The noise of heavy wooden sticks clattering against the polish gym floor was silenced by the sound of Coach Anderson clapping her hands. Once everyone had stopped moving, she leaped off the bench she was perched on and walked towards them, eyes focused on her extensive notes. What followed was a list of her nitpicks that she had noticed during the mini-match; mostly gripes at Evan Young, the blundering goofball of a goalkeeper, and accidental fouls. There was a mutual sense of relief in the room now that they had the chance to have a break and Olly watched as his teammates crawled to their water bottles as if they had gone without hydration for a whole year. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and slid down the wall next to Kathleen and Evan. "You would think that they would have found something new to gossip about by now." Evan murmured, nudging Olly with a padded elbow. Olly, who was lost in his thoughts (as he often was during breaks), snapped back into bright reality and shot Evan an expression of agreement. The subjects of their annoyance were huddled by the supply cupboard, positioned like a sketchy street gang long the wall. The only difference between them and an actual gang was the fact that they looked as threatening as a basket of newborn puppies.

         Yaminah Hadrami and Izzy Hargrave were stood the closest to Olly and it wasn't difficult to pick up on what they were chatting about. The biggest story in town for the past week was Alfie Underwood, seventeen year old ex-Queen Mary Ospreys striker who was apparently good enough to go professional. He had been reported missing for just under a fortnight and for some reason Olly's teammates were convinced that he was more shaken up about it than he appeared to let on. In fact, Olly wasn't shaken up at all. Olly and his adoptive sister Rosie were childhood friends with Alfie, frequently bumping into each other at meetings with the adoption agency. The siblings were adopted when they were both twelve and that's when they lost contact with Alfie, who was still moving between potential families. While they stayed in Carlisle, Alfie was fostered by a couple who lived on the outskirts of the city. It wasn't until this year that they had reunited when Alfie joined Rosie's sixth form, the successful yet expensive Queen Mary's College, where he was recruited by their award winning Vincit team, the Ospreys. Olly had always pondered at how Alfie's foster parents were able to afford a school like Queen Mary's. The only reason that his parents had enough money to send Rosie there was due to a substantial promotion that sent his dad from assistant editor to chief editor at the local newspaper. "I still can't understand why you didn't want to go to Queen Mary's too, Olly. You know that we can afford it now." Olly's mum had told him on his first day of college. He had explained to her that as much as he adored his sister, he adored the other Ospreys significantly less.

        Once Alfie started playing for the Ospreys, it had given him a chance to reconnect with Rosie and obviously it developed into something more. The last time that Olly had actually talked to Alfie was a month ago, when he appeared at their door with a packed bag and an aura of secretive desperation. Olly had gotten angry at Alfie that day. That's when he left and neither Olly or Rosie saw him again. It was due to this estranged and unfriendly acquaintanceship Olly had with the missing Vincit star that gave his teammates the excuse to worry about him, which was weird and unnecessary and something that Olly wasn't used to in the slightest. Ever since the posters were taped to just about all the lampposts in the city Olly's friends had asked him the same questions. He had replied with the same answers:

"No, I have no clue where Alfie is."

and

"Yes, I promise that I'm fine."

       The whole thing perplexed Olly. The only time that the Squirrels and the Ospreys actually interacted willingly off the court was when they bumped into each other on the street. To be fair, there were some people on his team that were friends with a few of the Ospreys, including substitute defender Erin Addams who was currently dating Rosie. Much better choice Olly had thought when Rosie had told him. At least Erin wasn't going to run off two weeks before the Championships. Perhaps the strangest thing that came out of Alfie's disappearance was the sudden change that happened involving defender Theo Nicholson. Olly had now transformed into an actual person off the court when it came to Theo, a classmate as well as a teammate. Not that he minded. However, the fact that a living, breathing, perfectly-crafted sculpture built by the magical hands of God himself - that is, if God was an expert in creating a boy who was a nasty, rude and cold wolf in a beautiful sheep's clothing - was suddenly acknowledging his very existence off the court was extremely, absolutely weird.