we were standing in front of the rude boy's team, skates on, ready to play. i stood in front of adam and stared intensely at the guy who had called us babies.

the boy's older brother stood tall, starting to speak,"my little brother, russ, says you guys have been choking big time."

"yeah, well your brother's got a big mouth." jesse spat, causing all of us to look at him in surprise.

while we were confident we could play better than them, i was fairly certain they could beat any one of us up.

so we waited in anticipation, seeing what their next move would be.

mike gave us a hard stare, before laughing,"he does doesn't he?"

we let out a breath of relief, glad that they had decided to spare us.

"anyways, we thought we'd call you and see what you got." another one of the team members stated.

"yeah. we know you can sign autographs and get ready for pictures-"

"we can do more than that." luis cut him off, unhappy about the oversimplification of our skills.

"oh yeah?" mike asked,"well we can teach you how to play like the real team usa."

i knit my eyebrows, rolling up my sleeves,"and what makes you qualified to do that?"

he smiled,"i'll show you. why don't you start?"

i nodded and got into position, ready to see what they had to offer. connie was on my right, danny on my left.

we started and i immediately got the puck, skating to their makeshift trash can goal. i shot it in and smiled.

i turned to the boys jokingly,"thanks for showing me."

"no problem." they laughed.

we continued to play, and they actually did teach us some pretty good things. i was skeptical of their abilities at first, but they turned out to be kind of skilled.

if coach wasn't going to help us, these guys were definitely doing the trick.

charlie went to hit the puck in, but instead broke a cars windshield. i did a slow clap for him, not even surprised that he was the one to do it.

"ladies and gentlemen, our captain: charlie conway!" i exclaimed, while the members of our team cheered.

he flashed me an innocent smile, looking a little remorseful.

he saw a man walking by and decided to ask,"excuse me could you throw that back over, please?"

"alley oop." the guy said as he threw it back into the court.

charlie thanked him and they continued to play. i had done enough, so i took a seat, sending dwayne in.

i watched as Russ got the puck. he hit it, it soared through the air, did a little jump, went in.

i looked at him quizzically, wondering how he had managed that shot,"damn, what was that?"

he smiled at me, happy that someone had noticed his impressive shot,"that was my knuckle puck. hard to be accurate, but it drives goalies crazy."

"well," i started, watching as they grabbed the puck,"it's very cool."

"thank you." russ nodded and skated off.

ken got the puck, did a few of his turns and spins, and shot the puck in.

"you messed up now, kid," mike exclaimed, and i immediately felt scared for kenny, wondering what he had done to get in this mess,"come here, i'm gonna get you!"

ken backed away, clearly terrified and yelling apologies,"i'm sorry!"

mike held his hands up, showing he wasn't serious,"don't worry, i was just messing with you," but he found it best to give kenny some advice,"listen when a guy comes up to you and does that, you do this: stick, gloves, shirt."

mike demonstrated the moves, something that actually looked like it could be useful.

"alright," ken nodded, doing the same to
mike,"stick, gloves, shirt."

i clapped, cheering for ken,"yeah, go kenny!" when i noticed how everyone was looking at me, i shrugged and defended myself,"what? i love ken."

he laughed, waving to me from his position on the court,"love you too, scar."

not too long after, it was time for us to get to our game.

"bye, guys!" i smiled and waved, as we walked onto the bus. i took a seat next to adam and leaned back in my chair.

adam raised his eyebrows, looking down at me,"those guys are good, huh?"

i shrugged,"better than goldberg."

we laughed, but he didn't seem to find it as funny,"hey!" he called out, taking great offense to our words.

adam returned his attention to me, twiddling his thumbs nervously,"so, um, scar, i was wondering if, uh, you wanted to go, hang out after the game," he stuttered through the question, quickly adding,"as friends."

i smiled at him, glad that he had finally asked. we were still only kind of friends, and while i said i wouldn't be dating, he really did make it hard for me to keep that promise to myself.

i nodded,"yeah, totally."

"cool." he grinned, looking down at the floor.

•

we sat in the box ready for the game to start.

only we couldn't start. you see, coach was missing. we had done our part by practicing and showing up. and all he had to do was be in the damn box on time, but apparently that was too difficult for him.

tibbles walked up to us, chipper as always,"hey team. we're going to have a good game today, right?" when he realized coach was nowhere to be found he gave us a confused look,"where's gordon?"

luis shrugged,"you tell us."

"yeah, is he at a sponsorship?" i batted my eyelashes innocently, but of course, i had a deceiving undertone.

tibbles rolled his eyes, looking at me condescendingly,"i wouldn't book a sponsorship during a game, sweetheart."

i frowned distastefully at the nickname. i wasn't a big fan of pet names, especially from old white men.

the ref skated up to us, heavy handed,"team usa, sorry but without a coach behind the bench your forfeit the game."

we all let out various sighs of disappointment. i can't believe coach had taken all this away from us. this is our second loss, which means, we're officially out of the game.

charlie, being the calculating boy he is, had a trick up his sleeve,"we do have one! ms. mackay!"

i looked at him with raised eyebrows, watching as he skated to ms. mackay. i wasn't sure if this was going to work, but i hoped charlie was as smart as he is clumsy.

they had a brief conversation, and it didn't look like ms. mackay was on board. i chewed my lip nervously.

"this is our coach!" charlie exclaimed to the referee,"miss- coach mackay!"

she still didn't look certain, giving it a moment of thought. she glanced at our weary faces, and i suppose that was the tipping point.

she grinned,"what are you waiting for the ice to freeze?! let's play!"

we all cheered, happy that someone cared enough to show.

i sat in the box, watching banksie take down german players. i was tired and kind of not in the mood to play today. i guess the street puck had sort of worn me out.

"we look tired," ms. mackay said aloud, to no one in particular,"we need to....change places."

i gave her a confused look,"what?"

"new players." she clarified, unaware of the terminology.

i made a face of realization, following her words,"oh, say change it up."

"change it up." she spoke, all too quietly.

"louder."

"change it up!"

i hopped out of the box and sluggishly skated to steal the puck. these germans really weren't trying that hard, because i effortlessly made a goal and skated off.

"go scarlett!" charlie exclaimed.

i grinned and was about to thank him, when i heard the noise of a duck whistle.

i had no idea who had brought a duck whistle into a game. most people prefer pom poms, they made a much more satisfying noise.

i looked up to see coach bombay and i scoffed, watching as my other teammates got distracted.

"just ignore it, guys." i rolled my eyes as mackay called a time out.

he blew it again, and i reluctantly skated over. i wasn't a big fan of the sentiment, in fact, it meant nothing to me.

i was never a duck, the whistle had little to no impact on me.

coach stood in the front row of the stands, leaning down to talk to us,"team," he corrected himself,"guys, iwas wrong. and i'm sorry. i forgot about the team, and the team is all i have. i want another chance. just one more shot. i'm back, believe me."

i slipped off my helmet, his words going straight through me,"why should we? why should i?"

he sighed, looking at me directly for his next apology,"i'm sorry, scarlett. i shouldn't have been so cruel to you. you're not weak. not at all. and if i could take back the things i said, i would. can i please have another chance?"

i stared at him for a moment. of course i didn't forgive him. i had no reason to, he's given me no real evidence that he's actually changed, all he did was take the gel out of his hair. and i didn't know him well enough to forgive and forget that quickly.

but if it'll make him get to work and stop avoiding us, i'd say just about anything.

i sighed, shrugging,"strike one. you get three."

he smiled, thanking me. it did nothing for me that i had accepted his apology, but it seemed to make him feel less guilty about his own choices.

and while it's not my job to coddle the adult, white male, authority figure, i wasn't sure he'd be as on top of things, if i hadn't.

after his moment of humbling, we went back
to the game, with him taking his rightful spot back.

•

after the game had ended, we all sat outside with coach. apparently he had more to say on the matter, which i thought to be much needed.

he stood in front of us with his cardboard cutout and a metal trash can,"i've had a lot of distractions since I've been here in l.a. this is a distraction," he gestured to the cutout, before taking out a match and lighting the can on fire,"this is a fire in a barrel," he shoved the cutout into the trash can, letting the flames engulf it,"this is a distraction, in a fire, in a barrel. any questions?"

i raised my hand,"you know the smoke is terrible for the environment, right?"

coach laughed,"well, i will keep that in mind for the other cutouts of me."

i nodded as the rest of the team cheered. i couldn't say i still wasn't weary of this whole thing. i had yet to see coach bombay actually benefit us, and i could only believe it, if and when i saw it.