LOVE TO HATE YOU | c. conway

nine

the end score was nine to two, a seven point difference ending in a win for team usa. they celebrated out on the ice, feeling confident about their first win.

after the game, don tibbles informs them that they have a press conference as the winning team. they are rushed to change back into their tracksuits, heading out to where the conference was being held.

"team USA and the man chosen to lead them to gold, gordon bombay!" don tibbles introduced them into the microphone as they stood on a podium, with what felt like hundreds of cameras and reporters in front of them.

the hendrix mascot, a polar bear in sunglasses and a navy blue hendrix jersey, came up to greet them, which was don tibbles' not so subtle way of advertising his brand.

after they got some pictures of the team with the mascot, the man in the bear suit waved goodbye and hopped off the stand as don announced they would now be taking questions.

"team USA, how does it feel competing on the international level here in los angeles?" the first reporter asks.

goldberg leaned into the mic. "feels good!"

"we love it!" added jesse from behind bombay, sticking his head forward to make sure he was heard.

the next reporter stood, notepad in hand as he directed a question to andrea herself. "miss jones, you had a whopping three goals in the game against trinidad. is there a secret to your success?"

andrea froze up for a second. she didn't expect the reporters to ask any questions to specific players, let alone her. with a nudge from behind, andrea snapped out of it.

"i, um... there's no secret, really. i just... i have a great team who inspires me to play my best and have fun." she answered, trying her best not to make a fool of herself.

she felt a hand ruffle her hair, immediately swatting at it and frowning. her scowl only deepened when she realized it was charlie.

"we couldn't do it without our jonsie!" charlie said as she fought to fix her hair. the group of reporters laughed, but andrea only grew red, angry that he had embarrassed her in front of all those cameras.

thankfully, another reporter spoke up, drawing the attention away from her. "coach bombay, the vikings from iceland are the heavy favourites right now. their coach has already guaranteed victory. how are you gonna handle them?"

bombay took a second before answering. "um, with hard work. i think our team is ready to go up against the best in the world. we're not worried about them. iceland may be tough, but, uh, we're team u.s.a and we're going all the way."

as the reporters cheered, and don tibbles signalled that the conference was now at its end, an unfamiliar voice grabbed their attention.

"team u.s.a is going down. that's where you're going."

andrea looked to the direction it had come from. stood in an almost-black suit, with completely gelled back hair and a strangely strong facial structure, was icelands coach. to her shock, it was none other than wolf stansson, a name that was pretty well known among most fans of hockey.

behind him stood his team, all of them tall, bleach-blond boys, most of whom could have passed as adults.

when he got no response, other than the stares from the team and cameras turned on him from the reporters, he continued. "see you on the ice, bombay."

don tibbles' face looked sour, as him and bombay hushedly talked. the two adults walked off, leaving the kids alone.

andrea had long since forgotten her anger at charlie, instead filled with anxiety at the thought of going up against a team coached by wolf 'the dentist' stansson.

"that guys a dentist?" ken asked. having just switched over from figure skating to hockey, he had no clue who the former hockey player was.

andrea shook her head. "that was his nickname. he played one year of pro. collected more teeth than goals."

"he even punched out his own coach! i heard that they ran him out of the league and the country." charlie added on.

as team USA begin to walk off, kenny hesitated to get another look at the iceland team. "those are his players? those guys are huge!"

andrea couldn't help but agree. she tried to ignore their menacing glares as she followed her team to their dorms, hoping they weren't as tough as they looked.

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