lose ⤷ a. banks

chapter 8: orange

this is part of a double update please make sure to read chapter 9 after this!!

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Bzzzz. "Hawks win, 8-2!"

Vienna threw her helmet off and skated to the center of the ice with the rest of her team. They had just won the Rochester PeeWee Tournament. She scored two goals that game and she couldn't have been more proud.

She was squished in between all of her teammates and for the first time, she was starting to feel like she belonged. Her best friend on the team was Lara Jacobson, the only other girl. They weren't best friends per se, but what else were they gonna do on a team full of immature boys.

The rest of the boys seemed to just ignore her existence, except Banks, Larson and McGill, of course. Those three would openly let her know that they didn't like her.

The ref skated over and handed Vienna their brand new trophy. McGill was quick to snatch it from her before she even got a good look though. The parents came out to take pictures and Vienna somehow got pushed to the back and had to stand all the way on her tiptoes.

They were ushered off of the ice so that the Zamboni could do its job and a couple of the moms organized a dinner to celebrate. The team went to the locker room to get their things then headed back to their hotel to change and shower.

Vienna was blow drying her hair when there was a knock on the door. Her and Lara planned to meet up when they were done since Lara's mom had a meeting and couldn't go to dinner. Gail opened the door and Lara stepped in wearing a black polka dot dress.

"Wait, we're dressing up?" Vienna questioned. She was planning on just wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She quickly turned off the blow dryer and ran to her suitcase.

"Larson's mom picked a super fancy place and I'll bet that the boys are gonna be forced to dress up too," Lara stated. "I have an extra dress if you need it."

"No, that's okay, I packed one." Vienna rummaged through her suitcase then pulled out an orange dress.

"Orange?" Lara scoffed.

Vienna frowned. "Is it not cute?"

"N-no, it's just that...I'd never be able to pull off orange," Lara partially lied but young Vienna bought it and put the dress on without hesitation.

"All ready to go?" Gail asked, grabbing her purse and slapping on some lipstick. She was sporting patterned pants with a flowy blouse and that was all the fancy she needed. Both girls nodded and took one last mental check to see if they forgot anything. Once they were all good, they left to the car.

The car ride was mainly quiet except for Gail asking Lara a few questions. Vienna and Lara didn't really have anything in common except for hockey so they usually weren't too chatty with each other.

When they got to the restaurant, Vienna was absolutely flabbergasted. There were chandeliers, candles, fancy silverware, fancy servers—it did not look like a kid friendly place at all. But once the waiter walked them to a table in the back, she saw a table full of boys in button ups and slacks.

"Vie! Lara!" Mrs. Larson cheered. "We left some seats for you guys!" She pointed towards the end of the table where the boys were sitting. Lara thanked her and the two girls walked to the end of the table and Gail sat next to Mrs. Larson.

Vienna assumed that the boys were all there before them because it probably took them ten seconds to shower. As they walked past all of the boys, Vienna was glad that she didn't decide to wear the t-shirt and jeans. She subconsciously pulled her dress down and shifted her gaze to the ground after she made awkward eye contact with Banks.