As I stepped into the cavern, I was hit with a wave of nostalgia. The bioluminescent fungi were glowing just as brightly as I remembered, and the damp, earthy scent brought back memories of my last visit. It had been too long since I'd been here. The glowing blue lake off in the corner made me want to take a dip. Even though it was winter and it was cold up above, it was warm in the cavern.

Jonathan and I walked closer to the field house, and I couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement. The rough terrain and towering rock formations were just as impressive as I recalled. I felt like a kid again, eager to get back on my dragon bike and fly around.

Coach Florence came jogging towards us, but she wasn't smiling as she looked at me.

"How are you this fine evening?" Jonathan greeted.

Coach Florence shook her head and frowned.

"No need for the long face Coach Flo! Look at what I have! It's a Blackbird dragon bike. My grandpa got it for me for Winterium!"

Coach Florence took a deep breath and feigned a smile. "Rollie, I'm so sorry I didn't talk to you about this sooner, but I'm afraid I have some awful news. Given the tenderness of the situation with everything that happened over Winterium break and right before Winterium break, I have to cut you from the team.”

Time stood still.

Her words echoed.

Everything went silent.

“You can't be serious," I said. I couldn’t remember a time before when I felt so much rage that my anger went to a place that was beyond comprehension. I couldn't fight or punch something for relief. I stood there, devastated, unable to form words at first, but my brain kept trying to figure out what was happening and why. Was this a nightmare? It certainly felt like it. "Wait, what about Richmond? Is he still on the team? You know, with everything that's going on?"

"Rollie, it's a very complex situation that we're still trying to navigate."

I paused and clenched my fist. "So he's still on the team, is that it? He's still on, but I’m getting cut?"

"Rollie, like I said, it's a very complex situation."

"That's bull crap!" I shouted, feeling the vein pop in my neck. I wanted to spout off swear words but knew I couldn’t.

"Rollie, it's okay, just sit for a moment. I can handle this for you," Jonathan said. He approached Coach Florence, and I could still hear their conversation. "Florence, please, I thought Principal Pine made the directions very clear regarding Rollie and Richmond? They would be treated the same since the investigation is inconclusive."

"Look, I get that, but I've just overheard students scheming on what they're planning on doing to Rollie and––“

"So you should report that to us, and we will handle the suspensions from there. We have to protect Rollie in this too."

"Yeah, but honestly, he's not even going to be playing this semester. I want to wait until this whole thing blows over. If Rollie wants to play in the fall, which he should, he'll definitely have a spot on the team after we graduate some of the students on the roster. But right now, I don't think it's a good idea for Rollie’s safety to be on the team. And I can't have a whole group of kids suspended because then we'll have to forfeit some matches and there goes our season."

Jonathan exhaled. ”And so, you would forfeit them. This needs to be taken seriously. If you don't allow Rollie to come back on the team, I'm afraid I'll have to get Principal Pine involved, and we'll have to settle this. And I don't want to waste your time and Pine’s time, but the answer is final. You must let Rollie stay on the team."

"I'm telling you, you can assert all the things you want, but the whole team already isn't a fan of Rollie's past behavior. And with everything that happened with the statue in December, everyone on the team is on Richmond's side. I hate to say it, I really do, and I wish we could legislate this better, but I think it's best to wait until the beginning of next year before adding Rollie back to the team.”

Jonathan scoffed.

“Trust me,” Coach Florence plead, “I want Rollie on the roster, but I'm looking out for what’s best for him."

"What's it going to take then? It's not a good idea to kick Rollie off the team. I don't like the optics of all this, and neither will Principal Pine."

Florence sighed. "I kept trying to figure out how to work it all out in my mind, but the only thing that came close to a solution was to keep Rollie on the team but not have him be a starting player. I'd have to keep him on the bench, but the thing that gets tricky is Rollie is a great player for someone his age. I'm worried if I held a tryout for his spot, that he'd win it outright."

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"And if he wins outright, then give him his deserved spot on the team. Look, the investigation is ongoing, but if there's one thing we know for certain, Rollie had nothing to do with the incident that happened in December. He shouldn't be punished for it. He loves Dragonstryke with all his heart so just give the man a chance."

Florence tightened her lip. "Okay. I'll let this experiment continue, but I want you to witness this practice, okay? Let's show that you're serious about protecting Rollie. If you notice anything -because kids are clever and will try and do things behind your back- you have to help me intervene. Got that?"

"But Florence, I have a lot of work back at the office since it's the beginning of the––“

"I don't care. You want Rollie to be allowed on the team, That's fine, but I just need you to be here for this one practice. Work a little late if necessary, but you're putting Rollie and me in a tough spot."

Jonathan contemplated, weighing the options in his head. "All right, I'll watch today's practice and intervene if necessary." Jonathan walked near the field house. All my teammates were going inside, grabbing their bikes, and floating back out to hear how Coach Florence wanted to handle today's practice.

I floated towards the back of the crowd on my dragon bike. Fortunately, not everyone noticed me, but the layer of people in the back looked behind and scowled.

"I hope everyone had a good holiday break. We are doing well this year and will likely make the playoffs if we continue to win these next key matchups. We will run a few drills that we were running in December and practice a few plays. I want to take a few of you and perform a little competition to see if any changes need to be made to our lineup. Any questions?" Coach Florence said.

Nobody responded.

"Okay, that's great! Let's get started then," Coach Florence said, and then everyone broke off into their own sections. We began to go through drills, but Coach Florence got on her dragon bike and approached me immediately. Arthur came up behind Coach Florence and gave me a death glare.

"Hey, Coach Florence, do you see how he's looking at me?" I said, pointing right at Arthur.

Arthur laughed. ”This is my competition face. I was told we would duel it out for the official backup position."

"All right, that's enough out of you two. When I blow my whistle, I want you to both get on your bikes, fly around the pylons hoisted in the air, and throw a few fire bolts at the blue targets nearby. There are three targets there, but I mostly care about flying around the pylons at a good speed. Both of you get ready, three... Two... One!" Coach Florence blew her whistle, and Arthur and I took to the air.

As we shot off the ground, I had an immediate lead on Arthur. I felt there was no way that Arthur could catch up to me, especially since I had the Blackbird. But as I rounded the first pylon, I was still thinking about how much it bothered me that Coach Florence thought the best solution was to cut me from the team. Rage boiled inside, I thought I could fly faster the angrier I got, but the Blackbird jerked to the left and right.

"What's going on!" I yelled. The Blackbird stalled, and my massive lead on Arthur was blown. He came zooming past me, finished the rest of the flight checkpoints, hit one of the blue targets with a fire bolt, and missed the other two.

But I hadn't even made it that far.

Arthur flew back to Coach Florence, and she greeted him with a smile.

I screamed and wanted to punch the center of the Blackbird as I floated, hardly moving. I balled up my hand, ready to bash the center console, but instead, I screamed again.

The cries echoed all throughout the cavern, a few bats squealed in the distance. My other teammates elsewhere around the practice field stared at me.

Floating back down to the ground, I took a deep breath and got off my bike. I approached Arthur, who backed up and clenched his fists but stopped once he saw I extended my hand towards him for a handshake in front of Coach Florence.

Both of them were shocked.

"I just wanted to say, good job. You won fair and square, and I don't want there to be any bad blood," I said.

"Oh, okay, thanks. I appreciate that." Arthur shook my hand.

"Sorry, I stalled out back there. I have a new dragon bike. I don't know what happened."

"Don't worry about it,” Coach Florence said. “You'll keep getting better with more practice. Arthur, why don't you join the rest of the team for drills and link up with the assistant coaches. Rollie, I want to talk to you for a moment."

"Sure."

Arthur flew off to join the rest of the team, and it was just Coach Florence and me. But Jonathan came toward us on his bike.

"Everything go all right?" Jonathan asked. "I saw your stall up there, Rollie."

"Yeah, I don't know what that was about.” I was short and irritated.

"Another thing about riding a Blackbird bike is that it's in tune with your emotions way more than others,” Jonathan said. “If you are flustered or not thinking clearly, the bike responds. So yes, it's one of the fastest bikes out there, but always having a cool head is most important. If you're in good head space and sustain it, it shouldn't stall out on you like that or jerk around."

"Got it."

"I wanted to mention one thing," Coach Florence said. "If you want to take a break or take the rest of the night off, I understand, and it won't be held against you. I know how some of you get if you lose an internal competition. You, kids, mope around, don't participate, or give up on drills for the rest of practice. So if you need some time to yourself, I understand."

"Just give me a moment to cool off, and I'll be ready to go." Stepping off my bike, I walked a long lap around the field. The only thought that subsided my anger was the realization that there wasn't anything I could do now. Once my brain and heart felt more balanced, I returned to my dragon bike and joined the rest of the practice. I was worried someone would say a snide remark to me, but no one did. I could lay low the rest of the time, although there was a moment from across the field where I turned my head and saw Richmond tossing a well-aimed fire bolt at a floating target.

I couldn’t believe it, but Richmond had eclipsed Arthur for worst person on the team.

Richmond raised his fist triumphantly and grinned, but then we made eye contact.

His lips curved down. I furrowed my brow at him and exhaled. Richmond gave me an awkward smile and waved.

The last time I saw him was when he blamed me for destroying the Unity Statue. What a piece of crap.

I didn't wave back.

Instead, I turned my dragon bike around and rejoined practice. Performing drills and flying without issue until the end.