Love of Ice

CHAPTER 3 : A NEW TEAMMATE AND A TEST

Speeding into the shooting-range she saw Alexandro ... and Theodore Chase... again. She ignored him and looked towards Alexandro.

"16, did you come by train?" her coach asked when he says her.

"Hello, sir. Can I talk to you in ...private?" she asked looking towards Theodore pointedly.

"Of course, of course. Let's go over there," he pointed to a coffee table at the corner of the lounge.

"So, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Alexandro asked curiously.

"About your offer that day,... does it still stand?", she asked cautiously.

"Yes, of course, why?" he asked getting excited.

" I'll be the captain for the girl's team, but I want to be able to choose my team members, is that okay?" she told him.

"Sure, I believe your expertise to find people that will be good. When you gather all of them, come for training," he told her.

"Yes, sir!" she smiled at him before leaving to look for her first member.

******

"Please"

"No"

"Please"

"No"

"Why not"

"I learn Biathlon with my brother not to be a professional"

"Please, you'll love it after you try"

"Never, I'll never change my mind"

Adelaide and Lizzy argued back and forth as Adelaide tried and failed to get Lizzy on the team. She finally gave up and decided to try another way next time.

They had decided to go for tea with Jackson that afternoon. Lizzy had met Jackson in the cafeteria but seemed to be too shy to talk to him, for she never opened her mouth to speak when in front of him. However, she was always unusually cheerful whenever they saw him or met him. Today this was no different.

"Dee, over here!" Jackson waved them over when they arrived at the tea shop. "I ordered Hibiscus tea, I hope you don't mind,"

"Lizzy here loves Hibiscus tea," Adelaide told him.

"Splendid, by the way, Dee I overheard that you accepted the offer as captain of the Winter Biathlon Girls Team," he lifted an eyebrow skeptically.

"Yeah, I did. I'm recruiting the members, but Lizzy doesn't want to join me, and she is the best I've got," she told him pointing at Lizzy.

"Why don't you, Lizzy? Training with others is always better than training alone, right?" he asked turning to Lizzy.

"It's just that I learned to play Biathlon because of my brother. Do you think I should join?" she asked him softly.Adelaide sent a pleading look towards Jackson. Jackson on the other hand could see the look that she was giving him from the corner of his eye. He knew from years of being her best friend what she was trying to say through the way she was staring at him.
He contemplated for a while and decided to say "Yeah,....""Yeah, I think you should give it a try."
"Adelaide, I'll join them," she turned to Adelaide, who had been watching their exchange rather hopefully.

Adelaide almost cried happily as she said that, but from that exchange, she noticed something odd about Lizzy. Lizzy didn't talk much around Jackson, not because she was shy, it was because she had a crush.

Instead, she smiled knowingly and nodded her head," Finally, I promise you won't regret it." She stubbly winked at Jackson mentally thanking him. Which earned her a " you're welcome," look.
After their tea session with Jackson, Adelaide and Lizzy went back to their dorm.
"Liz, do you have any thoughts on how we can recruit more team members?" Adelaide asked for she could not come up with anything.

Lizzy thought for a while, pacing the length of the room. "Well I once saw a team having tests to recruit members that will be able to do anything for the team, so instead of searching high and low, they had people come, and they would check a few sections."

"That sound, workable, do you want to try?" Adelaide asked for she knew she would not be able to do all of that without help.

"Well, I think it might work, might as well give it a try right?" Lizzy said.

Adelaide nodded and stood up. " Alright then, first we'll have to tell everyone about it, so time to bring out your inner artist, girl!" pumping her fist skyward, she dragged Lizzy towards the library to use the designing app there.They were laughing and joking about what to put in the flyer that they didn't even realise a shadow had crept up from behind them.

"What in the world is that!" exclaimed Jeremy as he peered at the screen over their shoulders.
"Oh my god, you scared me, Jeremy," Adelaide said with her hand over her pumping heart.
"We're assembling flyers to recruit members for the team," Lizzy answered his question.
"Sounds awesome, what are you guys going to do?" he asked intrigued.

"We're going to have an open test, check whether they are fit enough to race," Lizzy explained.
Adelaide nodded. "You're well come to help out on the day if you want."
"I'll see if I have time on that day," he told her.

Lizzy shooed him away for they had not much time before the library closed.

*******

After his talk with the girls, Jeremy went to talk with Theodore.

"Theo, I have an excellent chance for you to help Adelaide and get into her good graces."

Jeremy had caught his attention with that. "How, where, when?"

"They are having an open test, this weekend, we could help them get people. Especially because our campus does not have many girls who even like winter biathlon," he suggested.

"That sounds a bit like cheating, what if they find out," Theodore said for he too wanted to get closer to Adelaide to find out the truth.

Although he had an army to do the searching for him, he wanted to do this himself.
"As long as we don't make it obvious, they won't find out," Jeremy told him.

"I guess we could try with some of our people just in case," He finally relented.

*******

The next day, Adelaide and Lizzy set up the tables and equipment which they had borrowed for the sports department. They were to test the recruit's reaction time, speed and the body muscle mass. Simple tests, but they were the determiners of a talented athlete.

They were shocked at the number of girls who came for tryouts. Well, that was until Adelaide decide to take a quick break and walk around the campus.

What she saw angered her so much that she picked up and pebble and chucked it and the guy's back. "Ouch!!" she could hear a soft echo of his pained grunt even from where she stood almost 20 meters away. She walked with an angry undertone in her steps towards the group of people that were gathered there.

"Theodore Chase, what do you think you are doing!!" she shouted at him as she got closer. "You presume paying them will work, I'm not looking for a rich girl, I'm looking for an athletic one."

Theodore remained unaffected by her outburst. "I know that's why I gathered the finest candidates for the tryouts. You forget that I'm also Coach's student and a captain too."

She squinted at the girls who stood in a perfect line in front of him. "Is he paying you? Tell me the truth." She directed her question towards the girl in the front. She seemed calm and nodded, expressionless.

Sighing she looked at all of them and found that what Theodore said was true, the girls she had encountered this morning where snobs and simply those who wanted to show off, these girls appeared determined and focused which was what she needed.

Sighing, she finally relented, for she needed team members. "Fine, but they have to pass the tests for me to accept them into the team."

"Try them," Theodore answered her. Now, if she had turned around that instant, she would have noticed his grin, but instead, she took off with the girls in tow. That day she selected two girls, June and Elaine.


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