction with the press. the usa was notorious for its egotistical nature, and in this international competition, she was worried that it may hinder them than push them.

"quiet, quiet now!" don tibbles hushed the dozens of news reporters below the young hockey team and their coach. leah was more distracted by the large, polar bear mascot sporting their uniform. kind of unnecessary.

"the man chosen to bring them to gold, gordon bombay!" tibbles applauded, ushering henry the hendrix bear upon the stage for some photographs. "okay, we're open for some questions."

"team usa," a young reporter spoke, "how does it feel competing on a international level here in los angeles?"

"feels good!" goldberg cheered.

"love it!" charlie yelled enthusiastically, brightening leah's mood. charlie always knew how to uplift the people around him, that's what made him a great captain, and of course leah admired him even more for that.

leah could only think to herself of how mind-boggling it truly was. just a year ago, they were mediocrely playing in the peewee championships, and now they were across the country to play against teams from across the globe.

tibbles happily indicated to the next reporter. she stood up with much more arrogance than the first reporter. "coach bombay, the vikings from iceland are they heavy favourite - their coach has already guaranteed victory. how are you gonna handle them?"

leah frowned, now worried that her team's bright mood would fall very soon to iceland.

coach bombay stumbled for words. "um, hard work. i think our team is ready to go against the best in the world." the coach paused, and leah felt heart warmed at the faith her coach had in her teammates. "we're not worried about 'em. iceland may be tough, but we're team usa, and we're going all the way!"

tibbles held his thumbs up approvingly as the crowd fell into applause.

"team usa is going down, that's where they're going." a voice boomed over the applause, silencing the enthusiastic team. a man with slicked hair in a dark tux glared at leah's coach. a team of strong, beefy players, all with blonde hair that rivalled adam's and leah's, bore holes into team usa with their icy glares. "see you on the ice, bombay." the coach smirked, hungrily observing the blue and red team. the latter erupted into scoffs.

coach bombay looked to tibbles questioningly, as tibbles sighed. "that's stansson. coach of the iceland team - he's wound a little tight."

"stansson from the national hockey league?" bombay exclaimed in disbelief, "wolf 'the dentist' stansson is coaching? you didn't tell me that." coach bombay and tibbles strolled away hushedly.

the worry in coach bombay's tone stung leah with doubt. she was sure there was still plenty of faith for her team, but it was undoubted that iceland would be a difficult team to play.

"stop sulking," charlie scolded, "i can smell it from a mile away, you're dampening the mood." the shaggy haired boy huffed, adjusting his hendrix cap as he stood beside the dreadful leah.

"that guy is called the dentist?" kenny frowned confusedly.

"that was his nickname," charlie corrected, "played one year of pro, collected more teeth than goals. i heard he even punched out his own coach!"

"they ran him out of the league and the country." julie continued, shaking her head at the intimidating team.

at the conflict, stansson arrogantly complained. "what happened to freedom of speech? isn't this america?" he gestured to the small crowd of players, eyeing down leah banks and her brother with a hard gaze.

julie shook her head. "looks like tooth fairy wants you over there, leah."

charlie scoffed and rolled his eyes. "please," the boy groaned, "probably just wants to knock her out of the game first, i sure hope."

"that's his team?" kenny exclaimed as the four made their way closer, "those guys are huge! i hope they get to leah before me."

leah didn't like the negative talk, as it only increased the worry she'd already been bottling up. the girl made her way to ms mckay and coach bombay inquisitively.

"hey, leah! what'd you think?" ms mckay kindly asked.

"um," the girl thought, "not what i expected. not as much talk on hockey as i thought there'd be - too many bears and too much fighting."

ms mckay smiled a short laugh. "i'd have to agree, leah."

"it's all part of the game." coach bombay shrugged, holding his hands upon his hips.

"a giant polar bear with sunglasses is part of hockey now? guess the game has really changed." ms mckay shrugged, almost disapprovingly. leah admired that the team's tutor was honest in her views.

soon enough, tibbles came running back over to usher coach bombay away once again. ms mckay and leah looked at each other with a shared look of disdain.

"hello there, young missy! how about a bear hug?" henry the hendrix bear asked as he stormed past.

the two groaned at the small scare and strange behaviour from the bear.

"mc mckay, dean is about to punch me!" goldberg fearfully yelled as he stormed toward ms mckay, portman chasing after him.

leah laughed gleefully in amusement, not noticing that charlie sneaked up beside her.

"open your bird beak any wider and you'll find some worms." charlie chortled to himself, crossing his arms smugly. butterflies immediately flurried through leah's stomach and snatched her mind right out of her skull.

after a moment of confusion and slight embarrassment, leah furrowed her eyebrows with a questioning grin. "what?"

charlie shrugged dismissively. "just saying, you don't play well and i'll make sure you don't play iceland."

leah silenced herself confusedly. she'd do her best, like always. due to the overpowering nerves taking over her body, through a sea of butterflies and hot flushes, leah turned away to diffuse the nerves before she could embarrass herself further.

as she walked away, charlie scoffed at the golden reflections in her hair against the sun. it was ironic to charlie, because leah banks was anything but gold-winning.