After the lunch brawl, Ripley tried her best to keep close to her friends.
She wasn't scared or humiliated by any means, but being near her friends throughout the day helped ease the anger that was ever so present in her body.
Unfortunately for Ripley, the day had ended sooner than later, and splitting her up from her group of friends as they made their way to practice.
She looked at her friends as they headed their way into the JV locker room, excited she would soon be joining them.
As she watched her friends disappear behind the door, she couldn't help but miss Charlie a little more. She was hoping he would change his mind, and return to his team as they desperately needed him.
Despite Charlie's ever present absence, she was glad to see Fulton had returned. He had came into school right after lunch ended, deciding to join the team again. The friends had filled him in on everything he missed, including lunch, and he was very upset that he wasn't there to witness the altercation.
Ripley stole her gaze away from the now closed door, and found a clock on the wall, seeing it was almost time for her meeting with Coach Wilson.
She had emailed him during her last class, expressing that she wanted to talk to him about her position on the time. Considering Wilson enjoyed the girl, he had agreed with no hesitation, giving her a time to meet him on the ice.
He had assumed it would be about her position on the rink, not on the team, so he instructed her to gear up before she came.
As the girl made her way onto the ice, not in uniform, her coach shot her a confused look.
"Where's your uniform at, Bell?" He shot her a quizzical look.
"In my locker, coach. I wanted to talk to you about something different than what you're expecting.
He nodded, and point her to the bleachers surrounding the arena. They took a seat, and their conversation began.
"What seems to be the problem, Bell?" He said, looking at the girl.
"Well, sir." She sighed, "I was wondering if I could move back down to JV?"
Her looked at her frowning, confusion littered across his wrinkled face, "And why is that, Bell? You do realize you were moved up to varsity for a reason, correct?"
"Yes, coach." She started, "I just feel as if I could play on JV better than I can on varsity."
He shook his head, "Well of course you could. You'd be much better than anyone on JV, there's no doubt that you would excel."
She sighed at the misunderstanding of her question, "That's not what I meant. I meant that I feel as if I could play better as a team. I don't know if you've noticed coach, but me and the varsity boys don't exactly get along..."
"Ah, don't mind them, Bell." Her coach laughed, "They don't get along with anyone."
She laughed too, "I've noticed that. But still, all of my friends are on JV and when I played with them everything felt right. Playing on varsity has had its moments, but I feel like I'm slowly losing the love for hockey I've had over all these years."
Her coach nodded at her confession, "I understand. You know, over all of my years coaching, I have had countless kids come up to me and beg me to put them on varsity. Unsurprisingly, you are the first person I've coached that has asked for the opposite."
She shrugged, looking down at her skates. He continued, "I would always tell those kids, 'You're not ready for varsity yet, son. You'll know when you're ready'. And I can see now, Bell, that you are not ready either."
YOU ARE READING
Unfair Advantage ) Adam Banks
Fanfiction"It's starting to seem like you're going too fast on purpose, Banks. If you wanted to be on top of me, you could find other ways to do it." "Shut it." + Ripley Bell is an eccentric hockey star from Madison, Wisconsin. After turning down the opportu...
