flipped. charlie conway

45

"twelve to two," coach bombay scoffed in disbelief, "twelve to two?"

the team sat in silence in the change room, still clad in their blue and red uniform. losing, let alone by ten goals, was an experience leah wasn't used to. and it hurt.

"i won't even mention that our only goals were scored in the first term," bombay shook his head, holding his hands on his hips, "you know what word comes to mind when i hear that?"

coach bombay seethed from his place in front of the team. leah was conflicted, unsure whether to feel disappointed and angry at herself or at her coach.

"pathetic!" bombay bellowed to the silent team of hockey players, "you guys were brought here to play hockey."

"what about you?" jesse piped up, his face scrunching defensively.

bombay raised his eyebrows. "what about me, jesse?"

julie spoke up from beside leah. "coach stansson knew everything about us, they were ready for us!"

"yeah, whilst you spent all your time driving around in convertibles, talking to those sponsor fools." luis agreed, crossing his arms.

fulton decided to coin in, feeling his anger bubble out of his mouth. "or hanging out with the iceland trainer. we saw you, saturday night."

"eating with the enemy, coach?" dean shook his head distastefully.

coach bombay fell silent. leah sat still in her seat, trying to stop herself from lashing out at her defensive team. sure, they weren't as prepared as team iceland, but that shouldn't have stopped them from playing smartly. as the team outburst in incredulous disbelief at the accusation, coach bombay's eyes caught leah's, reminding him of her earlier words.

"hey, what i do is none of your business, okay?" he seethed, pointing an angry finger at the team. as everyone began to pull their jerseys off angrily, coach bombay halted them. "do not take your gear off! we have practise."

"tonight?" goldberg coughed, beads of sweat still dripping down his face.

bombay narrowed his eyes. "yes, tonight. be on the ice in two minutes." gordon bombay stormed out the room, his slick hair cutting through the humid air of the change room.

leah let her head fall into her left hand, releasing her right from its tight glove. it was swollen to the thickness of julie's goalie pads, eliciting a wince from the young girl. nothing had hurt this much before, but leah was too angry at herself to saw anything to coach. as the team wallowed in their own disappointment, leah carefully slid her glove back on and trudged her way to the ice first.

"coach, are we using sticks?" leah asked timidly, gesturing to her wrist that, unbeknownst to her coach, was triple its usual size.

coach bombay tightened his jaw. "no. now stop sulking and line up." coach scolded, staring at the flags around the stadium. leah lined up silently, feeling embarrassed for even opening her mouth in the first place to anger her coach.

fulton, guy, connie, julie, lester, and charlie stood upon the same blue line as they waited for the rest of their team to arrive.

no words were spoken once coach bombay instructed the team to lap around the rink, then sprint between the blue line and centre ice, then lap around the rink again. all that could be heard was the slick sound of blades cutting across the surface of the ice.

"this isn't much fun, coach." charlie pulled his helmet off after their sixth lap of the rink.

bombay narrowed his eyes. "who said it was supposed to be fun?"

"you did," charlie stood up a little straighter, "when you coached the ducks."

"i don't see any ducks here charlie," coach bombay shrugged, gesturing to the team of puffing players who eagerly took the opportunity for a rest, "all i see is team usa one more loss away from elimination."

leah admired charlie for speaking up, not having the confidence to do so herself.

"twenty more sprints, let's go!" bombay blew his whistle, "any complaints and we start again, now line up!" with a unanimous huff of dismay, team usa stood upon the blue line once again.

charlie shook his head disappointedly. nothing about hockey and the ducks seemed familiar anymore. not the game, not his coach, not even leah banks.