Unfair Advantage ) Adam Banks

ch 14, clear waters

That night, Connie sat in Ripley's dorm, holding her as the girl bawled.

It was the second time Ripley had cried that day, but she couldn't keep it in any longer.

She sat there, sobbing into Connie's shoulder as she stroked her hair, trying to let the girl release all of her anguish.

And Ripley did. They sat onto the bed until Connie finally spoke up and told the girl she had to leave as she had a funeral to attend the next morning and would be missing school.

Hans, a devoted supporter of the Ducks, had tragically passed away that same day. Everyone had found out about it after practice, and Connie had went to Ripley's dorm to ask her if she would like to pay her respects, as she was now considered a Duck to her friends.

Ripley had politely declined, feeling as if it would have been disrespectful to attend the man's funeral considering she had never met him. Connie understood, and could see something was off with the girl, leading them to where they were now.

Connie left the girl in her dorm with a soft goodbye, giving Ripley the peace and quiet she deserved.

-

Ripley tried her best to make it through the school day alone, skipping lunch as she didn't feel comfortable sitting at her table all alone.

She was relieved to see that Adam wasn't at school either, grateful she wouldn't have to sit awkwardly next to him during her class periods.

Instead of going to lunch, she made her way to Orion's office, hoping her former, yet new, coach would be in there.

She hadn't emailed him about her appearance, she just prayed that the man would be sitting in his office preparing for the game the following day.

As she stood outside his space, she could see him staring down at his desk, and was relieved to see he was in fact there.

She pushed open the door, snapping the man out of his thoughts, and he threw a pleasant smile her way. "Good afternoon, Miss Bell. Is everything okay?"

"Yes, sir." She said, plopping her ass in the seat across from him. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"You're fine, Ripley. May I ask why you came to visit me today?"

She sighed, "I'm assuming you've heard about me transferring teams?"

"I have, yes." He said, looking at the girl. 

"Is that alright with you? I know you moved me for a reason."

She nodded, leaning back in his seat. "Of course. I assumed, eventually, you'd find your way back to JV."

She nodded, and he continued. "And I'm glad you did, in fact, I believe I may have made a mistake moving you up to varsity. I thought it would be the best opportunity for you, but after letting go of you I realized you belong on JV. You have the talent and skill to play for teams way bigger than Eden Hall, but your mindset is what makes you belong here."

She took it as an insult, eating her lips as she stayed quiet. "That's not a bad thing, Ripley. Coach Wilson and I actually discussed it via email yesterday, you thrive when you're on a team of people who have your back. Varsity is not like that, they are a team filled with a bunch of spectacular athletes, yes, but they lack in the team work department."

"I can see that you need this team, Bell. And trust me, we need you, too. Almost immediately after I moved you and Banks to varsity, I regretted it. You two were great beneficiaries to this team, and I'm honestly hoping he decides to come back, as well."

Her stomach churned at the mention of the boy, trying to throw her feelings to the side. The last thing she needed right now was to spill her guts to her coach.

"Thank you." She said flatly, "I'm glad to be back. I heard we have a game tomorrow?"

"We do." He said, looking at his papers once more. "And I have added you to the roster, of course. I am a little worried about the outcome of it considering there will be no practice today, but having you back should up our chances at winning."

She smiled, again, wondering why he coach always felt the need to praise her so much. "I am excited to play with you guys again, I'm going to help as much as I can."

Her coach smiled back at her, "With that, I was hoping you could help me out on something else."

"What's that."

"I'm sure you've heard about Conway's absence to the team. I was hoping you could talk to him, maybe raise his spirits so he can find his way back to us."

She nodded, remembering how much she missed the brunette boy, "I'll see what I can do."

-

Even though there was technically no JV practice that day, Ripley took the duty open herself to practice on her own. Finding her way into the rink before the varsity practice started.

She unleashed the bag of pucks she was grasping onto the ice, watching as the slid across the cold ground.

She hit puck after puck into the goal, practicing her form and trying new moves in hopes to up her chances of scoring on whichever goalie they faced tomorrow.

She took all of her emotions out on the black buttons that laid upon the ground, smashing every single one of them into the net.

After working on her scoring skills over and over again, she did laps around the rink.

She was a naturally good skater, so she really didn't need to practice her skating skills, but she felt at ease as she glided across the smooth surface of the ice.

She didn't count how many laps she did, but after a considerable amount she stopped, packing up her stuff and making her way out of the rink before the varsity could show up.

She went back to her dorm after that, eager for the following day. Excited she would finally be back with her team.

--

Short chapter, I know.

We'll call this an intermittent chapter with some more sweet shared moments between Orion and Ripley.

I really like Orion's character, I feel like he is definitely underrated. 

The next couple chapters might be shorter than usual, just because I'd like to have separate chapters for Charlie rejoining the team and the board meeting. I feel like the story will be smoother that way, instead of cramming it all into one longer chapter. 

Anyways, I hope you're enjoying so far. Let me know in the comments what you're thinking and what you think is going to come in the next few chapters.

I love you all and thank you for the support. 

<3