THE bright lights of the ice rink shined down on top of the teenagers who all stood in straight lines, all giving one another deadening glares. Eliza stood in front of Adam — and behind Guy. Today was the day that the Ducks would go up against the Hawks. It was the final game to determine whether or not Adam and Eliza were allowed to stay on the Ducks or not. This decision would be made by their father — of course. So, Eliza's nerves were high. Especially since the team had made it known to her that they were counting on her for this victory win.

Eliza's eyes turned over to the Hawks that were glaring at her, noticing the smirks on their faces. She scowled at them, mentally flipping them off. Once the crowd finished singing the star-spangled banner — Bombay ushered the group to their box, making them all do as they were told.

"You nervous?" Charlie joined Eliza's side, as she shook her head.

"You?"

"No." He shook his head. They both knew one another was lying, making Charlie's hand hold Eliza's, not caring about everyone around. She faintly smiled, looking down at their fingers that weren't covered by hockey gloves. The two skidded to a stop, turning to one another. "You'll do great, Elle. Don't think about your dad, or Adam. Just focus on yourself." Charlie pep-talked her, as she nodded in agreement.

"Same for you." She nudged his shoulder, making him smile down at her. "Let's go kick some Hawk ass."

Charlie chuckled at her. "That's my girl." He muttered, before helping her step in the box, joining the team as they were mid cheer; quacking. Finishing said cheer, the team members headed out onto the ice. Eliza slid her helmet down, looking at the crowd in worry. She was incredibly nervous for today, not wanting to let anyone down.

"Hey, Banksie twins." Adam and Eliza heard from behind them, making the two turn to Jesse. "Don't forget what side you're on." Jesse hissed, as Eliza and Adam gave one another a look — no, they hadn't made up. But today was about teamwork, at least they were civil about that.

Skating out to the middle of the rink, Eliza crouched down in front of McGill. Her eyes narrowed, glaring at the boy in anger. Eliza's eyes then fell onto the black puck just as the whistle rang, making her quickly catch it. She was swift to pass McGill and Larson — who tried knocking her down right away. Eliza was a good skater. No — a great skater. She knew that, and that's what made her so confident. Confidence was key to hockey, she also knew that.

She let herself be confident, easily gliding with the puck in her grasp through the rink. She was quick to dodge the Hawks that were trying to knock her down, and once she was at a good distance to shoot the puck; she did. It landed cleanly in the net, making cheers erupt throughout the crowd. A smile caressed her face, looking around at the hawks who were angrily staring her way. She lifted her hand up, waving at them as she sent a wink there way. Her smile was cheeky, as she skated towards the Ducks.

The game was halfway over when the Hawks made their first goal. Eliza had been successful throughout the entire game — until the Hawks caught her in an awkward position, giving them the chance to throw her right into the wall of the rink. Currently, Eliza was leaning against the wall of the box in a sitting position, sipping on her water as she listened to Bombay's pep talk.

"Don't be scared of them, Ducks. That's what they want. Keep your heads up. Play proud." Bombay paused, looking to Eliza and Charlie. "Let's fly!" He exclaimed, making the two smile. Charlie quickly helped the girl up onto her feet, checking her body for any injuries — acting as if he had some super vision to see if she was hurt beyond the hockey gear.

"You good?" He asked her, putting his hands on her face as she nodded happily.

"Never been better." Charlie patted her head quickly, before following the rest of the Ducks out onto the ice. Eliza threw her helmet on, before skating out in pursuit.

Skating to the middle once again, the ref was quick to blow the whistle. Eliza handed the puck to Adam, which he took happily, gliding throughout the rink towards the Hawks goal. Eliza's eyes fell onto McGill and Larson, who were following her brother like hunters. She quickly rushed to her brother's aid, distracting Larson with a quick — innocent shove. He turned towards her as she grinned happily, giving him a smirk as he ran into Charlie — who helped her out with her brother's situation. Larson looked up at the couple as they shrugged, high fiving each other quickly, before rushing to help their team members.

Adam successfully shot the puck into the goal, lifting his hands up in the air at the goal. Eliza and Adam cheered together, giving one another pats on the back. The team members on the ice all skated to their coaches, getting prepared for the next few rounds of the game.

"Look, look, it's time to play smart hockey, Duck hockey. What they just tried to do out there was reckless — and aggressive. We need outplay them. We can't be more aggressive. But we can be smarter. We can be sneaky. All right? Now we got the power play. We're gonna hit 'em where it hurts the most:" Bombay said as he pointed up to the scoreboard. "Up here." The Ducks all agreed, nodding along.

"Fulton, you're in." The older man pointed to the boy.

"Coach, they'll be rushin' him." Averman informed.

"Right. Jesse, make sure you give Fulton plenty of time. Eliza, Charlie, you look out for him, alright? I saw that little trick you did with Larson. Give me more of that." Bombay instructed the two as they grinned at one another. "Now, let's go!"

They did so, all falling out onto the ice. The Ducks did as they were told — making sure to keep the Ducks away from Fulton as he was able to get an easy goal, making the Hawks goalie fall back in the net.

The rest of the game had been mostly successful for the Ducks. They had missed a few goals — but otherwise, they were on fire. Eliza, for once in her life, was incredibly proud of herself. She actually was having fun out there, while also winning.

As there were only a few more plays left — a penalty shot was brought up after one of the Hawks team members grabbed Charlie's arm by the stick, causing him to miss his shot in the net. The Hawks surrounded one another as they were now chosen to decide who was going to do the shot.

"All right, Ducks, who's gonna take it?" Bombay asked the team as he stood on the ice, looking at them all with his hands on his hips.

"I think Guy should take it." Connie nominated Guy, making Eliza turn to the two.

"Me?" He said, as everyone agreed with Connie's idea. This made Eliza frown, looking over to her boyfriend.

"I think Charlie should do it." Eliza jumped in, skating to her boyfriend. He looked down at her, a little worried about what she had just said.

"You're only saying that because he's your boyfriend." Jesse snarled, making Eliza roll her eyes.

"No, I'm not. Charlie's good, you asshats are just all too blind to see it." Eliza defended the boy, who chuckled at his girlfriend.

"I agree with Eliza. Let's let him finish what he started." Bombay nodded at the two.

"Coach, we have a chance to win." Charlie's voice turned into a hushed whisper, looking at everyone.

"Damn straight we do. Come here. You been practicing that tripe deke?" He asked Charlie, as the Conway boy looked to Eliza. Throughout the past few weeks of preparing for this — Eliza and Charlie had both been working on their triple dekes. Ones that have turned out to be pretty damn good, they had to say.

"Yeah."

"All right. Then you're all set. You may make it, you may not." Bombay shrugged. "But that doesn't matter, Charlie. What matters is that we're here. Look around. Whoever thought we'd make it this far? One, two, three. Triple deke. Take your best shot. I believe — we" Bombay looked over to Eliza, who faintly smile. "Believe in you, Charlie, win or lose."

"Thanks Coach."

"Go get 'em." Bombay patted his back as Charlie looked to Eliza, who gave him a firm nod.

"You got this, Char. I know you can do this. Don't let the Hawks, or what everyone else says on this team. You're an incredible hockey player and I know you will do amazing out there." Eliza grabbed his hands, swinging them back and forth. "Go kick some Hawk ass." Eliza smiled at the boy, who nodded quickly, taking his shaky hands out of her own as he pressed a swift kiss on her forehead, before rushing to grab his helmet and hockey stick.

The team and Bombay settled back into the box, watching Charlie swiftly skate out onto the ice. The boy glanced one more time to the group, before his gaze settled on the goal in front of him. The ref gave him the signal to start, which he gladly did, using his hockey stick with caution as he switched it back and forth.

Charlie was quick to avoid the goalie, easily shooting the puck in the net with ease. Cheers erupted through the crowd as Charlie had won the game for the Ducks, making them ecstatic. The team left the side of the sulking Hawks, speeding their way to the Conway boy who skated straight towards Eliza. He threw his helmet and stick to the ground, engulfing Eliza with a hug as he lifted her into the air to spin her around. She smiled widely as her feet landed on the ground, feeling a pair of lips press against hers.

Her eyes shut with her arms wrapping around his neck to pull him down as the team around them ohed. A giggle left Eliza's mouth, breaking them apart. Charlie gleamed brightly down at her, running a hand through his hair. "You were amazing!"

"I could say the same for you, Banks."

"Wow. Charlie Conway complimenting me on my skating? Who would've thought?" She cheekily said, as he playfully rolled his eyes. "Yeah, who would've thought." He laughed.

authors note

STOP THEYRE SO CUTE I LOVED THIS CHAPTER

anyways this was the last chapter of this book! but book twos intro chap will be out tn YAY