𝓕𝓮𝓮𝓵𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮

❆₊˚｡౨ৎ₊˚｡❆

Noah and Juliet walked side by side as they approached the Powderhorn.

The cold air hung heavy around them, and the distant sound of pucks smacking against sticks grew louder with every step.

The moment the rink came into view, Juliet's eyes lit up.

Without warning, she bolted forward. "Whoever loses has to clean the dishes!" she called over her shoulder, her laughter carrying on the breeze.

"Hey, no fair! You got a head start!" Noah shouted after her, his voice tinged with playful frustration.

He pushed forward, but Juliet, quick on her feet, reached the edge of The Pond first.

Panting, Noah caught up with her, the two of them now close enough to see their friends playing hockey.

Out on the ice, Goldberg was struggling to defend the net, taking hit after hit from the flying puck.

"Keep it down, please!" Goldberg yelled, arms flailing in the air. "Hey, come on. There's no need for this. Let's talk! I'm your friend, aren't I?"

"Come on, Goldberg!" Jesse hollered from across the ice. "At least try to stop it. I'm tired of chasin' the puck!"

Juliet and Noah exchanged amused glances as they walked forward to get a closer look at the commotion.

Goldberg stood at the goal, hands raised in surrender as the puck whizzed past him once again.

"Be careful, man," Goldberg muttered, ducking. "It almost hit me that time."

Charlie, who was standing nearby, rolled his eyes. "Goldberg, you're the goalie. It's supposed to hit you."

"Does that sound stupid to anyone else?" Goldberg called out, exasperated.

Noah smirked. "Nah, that's just the rule of hockey, Goldberg."

Charlie turned, noticing the two siblings. His face broke into a grin. "Noah! Hey!"

Noah lifted a hand in greeting. "How's it going, Charlie?"

Charlie's eyes flicked to Juliet. "Hey, Juliet."

Juliet gave him a small smile. "Hello, Charlie."

For a moment, Charlie just stared at her, his words caught in his throat.

Goldberg, noticing, nudged Charlie in the side.

Charlie snapped back to attention, stumbling over his words. "Uh, Connie's over there if you're looking for her."

Juliet lightly touched Charlie's shoulder, her voice warm. "Thanks, Charlie."

Just then, a long grey car rolled into the park, catching everyone's attention.

Noah instinctively stepped closer to his sister, gripping her arm. "Hey, look. Connie's gonna come over. Just stay here."

The kids began murmuring among themselves as the car parked near the rink.

"You don't know what you're doin'," one of the boys grumbled.

"Shut your face, Karp," Peter muttered nervously. "We're gonna get in big trouble."

A tall, blonde man stepped out of the car, and all eyes turned to him.

His figure cut an imposing silhouette against the icy backdrop.

He had a confident air about him, with a sharp jawline and a coat that flapped in the breeze.

Jesse stepped forward, narrowing his eyes. "I'll take care of it. They're drugs, I just know it." He puffed out his chest. "Yo, dude. You're obviously in the wrong hood. This is my dominion. This is a drug-free zone, you understand? We ain't buyin' nothin'. But I'm feelin' generous today, so I'm gonna let you get your sorry vanilla bootie outta here... before we be usin' your eyeballs as hockey pucks."

Juliet glanced at her brother, confused. "Who the hell is that?"

The blonde man, unfazed, gave Jesse a small, amused smile. "Thanks, bro, but I'm not goin' home until I take care of business."

Averman, standing off to the side, gulped. "He's got a gun! Stand back!"

But the man didn't pull out a gun. Instead, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper.

Charlie let out a sigh of relief. "Whew!"

The man unfolded the paper, his voice calm as he read aloud. "District Five Pee Wee Hockey team. I'm Gordon Bombay. I'm the new coach."

The kids broke into laughter, shaking their heads in disbelief.

"What a joke!" one of them yelled.

"Yeah, right," another chimed in.

But the man—Bombay—didn't flinch. "Afraid so, dude," he replied, holding up the paper. "Got the roster right here. Averman, Dave. Conway, Charlie. Hall, Terry... Anderson..." His eyes flicked. "And the other Anderson."

Noah stiffened, feeling Juliet shift uncomfortably beside him.

Bombay looked around at the skeptical faces. "Here's the long and the short of it. I hate hockey, and I don't like kids."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "What's this supposed to be, a pep talk?"

Bombay smirked. "I'm sure this'll be a real bonding experience , Maybe one day, one of you will even write a book about it in jail "

Bombay lowered the paper and looked over the group. "Is there a goalie?"

Goldberg raised a hand lazily. "Only for a little while. I'm movin' back to Philly."

Bombay stared at him for a beat. "Thank you for sharing that."

"No problem."

Bombay shook his head. "All right, get out on the ice. Let me see what you can do."

Bombay stood in front of his car, eyes narrowed as the kids awkwardly scrambled around the ice.

Averman skated up with a sheepish grin. "Uh, just so you know. We really suck."

Bombay, unimpressed, raised a hand. "Hey, I'll decide who sucks around here."

As the puck was tossed onto the ice, the boys immediately stacked on top of each other, desperately trying to reach it.

Bombay crossed his arms, shaking his head as he watched the chaotic scene unfold. "They really suck," he muttered to himself.

Juliet overheard the comment, rolling her eyes.

She effortlessly skated through the mess, stealing the puck and smoothly passing it to her brother, Noah.

Averman, always the commentator, couldn't resist. "The Pete-meister! Mr. Rabble-rouser, passing the puck over to Jesse-roonie, the enforcer."

"Ouch! That hurt!" Pete exclaimed as the puck hit him awkwardly.

Connie started skating toward Averman .

Averman smiled . "Oh, it's the Connie-meister..."

Connie rolled her eyes as she gave him a shove with her stick, causing him to lose his balance and tumble to the ice.

Juliet chuckled. "Connie, hey!"

Connie skated over, linking arms with Juliet as they made their way toward Coach Bombay. "Jules!" she greeted with a grin.

The two girls reached the edge of the rink, where Bombay stood, his hands shoved into his pockets.

Connie gave a little wave. "Hi, Coach. I'm Connie, and this is Juliet."

Bombay just gave them a nod.

Connie tilted her head  "Do you play?"

Bombay just started at the girl infront of him  "no . So, what's our record anyway?"

Connie shrugged. "We only lost by five. We almost scored a goal too."

Jesse, still trying to keep up, skated over, panting. "So... what do we do now, Coach?"

Bombay sighed. "What did your old coach have you do?"

Peter skated up just in time, eager to share. "He just yelled a lot. That's how he hurt his arm."

Bombay blinked. "His arm?"

Peter nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, one minute he's yelling at us, 'Little bastards! Where'd you learn to play? You suck! Skate, you little bast—'" Peter clutched his chest dramatically and fell to the ice. "Heart attack."

Bombay sighed heavily. "Great. All right, look. I gotta make a phone call. Keep scrimmaging. You, you, you, you, you, and you... against you five."

Goldberg, not having it, raised a hand. "We got names, you know."

Bombay barely acknowledged him. "I'm sure you do, and I'll bet they're very nice names. I might even learn 'em. For now, I'll be in my office. Oh, and if you need anything, fax me." He turned and headed back to his car without a second glance.

Noah leaned over to Juliet. "Geez, what a jerk."

Goldberg skated up next. "Where do they even find these coaches?"

Averman, Connie, and Juliet skated side by side as Averman glanced back at the retreating coach. "We're impressionable kids, right? Shouldn't we check his qualifications or somethin'?"

Connie and Juliet shrugged, glancing at each other as they circled the rink. Meanwhile, the boys huddled together in a suspicious whispering circle.

Averman broke away from the group, skating toward Juliet. "On three!"

Juliet furrowed her brow. "What are those hypocrites planning this time?"

Charlie's voice rang out. "One, two, three—charge!"

All at once, the boys launched themselves at Bombay's car, piling on top of it and making silly faces against the windows.

Some climbed onto the roof, shaking the vehicle.

The kids yelled in delight as Bombay stormed out of the car. "Hey! Get your mouths off the windows! Get off there!"

Lewis, Bombay's driver, leaned out of the window. "Get off the car!"

Bombay glanced up at the roof, exasperated. "Get off the roof, you little monkey!"

One of the kids managed to enter the car. "Oh, cool! Is that a real phone?"

Bombay snapped. "Yes, and I'm really on it!" He hurriedly opened the car door, but before he could stop them, all the kids piled into the vehicle, sitting in the seats and fiddling with the controls.

Averman, ever the smooth talker, grinned as he slid into the backseat. "Why, thank you."

Connie and Juliet exchanged mischievous glances, smirking at each other.

"Should we?" Connie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Juliet pretended to consider it. "I mean... I don't know..."

In perfect sync, they both grinned and shouted, "Last one in is a rotten egg!" before rushing toward the car.

Inside, the kids were messing with every button and lever they could find.

Bombay rubbed his temples. "Don't touch that!"

Connie leaned onto Jules with a mischievous grin . "we wanna ride!"

Juliet joined in, laughing. "Yeah, we wanna ride!"

Soon, all the kids were chanting in unison. "We wanna ride! We wanna ride!"

Lewis leaned over, his voice dark. "I could kill one of 'em... just to set an example, sir."

Bombay sighed, completely defeated. "Not yet, Lewis."

The kids continued their chant, louder and louder.

Bombay finally threw up his hands. "Take 'em for a spin. Anything!"

The kids erupted in cheers, scrambling as Lewis started the engine.

As everyone started piling out of the car, Peter, still sitting up front, had his eyes on a candy bag next to Lewis. Without hesitation, he reached out. "This looks good. I'm gonna eat it."

Lewis snatched the candy away before Peter could grab it, giving him a stern look. "Not a chance, kid."

Connie, leaning back in her seat with her sunglasses on, smiled. "Wow, I feel like Madonna."

Juliet laughed, flipping her hair dramatically. "Ooo, and I'm Gwen Stefani."

Noah scoffed from the backseat. "You wish!"

Averman, looking around the car, gave an exaggerated nod. "Seats ten comfortably."

Connie nudged Juliet, smirking. "Hey, pass me one of those glasses."

Suddenly, a strange odor filled the car, causing everyone to wrinkle their noses.

In unison, they all turned to Goldberg. "Goldberg!"

Goldberg looked horrified, holding up his hands defensively. "It wasn't me, all right?!"

Bombay turned to the kid sitting next to him, his nose crinkling. "Young man, what did you eat?"

Goldberg threw his arms in the air. "Nothing! I swear it wasn't me!"

Juliet gagged, covering her nose. "Open a window! It stinks!"

Charlie, looking through the front windshield, spotted his mom standing outside the car, her arms crossed and looking thoroughly unimpressed. "Oh, man... it's my mom."

Everyone glanced out the window to see Classy Conway glaring at the car, hands on her hips.

"She looks pissed," Charlie muttered under his breath.

Classy stormed up to the car, her voice loud and sharp. "All right, out! Everybody, out of the car right now!"

As the kids scrambled to get out, Averman couldn't resist one last quip. "Goldberg, why'd you have to ruin the fun?"

Cassy wasn't done yet. Grabbing Bombay by the collar, she pulled him down to her level. "Are you out of your mind?! What were you thinking putting that car on the ice?! My son was in that car!"

Bombay, raising his hands in surrender, tried to calm her down. "Lady, lady, relax."

"One crack in the ice. That's all it would take. One crack!" Cassy was seething, and the kids watched in awe as she ripped into Bombay.

Bombay stood his ground. "The ice is not gonna crack. Who do you think you are?"

Cassy didn't miss a beat. "I'm the mother of a kid you put in danger!"

Bombay finally introduced himself. "I'm Gordon Bombay, the new hockey coach."

Juliet, who had been standing next to Charlie, gave him a wide-eyed look. "Your mom is such a badass."

Charlie chuckled. "You think?"

Juliet watched as Charlie's mom, Cassy, stormed off with her son in tow. "Yeah, if anything, she could definitely put that coach in his place," Juliet said with admiration still in her voice.

Cassy turned back to Charlie, her voice firm. "Charlie, let's go."

Charlie hesitated for a moment, glancing back at his teammates. "Mom?"

Meanwhile, Lewis, clearly struggling, was seen carrying Peter by his jacket, shaking him lightly. "Give me my candy! All of it!"

Bombay, rubbing the back of his neck, sighed. "Well, I guess practice is over."

Charlie, feeling embarrassed, turned to the rest of the group. "Sorry my mom ruined it, guys."

The others waved it off, Goldberg speaking for the group. "It's all right, Charlie."

Charlie then turned to Bombay, hesitant but hopeful. "Coach, you gonna be at the game tomorrow?"

Bombay, unable to resist a smirk, nodded. "By order of the state of Minnesota, yeah."

Before Juliet could get too wrapped up in the moment, Noah came up behind her, lightly pulling her by the arm. "Hey, how about we head out too?"

Juliet nodded, giving one last look at the chaotic scene before following her brother. "Okay."

They skated off together, leaving the rink behind, knowing tomorrow was going to be another wild day with Coach Bombay.