The afternoon sun beat down on the turf as the coach began setting all of the equipment, his whistle dangling loosely from his neck. The trees surrounding the turf cast long, flickering shadows over the field, their leaves rustling faintly in the breeze. Gally adjusted his grip on his hockey stick, practising his swings as he imagined a hockey ball there for him to hit. The sound of his coach's call struck him out of his trance, and he followed the rest of his teammates over to the turf.

"Alright." The coach watched as they all lined up, waiting for them to stand still and look at him professionally. "Today, since we don't have that much time, we'll be going straight into a game. To sort out the two teams, we'll have our captions, Coates and Olayan, will be choosing their teammates."

Thomas and Gally exchanged glances before walking to stand beside their coach.

"Coates, you can start."

Gally's eyes scanned the others, and he immediately picked the most muscular one. "Minho. You're on my team."
"Oh, damn it," Thomas groaned from beside him, which caused Gally to grin. The coach nodded at Thomas, and so he picked his best friend. "Newt."

Gally nodded. He hadn't really wanted to pick Newt; his leg was stuck in a limp, due to a car accident that happened a year before. He can still run, though. And he is surprisingly fast.

"Ben," Gally said next. Ben was one of the most athletic ones, same with Thomas and Minho.

Thomas's brow furrowed as he looked at the remaining players. Finally, he picked, "Alby."

Alby had a condition that caused his hair to fall out, leaving his head smooth and bare. Despite this, he stayed perfectly capable of playing hockey. In fact, he was one of the more consistent players on the team-not the best, but far from the worst.

The captains continued to pick their players, and soon they had two even teams.

"Okay, hurry up!" The coach blew his whistle as Gally's team put on red bibs before positioning themselves on the field.

When the second blow of the whistle rang in everyone's ears, Gally launched himself forward, feet pounding on the ground as he closed in on the ball. Thomas was already there, about to hit the ball with his own hockey stick, but Gally intercepted it. He leaned low, his stick slashing through the air as he snatched the ball from Thomas. With a sharp flick of his stick, he swung it over to Minho. The ball skidded across the turf, what would've been a perfect pass, if only Newt wasn't blocking Minho.

Newt's reflexes were fast, his stick sliding into place just in time to intercept the ball. He let out a small chuckle as he took control, gliding the ball over towards Thomas. Minho muttered a curse under his breath, but darted straight after Newt, determined to regain possession of the ball. Since Minho was faster, he caught up to Newt with ease, swinging the ball from him and passing to the person beside him-Gally.

Gally glanced up, quickly assessing the situation. His eyes flicked over to the opposing team's defense, noticing the positions of Alby and Clint, their sticks in position to defect any incoming shots. He clenched his jaw. If he were to take the shot now, it would have to be precise enough to catch the defender off guard. Gripping his stick tighter, he dodged Thomas's attempt to grab the ball from him, and swung back to take the shot. Gally swung with controlled strength, and the ball sliced through the turf, a blur of speed aimed for the right corner of the goal.

"Get the ball!" Alby barked at his fellow teammates, positioning himself to intercept it. The ball grazed Alby's ball, but it didn't stop, and flew straight into the goal.

Alby groaned, but congratulated Gally with fair sportsmanship.

Gally stood still, holding his stick firmly as he watched his team cheering. With a sigh, he positioned himself again for the next restart.

**

Gally slowly packed all of his hockey gear into his bag, taking a large gulp of water afterwards. He swung his bag over his shoulder, and stood up from the bench. As he was leaving, he thanked his coach. The game finished 4-3 to Gally's team, which made him slightly proud. Slightly. Gally began on his walk home, as always. It was a Tuesday, so he was supposed to make dinner for himself; his parents were out gambling with their friends.

As he passed house after house, he kicked a stone on the path, letting it fall onto the road. A sigh left his mouth as air got blown into his face, blurring his vision. His feet dragged as he walked through the lonely streets, the cheering of his teammates still echoing faintly in his ears, even though the adrenaline of the game had already worn out.

His house wasn't too far from the turf, only a few blocks, but the walk always felt like forever. By the time he finally reached his block, the sun was already beginning to fade, and the streets were darker than before, long shadows appearing along the sidewalks. He was looking forward to getting home; he could finally have some time alone without everyone always asking if he was okay.

As he walked by a community board pinned up against a small gas station by his street, something caught his eye-a neon poster with a girl's face on it. She looked to be around ninth grade, her blonde hair a short bob, and freckles dotted over her nose. Gally had this itching feeling that he had seen her before. Maybe around school. His eyes flicked down to the words. Missing girl. He stopped walking, his eyes widening. Nobody had been missing before. The poster explained that her name was Bella Pearce, she was fourteen, and had been missing for a week. Confirming his assumptions, she did go to Pine Hill with him. That must be where I've seen her from, Gally thought to himself. Then it hit him. She was missing.

A chill crept up his spine. That word-missing-always had a way of making him feel uneasy, no matter the context. He pulled up his phone and typed the girl's name into the search bar. Nothing. No social media posts about her disappearance, no news, no articles, nothing. Only a poster pinned to a community board.

"Hey, kid, you okay?" An old man who was filling up his car with gas called out to him. He has gray hair, but a kind face.

Gally nodded absently, his mouth struggling to close from shock. "Yep, I'm fine," he muttered, turning around as he continued his walk home. "Just... looking at something."

He took a deep breath and headed home, walking slower than before, his body shaking. He still couldn't process the words. Missing girl. And a whole week? Someone should've found her by now. Maybe she's staying hidden on purpose, not wanting to be found. Or maybe, just maybe, someone else is making sure she stays missing, alive or not.