𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐏 𝐒𝐇𝐎𝐓-FULTON REED

[CHAPTER FIVE]

"If we are going to cheat, we need to make those falls look real." Insisted Bombay as he walked around, observing the kids.

Cassie hooked Charlie's ankles to the end of her hockey stick and burst out laughed when the boy hit the ice head first.

"Woah score one for the spirit!" Bombay praised Cassie as he walked by.

Cassie leaned in to whisper to Charlie, "Don't you think it sketchy that he's teaching to cheat instead of training us?"

Charlie sighed, "It's better than nothing."

Guy hit the ground with a loud thud, Connie helping him up while apologising profusely.

"C'mon make it look real."

Guy winced and looked at their coach, "I am hurt."

Bombay lined them up in two rows as he walked between them, "Say it again!"

"Take the fall! Act hurt! Get indignant!" The team chanted as their coach nodded in approval.

"Good, you guys are ready."

~

"I don't like that new coach of yours. He's teaching you kids to cheat." Vince stated.

With practice ending around the same time Vince got off work, the uncle and niece decided to walk home together so as to allow Michael to get more over time.

"We don't like him either, but he's all we've got." Cassie sighed.

Vince looked down and saw the girl's dejected expression, "You excited for the game tomorrow?"

Cassie's face lit up with joy as the topic shifted to the upcoming game against the Jets.

"Can't wait but you and Dad don't have to wait for me after the game, I'll be having a sleepover with Connie." To be honest, Cassie was more excited for the sleepover after the game than for the game itself, she knew the game was going to be like any other.

~

"C'mon ref, open your eyes, did you see what he did to me?" Goldberg complained to the referee after he 'tripped'.

"Goldberg, you don't take the fall while they're shooting at you." Bombay sighed as he pinched his nose bridge.

The team was somehow still loosing even though they were cheating.

"I much rather be loosing by playing instead of cheating." Cassie seethed, Connie agreeing.

The two girls were on the bench for most of the game, Bombay not even throwing a glance in their direction.

The referee approached Bombay with a frown on his face, "District five, cut the acting class. One for dive and you forfeit to the jets!"

Charlie groaned, disappointed that this was what the team had become.

Sure they lost all the time but at least they lost on their own merits.

Charlie got back into the game and was immediately shoved into the glass walls as he desperately tried to get the puck.

"Let's go quit it! Face off."

Bombay gestured for Charlie to go to him, a sly smirk on the man's face.

"That guy is twice your size. The next time he gets you in a corner like that, I want you to grab your eye like it's cut and then hit the ice!" Bombay sent Charlie on his way.