flipped. charlie conway

14

the next monday was treacherous. to say the hawks were merciless was a complete understatement. leah felt she would rather play rugby on the football field, which she was a mess at, than endure the weak harassment the hawks were serving, particularly larson and mcgill.

"c'mon banksies!" mcgill sarcastically groaned as adam pulled leah away from the bickering, "don't cry because you weren't good enough for the hawks - or even good enough for district five!" leah's blood boiled. everyone in the hallway knew that wasn't true, which only made the comment more aggravating.

"they - and we - are ducks now." leah glared, huffing as adam angrily tried to avert her attention onto getting to history.

"well, why don't we ask them?" larson smirked as none other than charlie conway walked past. leah's breath hitched as she admired how fluffily shaggy his hair appeared, and his tried to avoid the scene. "conway, we have a question for you!" larson called out. charlie stopped in his tracks and looked up, preparing himself for some pointless insults to be thrown towards his team.

"come here," mcgill ushered, and with a roll of his eyes, charlie came over, "we ditched the banksies because they weren't good enough for us. so tell us, are they good enough for your ducks? are they ducks, captain?"

leah and adam watched from two metres away as charlie seemingly coincided with the answer. the two were ducks now, what a silly question of mcgill to ask. but, the way adam tried to push her away before charlie could answer said everything. leah was blinded to charlie's hate towards her, and adam didn't want to see his sister upset.

"i think quitting hockey would have been a better option for them." charlie shrugged with a icy glare. leah frowned, reading the undertone of his words. leah scoffed and rolled her eyes, filling complying with adam's ushers and walking toward history.

that history lesson was different. leah was furious, of course, but primarily disheartened. so much for being a team.

not to mention, charlie could have stood up for the 'banksies'. heck, the 'banksies' helped them to the play-offs! leah concluded that he must have dissed her and her brother to look cool in front of the hawks. despite this, she was mad at charlie conway and refused look up from her table to see the shaggy hair in front. for someone who hated the hawks, he sire showed some fan behaviour.

charlie found that day rather blissful. he wasn't sniffed in history, he wasn't stared at in science, he wasn't talked to on the bus ride home. it was great! charlie figured he should say something mean every day, and then maybe leah banks would finally leave him alone forever. it was a plan, he just needed to grow the guts to enact it.

that evening, leah was still furious. they didn't know anything. she was on the frozen pond, angrily slapping a puck into the grassy riverbank. if she wasn't good enough, she would get good enough. she tried to convince adam to come along, but he really needed to work on his science fair project, considering it was due in two weeks and he hadn't started.

with each goal leah scored into the riverbank, she sprinted two laps of the pond. for each time she missed, she skated five. by the time the sun was starting to set and paint the sky with calm purples, leah was purposefully missing shots to skate more laps. she had already practised shooting four thousand times, and she very rarely missed. if anything, she needed to get faster on the ice. maybe everyone on the hawks was right for once, hockey isn't all about strategy if you have no physical skills to work with.

the only colour left in the sky was the orange glow off the horizon, leaving the rest of the sky dark navy. some stars were beginning to show and leah took the minute to admire their bright gleams, knowing she wasn't allowed to be out this late. with an image of her mother telling her off for being out too late, leah threw off her skates and raced home in her socks. the orange glow was still there when she arrived, so she figured she was fine.

"leah banks," her mother scolded as soon as leah opened the door, "what do you think you're doing, out so late?" she sternly told her daughter, hands on her hips. the sweaty girl heaved, catching her breath as she put her stick, puck and ice skates in the cupboard.

"training, ma, to get better at hockey." she breathed, taking off her winter coat when the warm air sizzled her own sweat.

"at this time of night? i think not." her mother scoffed, clearly worried about her own daughter's whereabouts.

"i have to! adam should have been with me, we're not good enough yet." leah sighed, shaking her head.

"good enough for what?" her mother frowned, right as adam came down the stairs.

"the hawks, and the ducks, and hockey itself." leah shrugged, making her way to the stairs to take a shower. their mother raised her eyebrows in skepticism, firmly halting leah as she walked past.

"says who?"

"the hawks, and the ducks, and hockey itself." leah sighed again. adam made his way over, feeling the same defeat as his sister. their mother tutted, patting her two twins on the shoulders.

"you are good enough for hockey," their mother sighed, looked at her children and their defeated faces. with a stern huff, she knocked some sense into her kids, "screw the hawks! screw the ducks! since when have you cared what they think?"

adam spoke up, leaning into his sister, "never, mum. that's why we want to get better, so we can actually play hockey well without people thinking we suck and to make you proud of us."

their mother shook her head, "you know i'll be proud of you no matter what," she sighed, rubbing the back of their heads, "don't mind them. play hockey for you, like you two always have. that's what makes you good; you want it." she smiled at her children.

"thanks, mum." adam smiled, pulling the two girls in his family into a hug.

"get in the shower and get to bed, you two. it's late." their mother returned to her stern persona, sending the two up the stairs.

even if her mother was right, leah still didn't feel like she was physically good enough for hockey yet. she knew she wanted it, a lot, but she knew she wasn't there yet. so fuck the hawks and charlie conway, leah thought, she and adam would be good enough for hockey in no time. and boy, was she going to kick their asses like a badass boss girl when she was good enough by their standard, and kick them even harder when she and adam made it further than they could ever dream of achieving.