flipped. charlie conway

52

leah sulked in the empty stands as she stared down at the splint around her wrist. there was no way she could play hockey with it. it's rigid frame reminded her of charlie; mistaking tenacity and dedication for balk and pride. leah felt like she should have just stayed home.

the girl slumped in her plastic seat as she waited for team usa to arrive on the ice. she'd been sitting out for all of five minutes, and the girl was already bored out of her mind.

in the change room, the team chortled through mindless conversation. adam looked around, feeling incomplete without their extra player. dean approached the quiet boy and slapped him on the shoulder. "banks, where's your sister?"

"oh," adam sighed, eager to get to leah who was already out there waiting, "she's been benched."

"what did you say?" dwayne threw off his broad-brimmed hat. the team looked over in curiosity, watching the texas boy drop his gear.

the banks boy shook his head at the attention, turning around into his locker as he searched for the tape for his stick. tears welled in adam's eyes as the harsh extent of leah's injury gnawed into him. adam couldn't help but feel it was his fault, and now he'd suffer the consequence by playing alone. connie and julie watched with heavy hearts, having seen leah in a similar state when she'd showed up in a sling.

breaking the curious silence, julie huffed. "leah can't play, she's sprained her wrist."

an uproar of disbelief raged through the crowd. adam lowered his head, somewhat angry that his team were upset. they didn't get it, they didn't know what it meant to leah or himself.

charlie couldn't help but smile, feeling his spirits lift. without leah around, there was no one to make him feel frustrated or frazzled. charlie had been wanting this for so long.

"get that smile off your face, charlie." fulton scorned, holding his stick against his chin in dismay.

jesse scoffed at the conway boy. "yeah, we've basically been told we're going home sooner than we thought."

charlie suppressed a laugh. "i promise you, we'll be just fine without leah banks. better, even."

"you're full of it." fulton narrowed his eyes, walking away from the arrogant boy.

charlie frowned, wiping his smile off his face. as he looked around, he noticed the concern radiating off his team. "i can fix this!" charlie shouted, brewing a plan in his mind. adam gave an appreciative smile as he left for leah and the ice, knowing there wasn't much charlie could do.

the banks girl impatiently sighed as coach bombay met her in the stands. "leah! how you feelin'?"

"good, and you?" leah politely asked, even though she felt more like a kicked puppy.

"great. anyway, i want you to go watch iceland train and get us some pointers. they're in the next rink over." gordon nodded with a cheeky grin. as much as leah wanted to sit and sulk all day, she knew bombay would shoo her away. the girl gave a grin and a nod, walking away to the next rink. leah felt she'd be better off at home, feeding her chickens and collecting their fragile beige eggs.

iceland were already well into their training, yelling out chants and grunts that echoed off the walls of the empty stadium. leah stood beside the door, hiding herself away from the vicious, cold eyes of stansson. confronting the large, growling man would only make her day worse than it already was.

"push!" stansson yelled, "i want you angry!"

the iceland trainer stood by the goal, deflecting as many pucks as she could. the iceland team were relentless, and leah could see the impress on the lady's face. her shouts of encouragement were quickly shut down by coach stansson, who demanded more force and anger.

leah gulped. there was no way her team could prepare for the pure red seething off iceland. they'd be beaten around like flies. leah knew she wanted to be on the ice helping all she could. leah just had to be on the ice.

as soon as the training was over, charlie hurried over to the asphalt courts a few blocks away. rollerbladers zoomed across the grey bitumen with ease.

"hey!" charlie called, waving at the familiar people from behind the chicken-wire fence. the ribbed net reminded charlie of leah and her chickens, bringing distasteful heat to his cheeks.

"hey, it's charlie from team usa!" a tall boy pointed, immediately halting the team as they ushered charlie inside.

"listen," charlie began, "who's the strongest hockey player you've got?"