flipped. charlie conway

43

team usa's upcoming game was against iceland, and that rattled leah's bones. she knew what they were up against, and she was sure it would worse than her team was expecting. leah just prayed they would play with their logic, not their arrogant egos.

"you'll never guess what we saw." dean angrily scoffed as he walked up to adam and leah, fulton looking just as upset. the two seemed aggressive for such disappointment.

lester chuckled to himself. "what, that they give out free popcorn?" the lensed boy only received humourless glances from the bash brothers in return as they quickly hushed their conversation to the banks twins.

fulton shook his head. "we saw coach bombay with the trainer for iceland. just last night getting gelato."

"what?" adam exclaimed incredulously.

dean rolled his tongue over his teeth. "looked pretty cosy, if you ask me."

"coach can do what he wants," the girl began, "so what are you trying to say is happening?" leah asked, her eyes narrowing as she shook her head.

"exactly!" fulton threw his arms up, "he's off with another team, blabbing all of our plays."

leah huffed in dismay. "well let's not assume anything bad," she began, freezing once she saw three incredulous faces staring up at her, "okay, you're upset. but cry about it later, not as we're about to play!" she pleaded. why on earth would they cause trouble now?

"all right, we ready to warm up? let's go!" coach bombay burst into the room, clapping his hands encouragingly. leah's jaw dropped. coach bombay dared show up late, and then rocks up like this?

coach bombay wore a sleek tux, the polar opposite of his usual attire of jeans and the usa bomber jacket. he wore long, polished shoes, that were much classier than the beat-up sneakers he usually wore. lastly, his hair was pulled back by so much gel that leah thought his head must have felt heavy. coach bombay didn't look like himself. coach bombay looked like wolf 'the dentist' stansson.

as their coach made his way to the desk, receiving many compliments on his appearance, dean and fulton slid their way up to his desk. leah internally groaned. now was not the time to argue. she stormed her way over.

"had a good night last night, coach?" fulton asked with faux oblivion.

bombay dismissed the players casually as he flicked through some paperwork on a clipboard. "yeah, it was fine."

dean smirked. "what'd you do?" he asked slyly.

coach bombay was confused by the intrigue of his night. "oh, you know. the usual, just watched some television and got to bed early."

"but not without a little dessert, right?" dean scoffed, raising his eyebrows all-knowingly as coach whipped his head around.

"a little ice cream, maybe?" fulton added disappointedly. with that, the two boys walked away.

coach bombay turned his head to leah, eyes apologetic as he began to explain himself to the young girl. "i know it sounds bad, leah. but i promise it's not."

"coach, you have free will in your own time," leah assured, dismissing the situation before it angered her more. coach bombay released a relieved sigh before she continued, "what the hell are you wearing?"

coach bombay raised his eyebrows excitedly. "only the best, finely made, tailored tux sewn together by none other than—"

"—coaches don't wear tuxes." leah deadpanned as she cut her coach off. she knew it was rude, but she felt her rudeness was currently defendable.

coach bombay shrugged. "we're not your casual hockey players anymore, leah."

"so you play dress up as another coach? sorry, coach bombay, but i prefer it when you wear your usual clothes." leah frowned, chin lowering as her coach dismissed her once again.

"we'll get used to it. you just focus on the game, alright?" he sighed, ushering the girl away.

charlie snickered as she walked past, awaiting her attention. "just heard you getting told to focus on the game! i tried to tell you cheating doesn't get you anywhere."

though leah felt her usual butterflies and blood rush to her cheeks, she was too angry with coach bombay to listen to charlie's soft-spoken words. leah didn't want any of her anger to avalanche upon charlie.

when the girl simply continued walking away, charlie stared after the girl with a frown. what was up with her?

as steam poured out of her ears, adam gulped nervously. leah threw her limbs around sharply as she began to warm up, and adam was right in the crossfire.

"leah, calm down." adam sighed, knowing that an angry leah was not fun to play with.

the girl pursed her lips, turning to her brother fiercely. her gaze softened at his sympathetic frown. "sorry, adam. i'm trying."

"what happened?" he asked curiously as he rolled his shoulders backwards and forwards.

"i'll tell you later." the girl flicked her eyes, strictly devoting her focus on the upcoming game against iceland.

leah didn't know what to think, so she refused to. the second leah stepped onto the ice, she turned into a machine, and subsequently, adam turned the same. getting the puck was all that mattered.

silently, the rest of the team watched fearfully as two of their players mercilessly shot a puck between them and sped down the ice.