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leah asked adam to find another bag to use than his hawks bag, but they couldn't seem to find one. for either of them. adam was just as nervous as leah was to show up to the ducks game - it would be embarrassing. their hawks friends had been taunting the ducks for years, and now they had to choose between playing for the team subject to the torment or not play hockey at all. obviously, they chose hockey together.
leah was also curious as to whether adam and herself would enjoy hockey anymore. if they were at the bottom of the ladder, would they even be challenged? would they even bother trying? would they have any hope of winning? and in that case, would hockey even be fun?
leah figured that either way, adam and her would be together. they would find a way to make it fun, even if it meant knocking their own teammates out of the way. she was just glad that charlie and her were already good friends. adam and her had nothing to worry about.
"i'm nervous, leah." adam interrupted leah's thoughts, furrowing his eyebrows as their dad rolled to a stop outside the rink. their dad had been stressed with his current lawsuit, and their arrival to the ducks game hadn't relieved any of his stress like the twins' hawks games usually did.
"good luck, adam, leah," dad turned to face the both of his children in the backseat, "teamwork, you two. i expect to see you shine in the... ducks." he grimaced, cringing as the new team didn't roll off his tongue like 'hawks' did. adam gave a curt nod before he huffed and glumly left the car - the car which seemed a little too shiny in comparison to all the other cars in the parking lot.
"thanks, dad." leah gave him a lacklustre grin, sighing as she followed her brother out the car and their dad found a place to park away from the dented and scratched cars. with all the stress he was currently under, the last thing he would want would be for his car to be totalled or damaged.
"did you hear him?" adam nervously groaned, "he said 'i expect to see you shine!', we already try to shine - how are we supposed to 'shine' any more? i don't want us to disappoint him, lee." adam fussed whilst leah rolled her eyes at his impression of their father.
"that's not what he meant," she sang as adam frowned, "he means that he expects us to grow together with teamwork. to work together and get better. we're in this together, adam. we won't disappoint." leah reassured, seeming to calm adam a little bit.
"you're right, i just don't want to let anyone else down. first it was the hawks, then mcgill and larson for unwillingly moving teams, then the ducks already hate us and we haven't even walked in yet, and da—"
"adam," leah interrupted, "who cares. you'll never let me down. that's more than enough." adam sighed, preparing to open the front rink doors.
"same goes. let's play some damn hockey." he finally smiled, patting leah's head lovingly. what a brother.
leah's nervousness came back as soon as they arrived outside the home team's change room - the ducks change room. suddenly, it felt like her stomach was violently bubbling with green acid and there was a whirlpool of lava swirling in her head. it felt like her heart was about to lodge itself in her throat and her lungs had just sang in an opera. leah looked to adam as he maintained a smug look.
