SOMEBODY ELSE ⇢ LUIS MENDOZA [2]

nine

They continued to play.
Charlie currently had the puck and Hailee watched as Adam caught up with him.

"Get him, Banks!" Riley yelled.
Adam kept shoving Charlie to the point where he snapped. Charlie wrapped his arm around Adam, attempting to throw him to the ground, but they both collided with the goalie.
"Watch your back, Adam!"

"That's it, let's get 'em!" Russ yelled from the bench.
All of The Ducks skated towards Adam as he and Charlie got up.

They started to hit each-other.
"How do you like it, Banks?"
"Yeah, nice takedown. You'd be in the box!" Adam snapped.
"Go cry to your rich parents!" Charlie yelled.
"Alright, fine! Let's go!"
"I'll throw him down!" Charlie shouted, trying to wrestle Adam.

Luis skated in between the two teenage boys. "I've got this, Charlie." He said, punching Adam in the stomach. Adam groaned and clutched his stomach. "Stay the hell away from Hailee, Banks!"

Hailee cried out and ran up to Luis. She pulled him away as Goldberg pulled Charlie up, but it was no use.

Adam broke free and instead of Charlie, he tackled Luis to the ground.
"Don't you ever think that you can treat Hailee like that, you piece of trash!" He yelled, pinning him down.

The teenagers were all fighting.
As Hailee ran over to Adam to pull him off Luis, she felt someone grab her shoulders. Their grip tightened and they threw her to the ground.

Hailee harshly landed on her back. She saw a Warrior towering over her. Hailee watched in horror as he lifted his fist. But before it connected with Hailee's jaw, Fulton grabbed hold of him and threw him behind him, as if he was effortlessly tossing out a piece of trash.

"Didn't anyone tell that jerk that you should never punch a girl?" Fulton laughed. He held out his hand and Hailee took it.

"Thanks, I guess." Hailee said, she couldn't help but smile just a little.

Hailee and Fulton then made their way back into the center of the argument: Adam and Luis. Fulton groaned once he saw Charlie joining Luis' side.

Whilst Fulton pulled Charlie away, Hailee grabbed hold of Luis' collar and pulled him closer. Luis' facial expression softened.
"What the hell is wrong with you, huh?!" Hailee yelled.

Luis stared at Hailee in awe.
She scoffed, shook her head and pushed him away and turned to Adam, who was glaring at Luis.

She put her hand on his shoulders, getting his attention.
"Are you okay?" Hailee asked.
Adam's, just like Luis', facial expression softened once his eyes were on her.
He slowly nodded.

The teenagers calmed down and watched the two stare at one another. Hailee lightly pushed Adam away. "Cut it out, okay? You, Luis and Charlie are supposed to be friends." She told him.

"FREEZE!"
The lights came on and everyone jumped and faced the direction of the noise.
"Hey, break it up!" Coach Orion skated towards them and pulled The Warriors away from The Ducks.

Hailee and Adam were still staring at each-other, she had to drag her eyes away from him to focus on Coach Orion.

"It's a damn good thing I'm not your coach. Now get your team out of here!" Coach Orion yelled at The Warriors. "Varsity team out, let's go!"

Hailee watched in shock as the Coach had to practically throw the jocks out of the rink - sure, she knew he was harsh, but she'd never seen him be this harsh before.

"This ain't over." Adam said to Luis and Charlie - Luis in particular.
Hailee watched as Adam gave him the deadliest glare she'd ever seen. Her heart sank - this was all because of her.

"We're gonna destroy you guys!" Riley called out.

***

"Well, congratulations. You just forfeited whatever mental edge you might have had over The Varsity. Now they know they own you."

"This isn't the Peewees. Your little Duck tricks are not gonna work at this level. Now for the last time, stay away from The Varsity." Coach boomed, looking over at Charlie. "And get those Ducks jerseys off now. Come on, take them off!"

Everyone rolled their eyes and peeled their jerseys off their sweaty bodies. "The Ducks are dead."

Hailee noticed Charlie wasn't taking his jersey off. He stood there with arms folded.

"You got two choices, Conway. Take off the jersey right now or you don't play."

"You're breaking up the best thing any of us ever had." Charlie scowled.
"Well, it's time to grow up."
"Grow up?" Charlie repeated. "Like you, huh?" He skated towards him. "A washed-up pro who has to show off to a bunch of kids. Geez, that's real grown up."

"Okay. Goodbye, Conway." Coach Orion said. "Anybody else?" He looked over at Hailee. "You wanna join your friend again, Adams?"
Hailee picked up her jersey from the ice and put it back on. "You read my mind." She said, in a cold, heartless tone.

Hailee skated off and joined Charlie.
She heard Coach say, "Goodbye Adams and Fulton."
Hailee and Charlie turned around to see Fulton coming to join them.

Luis watched as Hailee left the rink with Charlie and Fulton. He desperately wanted to follow her, but he didn't wanna get cut from the team and he knew she hated his guts, especially after getting into a fight with Adam.