flipped. charlie conway

28

(may i just say - all of your responses to this have completely warmed my heart! i cannot thank you enough for reading this book so intently - thank you.)

merely seeing charlie for all of five minutes sent leah whirring back into dreamland. all day, all night, leah found a way to relate almost everything back to charlie conway.

the soft feathers of one hen, named 'muddy' like the pond's bankside, were almost the same shade as charlie's fluffy mop of hair. leah was sure his hair was just as soft as her hen's feathers.

the orange embroidery in the couch's throw pillows was just like the shade of dark orange charlie would wear in their old district-five uniforms. charlie certainly suit the deep shade that resembled the gorgeous depths of the sky at dusk.

of course, with charlie's helping hand in hans and his brother jan's skate shop, even leah's sharpened skates and roll of grip tape were enlightened by the simple touch of charlie conway.

even when mindlessly doodling in her sketchbook, leah found herself scribbling dozens of hearts across her page: all embellished with the initials c + l in the centre. as adam tiptoed over to peek at her work, leah would slam her book shut in embarrassment. if there were measures to dampen the teasing from her twin brother, she would take them. leah adored charlie conway, and she was certain she'd never stop.

one afternoon, leah and adam were playfully commentating their hockey practise, as well as reenacting the response from the imaginary crowd in their driveway.

the banks girl chorused her own cheer, "and the crowd chant: leah banks, leah banks, le—"

"no!" adam interrupted to start his own chant as he clapped his hands, "a-dam, a-dam, a-d—"

"they'll cheer for whoever makes the next goal!" leah smirked as she handled the rubber puck with her stick. as adam tried to defend the goal, leah snuck the round puck into the net.

"i let you have that." adam shrugged.

"she scores! the crowd goes wild. poor adam banks is sent back to his spot: the bench." leah bluntly teased.

"oh, you're so on!"

soon enough, the two were battling in their own driveway. despite remaining equal throughout their battle, like always, the two were determined to beat the other.

"stop playing games!" adam complained, as leah once again dodged his attacks and smiled the puck out of his reach.

"well if you wanted the puck that bad, you'd come and get it." leah shrugged, finding amusement in the way she frustrated her brother.

adam smirked. "as you wish, birdbrain!" the twin brother teased, immediately darting toward his sister and shoving her down as she playfully yelped. adam threw his arms up victoriously as he shot the puck into the netted goal, commentating for their imaginary crowd. "tricks the goalie, between his legs: he scores!" adam yelled, skating over to help his sister up from the asphalt.

a second later, the melodic duck-whistle echoed up the red bricks of the banks house. the twins flipped their heads to the source of the sound, smiling upon the sight of their teammates. jesse, guy, connie, lester, greg and charlie stood excitedly at the end of their driveway, beckoning the two to come along.

"hey, cake-eaters!" jesse began, "wanna play some real hockey?" he teased the duo's one-on-one attempt at hockey.

the wide, toothy grin on leah's face instantly grew as adam pulled her up. "yeah!" adam yelled, initiating a chorus of beckons to come along.

the two dropped their sticks and skated after the flock of ducks, greeting them whilst enjoying the joyride. once leah glanced upon their infamous duck jersey, the one sat upon charlie's chest, she realised just how much she missed the gorgeous green tone.

connie skated beside leah, gossiping about the latest hair-styling tools and lip glosses. though soon enough, leah's attention was caught by connie's news.

"apparently we've been elected to play for team usa!" she exclaimed, "isn't that awesome?"

leah's breath caught in her throat. "uh, team usa? as in, an international competition?!" despite the excitement radiating from connie, leah was dumbfounded. there was no way she could compete at an international level - especially when she was still barely good enough for the ducks! she spent so long practising on the pond for a reason.

"an international competition!" guy confirmed, radiating the same level of excitement as connie.

"it's us against the world!" adam cheered, eliciting a laugh from leah as he threw his arms up.

leah sighed as she faced connie, skating around the edina fountain. "i don't think i'm read—"

"and we're ready for them." goldberg encouraged, patting adam on the back as the flock continued down the path. recognising the excitement from her peers, leah temporarily swallowed her doubt and tried not to dampen the mood.

before leah could contemplate her doubt too much, goldberg stumbled and bowled into charlie. though charlie gracefully caught his balance, just like a leaf floating down to contact the surface of the pond, goldberg went tumbling down the hill to their right.

"oh, no." jesse immediately groaned as he halted, forcing everyone to skid to a stop as they waited for goldberg to return to the flock.

from a distance, none other than larson, mcgill and brown identified the rowdy cheers of ducks as they barrelled down the hill.

"ducks." brown pointed distastefully, scoffing at the sight.

"i can't believe they beat us last year." larson sighed with a shake of his head.

mcgill smirked maliciously. "well, let's do something about it." the sour boy snickered, mentally brewing a way to disrupt the flock of ducks.

with his fishing wire, mcgill raced down the the footpath and ordered larson to tie the wire around the trunk of an acorn tree. as larson tightly tied the wire, mcgill and brown rushed over to the kayaks, urging larson to hurry up and join them to hide behind the opposing kayaks. with the wire pulled taught across the footpath, mcgill couldn't suppress his snickers.

"here they come." larson acknowledged, peeking through the kayaks.

"i love this." brown sighed, eagerly awaiting the tumble of ducks.

"they are so stupid." mcgill noted, most keen for the tumble of his old teammates, adam and leah banks.

"one large order of shredded duck, coming up!" larson rubbed his hands together, his two mates failing to find amusement in his animated actions.

a deep voice rumbled from behind the group of hawks, looming over their not-so-hidden figures. "they won't know what hit 'em."

"i know." brown sniggered, freezing at the realisation he didn't recognise such a low voice. the three froze, peering at one another fearfully. "who said that?" brown gulped, turning around as heavy footsteps shook the lush grass they crouched upon.

the dooming presence of fulton reed stood behind the three boys, his arms crossed proudly. "hi, guys."

in an instant, the sour hawk players were thrown around and their plan to tumble some ducks was foiled. with a lesson like that from fulton reed, the three weren't going to try mess with the ducks again. at least, not anytime soon.