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by the time adam and leah were in seventh grade in 1992, they were still the hawk's star players. despite this, they were probably the least cocky out of their entire team.
when a stranger looked at the hawks, they might have thought that the hawks were a professional sports team which all the kids were obsessed with. with the amount of hawks merchandise the team insisted on wearing, they looked like a bunch of die-hard fans. it mightn't have been an irrational statement to say that they were crazy fans of themselves.
if it weren't for leah's love of the colour green, just like the moss in the pond, maybe she would have sported more of the hawks merchandise too. she refused to be so arrogant, but leah would admit that she liked wearing the winter jacket. the blue admittedly wasn't anywhere near as captivating as the blue of charlie conway's eyes, but it was a reminder of his pond-like beauty.
ever since leah flipped for charlie conway at the start of sixth grade, she had been subject to adam's girlish teasing. well, not only adam. basically the entire school knew that of leah's crush on charlie conway. who could blame her? charlie was just so dreamy. hearing adam chant 'leah and charlie sitting in a tree, k. i. s. s. i. n. g.' made her heart race and cheeks excitedly flush. leah would have been embarrassed, but she didn't exactly have a reputation to uphold. she was only known as leah banks, adam's twin sister.
leah had friends, sure, but she certainly wasn't considered 'popular'. it was because leah didn't really know how to keep up with the trends - sun tanning, highlighting her hair, and up-keeping her eyebrows. if it bothered her, maybe she might've cared. however, leah strictly only cared for adam, the pond, ice hockey and charlie conway. she was just leah banks, and it often felt like the lenses leah viewed the world with weren't the same as everyone else's.
fortunately, as sixth grade progressed, leah learned to control herself around charlie. charlie outwardly despised adam and the rest of the hawks - which leah knew was only because they were hawks. charlie despised leah the most. she was always around and she could never seem to leave him alone. sometimes charlie dreamed of gluing her mouth shut so that she wouldn't mindlessly speak in his direction about her stupid pond and her stupid evenings watching the sunset. when leah discovered that charlie conway played hockey for district five, it only heightened her already skyrocketing feelings for him. charlie loved ice hockey too! they were destined for each other. it was almost lucky they lived in different districts, because if charlie was also a hawk, leah wouldn't have been able to focus on the game she loved most.
leah also liked to think that when charlie's cheeks turned pink with anger, like the pink sky seen from the raft during a sunset, he was just being shy. he was so adorable.
now that they were all part-way through seventh grade, the 1992 peewee championship season was starting. once again, adam and leah were playing for the hawks team and their first game was against no other than district five - charlie's team.
district five had undoubtedly been preparing for the season as winter rolled around, but leah had heard rumours that they didn't even have a coach. though she despised coach reilly sometimes, she couldn't imagine playing hockey without him. no wonder district five struggled to compete in the championship. with the upcoming season and the game against district five, tension was higher than ever at school.
"hey girls." the hawks would remark as they walked past members of district five. adam would snicker, but leah would elbow him in the side to shut him up.
"i'm a girl." she would defend, the ferociousness of a lion in her heart but the intimidation of a rock on her front. being a girl didn't mean anything. ice hockey was ice hockey.
"you know it's just a stereotype." larson would acknowledge, to his teammates dismay. though larson confined to the bully tendencies of the hawks, at least he had a sense of right and wrong. maybe he was just too clueless.
"maybe you should tell charlie conway you're a girl - perhaps then he'll pay attention to you." mcgill sniggered, ushering the teammates in his next class to move along.
"ha ha," leah droned sarcastically, trying to ignore the slight weight pulling down on her heart, "let's go to class, adam."
