flipped. charlie conway

42

the game against italy was not as hard as team usa were expecting. fortunately, the inflated ego of most of the team was yet to get in their way. leah was sure julie wouldn't be included in that box had she a chance to play. stansson wasn't wrong, team usa were too quick to be confident, and it would make them cocky.

even though italy were more challenging than trinidad, team usa were yet to concede. they had already scored six goals and were yet to let a puck slip past them for italy. they had the perfect balance: strong attack and strong defence. as leah skated back from the italy goal, which goldberg successfully blocked, she listened in amusement to greg's banter.

"man, there was nothing on that! how about a real shot?" the boy began as the italian player shook their head frustratedly, "paisan, are meatballs slowing you down? in italiano, how do you say wussy?"

the italian player had enough, as leah was sure she would too. the player shoved goldberg into the goal, earning a whistle from the referee. coach bombay shook his head, scolding greg for his torments.

"what'd i say?" greg exclaimed in faux innocence.

the game flew by so fast that it felt like a game of leah's dreams. leah was proud of their teamwork and clear focus, despite a few torments here and there.

with twenty final seconds left on the clock, guy, fulton, and leah sped down the ice. dean and connie in defence were already celebrating despite there being plenty of time for italy to score their first goal.

guy passed the puck to leah, who quickly shot it to fulton before any italian players could obstruct his free space. seconds after guy had previously shot the puck on, fulton was sending the puck at full speed into the net. their eleventh goal of the game. his arms flew up victoriously as a celebratory scream emerged from his throat. the stadium erupted with yells of astonishment and pride.

by the time they had reset to centre, the final siren echoed through the stadium. the team cheered victoriously at their highly successful game. eleven goals to zero? that was almost unheard of!

the team rushed out to join their players on the ice, all engulfing one another in elated embraces.

"woohoo!" adam let out in thrill, shoving his sister around the ice playfully. nothing beat this feeling of victory.

"we did it!" charlie cheered as he skated up to the twins, pumping his arms in the air. leah laughed at the sight, feeling the familiar flurry of butterflies overtake her already overwhelming feelings of joy from winning.

at hearing her melodic laugh, charlie's stomach dropped. she was laughing at him. internally panicking, the conway boy skated away. charlie was confusing himself.

on their day off the next day, julie requested leah come with her to coach bombay's office.

"leah, can you come with me to see coach bombay?" she asked kindly.

"of course! then you can come with me to explore los angeles with adam, after." leah agreed to tag along, and got julie to tag along with her for the rest of the day. julie smiled thankfully.

once they arrived, julie pulled leah up to the blinds beside her. coach bombay was on the phone, trying to explain something to someone. leah knocked on the window, smiling widely as coach bombay beckoned them inside.

julie sat down as leah stood by the doorframe, waiting patiently. coach bombay quickly ended his phone call, telling the person he'd catch them up at dinner.

"what's up?" coach bombay asked, quickly devoting his attention to julie. leah admired that coach bombay always put his players first - it was what made their team so united.