FINAL GO | adam banks [4]

embarrassing

watching people fill the stands in the gym made scarlett's palms sweat. normally, when she plays a sport, she's good with focusing. just her and the game.

that's why hockey was so easy for her. just her and her team in the rink. no crowd, no noises. volleyball is different. in a crowded, cramped gym, with screaming on both sides of the court and the crowd.

she got to the gym an hour early to a waiting line of people. the team deemed her team braider so she did everyone's hair before warmups, which took forever.

she saw nancy and her minions come in and rolled her eyes. she looked around and saw adam and his friends. she smiled when she saw jack waving to her. she smiled even more when she saw adam giving him a major dirty look.

her eyes drifted and she found aspen, abbie, and anna with big smiles on their faces. they give her and morgan a thumbs up and she took a deep breath.

the clock started and scarlett was off to an immediate great start. with her skills and morgan's assistance, they had the game already. scarlett could only imagine what the whole team would do together. so far, it's only been her and morgan getting the ball.

at halftime, they had won both sets. they had basically won the game. even if the other team stepped up and won the next set, they'd still end the game 2-1.

scarlett walked out of the locker room to get a new water when she stopped after almost bumping into someone. "oh, god, i'm so sorry." she looked up and saw jack and she smiled. "hey."

"hey, sorry, that was my bad. you're doing great." he smiled shyly. he looked nervous, scarlett smiled at the way he looked around anxiously.

"thanks, i had no idea it was gonna turn out this good." she said honestly. with all the practicing they've done she could only hope the game would turn out in their favor.

"with you as their captain i wouldn't expect it to turn out any other way." he said, finally looking at her in the eyes. he had really pretty eyes, scarlett smiled when she realized he wasn't as nervous.

"thanks, i guess i really am doing a pretty good job. i had no idea they'd manage to pull it together." she laughed, and he chuckled along. her eyes drifted over his shoulder and she saw adam.

he was leaning against a wall nearby. his head was tiled trying to get a better look at the two. she furrowed her eyebrows and he didn't even bother acting like he wasn't looking. he just ran his tongue along the inside of this cheek.

nancy ran up to him and tried to figure out what he was staring at, making him and scarlett break out of the daze. "is something wrong?" jack turned around trying to follow where her gaze was previously set.

she pursed her lips together, feeling bad for blanking out. he shook his head as he turned back around. "i wouldn't worry about them." he said making scarlett raise her eyebrows.

"uh, what-"

"nancy and adam. i wouldn't worry. i wouldn't even worry about nancy. she could be a bitch, i think we both know that. i honestly couldn't tell you what adam's doing. i know you guys had your problems but we both know he's better than that. nancy's just trying to get under your skin, i wouldn't let it bother you."

scarlett was completely taken aback. was it really that obvious what she was thinking? i mean, yeah, probably. but the fact that he was right made it even worse. he was completely right and that made the whole thing so much worse.

adam is so much better than nancy and her messed up plans, scarlett does know that. and nancy is just trying to get under her skin. but what scarlett didn't know was that it was actually bothering her. just because she wasn't getting upset over it doesn't mean she wasn't getting angry over it. and that's all nancy was looking for, a reaction.

"yeah..yeah you're right. thanks, i needed a pep talk before i got back out there." she laughed a little, tilting her head down.

"anytime, you know where to find me."

"i gotta go get a water, but i'll see you." she smiled before going to walk away.

"oh yeah..here." he stopped and handed her a water bottle. she looked down at it and raised her eyebrows. she grabbed it hesitantly and smiled.

"thank you so much, really. i'll see you later." she beamed before running back into the locker room.

adam rolled his eyes as jack walked back to the group. "what was that about?" he nodded his head over to where him and scarlett were previously talking.

"what was what?" jack laughed nervously.

"that."

"uh, nothing. we were just talking, man. nothing to get all to get pissed about." jack patted adam's back jokingly and walked back to where they were sitting in the stands before.

adam clenched his jaw and followed behind. nancy and her loud friends decided to skip along cheerfully. but instead of going back to their original spot, they took a seat in the very front. so close, it was almost on the court.

half way through the last set is when nancy decided. that's when she decided she would go and open her big mouth, scarlett thought. her and her stupid minion friends decided they'd shout and yell stupid things onto the court.

"go scarlett!"

"yeah, way to keep it going!"

"you clearly can't keep anything else!"

scarlett slammed the hall over the net and spun around to look at nancy, who just yelled the last words of encouragement. the only people who heard it were the people on the court and her and her friends. it was too loud in the gym for anybody else to hear.

scarlett's mouth opened in shock that she would even stoop so low to do that in public. the whistle blew and she shook her head, getting back into her starting position. "you're good, scar. shake it off." morgan mumbled to her before the hall was served.

-

the game ended 2-1 sets, they won, just like scarlett had hoped. despite the win she couldn't get what nancy said out of her head. she saw adam standing outside of the gym and let out a deep breath, walking over to him.

she adjusted her back on her shoulder as he lifted his head up and saw her. his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes frantically looked around.

"how could you let her do that?" scarlett said, knowing she probably shouldn't be placing the blame on him without knowing anything. "y'know, i can handle the insults and the papers being slipped under my door..but screaming things like that at the first big game? with scouts in the room? that's not just embarrassing me, it's embarrassing to her. i don't have anything. no hockey, no team, nothing. this is the only thing i have to fall back on. i'm not asking much, just don't let her ruin this for me. please."

"hey, hey, what did she do?" adam asked as she quieted down her ranting.

"don't act like you didn't know." she said harshly, crossing her arms.

"scarlett.." adam looked completely clueless and genuine. scarlett's frustrated face fell, and subtle shock took over her features.

"you didn't know?" she asked almost in a whisper.

"no, i swear. what did she do?" he asked more sternly this time.

"uh, nothing, nothing. it's fine. oh, god, i don't even- sorry. i have to go. sorry." scarlett shook her head and mentally cursed at herself as she turned to walk away leaving adam stood there confused.

-
this fic is slowly becoming very bad
idk where i was going w this tbh

ps
i just started a new adam fic and i actually like it but who knows if i'll ever publish it

psps
i just started talking to a hockey boy and oh my lord guys. 🙏🥰