The team stumbled back into the changing rooms, panting.

"Somebody get a shovel and bury me right here." Goldberg groaned, falling onto the bench and lying down.

"I'll teach you to play like what? Starts with a 'W'!" Charlie mocked.
"Wussies!" Averman yelled as Hailee flopped down onto the bench, next to Luis.

"That's right. Wussie's on offense and defense!" Charlie shouted.
"Defense! Defense! Defense!" Russ cheered, making Hailee chuckle.

"Eden Hall Academy requires you to maintain a 'C' average to compete." Coach Orion boomed, making everyone jump.

"Cool." Goldberg said.
"I believe that's a bad rule." Coach Orion remarked.
"Mm-hmm. Go Coach."

"I don't want any 'C' players on my team..." Coach Orion began.
"That's me out." Hailee whispered to Luis. He chuckled. But it wasn't the chuckle she was familiar with, it was a less enthusiastic one.
Hailee furrowed her eyebrows, but stayed quiet.

"I want B's or better or you're gonna be riding the pine pony. Now you've got 15 minutes after each practice to clear this locker room. You got homework to do. Oh, one more thing, stay clear of the varsity until we play 'em in the J-V Varsity Showdown. You got that?" Coach Orion almost yelled.

The team stayed silent, apart from Goldberg, who mumbled, "Mm-hmm."

The Coach then slammed the door on his way out.

"15 minutes? Man, I cannot move." Russ groaned.
"Hey, you guys, look! He posted our positions." Connie announced, getting up and running to the paper on the wall.

Hailee followed her up, and everyone else soon joined them.
"I don't believe this. I play left side not right." Fulton rolled his eyes.
"Third line?! Man, that's a major diss." Russ commented.

Adam came up behind Hailee and placed his hands on her shoulders, making her jump a little. "I'm not even posted." He said.

"Yeah, you are." Connie said.
Hailee nodded and pointed at his name. "Adam Banks. Third line, center... Varsity?" Hailee said, it came out more as a question.

She turned her head to look at Adam, who stared at the board with confusion. "I made Varisty?" He took his hands off Hailee's shoulders and shook his head before walking away.

"That's the great thing about being goalie, you know? You always know where you stand. I just mind my business, take my place between the pipes." Goldberg smiled.

Connie walked away, leaving Hailee, who was still looking at everyone's positions, with Averman.
Averman chuckled. "You're riding the pine pony, pal."
"Very funny." Goldberg laughed.

Hailee shook her head. "He's being serious. Julie's one, you're two."
"I'm backup?" Goldberg scoffed. He jumped up and ran to join Hailee and Averman.

His eyes widened. "How could he do this to me?! What am I? Chopped liver?"

Hailee sighed and followed Goldberg away from board as Dwayne made his way over to it.
"Hey... who-who's Captain Tibid?" He asked.
"Oh, that's Captain T.B.D: to be determined." Guy explained.
"Oh. Oh, I see." Dwayne chuckled. His smile soon dropped. "Well, no, I don't. That's your job, Charlie."

Hailee watched as Charlie's facial expression saddened. He stared at the floor and she sighed.

***

Hailee was sat with Connie and Julie in the corner of the lunch hall with some of their team.
Hailee sighed and rested her chin in her hands, using her spare hand to twirl her spaghetti around her fork.

"Hey, Hailee, are you okay?" Connie asked.
"I mean, I get that Coach Orion's different to Coach Bombay, but-"
Hailee cut Julie off. "It's not that. I'm just worried about Luis."

"Why do you say that?" Julie furrowed her brows.
"I don't know... I mean, he's been acting off lately. He was fine this morning, I don't know what's happened. Do you think I've done something?" Hailee asked.
Connie shook her head. "You haven't done anything."

"U-uh, Hailee..." Averman stuttered.
Hailee noticed he was looking over her shoulder. "What is it?"
"Don't turn around, but I think you've found your reason." Goldberg said.

"Goldberg, she's obviously gonna turn around!" Connie stated.
Hailee rolled her eyes. "Exactly, so-" She stopped herself once she turned around and saw Luis sat next to one of the blonde Warriors cheerleaders. He was flirting with her.

Adam made his way around the lunch hall, searching for his friends, when he saw Luis sat at the cheerleaders' table.
He was about to interject, but stopped himself when he heard the cheerleader ask, "Aren't you dating that chick on your hockey team?"

"Hailee? No. We broke up ages ago." Luis lied.
Adam's eyes widened as he slowed down his walking as he passed.
"You're crazy, you know that?" The blonde cheerleader remarked.
"Loco. Yes, of course. For you. Just give me five minutes after school, and I'll die a happy man."
"If you don't beat it, you probably will die. My boyfriend gets pretty jealous."

Adam walked on. He couldn't believe what he just heard. He looked over to the corner of lunch hall and saw Hailee watching him.
His heart sank at the sight of her - she looked so heartbroken.

Hailee spun back around, aware Adam was watching from the other side of the room. She tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"Hailee, I'm so-"
"I'm in the same room as him." She whispered. "How could he hit on her when he knows that I'm sat in the same room as him..." She began to laugh, as if it was all some sort of joke.
"Hailee-" Goldberg began.
She stood up, making him stop. "I'm going to the restroom. I'll be right back."

Hailee stormed out of the lunch hall, hitting students' shoulders as she walked.
She left just as the drama began with the Varisty jocks and The Ducks.

Hailee entered the restrooms and luckily, they were empty - everyone was in the lunch hall.
She rested her hands on the sink and stared at the dirty drain with tears in eyes, clouding her vision.

The doors then flew open and she ran into one of the stalls.
"Hailee? Are you in here?" Averman called out.
She stood on the toilet seat - she couldn't let her friends see her like this.
"Get out of the girls' bathroom, Averman!" Connie groaned.
"You too, Goldberg." Julie said.

Hailee heard some groans from the boys and some stumbling. The door then shut, she guessed it was just her, Connie and Julie now.

"Hailee? Are you in here?" Julie asked.
She didn't reply.
"She's probably in the ones down the next corridor." She heard Connie say.
"Okay. But Hailee, if you are in here, please come out. We wanna talk."

Hailee stayed silent. She heard one of them sigh before the door opened and shut once again.
She jumped down from the toilet seat and sighed, leaning against the wall of the stall.

"I can't believe he didn't even tell me... he just decided to act off around me, as if I was the one doing something wrong." She whispered to herself, wiping away a tear.