THE sounds of cheers erupted through the rink as the hawks got once again, another goal.

a smile formed on eliza's face as her team surrounded her, congratulating her in the shot. one more goal, and they would win. it was thankfully, a easier game then usual, as they were against district five.

the boys and herself set themselves up in their designated area, waiting for the referee to blow the whistle. she crouched herself down, tightening her grip on the wooden hockey stick.

a smirk came onto her face as she was now face to face with charlie. he stared back at her, staring into her brown eyes. his own grin formed, his rosy cheeks and dimples becoming more exposed.

she shouldn't be feeling butterflies from her enemy, especially during a game, but she was. she was completely flustered, turning red as a tomato.

charlie sent her a wink, right as the whistle blew. she was quick to action, grabbing the puck right away, and leading it to the district five net.

she could hear the shouts and cheers in the background from her teammates, and coach, but tried her best to ignore, and focus on the task at hand.

as she got closer, she began to lean to the right, causing district fives own goalie, greg goldberg, to lean her direction. she was swift to juke him out, making a fast turn to the left, shooting the black puck right into the goal, no faults.

a laugh escaped her mouth as she put her hands up in the air, feeling the boys tackle her for the win. she had only ever felt truly happy when she was skating, and it only helped more that she could win.

the buzzer ran through the stadium as they made their way to the box where their coach was located, throwing the helmets they wore off.

"hey, hey, hey, knock it off! that was a lousy third period. anybody could beat these pansies. i want you guys to stay hungry out there!" her coach explained, staring at the boys, before turning to the two twins.

"all right, nice goin' banks. new hawks record" he smiled at the two, putting his hands on one another's shoulders. they smiled up at him, giving a quick nod.

the group collected their items, moving off the ice to the locker room, preparing themselves to leave the icey structure.

"hey, you two looked amazing!" the twins heard as they were making their way out of the building, slowly turning themselves to face skyler and rick, who were jogging towards them.

a smile formed on the blondes faces, putting their arms open for their brother to run into, which he gladly did.

"wanna go out for dinner to celebrate? i'll pay" he retracted himself from the two, earning nods in response.

eliza's eyes had trailed over to rick, giving him a faint smile as he did the same. she put her arms out, inviting him into them. he took strides over to her, putting himself into her hands, wrapping around her frail body.

"you guys look great. i wish i could stay longer" he muttered, pulling away from her with a frown pulling down. she let out a heavy sigh, nodding at him. "i know"

"ok, you two, let's get going" skyler said, right from behind the two. they only nodded, following them to the car.

little did eliza know, that this entire time, charlie conway was glaring at them. but not just the four, specifically rick, feeling jealously pool into his veins.

his jaw clenched, fists balled together. he didn't understand why he felt so angered by seeing eliza with a stranger, smiling at her, whispering to her, touching her.

the dinner was uneventful, as was the entire night. it went by quick, thankfully, as eliza was completely exhausted, and sore from the game earlier that day.

the next led to eliza mostly sleeping in, then waking up and cooking her family dinner, as she promised she would. but, before she could actually make the food, she had to make a trip to the store, as the home was in deep need for food.

thankfully, her father had leant her some money, so she was able to actually pay for the items the home, and herself needed.

she was scanning the candy isle, it being a much needed spot for her everytime she went into a store. she had to admit, she had a sweet tooth.

she couldn't help the fact she enjoyed the taste of chocolate, then taking a nice gulp of water right after. it was refreshing, she'd say.

she slowly backed up, trying to get a better view of the shelf, but failed by accidentally bumping into someone, causing the person, and herself, to let out shocked gaps.

her eyes widened as she turned around right away, quickly splurging out apologizes to the person who she thought would have an anger face, but was only met with a soft, smiling boy.

"it's all good. i should have look where i was going" the oh, so familiar boy shrugged. eliza was stunned, to say. she hadn't talked to the boy in years, and her heart ached at the sight of him. she missed him, a lot.

she grew up with him, she even used to call him her best friend. but, that fantasy of a great friendship ended the day she became a hawk, and it hurt both of them in the process.

"i—" she stuttered, trying to speak a sentence but failed, as her brown eyes met his. she was so easily memorized by them, especially growing up, and now, they were clearer than ever.

"it's okay, beth. really" he giggled, blood rushing to his face. her heart fluttered at the nickname. no one ever called her that name, expect him.

"guy, what are you doing? we need to go, otherwise your mom wil—" she heard from down the isle, causing the two blondes to turn to see a confused look connie moreau, who was frozen.

"elizabeth? i haven't seen you in forever!" she squealed, running over to the girl, and throwing herself onto her, causing eliza to stumble back from the force.

"you saw me yesterday"

"i know, but we never are able to talk because of your brother, and his stupid feud with charlie"

eliza mentally cringed at the mention of the conway boy, and her brothers hatred for one another. it reminded her of her own hatred that she should have for the boy.

"yeah, it is pretty stupid" she awkwardly laughed, chewing on her bottom lip. "listen, it was really nice seeing you guys. maybe i'll be about to sneak away soon, and come see you two. but, i really have to go right now"

the two in front of her grinned, nodding at her. "i'll see you guys soon, okay?" they quickly waved by to her as she exited the encounter, a breath of relief escaping her mouth as she was now able to forget about the stress of her brother, and charlie.

but it didn't help the fact that now, she was thinking about charlie.

charlie and his perfect green eyes, and soft lips. and how his hair was nicely curled, and how it turns a light honey colour in the sun, or the way his teeth were—

she quickly shook her head, stopping herself from imaging about the dreamy conway boy, she loathed, but not in the way you think.

you'd assume she'd feel hatred for the way he's treated her over the years, his snarky remarks, and crude comments thrown at her, or his aggressive acts towards her, she hated them.

but, when it comes down to the last month, and how he's treated her so well, so kind, so perfect. all she wants is more of that, she craves it. she wants that, she never thought she'd want anything like that, especially with him.

but, there was something different about him. the way he made her stomach do somersaults, or the way her heart fluttered at the sight of him staring at her, or the way he touched her. the way he kissed her.

"elizabeth banks, is that you?" she jumped at the sudden noise, turning around in the self-checkout isle to see someone that she wished to never have to see again, not in this type of circumstance, at least.

"hi, ms. conway" she put on a forced smile, waved for the woman to come over as she collected her bags.

"how have you been. i haven't seen you since the library incident" she winked, laughing to herself. eliza let her own awkward laugh escaped, shifting her weight.

"i've been good. how about you?"

"great! charlie's been talking about you and the project, says it's been going great. you two seem to be getting a lot done"

"yup, definitely a lot" she said, looking down at her feet.

"well, i'd love for you to come to dinner sometime. maybe this weekend? oh, yes! you two could go to the winter festival after, couldn't you?" the woman asked, with seemingly pleading eyes.

eliza frowned at this, feeling bad for the woman. she clearly wanted charlie to have some more feminine friends, it was clear to anyone. eliza knew she was trying to be subtle about it, and couldn't refuse the kind woman, who had done some much for her, when it seemed so little.

"i'd love to. and yes, we will go to the winter festival after" eliza let a sigh leave her lips, staring at the now grinning woman, who practically screamed at this.

"amazing! i'll tell charlie about it tonight, alright? he'll give you a call on a good time to come over. i'll see you later, honey" the woman waved goodbye, giddily strutting away from the banks female.

anxiety had taken over eliza, thinking about how this simple grocery shopping task, turned into a awkward interaction with guy and connie, and now a soon to be dinner date with charlie, and his mother.

boy, she was in for it.

— AUTHORS NOTE
i enjoy the fact that these characters all look like how they did in the third movie, but it's set in the first.