𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 | 𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

"the cold war"

"It appears the entire school has turned out to see the once Mighty Ducks, I mean, rather the Eden Hall Warriors battle the Blake freshmen bears." Josh, the sports commentator cheerfully reviewed over the loud sounds coming from the school band in the front row.

Adam Banks felt slightly suffocated as he found his spot surrounded by the upperclassmen on his new team. The large crowds on every side of him harshly gossiped their predictions for the upcoming game -- Would the freshmen really be as good as promised when they accepted their scholarships?

He tried to drown it all out as he sat next to Scooter Holland, who seemed to be his only genuine friend at Eden Hall recently. Adam anxiously looked towards the main entrance, fiddling with the letterman jacket in his grip.

"You waiting for someone?" Scooter asked, leaning over so his voice could be heard throughout the booming chatter.

"Yeah -- my girlfriend -- Rowan. She should be here any minute now." Adam answered, breaking his gaze away from the door for a few seconds to look at the varsity goalie.

"That explains the extra sweatshirt." Scooter observed, as Adam was already wearing his own warrior crewneck.

"Yeah, well, she gets cold really easily."

Adam let his eyes scan the stands for a third time, finally landing on the girl as she gave Casey Conway her usual smile and wave.

"Hi, sorry if I'm late. This place is absolutely huge." Rowan greeted, finding her saved spot next to the blue eyed boy.

"You're right on time." Adam grinned, his hand taking its typical place in her own, smaller one. "This is Scooter Holland."

"Pleasure to meet you." Scooter politely welcomed as Rowan did the same.

Their attention was immediately pulled to the ice as the newest hockey team skated out. Connie, Julie, and Guy sending friendly smiles up to where they sat in the bleachers before huddling around the tight bench area for a pregame pep talk with Coach Orion.

"Quack! Quack! Qu-" The team started, but was instantly shut down by the confused and irritated words of Ted Orion. "Go team." They dully fixed.

"Hey, why isn't Charlie wearing his C?" Rowan asked as she watched him unenthusiastically take his starting spot.

"Point of fact, Charlie Conway's not wearing the traditional captain C. He's been this team's captain since they played in district five. I guess Coach Orion is making a statement." Josh commentated over the speakers.

"There's your answer."

"Elaborate?"

"Orion took it away the first day -- said that he would be choosing the captain. Charlie's been in a pissy mood ever since -- they all have." Adam summarized.

She looked at him to continue, hoping there would be more to the story, but Adam gave nothing further than that. So, Rowan let her curiosity go to focus on the puck that had just fallen onto the ice.

The Blake Bears seemed to be hopeless by the end of the second period, with a score of 0-9. On the other hand, the new JV team couldn't have been thriving more. Each time they scored, the band played the overly loud and overused song, yet the celebration never looked to cease.

Emotions tore Rowan in half -- she was overjoyed by the success of her friends, of course -- but a nagging feeling could not leave the back of her head, or heart for that matter -- pure melancholy. The reasoning behind this, she couldn't pin it exactly, but she was certain it had something to do with the preforming players intentionally avoiding eye contact in the direct location where the varsity, in addition Rowan, sat. Maybe it was something about how when she asked Adam why they wouldn't look over here -- especially when Adam jumped up from his seat 15 seconds into the game to cheer for Charlie -- all the boy could muster up was "They've been doing a lot of that recently."