╮bouncing back╰
sloane stared into the crowd as she finished braiding the left side of her hair to the nape of her neck. she dropped her arms to let them rest as she meticulously scanned the crowd. she sighed and turned to her teammates as she pulled the two half braids together into a ponytail. she pulled short pieces from the front of her hair to frame her face as she tuned in to the chatter of her teammates. she carded her fingers through connie's ponytail as she turned to her and julie.
"are you guys free later this week?" she asked, lifting her left hand to rub her thumb against her bottom lip.
"we're busy, sorry," julie apologetically answered and smiled regretfully at her.
"that's fine," sloane said while dropping her hand to her side. "i'll find someone else to hang out with. or i may go to the gym to do some physical therapy work," she added as she turned back to scan the stands.
"got an la boyfriend in the stands or something?" connie joking asked and poked at sloane's sides.
"planning on replacing fulton with a beverly hills boy?" julie asked, laughing with connie. "heard they've got some pretty deep pockets."
"no, stop it," sloane said, smiling softly as she swatted connie's hands away and dropped her gaze toward her skates. "i was, uh, just promised that someone would show up and it's looking like they're not gonna be here," she explained and swallowed thickly as she stared disappointedly at her skates.
"sloane," adam said and waved her over when she looked up. she slipped through her teammates to stop between charlie and jesse and tucked her hands at the hem of her jersey.
"hmm?" she hummed and stared at him expectantly.
"are you okay to start?" charlie asked and tapped his pencil against the roster in his hands. "you're not hurting or anything are you?" he asked, pressing the back of his hand to her forehead before moving them to her cheeks.
"yeah, i'm fine," she replied, pulling away from charlie's hands and turning toward connie when she slid behind her to stand between guy and averman. "where do you need me to play?" she asked and quickly scanned the crowd once more.
"probably a winger. jess is gonna start center, guy's a winger, and me and fulton are defensemen," he explained and tapped his pen beside each name he said before pointing at the person. "unless you want to play somewhere else."
"left, right? sound good?" she asked as she pointed at herself then guy.
"fine with me," he said and nodded once.
"i'm right-wing, guy's left-wing," she told charlie while pointing to their names on the roster.
"okay," charlie said and marked it beside their names.
"hey," guy said, leaning forward to lightly hit sloane's arm.
"yeah?" she asked after shuffling toward him and returning the hit.
"i've got to go get something for my mom. can you go with me friday?" he asked her while propping his hand on the front of the box.
"mhm!" she answered and brightened slightly as a small smile crossed her face.
"hey, team! hey, team!" tibbles yelled and leaned over the short glass wall above the box. the overlapping chatter stopped as they turned around to look up at him. "we're going to be great today, right? where's gordon?" he asked as he surveyed the box.
"you tell us," luis answered, lifting his hand from jesse's shoulder and dropping it.
"i don't believe this," tibbles quietly said and sloane sighed sadly.
"team usa, i'm sorry," a referee said as he skated over to them with his sleeve pushed back to look at his watch, "but without a coach behind the bench, you'll forfeit the game," he finished and peered at them regretfully as he stopped in front of the box.
"but you can't do that!" adam said while narrowing his eyes at the referee. sloane quickly scanned the crowd again as the team complained and settled her gaze on miss mackay as she tried to find a seat.
"we have a coach," sloane said, slowly tearing her gaze from miss mackay to look at the referee. she ignored the confused stares of her teammates as she moved away from the box. "we do, i promise," she told the skeptical looking referee as she continued to move away from the box. "miss mackay!" she yelled and hurried toward her once she stopped and turned around.
"miss mackay," she said as she stopped in front of her tutor. she cracked her knuckles nervously as she briefly looked through the crowd, sighed through her nose, and returned her gaze to her tutor.
"hey, sloane. what's up?" miss mackay questioned. she examined sloane's anxious expression and narrowed her eyes as the younger girl fidgeted nervously. "is something wrong? are you okay?"
"i need you to do me a favor, miss mackay. a huge favor," sloane said and took a deep breath. she licked at her chapped lips, glancing at the box as she fought to seem calm. "it may be the biggest favor in history."
"that's a big claim. what do you need?" miss mackay asked, causing sloane to snap her gaze up.
"i need you to pretend to be our coach. if you don't, we forfeit the game," sloane explained as pleadingly as she could.
"where's coach bombay?" miss mackay asked, her expression melting into shock.
"i don't know. he promised he'd be here and he's not. but you need to pretend or we're out of the tournament," sloane answered while fighting the quiver settling in her lips.
"but i don't know anything about coaching," miss mackay nervously responded, the knot in her stomach growing at sloane's visible strain to remain collected.
"it doesn't matter, miss mackay. we'll help you out, okay? we go home if you don't and i don't want to go home just yet. please," sloane begged and dropped her forced expression as the quiver in her bottom lip and chin grew. she looked up as the referee stopped beside her and the calm mask returned to her face. she bit hard at the inside of her lip to stop the quivering as the referee stared at her expectantly.
"here's our coach, michele mackay," sloane told the referee and motioned toward her. she glanced at her teammates as the referee looked up at miss mackay.
"yeah," the team mumbled as they glanced at each other. "come on, coach mackay!"
"what are you waitin' for, ice to freeze? let's play!" miss mackay said as she stepped on the boards and gripped the top of the glass.
"let's go," the referee said, shrugging softly before skating away.
"thank you," sloane mouthed to miss mackay before skating toward the box. she tilted her head and smiled as her teammates cheered for her. she raised her hands for high-fives as she stepped into the box.
"nice, sloane," luis said, patting her lower back as she passed.
"couldn't make it without you," guy said and gently shook her shoulder.
"you'd all be a lot less cool if i wasn't here," sloane said while smiling slyly at her teammates.
"thumbs down," goldberg said, holding up a thumbs down while blowing a raspberry. sloane laughed and jokingly rolled her eyes before turning to watch miss mackay enter the box. she pushed her way toward her tutor and wrapped her arms around her shoulders to give her a hug.
"thank you for caring about us," sloane whispered as she pulled away.
"every group of kids needs an adult on their side," miss mackay replied with a wink.
✩
sloane slid into her left-wing position and rotated her hockey stick on her hand while she waited for the face-off. after the referee dropped the puck between germany's center and Jesse, the german center passed it to his teammate and pushed Jesse down. she skated down the ice, moving between players to follow the puck. she hit her brakes in front of one of germany's players to guard him as the player with the puck stopped to take his shot. she pitched forward and skated toward goldberg after he made the save.
she picked up the puck when goldberg tossed it out and sped down the middle with it, moving it from one side of her puck to the other. she sharply cut to her left to avoid germany's left-wing and widely arched through the ice to return to the middle. she watched and winced when one of germany's defensemen roughly hit guy in front of their box. she blew out a long breath and returned her attention back to moving down the ice. she gasped and ducked to her right to avoid the check from one of germany's players. she took a deep breath as her heart raced and continued to move toward germany's goal.
"change it up!" miss mackay yelled and sloane sighed in relief. she passed the puck to a member of the new line before skating to the box and jumping over the front. she grabbed her water bottle, sat beside charlie on the bench, and took a long drink as she watched her teammates play.
✩
sloane slid into her position and pulled her helmet over her head as she watched everyone slow to a stop in their positions. she glanced up and moved to her huddled teammates when jesse caught her attention and motioned her over. she stopped between him and guy and looked at them curiously when she heard a loud duck call from the stands. she turned around and she took in a sharp breath when she spotted bombay walking across the top of the stadium.
"look who finally shows up," fulton said while rolling his eyes. sloane's lips parted slightly as she glanced back at him and turned her gaze back to charlie.
"just ignore him. i'll take the face-off," jesse said and the small group dispersed as he turned to take the face-off.
sloane stayed planted as she watched bombay stop at the top of the stairs leading to the box. she lifted her chin at him and her fought back a small smile when he winked at her. he lifted the duck call to his lips and blew it continuously as he jogged down the stairs that lead to the box. she glanced up when Fulton and Guy slowly stopped beside her.
"c'mon, what do got to lose?" guy asked after bombay entered the box and stood on the bench.
"respect. he'll dump us the minute it's all over," fulton quickly answered with a scoff.
"come on in! let's go, come on!" bombay said and motioned them toward him. sloane glanced at the two boys before slowly beginning to skate toward the box.
"hey," fulton said while grabbing her arm and pulling her back. "what are you doing? it's the second time this guy's dumped us and he'll do it again the second he has the chance."
"he came back the first time. i think he's trying to come back now," she said and pushed his hand off her arm. she skated toward him and grabbed at the edge of the box as she leaned against it. she smiled when charlie and guy stopped on either side of them and looked up as jesse, goldberg, and fulton slowly joined them.
"team," bombay started before pausing to take a knee in front of them, "guys. i was wrong. And i'm sorry. i forgot about the team. and the team is all i have. all i want... is another chance. just one more shot. i'm back, okay? believe me."
"next time you make a promise, don't be this late in fulfilling it," sloane said, pushing herself off the box to return to her position.
✩
sloane settled into her position across from guy as the referee blew his whistle. she watched the referee hold the puck over his head before lowering it to his side as he neared jesse and the german center. the referee dropped the puck between germany's center and jesse passed it back to sloane. she grabbed it and swiftly moved down the ice until charlie tapped his stick against the ice. she passed it to him and watched jesse stop behind the goalpost.
"come on, jesse," charlie said while exiting his crouch. sloane paused near the blue line as jesse nervously glanced around the ice.
"jesse, just do it, man!" goldberg said, looking over his shoulder at him.
"all right, let's go! flying v!" jesse said and lifted his arms over his head in a v shape. sloane hurried around the goalpost and slid in beside guy. she tapped the back of jesse's leg with her stick when fulton and charlie slid into position and he quickly skated around the goal. when they crossed the blue line, jesse passed the puck back to sloane and she moved around germany's players as the flying v broke off.
sloane moved toward the left side of the goal and watched the goalie move his glove hand across his body. she sharply spun in a tight circle and shot the puck under the goalie's glove when he threw it to the side. she lifted her arms over her head and dropped them around jesse and guy's shoulders when they huddled around her. she pulled away from the huddle and cheered as she skated toward the box. she hugged bombay over the small half-wall and let dean lift her over the front when she pulled away from her coach.
"i was wondering if you still had the glove side shots in you," bombay teased as sloane was handed her water and a cold towel.
"it's an art, i suppose," she said while laying the towel across her forehead while another was placed around her neck.
✩
sloane stopped beside one of the park benches outside of the memorial colosseum. she watched dean step onto the seat of the bench to sit beside julie on the back of the bench. she sat between dean's legs and turned toward dwayne to lay her head against dean's knee. she closed her eyes when dean began running his fingers through her hair and shuddered when a chill ran down her spine. she raised her head, twisted her body until she was facing forward, and leaned back against dean as she rubbed her eyes.
"feel okay?" dean asked while draping his arms over her shoulders.
"kinda got a headache," she answered and opened her eyes.
"i've had a lot of big distractions since i've been here in la," bombay said as he grabbed a cardboard cutout of himself and held it up. "this is a distraction."
"nice haircut, coach," dean said as the team began antagonizing their coach.
"looks familiar. i know that guy," charlie said, motioning toward the cutout.
"very put together, bombay. you're glowing," sloane added and smiled as she bit at her thumbnail. she sat her right elbow against dean's knee while watching bombay hand off the cardboard cutout to jan before striking a match against the barrel beside him. she placed her hand on her cheek and quirked her eyebrows in confusion as bombay dropped the burning match into the barrel.
"this is a fire in a barrel," he explained after watching the fire catch. he turned away from the barrel to take the cutout from jan and folded it in half to stuff it in the burning barrel. "this is a distraction in a fire in a barrel. any questions?"
"good job, coach," dean said while the rest of the team began to clap and cheer loudly.
"all right! woo!" connie cheered while tilting her head back.
"proud of you, bombay," sloane said, clapping nonchalantly as a cool smile crossed her lips.
✩
sloane stood beside charlie in the locker room with Jan and bombay, studying the film that played on the tv. she looked away from the tv when bombay talking and listened intently as he and jan suggested different ways to play the scenario the four had just watched. she and charlie added input when they finished, taking turns drawing out different plays on the clipboard bombay had.
"shot time," jan told sloane after glancing down at his watch. she groaned softly, shoved the clipboard to charlie's chest, and went to retrieve her insulin from her bag.
"can't have you going into a diabetic coma on us, sloane," bombay joked and took the clipboard from charlie.
"me either, but i'm bruising really bad from the shots," she said, lifting her shirt to show the large bruise that lined her lower stomach.
✩
"luis, your speed is a great weapon. now you must learn to harness it," jan explained after setting the last two soft drink cans on the stack he and sloane created. "sloane is an excellent skater and just as good a teacher. she will be of great help if you listen."
"i'd tell you to use the brakes of your skates but most skates made for our age group don't have brakes," sloane said and pulled at the neckline of her plain, light blue sweatshirt. "let me see how you try to stop now and we can work on it from there," she said as she lifted a thumbs up over her head.
"let's do it," jan said after blowing his whistle loudly. luis moved backward and around sloane before speeding forward toward the stack of cans.
"woah!" he exclaimed, leaning backward as he reached the cans. his feet slid forward and sloane pressed her lips together when he took out the stack.
"oh, that was rough," sloane said and took a deep breath. she pushed forward and let herself drift toward the cans. she helped luis to his feet and began restacking the scattered cans. "yeah, we're gonna be trying a lot of different things, a lot of different times," she told luis as they skated back to where they started.
✩
"that's it. come on, dwayne. hustle. come on, fulton, move that big butt. go!" bombay said, moving through his team as they crawled down the ice with their sticks pressed between their hands and the ice. sloane breathed heavily through a hot flash and continued toward the board in front of her. she stopped when she reached the boards, turned to face her teammates, and leaned heavily against the board while raising her arms over her head.
"atta kid, sloane! way to finish!" bombay encouraged. she gave him a thumbs up and closed her eyes as her head fell back. she blew her baby hairs from her face and slowly lowered herself to the ice. she flipped to her stomach and pressed her cheek against the ice, sighing happily as she slowly began cooling off.
"you okay?" guy asked as he stopped beside her.
"just hot," she answered, laying her arm across his shoulder when he laid against her back.
✩
"hey, how you feelin' today, goldberg?" bombay asked after jumping on the back of goldberg's treadmill.
"lean and mean," he said, concentrating on running. bombay jumped off of goldberg's treadmill and slowly moved down the line of treadmills until he reached sloane's. he leaned against the treadmill and crossed his legs while watching her for a minute.
"knee feeling good?" he asked while pressing the button to up the speed.
"yeah," she answered and subconsciously pulled at her knee brace that sat on top of the ace wrap and athletic tape around her knee.
"not too hot are you?" he asked and pressed the button again.
"a little sweaty," she said and slowly sped up to keep pace with the new speed. "but i'm always really hot though."
"fair enough. are you thirsty?" he asked, upping the speed more as he glanced at the water bottle sitting on the ground by her treadmill.
"yeah, a little. want to grab that for me?" she asked and attempted to smile as she pointed at her water.
"sure," he said and pushed the speed button once before bending over to grab her water. she took a long drink, not breaking stride, and handed it back to bombay once she was done.
"thanks," she said breathlessly as he pressed the speed button again before putting the bottle back on the ground.
"wish i'd stop making you go faster?" he asked and began to smile.
"uh-huh," she said while reaching up to slow down the treadmill.
"need to go stretch for a minute?" he asked as he pushed himself off the treadmill.
"i am not a quitter," she said between staggered breaths and licked at her lips as she pushed through the dull ache starting in her knee.
"except for when you were being thrown around by Iceland," he mumbled under his breath, puckering his lips as he swept his left foot in front of him.
"what was that?" she asked as she cut her eyes to glare at him.
"oh, nothing," he quickly answered while looking up at her.
"yeah, that's what i thought," she said, turning her gaze forward. "don't want the smoke."
"you're thirteen years old, what 'smoke' do you have to give?" he asked and laughed softly.
"keep running that mouth and i'll show you," she said while pushing stray hairs out of her face.
"and i'll show you bench time," he mumbled, cutting his eyes upward.
"what?" she asked as she turned to glare at him briefly
"i didn't say anything," he answered and began walking away.
✩
"banks! show me something, now! that's it!" bombay instructed as the team shot pucks at goldberg. "good. good."
"c'mon, banks, act like you want it," sloane joked and hit a puck as hard as she could.
"shut up or i'll bust your knee," Adam whispered, glaring sharply at her.
"threaten me again and i'll call the police," she whispered back and adjusted her stick in her hand. "and your mom," she added as a quick afterthought.
✩
"friday, me and guy are going to look for something for his mom but i'm free the rest of the day if you want to do something," sloane told fulton as she approached him and dwayne his left side. she grabbed his arm that wasn't around dwayne's shoulders and wrapped it around hers, slipping her right arm around his waist and laced her left hand with his as they moved through the locker room.
"sorry, sloane, but i got 'em booked up," dwayne said with a small smile.
"yeah, i've already made plans with dean and dwayne. how about saturday?" fulton asked and squeezed her hand.
"saturday's fine with me," she answered, smiling in an attempt to hide her disappointment.
"hey, banks, let's go!" dean yelled over his shoulder and sloane looked back at him for a moment.
"comin'. i'll be right there," he said as he exited the back part of the locker room.
✩
"that's the way!" bombay said, watching each pair of two tug on opposite ends of a rolled-up towel.
sloane and charlie leaned as far away from each other as the towel between stretched between them would allow. she turned to her left until her back was to he and leaned toward the ice with the towel clutched in her hands. she fell forward and reached her hands out to catch herself as she fell forward. she looked at her hands and threw them over her head when she spotted the towel still clutched in her left hand.
"ha! i did it!" she said and waved the towel over her head. "how's it feel to suck charlie?" she asked and raised her eyebrows at him.
"i'd beat you," adam said while adjusting the sling around his shoulder.
"you've got a sprained wrist," sloane said, looking at the sling holding his arm up.
"and you've got a bum leg. i think i can do better with a busted wrist than you can a crappy knee," he said and held out his uninjured hand.
"oh, you're gonna lose so bad," she said and raised the towel for him to grab.
✩
sloane finished stacking the cans and followed jan to where he had been standing. she looked down at luis and motioned for him to go. he nodded once and sloane tucked her hands into the back pocket of her jeans as he sped toward the stack of cans. she held her breath when he stretched upward and lifted his hands over his head to attempt to curl over cans. her eye fell shut and she slowly let out the breath after he groaned and ran into the cans.
"we're kind of starting to get somewhere," she said as she skated over to restack the cans. she rubbed at her eyes after placing the last can and returned to where she and jan stood as luis retook his position down the ice. he skated toward the cans once he was ready and bent his knees to attempt to stop on his edges similar to what Sloane showed him. she perked excitedly when Luis paused and sighed frustratedly when his legs slid forward and he landed on his side.
"are we ever going to get anywhere?" sloane asked jan as she stared up at him.
"have patience," he answered and placed a hand on her shoulder, a sigh betraying his otherwise well hidden impatience.
✩
"way to get up over on your edge there, connie!" bombay said as he watch connie lunge beside her puck. "good, portman, good. soft hands," he said as dean dropped one knee beside a puck. "way to go, sloane!" he cheered as she fluently dropped her left knee, moved her hockey stick and puck to her other hand, and smoothly raised to drop to her other knee in one motion.
✩
"i personally think that this look is totally your mom," sloane said, exiting the dressing room in a bright yellow cami dress that stopped midway down her thigh, blush slip-on shoes, a large straw hat, and bright red cat-eye sunglasses.
"it's so not my mom," guy replied and closed his eyes. she sighed as she pulled off the hat and sunglasses in one motion.
"why don't you find an outfit for your mom and i'll try it on to see if it fits?" she suggested, letting her arms fall to her sides.
"deal," he said and rose from his seat as she reentered the dressing room to change.
after changing back into her clothes, she gathered what she carried into the dressing room and placed them back where she found them as him roamed the store. she slowly made her way to him and looked at the racks of clothes as she passed them. she stopped at a rack of black leggings with long pockets on the sides and slid them down the rack until she found her size.
she pulled it from the rack and continued toward him. she stopped when a section of baby blue sweatshirts caught her eye. she pushed away the rest of the shirts on the rack and searched the blue sweatshirts until she found her size. she continued toward him and stopped beside him at the jewelry stand near the checkout counter. she laid the clothes in her hands across her arm and glanced at the jewelry.
"find anything?" she said while shifting her attention toward the bracelets.
"yeah, i may just get her this necklace. she's more of a jewelry person anyway," he said as he pulled a necklace off the small stand.
"that's cute," she said and glanced down at the bracelets. she picked up a dainty bracelet with small stars lining the gold chain.
"Matches the clothes you've got pick up," he said, motioning toward the clothes on her arm while watching her examine the bracelet.
"i may come back and get it later," she said and slowly placed the bracelet back. "ready?" she asked, placing the bracelet back on the stand with the others.
"yeah," he answered and they turned to the checkout counter.
✩
"i hate shoe shopping," sloane said as she stared at the wall of women's shoes lining the left side of the shoe store.
"you love shoes," guy said and turned to look at her.
"that's the problem. i want all of them but can't afford to buy 'em," she said, moving sideways to look at the section of fila shoes.
"you're like connie with clothes," he said as he swung her bag at his side.
"shut up, we feed into each other's ridiculous addictions," she said and reached for a pair of fila panache sneakers with the brand printed on the side of the shoe in silver.
"well, at least you know they're ridiculous," he said, looking away as he let the bag slide onto his wrist.
"i'll quit being best friends with you. i've got jesse as a backup to be my main dude," she whispered as she whipped around to jokingly glare at him with the display shoe in her hand.
"you wouldn't dare. there are things i know about you that you wouldn't even think about telling anyone else. not even your dad," he whispered back as he narrowed his eyes at her.
"i hate that your right," she said and turned to approach a saleswoman across the store. she requested her size and she and guy walked toward the checkout counter to wait. "do you want to get something to eat after this?" she asked, leaning her elbow against the glass counter.
"sure," he answered and placed both forearms against the counter while watching the saleswoman exit the back room with a shoebox in her hand. "where do you want to go?" he asked as he turned his head to look at her.
"i think there's a pizza place down the block," she answered and unzipped her wallet when the woman slipped her shoebox into a bag and sat it on the counter. she handed over the amount of money the woman told her and pulled the bag off the counter while waiting for her change.
"i'm good with that," he replied while pushing himself off the counter as she took her change.
✩
"so," sloane said, grabbing a piece of pizza from the large pizza sitting between her and guy, "do you know about anyone else's plans or are you in the same unknowing boat as me?"
"i know a few," he said after taking a drink of his coke.
"what are they? no one's told me anything and it's killing me inside," she said and took another bite of her slice of pizza. she huffed when he held up his hand and motioned zipping his lips. "c'mon, guy!"
"everyone's sworn me to secrecy," he said, leaning forward to rest his stomach against the table.
"we'll, i'm your best friend," she huffed as she let her bottom lip roll outward slightly while falling backward against the booth. "we tell each other things even though we promised the person we wouldn't tell a soul, not even each other!"
"you are my best friend and that's what makes it so hard to not say anything," he said and pulled a slice of pizza from the tray.
"why won't you say anything?" she said, quickly leaning against the table.
"because i can't," he said as he widened his eyes at her.
"you're a loser," she said and pouted slightly as she ate another slice.
✩
sloane grabbed her towel as she stepped out of the shower, quickly dried off, and pulled her clothes on. she bent at the waist and flipped her hair over to brush it and her ears perked when the door of her dorm room was opened. she turned her head to the left and stepped halfway out of the bathroom. she smiled at connie and julie as they entered the dorm room and stepped back into the bathroom.
"you guys have fun?" sloane asked as she finished brushing her hair. she slipped her fingers through her hair at her scalp and shook her hands to keep her hair from drying flat on her head.
"we did. did you and guy get a lot of stuff?" julie asked, sitting on sloane's bed to pull off her shoes.
"yeah. guy found his mom a necklace and i found a new outfit," sloane said while moving into the dorm room.
"what'd you get?" julie asked and crossed her legs.
"put it on and show us!" connie said as she quickly changed into more comfortable clothes.
"okay," sloane replied, grabbed her bags, and returned to the bathroom. she pulled off the tags of her new clothes and put them on. she slipped her new shoes on after pulling the tag off and pulled open the door of the bathroom.
"oh, that's cute!" connie said and tugged at the bottom of her shorts.
"thanks," sloane said and slid her hands into her pockets.
"come here, i want to do your hair," julie said and motioned sloane over.
"okay," sloane said and sat on the floor in front of julie. she tilted her head back as julie ran both pointer fingers down the side of her head to gather hair. she collected it in the back and pulled it into three sections to braid the hair. once she was finished, she handed the braid to sloane to gold and began to braid the other side. sloane took the small, clear rubber band connie was handing her and held it up when julie finished the thin braid. she handed the first braid to julie and waited until she pulled them into a small ponytail so her hair was half-up, half-down.
"thank you," sloane said while pushing herself off of the floor.
"do you have socks on?" connie asked as she glanced down at sloane's shoes.
"no, why?" sloane asked, suspicion lining her voice.
"keep the shoes, put on some socks. you'll thank me later," connie said and slowly smiled as she watched sloane take her shoes off, pull on a pair of socks, and slip her shoes back on.
"c'mon, c'mon, we have something to show you," julie said while she and connie tugged at sloane's arms.
"what is it? where are we going?" sloane asked as she was pulled from their dorm room.
"you'll find out," connie said, leading her through the halls of their dorm building. they finally reached the glass double doors and pushed them open. sloane threw her head to the side to toss her hair over her shoulder and glanced down the sidewalk. a smile tugged at the corner of her lips when she spotted dean in black pants, a black shirt, a black leather jacket, black shoes, and black sunglasses sitting on the bridge of his nose.
"could've waited until tomorrow's game to show me dean portman," sloane said, laughing softly as she glanced between julie and connie. "i already know what he looks like."
"go on, he's got somewhere to take you," julie said, ignoring her statement as she ushered her forward. sloane sighed as she approached dean and stopped in front of him as he pulled off his sunglasses.
"you've got a bright future as a bodyguard," sloane joked as she motioned toward his all-black outfit.
"what can i say, black's my color," he said while hooking his sunglasses on the collar of his shirt.
"really matches your soul" she antagonized, smiling softly as she grabbed his sunglasses and put them on. "sun's starting to set. don't you think the sunglasses were a little overkill?
"stop making fun of me. we're on a strict time schedule," he said and shoved his hands in his pockets to begin walking down the street.
"gonna let me know why people have been so secretive and leaving me out of plans?" she asked while excitedly hooking her arm around his.
"if you give me my glasses back," he responded and smiled when she yanked them off and pressed them against his chest. "the reason everyone's been so secretive and leaving you out of plans is because we've got a secret that required us to leave you out of plans," he answered with a sly smile.
"tell me, tell me, tell me," he said, shaking his arm repeatedly.
"i can't," he said and shook her arm. "you'll find out soon enough," he assured.
"wait a minute," she said as she stopped.
"we are on a schedule!" he whispered in frustration as he pulled his arm from hers to turn around and look at her.
"i thought you had plans with dwayne and fulton today," she said and narrowed her eyes.
"that was earlier, now come on," he said as he grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. "we've got to stick to the schedule!"
✩
"a drive-in movie?" sloane asked, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "what's fulton gonna say when he finds out you've brought me out on a date?"
"why don't you go ask him?" he asked and pointed out where he was standing at the entrance of the drive-in.
"ah, nice," she said when spotted fulton with his arms behind his back. "this is why everyone was being super secretive?"
"yes, now go have fun!" he said and softly pushed her toward fulton.
"be safe. don't get mugged," she said after stumbling backward.
"i'm wearing all black, no one's gonna mess with me," he said, walking backward so he could look at her.
"let me know when you're wallets stolen and i'll spot you where i can. i am a working woman after all," she said before turning around to cross the street. "hi," she said to fulton, smiling widely as she stopped in front of him.
"hi," he responded and pulled one hand from behind his back. "got us tickets for a double feature," he said as he lifted both tickets.
"i've never been to a double feature before," she said while happily taking her ticket.
"got you something else," he said and pulled his other arm from behind his back to offer a small box.
"oh, a present. i love presents," she said, pulling the top off the box. she smiled brightly at the dainty gold bracelet with small stars lining the chain. "you went and got it?" she said as she looked up at him with a sparkle in her eyes.
"mhm. guy told me you liked it but didn't get it," he explained while hooking the clasp around her wrist. she wrapped her arms around his neck to hug him tightly. "our movies about to start," he whispered and slowly pulled away.
"c'mon," he said, grabbing her hand to pull her toward the small ticket booth. they showed their tickets and moved through the gate to find two empty chairs. they found an empty section near the back and took two open seats in the last row of chairs.
"what are we watching?" she asked and slid her ticket into the pocket of her leggings while crossing her left leg over her right.
"you'll have to wait and see," he replied as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer.
"so, how many people knew about this super-secret date?" she asked, turning toward fulton as much as she could.
"i had to tell everyone so you couldn't make any plans to mess it up," he said and smiled mischievously.
"was anyone actually busy?" she asked as she uncrossed her legs to sit them across his lap.
"not really," he answered, laughing softly. she placed an arm around his shoulder as the movie previews began to play across the white screen.
"hey," she whispered and leaned closer when he looked over at her. "do you want to get ice cream after this?" she asked as she licked at her chapped lips.
"yeah," he said and leaned down to kiss her. she pulled away and giggled quietly as she ducked her head. she lifted her head to lean in again with her hand on the back of his neck, quickly forgetting about the double feature playing on the large screen across the field.
✩
"you have fun at your first-ever double feature?" fulton asked, leaning against the wall beside the door of sloane's dorm room while placing his hand on her hip.
"yeah," she answered as she ran her thumb across her swollen bottom lip.
"do you know what either movie was about?" he asked as a smile pulled at his mouth.
"as much as you do," she said, sticking her tongue out at him.
"hey, one of us knows what the names were and last i heard, you were the one asking about it," he said and lightly tapped her hip.
"you didn't seem that interested in finding out what they were about either," she said as she jokingly smacked his shoulder.
"okay, look, the coolest girl in minnesota kissed me. do you really expect me to care about a double feature after that?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.
"now i'll have to go in there and tell connie and julie why my lips are swollen," she said and jokingly rolled her eyes.
"you started it," he said as he pulled his hand from her hip to poke her stomach.
"no, you did, actually," she said, smiling as she grabbed his hand and laced their fingers together.
"it's starting to get late," he asked while using their laced fingers to pull her closer.
"i know," she sighed and rested her head against the front of his shoulder. "wish i would switch rooms with dean."
"i don't think connie and julie would appreciate that. he snores," he joked and the two laughed softly. "you've got two excited dorm mates waiting to hear about your night," he said and pulled his hand from hers.
"goodnight, love you," she said, pitching herself onto her tiptoes to kiss him.
"night, love you," he said and quickly kissed her again before beginning towards his room. she ran her lips together as she watched him enter his room and closed her eyes to prep herself before slipping into her room. she jumped slightly when connie and julie jumped from their beds and hurried toward her.
"did you have fun?" julie asked, gently placing one hand on sloane's bicep.
"you're glowing!" connie said and brushed stray hairs away from sloane's face.
"your lips are swollen," julie said as her eyes widened in excitement.
"are they?" connie asked while moving toward sloane to get a closer look. "oh my gosh, they are!" she said and she and Julie laughed softly.
"you didn't pay attention to any of either of the movies did you?" julie asked, the two girls back up enough to let sloane bend over to take her shoes off.
"we made it through a couple of previews," sloane said and grabbed a hair tie to pull the rest of her hair into a loose bun.
"you're kind of making it sound like you two, you know," connie said, raising her eyebrows teasingly.
"shut up, connie, no i'm not" sloane said as she gently pushed connie and blushed. "we just kissed," she added while sitting on her bed.
"okay," connie teased as she fell backward onto her mattress.
"connie, we are thirteen years old!" sloane said, her eyes bugging as she turned to her best friend.
"i mean, thirteen years olds do crazy things," connie said as she pulled back the sheets of her bed to cover herself.
"well, i don't," sloane said and crossed her arms tightly across her chest.