40
The mood in the gym was thick and tense. Campus was different when we arrived back from our tournament in Las Vegas. Or maybe we were the ones who were different. We'd left the tournament after the awards had been handed out and drove all night to be back to L.A. We'd own. Mine and Bella's wins in the finals clenched our teams' victory, which mean we were going to the National Tournament. We hoped, at least.
We didn't have any guarantees that our program would be kept alive another day. Sienna had promised she would do what she could to help rally up some support, but she was risking everything for us. It was too much for us to ask of her, but we were desperate. We were more than a team, we were a family.
"Well," Phil said, sliding his arm around Sasha, who'd driven down to support him and the team. "I just want to say that no matter what happens today that I am proud to have been your coach this year. I don't know that I taught you much, but all of you have taught me so much. Thank you for giving me everything."
"You're such a sap, Phil," Missy whimpered.
"Yeah, I know," he grumbled.
"I can't believe it comes down to this," Heidi said, looking around the gym. "When we came in here that first day, I'll admit to thinking this place was a dump. I was sure I'd made a mistake by transferring here, but I wasn't. I've learned so much inside here."
"Like how to keep your elbows in," Bella snickered.
"Yeah," Heidi laughed.
"Or keeping our feet under us," Embry added. "I've always been quick, but never really understood how important it was to read my opponent."
"I almost left," Liam muttered. "At Christmas, I wanted to quit. I'd always been the best, the strongest. But here, I wasn't and I didn't like it. I was going to go home and work at Wal-Mart or some shit."
"Why didn't you?" Bree asked. "What made you stay?"
Liam lifted his arm and pointed at me. "He told me I would regret quitting. Still I thought it was bullshit, but then I got home and my dad . . ." Liam dragged his hand over his face. "My dad asked about my tournaments, wanted every detail. He lost my mom a couple years back, and I'm all he has. As I was telling him about getting my ass kicked, he placed his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Let it go. Go back to school and start over.' I knew I had to, because it would have broken his heart if I'd stayed."
"Sounds like your dad loves you a lot," I told him. "Glad you listened to him."
"Me, too," Liam admitted.
"I don't want to be the downer here, but can we go?" Demetri asked. "Standing here like a bunch of girls isn't going to help us keep our program."
"A bunch of girls?" Bella asked, cocking an eyebrow at him. His eyes widened as he took a step backward. "Exactly how do a bunch of girls stand?"
"I, um, I just meant . . ." He smiled weakly. "You're pretty?"
"You're a tool, but you're right," Bella laughed. "It's time."
As Bella and I lead our team out of the gym, we were shocked by what we found. Hundreds of our fellow Bruins had gathered, wearing their blue and gold, some sporting signs that pleaded with the board to keep our program. Tears welled up in my eyes, though I managed to keep them from falling. They'd come to support us, to let the board know we were wanted, a part of the student body.
"Well, I'll be damned," Phil muttered, bringing his hand up to his mouth as he surveyed the crowd around us. "I never expected this."
"You should have," Sienna said, from her position in front of everyone. Her arms were crossed in front of her and she was smirking. "Thought it would be harder, but they were more than willing to come out and support our fellow Bruins."
I shifted my eyes around, spotting most of the football team, as well as the basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, and track teams. Not only were our fellow athletes gathered to support us, but I recognized members of our student government, representatives from our band, drama department, and other clubs. Mixed in the mass were a few of our professors. Many of our team rushed into the crowd, throwing their arms around their parents, crying and thanking them for coming to help.
As a pang of jealousy hit me, I saw two people standing to the left of us. Placing my hand on Bella's elbow, I leaned down and whispered, "Look."
As I slowly turned her toward the left, she gasped, her hands coming up to cover her mouth. Because nestled in the student body were her parents.
"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Bella asked, a tremor lacing every word.
Nolan placed his hand on his wife's back as they took the handful of steps so that they were standing in front of us. "Well, we wanted to be here to show our support," Nolan explained, softly. "We're so proud of you, Bella."
"You are?" she asked, crying softly.
"Of course we are," Corrine whimpered. "You're an amazing woman."
Bella threw her arms around both of them, causing all three of them to weep together. I stood by and watched, knowing how important this moment was to all of them. Bella had long forgiven them for abandoning her when Aro Volturi tried to kill them, for keeping the fact that they were alive for years a secret, and letting Bella hold the guild for not being able to save them. But she'd struggled with being a Cullen in the boxing world, with the pressure and stigma of living up to their legacy. That's why she pushed herself so hard when training; she wanted to prove that she was not only a Cullen, but the best of the Cullen fighters. And she was. She was fabulous.
"How'd you know to be here?" Bella asked, finally pulling back.
"I called them." Bella and I looked at Phil, who had his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his pants. "You've changed a lot since you came to school here. You were angry and scared, but you're not anymore. And I don't know if the program has anything to do with it, or if it's that guy you're married to, but I thought you might need them."
Bella nodded, tears sprinkling down her cheeks. "Thank you."
Phil smiled. "You're welcome." He shifted his attention to me. "I called yours, too, but they couldn't get here. I'm sorry, Edward."
"Don't be," I told him. "I know my parents are proud of me, of us."
Nodding, Phil turned to Sasha, sliding his hand in with hers. "Are we ready?"
"Abso—fucking—lutely," Bella said, sliding her hand with mine.
As we made the walk across campus to the administration building, the crowd behind us seemed to grow. Stragglers fell into step, and the air became thicker as tension and excitement blossomed. Phil led the way into the admin building with me and Bella, and the rest of the team right behind. Sienna, Nolan, Corrine, the rest of the parents, Sasha, and as many students who could fill the hallways followed, while the rest circled around the building, their chant, "Bruins, Bruins, Bruins," searing into each of us. Phil stopped outside a set of double doors and took a deep breath before he pushed them open and we followed him into the room.
A dozen men sat around the large, cherry-oak table, each of them wearing fancy, Italian suits, perfectly-styled white hair and looks of arrogance and self-righteousness on their faces. At the far end of the table sat the president of the university, Caius Sinclair.
His lips curled upward in a smirk as he stood up, placing both hands on the table, and said, "What's the meaning of this, Coach Dwyer?"
"We've come to plead our case," Phil answered.
"This is ridiculous," One of the gentlemen said, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. "We've been through this before, Coach Dwyer."
"You may have heard it from him," I said, "But you haven't heard it from us."
"And just who are you?" the man asked, cocking an eyebrow.
"I'm just one of the hundreds of Bruins who refuses to lay down and let you destroy our program. I'm one of twelve fighters, who have been through Hell and back to earn our ticket to the National Tournament, just to have you try to pull the rug out from under us."
"The program simply hasn't been bringing enough revenue or prestige to the school," Another man said, this one leaning forward and placing his hand on top of the black, leather binder in front of him. "The facts are clear, young man."
"Those aren't the facts," Bella argued, and then gestured to me and the rest of the team. "We're the facts. In this season alone, we've had more wins, more points earned, than any other season combined. Edward and I have made our way into the top ten, our team is in the top five. Now, maybe that's not as impressive as a football team who lost twice as many games as they won, or a basketball team that lost every conference game they've played this year, but it means a lot to us."
"But you're not bringing in the revenue, young lady," he argued. "Every tournament we send you to, costs us several thousand dollars. We have to pay for hotel, food, transportation, tournament entry fees, training. Your gym alone costs this university more money than any other program, and it just hasn't produced the results that Coach Dwyer assured us it would when we started the program six years ago."
"Maybe not, but every year we've shown improvement," Phil countered. "Last year, we were two wins away from a bid to Nationals, and this year, we've made it. Don't take our program away now that we're winning!"
"It's too late," The first guy argued, huffing. "We've debated this enough. It's time to end this foolishness and focus our time and money on programs that actually help the school."
"That's bullshit!" Bella exclaimed, but before she could continue, Nolan placed his hand on her shoulder and stepped past everyone.
"You argue that this program doesn't help the school. But what is this school doing to help the program succeed? I've been in this business for a long time. I've dealt with a lot of school, consulted on how to build a successful program, and I can assure you that what Phil has done with this program in just six years is nothing short of a miracle," Nolan argued.
"Mr. Cullen has a point," Caius said, placing his hand on the table. "As I've mentioned before, I think you're acting rashly. While the program may not have met the expectations that we hoped for yet, this season alone has proven that they are worth keeping around. For at least one more year."
"Let us prove it to you," Bella said, stepping around her father. "Give us the rest of our season. Let us go to Nationals. When we win, you give us next year."
"And if you don't win?" The first man who spoke asked.
"We will," she said. "Losing isn't an option."
He smiled and shifted his eyes around the board, one at a time each of them nodded. He looked at Caius and said, "They have the tournament. If they don't win, it's done."
"Deal," Caius told him, holding his hand out to shake. The man shook it before looking at Bella. He and the rest of the board didn't say anything as they squeezed past us, through the mass that filled the hallway and out of the building, where the sound of our supports could be heard loud and clear. "Glad that worked."
We shifted our attention back to Caius, who had stood up. "You cut it pretty close, though, Sasha. They were about to vote."
"Sorry," Sasha said, pushing through the crowd and walking up to the man and hugging him. "Much harder to get hundreds of people here, though, Daddy."
"Yeah, yeah," Caius grumbled, walking around the table and holding his hand out to Phil. "It's up to you now, Phil."
"No, it's up to them," Phil said, tilting his head to me, Bella, and the rest of our team. "Thank you for everything."
Caius smiled as he looked over at his daughter. "Anything for her."
Caius excused himself before leaving the room, and I looked at Phil. "He was behind this?"
Phil nodded. "When I first starting to learn how to box, Caius's father was my coach. He was quite the fighter. Won two national championships and would have gone to the Olympics if he hadn't lost the vision in his left eye. When he became the president of the university, he reached out to me, asked me to help him start the program. It was hard, but we did it. That's how Sasha and I met, actually."
"Daddy loves to take credit for us," Sasha laughed, sliding her arms around her fiancé. "You've won this round. Are you going to be able to win the war?"
A collective silence fell on top of all of us. We had won a battle, but winning Nationals wasn't going to be easy. They were going to gunning for us, trying to show that we don't belong.
"Losing isn't an option," Bella murmured. "Not anymore. This isn't just about keeping our program another year; it's about proving that we're the best because we are the best. We will go to the tournament, and we will win. Not for this school, but for ourselves."
"You bet your ass we will!" Missy cackled. "But we have work to do. It's time to train."
With the collective weight of the world on our shoulders, we headed to the gym, ready to train harder than ever. Nationals were ours.