flipped. charlie conway

41

"where's coach bombay?" leah asked in the change room, awaiting their call to enter the ice for warmup.

"no clue." guy shrugged.

"probably close by?" fulton replied.

leah shook her head. "i'll be back in a minute." she tut, racing out of the room in her sneakers, which didn't look quite right with her bulky hockey uniform.

leah raced down the halls, desperately searching for her coach. she needed a pep talk, and she knew she wasn't the only one. after what happened at the press conference, they all needed some encouragement.

"coach bombay!" leah called in relief, quickly catching up to the man. soon, she realised he was mid-conversation with a gorgeous blonde lady in pink. "we need you in the— oh, i'm so sorry. i didn't mean to interrupt." leah apologised through her puffs to catch her breath. the lady smiled kindly, dismissing her interruption.

her coach grinned as he pushed leah forward. "speaking of coaching, this is one of my players, leah banks."

"and aren't you and your brother a little star!" she exclaimed, seemingly excited to be introduced to the young player.

"thank you." leah gave a thankful grin, cheesier than she ever had before.

the lady gave another kind grin. "it's such a pleasure to meet you. i'm the trainer for the iceland team."

before leah could respond, a tall man in a tux entered the conversation. his slick back hair was recognisable from across the hall. it was iceland's coach, stansson.

they two spoke shortly in a language leah couldn't understand, which she presumed to be icelandic. it sounded melodic yet percussive, a combination leah admired.

her pleasant admiration fell as coach stansson turned around menacingly.

"we haven't formally met," coach bombay started awkwardly, "i'm gordon bombay, coach of team usa."

"i know my competition," stansson immediately remarked, "i know you."

"yeah, but do you know the real me?" coach bombay lightly joked in attempt to ease the tension. stansson was unamused, his face remaining stony.

the iceland coach's gaze shifted down toward leah, who was shyly stood up against her coach's side. she felt like hiding, because coach stansson was undeniably terrifying.

"you must be leah banks," stansson smirked, revelling in her apparent nervousness, "you and your brother will be a challenge for my team. but, i doubt you'll be challenging enough. we shall see, hey?" the coach smirked, seemingly much kinder toward the young girl.

coach bombay scoffed. "you don't need to talk to my players."

stansson looked back up, his icy gaze amused. "don't be so possessive. if i could choose in this competition, adam banks and leah banks would have been my players."

leah gulped as the two coaches stared at each other, their silence shouting more than words.

"lucky it doesn't work like that and they're my players, then." coach bombay noted. leah felt more like a pawn than a player under their discussion.

"you're full of confidence, you're cocky: american. i like that," stansson subtly dissed, "it will make our triumph even more enjoyable." though leah had disappeared from the conversation, she looked up at the two awkwardly. why were they still talking?

"your triumph?" coach bombay scoffed, "lighten up a little bit. we're all just here to have a little—"

"—a little fun, right?" stansson finished, pausing as he smirked, "don't you worry. we will."

coach bombay huffed as stansson walked away, the latter shooting a threatening glare. bombay pushed leah around, ushering the two back to the change room.

"sorry about that, leah." coach bombay sighed, shaking his head.

leah shrugged. "it's okay. like you said: it's all part of the game."