the whole team was now tied up together with rope, coach bombay thought it'd be great bonding experience.
"this is more crowded than a truck load of goats" dwayne complains, shuffling around as i feel something on my ass.
"if you touch my ass one more time" i warn whoever it was.
"yeah, somebody better watch their hands" julie says, joining me with it.
"yeah, someone licked me" averman whines in disgust, a certain smell filling my senses.
"oh, i smell something, ew" the whole team calls out the same name, "goldberg!"
"it wasn't me!" goldberg says looking to the floor sighing.
"no, it was me!" dean says lifting up his arms in triumph.
"i don't know how to make this any clearer, you are a team, and to win this thing, you have to work as one, now as one, skate"
i begin to move but it appears everyone went their own direction so we all fell onto our right, i fall on top of someone and grunt.
"y/n" adam whines, trying to push me off.
"hey, banksie" i smirk, looking down at the boy.
"get a room!" averman yells, i roll my eyes and try to get up.
"everyone goes their own way, everyone falls down, now get up and try it again" bombay tells us.
"alright. all of you move to your right, now!" dean orders, some people shuffling to their right.
"who made you boss? everyone to the left!" fulton argues and this time i fall to my left, i feel something heavy land on me and look to see adam.
"i'm getting serious deja vu" adam says, his stupid boyish smirk showing, i shove his face away and listen to the coach.
"you guys can argue all you want but i am not untying you until you move as one" bombay sighs.
we all begin moving together successfully, we were officially moving together as one, just like coach said.
"now you're learning, communication! that's it!" coach claps, "good together, move! charge! alright! right, turn right!"
coach eventually untied us and i sat on the ice beside adam who was smiling at me slightly, i look back at him and smile too.
"you guys are starting to look like hockey players, i'm proud of you team, you worked hard today but hockey should also be fun.. rancher dwayne"
"yes sir!" dwayne exclaims, looking at the man.
"round me up some stray cattle there" coach says, putting on his southern accent, i then immediately get up along with the rest of the team.
dwayne gets averman first and then charlie, then julie but guy just managed to go under dwayne's arm avoiding him.
i see dwayne trying to get me and skate behind adam who gets roped instead of me, he turns to me with a smirk shaking his head.
"you owe me, y/n" adam calls as i skate away.
"do i though?" i respond to the boy, pretending to think as i tap my chin.
we all then begin dancing in a line, following dwayne's movements as we rock about, i smile as adam brings me in before spinning me around, pulling me into his chest as we rock side to side laughing.
—
the next morning, we were all sat in a little room, i sat on a chair whilst adam sat on the table beside me, the two of us watching as tibbles removes a cloth revealing us on a wheaties box.
"hey y'all, that's us!" dwayne happily exclaims, pointing to the box.
the rest of the team making smart remarks to the boy, dwayne looking up at them, his face dropping as he lifts up his shoulders.
i look at the wheaties box and scan everyone's faces, i look over at mine and hum, i look pretty good in that.
"well don't you just look adorable" i tease adam, he rolls his eyes and pushes my face away as tibbles clears his throat.
"today, it's a wheaties box, tomorrow. it's video games, action figures, lunch boxes, the sky is the limit!" tibbles exclaims, "now, just to make sure that everybody knows who you are, try on, one of these"
he pulls out a usa jersey and i turn to adam who had a big grin on his face.
"brought to you by those wonderful people at hendrix for all your hockey needs.. fulton, there you go coach!" tibbles exclaims, throwing the clothes, "everybody take your own, im not gonna give em out to everybody"
adam and i race over to get our own jerseys, i spot his, then my own, grabbing them both, adam is totally oblivious as i step to the side putting on his jersey.
"hey, banks" i smirk, the boy turning to me to see me wearing his number 99, i give him a little twirl, "watcha think?"
"i think you're wearing the wrong jersey" he smiles, walking over to me.
"mm.. couldn't be" i shrug, looking down at my clothes, "nope"
"yup" he smiles, holding out his hand, i roll my eyes playfully before handing it back to him, putting on my own.
—
we all sat on the grass near a large lake, all of us wearing our usa tracksuits listening to miss mackay speaking.
"ancient greece was the beginning of western civilisation, see in greece, they didn't have professional sports or wheaties boxes, so the athletes competed for another reason, anybody?"
"falafels?" goldberg answers causing us all to laugh slightly.
"you wish, goldberg" connie smiles.
"charlie?" mackay smiles.
"pride" charlie answers, a small smile on his face as he answers the question.
"that's right, the various city states waved their flags and wore their home colours proudly" miss mackay nods.
"did america always dominate?" fulton asks, everyone laughing at the boy.
"it's a good question" dean defends the boy, looking at everyone shaking his head.
"no, america wasn't around back then, don't forget that compared to other countries america is still young, still forming its own identity, america is a teenager, just like you"
"like us?" jesse questions.
"you bet, a little awkward at times.." miss mackay says.
"you" adam whispers in my ear slyly.
"but always right there on the verge of greatness" miss mackay continues, i turn to adam with a smirk on my face.
"ehh..." adam starts, about to disagree, i hit the boy backwards slightly and he laughs placing an arm around me.
we then see coach bombay ride up in a golf cart, we all put on our rollerblades and skate after the man.
"i don't know what i been told" coach sings.
"i don't know what i been told" we repeat.
"team usa's gonna win the gold"
"team usa's gonna win the gold"
"listen up and listen good"
"listen up and listen good"
"we're all in for hollywood"
"we're all in for hollywood"
"sound off"
"one, two"
"sound off"
"three, four"
"bring em on down"
"one, two, three, four"
—
i lazily packed the last of my things in my bag and suitcase before making my way downstairs where my mum was waiting for me, we get into the car and drive to the airport.
i notice adam waiting for me outside and give my mum a hug goodbye before making my way over to the boy, rubbing my eyes sleepily.
"morning" adam yawns, his arm slung around my shoulder once more, "good sleep?"
"no, it was awful" i grumble as we walk through the doors, the airport was fairly empty as it was early morning, we look around to see no one here but us so we sat down.
i immediately placed my head on his shoulder as his arm remained on my shoulder, rubbing it gently.
"want to sit next to me on the plane?" adam asks me, i hum in response, nodding my head.
he rests his head on top of mine, a small smile on his lips as he gives me a small squeeze, the rest of the team began piling into the airport and sit down around us.
'flight 9! leaving in 10 minutes'
"alright team, that's us!" coach bombay, everyone begins making their way to the gate.
i open my eyes, adam stands up and takes my hand in his, the two of us catching up with the team, bags on our shoulders and suitcases in our other hands.
we put our suitcases with the staff and they sort our our luggage, once we give the flight attendant our tickets we board the plane, sitting in our seats.
i place my bag on top of the shelf and go to sit down only for adam to stop me, turns out we were sitting in rows of three.
averman sat near the window, i sat in the middle and adam sat next to me, i let averman through then sit down myself, adam sitting down shortly after.
i let out a sigh and adam looks over at me, knowing i was about to fall asleep, i notice averman putting his seat back and turn to him.
"how'd you do that?" i ask the boy, he turns to me with a small smile.
"there's a lever" he says, pointing to where it would be, "upwards to go backwards, downwards to go forwards.
adam and i share a look before leaning forward, pulling our chairs back and laying down in sync.
"you three are taking up all the room" jesse complains, i open one eye to see jesse, dwayne and guy.
"mhm, sounds great guys" i hum, getting more comfortable as i drift off to sleep.