flipped. charlie conway

22

leah was in a rage. she was furious! it was obvious coach reilly had told mcgill to knock adam, and possibly leah, out of the game - and leah was going to make sure mcgill knew not to try attack one of the 'banksies' again. the young girl stormed over to her old team, who were dressed in black and blue, with steam shooting from her ears like she was a tank engine. gordon bombay stalked over to coach reilly in pursuit of his player, in an internal rage of his own.

"they score against us, they're gonna pay the price. now don't worry, we're gonna get that goal back." reilly pep-talked his team.

"yeah, you're gonna pay the price alright," leah fumed with a chuckle, cracking her knuckles beneath her gloves, "you better hope the price ain't your lives!" gordon immediately restrained leah as she lunged toward mcgill in the box, who was protectively pulled away from the edge of the boards by stickler.

"go back to the bench, leah." coach bombay instructed, calmly ushering the girl away. she scoffed, distancing herself from the hawk bench.

"see you on the ice." leah hissed, skating away to the ducks before she let her anger take control. leah was thankful for coach bombay - if not for his restraint, leah may not have been able to keep playing in adam's honour.

jack reilly watched his old player skate away fiercely, wondering how gordon bombay riled the girl up but reilly was never able to. "you got something to say to me, bombay?" the hawks coach questioned annoyedly.

gordon shook his head with a light scoff. "to think i wasted all those years worrying about what you thought," bombay stared at reilly blankly as jack could only stare at him back in shock, "you're going down, reilly." gordon bluntly said before returning to the ducks bench. jack reilly shook his head angrily.

"get leah banks next. knock her down, hard as you can." reilly spat through his grit teeth.

as coach bombay returned to the bench, he looked at leah knowingly. after adam's comment about 'leah knowing what to do', coach bombay understood that leah knew how to play against the hawks. as the ducks begged gordon to let the go after the hawks, he shushed them urgently.

"look, it's time to play smart hockey - duck hockey." coach bombay turned to leah with raised eyebrows and a nod, which the girl immediately understood. she could skate circles around those hawks when she used her strategies, and now was the time to use it. however, she knew she couldn't do it alone. the hawks were out for her neck next, and all leah could do was help her ducks.

"the power play." leah revelled, nudging fulton quickly. the ducks let out a chorus of agreement.

"yeah, team! we're gonna hit them where it hurts most," coach bombay paused, "up there." he pointed to the scoreboard, currently at 3-2. "fulton, you're in with leah."

"yeah, alright!" the ducks cheered together. for leah, it was for adam. even if he wasn't on the ice with her, she'd imagine he was on the bench telling her where to go. adam was still there in leah's mind.

when the period picked up where it left off, fulton took adam's place. in the face-off, he immediately hit the puck to leah - much to the hawk's dismay. as brown charged toward her, leah quickly skid to the side and circled around brown, sending him straight into stickler who's as trailing behind leah. despite the lunges and dives the hawks made at leah, she weaved around them through a bit of struggle. as mcgill raced at her, his stick crossed in front of him, leah passed the puck to fulton and ducked. mcgill went flying over her shoulders and fulton wound his stick back. he hit the puck with force into the net, knocking the goalie over in the process. leah threw her arms up to cheer - they were tied!

as the ducks congregated by their bench to celebrate fulton's shot, jack reilly fumed to his hawks. "i said i want leah banks covered, you got that? i don't want to see her touch that puck again." reilly fumed on the spot, staring his team down. since the two banks left, his hawks weren't the same, and playing in the final was just rubbing it in his face. they were his players - reilly trained them! "i'm telling you," jack reilly threatened, "you blow this game and nobody makes the team next year! right, now get out there." reilly shooed the hawks away as they nodded their heads.