Shoot Your Shot

XVII: Overdrive (Dina)

Dina pretended not to watch the arcade door compulsively, but she struggled not to stare. She hadn't seen Ellie since their last game together and she was giddy, dancing back and forth subtly on her feet as she tried to listen to what Mel was saying.

"So I was thinking of starting Riri on defense." Mel said, staring down at her notes app as she went over the upcoming lineup.

"Mhm." Dina responded noncommittally as she watched Cat walk out the exit doors and back inside, clearly in her element at work.

"And then moving her to midfield after halftime so she can push up with Mary since she seems to get more energy the more she plays." Mel continued as Dina hummed in response.

A handful of players had filtered inside by then, but none of them were Ellie. Mel, of course, had picked up on Dina's inattentive state and began to mess around, seeing how far she could go before Dina noticed.

"I think I'm going to get a huge tramp stamp that winds around my waist like a hula hoop." Mel said casually as Dina "uh-huhed" again.

"Or maybe Owen's name on my neck, with one of those cringy ass roses."

"Wait, what?" Dina said, snapping out of staring at the door to look at Mel, floored at the mention of her ex boyfriend.

"Your attentiveness to this conversation is astounding."

"I'm sorry I'm sorry." Dina said, begrudgingly turning to look at Mel with her undivided attention and face her back to the door.

"As I was saying, Riri and Mary second half of the next game in midfield, yes?" Mel restated as Dina nodded

"Definitely, Riri communicates best with Mary anyways so it's a no brainer as long as they still both have the energy."

"That's what I think too. Riri is like a machine but lack of communication hurts her, I swear that girl is silent." Mel said as Dina laughed.

"Yeah but not to Mary. It's a good idea, I would bring it up with Coach Marlene when you see her next-" Before Dina could finish her sentence, she was crushed into a hug from behind and lifted off of the ground before she could even register what was happening, Mel watching with a huge smile on her face.

"Hiiiiiiiii." Ellie said, the gentleness of her voice making Dina laugh as the forward plopped her back down onto the old arcade tiling, Dina turning to actually hug her and try to downplay how badly she wanted to give Ellie a proper greeting.

"Hi back stranger."

Ellie chuckled lowly in her ear as Dina felt her face redden, pulling back from their bubble and leaning against the air hockey rink once more, the defender watching Ellie acknowledge Mel, albeit shyly.

"Hey Mel." Ellie said sheepishly, like she hadn't initially seen her and had tunnel vision on Dina alone.

"Hello Ellie, good to see you." Mel said with a happy smile, looking past her for a brief moment before looking back at them both.

Before Ellie could follow up, Cat had rounded the counter with a huff, shoving a tray of stale nacho chips and fake cheese into Ellie's hands which the forward gleefully accepted, popping one into her mouth before making a expression of revolution, ditching the food into the trash nearby and smacking her lips. Dina bit her tongue hard, nearly drawing blood to keep herself from laughing, Cat none the wiser.

"So, who wants my job?" Cat asked, taking off her name tag and extending it towards the three of them, clearly frustrated by the workload.

"Come on, you work in an arcade, surely it can't be that bad?" Dina tried as Cat adamantly shook her head.