Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Apr 19, 2024 10:27:18 GMT -8
There was just something about that girl.
Sam had never hated anyone before, and to tell the truth he didn't hate anyone now, but Princess Stella was getting damn close. All he wanted was to help a new teammate out, give a few pointers and maybe even grow a little himself. He'd never encountered anyone on a team who pushed back on the idea that they were all one unit growing together. Maybe it stung so hard for Sam because that was what he thought was most valuable about himself as a player. He had always elevated his teammates, but Princess Stella was the athletic oddity who had arrived at the Chudley Cannons so fully formed that there wasn't a single thing that Sam or his coaches could teach her.
"You drop too far on the broom when you accelerate."
It wasn't a criticism, it was advice, the first step in what would hopefully be a friendly rivalry. Maybe in another universe, Stella would have been receptive to it.
What was with that girl? Was it because of the name? She had grown up around Quidditch in one of the biggest Quidditch families in magical Great Britain. Obviously she didn't think there was any way she could improve.
So she was Princess Stella to Sam now, and he made damn sure that she would know it.
Until their rivalry exploded on the pitch and he found himself locked in the manager's office alone with her, Sam's arms crossed in his chair like a ten year old kid. They'd been left alone to work it out, and he would not be the first to speak.
Estrella Quinn
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Seeker
Everything good happens after midnight. |
Steph
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Post by Estrella Quinn on Apr 19, 2024 11:34:21 GMT -8
He was absolutely ridiculous. I mean, who acted like that at his age?
Stella had been right, she knew deep inside before she even met Sam, that he was just a show-off, know-it-all, big headed pretty boy with nothing to do but point out everyone’s fault and for what? To show off that he knew better? Take one of their first interactions for example:
Stella had pulled off a pretty impressive maneuver that she had tirelessly worked on for the two years while she juggled school and won not one but TWO cups for Ravenclaw. The Cannon’s coaches praised her, her teammates congratulated her and all Sam could do was point out, “You drop too far on the broom when you accelerate.”
Stella stared back at him, blinking her big brown eyes, with no expression on her face even though her blood was boiling in her veins. Like that was the whole point! She needed to drop that far to reach the snitch in time. It was something she had seen her cousin Anya do time and time again. So who was Sam Spade? How many championship titles did he have to his name? Up to this point Sam seemed cool - okay, just kidding! Stella already knew she wasn’t going to like Sam from the stories she read in the tabloids. ‘Self-less Lover’ or ‘Steamy Night with Spade’. His reputation as this great lover made him a joke in Stella’s eyes. Love? How could one night stands count as love?
Well, somehow, everyone loved him. It was baffling!
Their interactions only got worse as time went on. Sam swore he was all about teamwork and holding hands and reaching goals together yet made Stella feel like she was some dumb kid who had no idea what she was doing. Which she wasn’t! She was Stella Quinn, she grew up around Quidditch royalty. Anya Quinn had trained her since she was a kid on a toy broom. It was not her fault that he had this savior complex and she wasn’t playing along with him. Sam didn’t hide his dislike for her so she didn’t feel the need to either.
Stella was fine living that way, she didn’t need to be friends with everyone on the team. She had Damien and Eros and the rest of them fell in line with Sam. It was fine. Until it wasn’t and she found herself in the manager's office after a big blowout on the pitch. Stella had lost her cool, something she rarely did, and she wasn’t used to being scolded like a little kid. When management wasn’t getting through to either of them, Stella and Sam were locked inside until they could find some common ground. They were going to be there forever.
She sat straight in the chair while Sam leaned back and crossed his arms like a petulant child. The silence and just being near him, their chairs touching so their legs would too if either one moved, was torture. But unlike Sam’s indignant attitude, Stella let a small smile play on her lips. He also lost his cool and that was satisfying enough for her. She spent months trying to prove that he wasn’t perfectly nice at all times, she managed to get under his skin just like his comments about her being a Princess had for her.
Stella drew a breath and started out the only way a girl like her could, “I just think it’s funny… that you can say whatever you want about me but I can’t say one bad thing about the Cannon’s golden boy or else it’s like the end of the world. It’s like you’re some kind of prince or something.” All the while, that smile stayed on her lips. Maybe she was goading him on, waiting to see what else he had for her because so far Stella was not impressed with Sam Spade at all.
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Apr 19, 2024 12:43:00 GMT -8
The truth about Stella was that she was one of the most naturally gifted players he'd ever seen. That was why it made him so damn mad that she refused to be coached! He hated seeing all of that talent going to someone who wasn't one hundred percent dedicated to getting better every single day. Sam had to work for everything that he was, and it was his daily struggle to maintain it. Nothing frustrated him more than having to force his teammates to care just half as much as he did.
Their first exchange hadn't even gone the way she told people it had. Yeah, he had critiqued her form a bit, but that was only after a friendly smile and a "nice job." Listen, Sam grew up around coaches. One thing is father had taught him about shaping athletes was that too much positive reinforcement could be just as damaging as too little.
Their punishment from the fight on the pitch was humiliating, to say the least. Sam hadn't expected to be locked up in the boss' office like he was in middle school forced to work something out with a bully. Sam had always been a very stubborn person, but it wasn't like him to hold grudges like this. Whatever Stella had done, it had truly had rattled him to his core.
"I never said anything about you, Princess," he spat back. "All I ever wanted to do was work with you! We're teammates, we're supposed to help each other. You've hated me since you got here and I didn't do a single thing to you!"
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Seeker
Everything good happens after midnight. |
Steph
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Post by Estrella Quinn on Apr 19, 2024 21:42:14 GMT -8
“Princess?” Stella repeated the word back to Sam as she held her right finger up and pointed at him. How could he say that with a straight face while committing the offense once again? She rolled her eyes and continued, “What do you think that does? When you say it in front of the guys, they think it’s okay to call me whatever they want.”
The truth was that it was already hard enough to be a woman in the league. Especially a young woman less than a year removed from Hogwarts. Even Stella, who had Quidditch running through her veins, who was built for this, who spent her whole life dedicated to landing here, she still had to deal with people diminishing her talent and calling her a fraud because she had a family so powerful that she could be a princess if she wanted to. She still worked just as hard as Sam Spade. He might not see it but Stella felt it day after day.
And the blow she felt from Sam’s nickname was so powerful. He, somehow, didn’t realize what he’d done? The first time she overheard the locker room talk, she thought ‘okay, that’s fine, boys will be boys’. Eventually, once they got used to having a girl around, she thought they would stop. Just as it was winding down, Sam gave them enough wind under their brooms for it to pick back up and it somehow got worse.
As uncomfortable as it was, Stella had made a choice. Before she even graduated, she had just about every team in the league lined up ready to take her. The plan, she thought, was to go to Puddlemere United. She would spend a couple more years training under Anya until she was ready to retire and Stella could step up to take her place.
The Quinns were synonymous with Puddlemere, it had been their home ever since Anya signed with them almost two decades ago. Stella almost went through with it but when she saw the big picture, it wasn’t challenging enough for her. She didn’t want to wait out her turn to be handed the keys to someone else’s kingdom. She wanted a team of her own where she wouldn’t be compared to Anya at every corner.
The Chudley Cannons were just working their way up the league when Stella chose to join them. Eros was powerful, Damien was known for his kind nature while also being able to take an opponent down and their captain, Sam, was a rising star praised for his unique play style. If she had left it at that, if she hadn’t known about Sam’s reputation off the field, they could have been friends. And it wasn’t like Sam was creating scandals left and right, the stories were always positive but the nature of it all wasn’t what Stella wanted her name tied to.
“You started all of this and now you’re throwing a fit because I called you out on it! And you’re supposed to be some kind of great leader? Give me a break. You don’t like me and you make sure everyone knows.”
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Apr 19, 2024 22:06:52 GMT -8
Maybe if Sam had realized how difficult it actually was for Stella to follow in someone's footsteps like Anya Quinn, he would have been more understanding. But he could be as stubborn as he was kind and, to be honest, that would have sounded to him like an even better reason for her to take his advice.
He knew it had been harsh to start the princess nickname. The problem was that it had been going for so long that he couldn't just walk it back now. Sam wasn't used to being a bully, but he found himself in that position now all because she couldn't take a little constructive criticism. Sam had spun the issue as being about her temperament. He liked team players who were willing to be coached, not spoiled rich brats who buy their way onto teams. It might have been an untrue assessment of Stella, but she did carry that Quinn name and there were plenty of Quidditch players with famous names who had no business starting on a professional roster. What had she done yet to prove that she was deserving?
Sam might have come from his own minor Quidditch family, but his dad was a blue collar coach who had never managed a team, bouncing from position roles on various professional teams before finding landing a permanent head coaching position at the high school level in America. There might have been the odd Quidditch fanatic who knew Sam Spade III as one of the great underrated coaches of his day, but it was a name that had largely fallen into obscurity.
Sam didn't inherit generational talent. He'd worked his ass off for his role on the team.
"You're mad about a nickname?" Sam laughed. "All I wanted was to help you train. I wanted to inspire you to be the best that you can be. That's my job."
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Seeker
Everything good happens after midnight. |
Steph
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Post by Estrella Quinn on Apr 20, 2024 9:01:27 GMT -8
Stella and Sam should have been friends. They had a lot of things in common; they grew up in Quidditch families, they worked hard, they wanted to elevate this team, they were both stubborn. The last attribute was actually the reason they couldn’t do it. If Sam was stubborn, Stella was determined to beat him at that. Once she made up her mind there was no budging.
The question was: why did she take offense to his advice that day? Hmm, well, Stella told anyone who would listen that Sam’s words were condescending and he chose to do it in a public setting. He could have pulled her aside after practice to point out what he perceived as a mistake. But she didn’t like the way he smiled at her right before, plain and simple. She had seen him flash that smile at every pretty face that approached him and Stella didn’t want to be reduced to that. It was infuriating that he thought he could mask his criticism with a charming smile and she was expected to take it.
“Oh, yeah, great job, Captain.” Stella finally sank back into her chair and crossed her arms over her chest. She was glaring at the wall when he laughed. He laughed at her. If he thought she was upset before, he had no idea. “You can’t stand that you have nothing to do with my training, just admit it! And, honestly, what exactly were you expecting to teach me, Sam? How to flirt with every fan that comes up to me?”
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Apr 20, 2024 14:16:30 GMT -8
It was hard to make friends when your team was last in the league. It wasn't lost on Sam that all of the momentum they'd built climbing up to the middle of the table last season had evaporated the momentum Stella joined the team. She was supposed to lift them up to championship heights, but her spoiled attitude had brought the whole team down. Why wouldn't spirits be at an all time low for a Sam Spade-led team?
"You don't get it, Stella!" Sam shot back, smacking his hands into the arms of his chair. "It's not about knowing more than you, being better than you, it's about making each other better together! When I saw you flying that first day I knew that you were going to be huge. Yeah, that's exciting. Yeah, I want to be a part of that! But talent can only carry you so far. If you refuse to listen to your teammates, refuse to be critiqued, you'll only go as far as you are right now."
Sam paused, searching Stella's eyes for some understanding of what he was saying. It was the speech he wanted to give her on that first day before she'd left him in a huff.
"I'm jealous of you," he continued. "I wish I had half the natural talent that you do. When I see you fly, it's like...it's fucking art. But you're so goddamn stubborn that's all going to waste."
When Sam had said his part, he folded his arms back over his chest.
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Seeker
Everything good happens after midnight. |
Steph
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Post by Estrella Quinn on Apr 23, 2024 11:02:08 GMT -8
Sam Spade lost his cool.
More than once in a day and it was all because of Stella. Did she feel proud of herself? I mean, she didn’t not feel good about being able to break that perfect persona. It was weird to go around acting like some sort of rally girl while simultaneously making Stella’s life miserable. But when Sam raised his voice and slammed his hands down on the arms of his chair, Stella jumped in her seat a bit.
Here was the thing about Stella. She was stubborn and pretended that she could remain calm in any situation, but she was emotional and sensitive and when her captain’s voice bounced off the walls, she had to swallow down the lump that had formed in the back of her throat. There was no way Sam was going to see her cry. So she bit on her lip and stayed quiet while he continued to lecture her. She felt like a child because she was still a fucking kid. One who almost always behaved so she never had to be sat down like this before, but damn, Sam had a way of getting under her skin.
Sam paused and looked her straight in the eyes and they stared at each other in silence. After a long moment, Stella glanced down at her lap, not being able to keep eye contact with his really fierce blue eyes. And then he complimented her flying in there. Stella sighed deeply but didn’t say anything back. There was no point. Sam Spade had made up his mind about her, Stella had made up her mind about him. Not only were they both stubborn, they were both extremely competitive and neither was going to budge.
Four years. Three and a half, really. That was how long she had left in her contract. Could she endure that long? Her brown eyes flickered back up to look at Sam’s face. She had to, she wasn’t going to let him run her off the team, not when she earned her spot just like everyone else despite Sam’s belief that it was handed to her because of her name.
She took another deep breath before slamming her palms on her thighs and jumped out of the chair. Her legs hit Sam’s on the way but she didn’t look back.
“I’m ready to come out!” Stella announced to whoever was out there. She pressed her forehead to the cold metal door and jiggled the doorknob to no avail. Their wands were secure in their lockers and it was clear to anyone listening on the other side that Stella and Sam had not come to an understanding yet. She sighed loudly once again and pressed her back to the door, sliding down until she was sitting on the ground. Her lips pulled down into a pout and she stared up at Sam in silence. He hated her, she could feel it.
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Apr 23, 2024 13:23:03 GMT -8
Sam Spade was no diva. He didn’t demand an above market value contract and he wasn’t poison in the locker room. The one thing that could set Sam off? An athlete refusing to be a team player. He was so used to inspiring his teammates that when he was confronted by one who refused to budge, he just completely lost his cool. How could she think that he hated her? He was disappointed and heartbroken to see so much talent going to waste.
It was even worse when Stella wasn’t receptive to his speech at all. For Sam it was like a last effort to break through to her, to make her understand that he’d been building something here before she ever showed up. Instead she ran from him, going to the door and pounding on it to no response.
The room was silent again as Stella slid down the door. It gave Sam a welcome moment to gather his thoughts and reflect a bit. With a sigh, he slid out of his chair and bent down low so that he could meet Stella’s eyes.
“I don’t think they’re going to let us leave until we work this out,” he said, folding his legs criss-cross applesauce on the scratchy carpet. “And if I’m reading it correctly, neither of us is willing to give up any position. So…what if we just be enemies, but like in secret. And we pretend to work it out in here. Do you think we can work together at that?”
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Seeker
Everything good happens after midnight. |
Steph
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Post by Estrella Quinn on Apr 24, 2024 9:18:46 GMT -8
Stella could hear muffled voices behind the locked door so she knew someone was out there. From the corner of her eyes, she saw a silhouette pressed against the covered window and it only upset her more. This was so embarrassing. What was next? Were they going to be handcuffed together until they got along? That’s what this was, right? There was no escaping until they agreed on something.
Stella lightly hit the door with the back of her head a few times until Sam crouched down at her eye level and she had nowhere else to look but at him. There was a strand of his light brown hair covering part of his eyes and she had to fight the urge to push it back, it was distracting. If he was going to look at her like that, the least he could do was uncover all of his face.
“Enemies?” She couldn’t help but whisper at his proposal. Stella had never had an enemy before. Before Sam, she pretty much got along with everyone. She was well liked at school, but this was a whole new world and Sam had popped her bubble right away.
She crossed her legs, mirroring him, and then she pulled at the shoelaces while she thought.
The choice was simple. Either she stayed locked up in here until someone took pity on them (and let’s be real, that would be even more embarrassing) or they could pretend to have worked it out. That also meant they had to keep up the lie and she wasn’t confident that she could hide how she felt about him. But also, the challenge would at least keep a lid on it while they were working.
“What exactly do we need to do? You’re not going to try to braid my hair like we’re best friends, right?”
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Apr 24, 2024 10:49:42 GMT -8
Sam tried not to laugh at Stella’s joke. He couldn’t even give her that.
As much as it pained the both of them, it was best for the team and for themselves that they make it work. He’d never had an enemy before in his life either, and maybe that was part of the reason it drove him crazy that she held this grudge against him. Was it important to Sam that everybody liked him? Of course it was.
“It’s not important to me that everybody likes me,” he said. “We can make enemies work. We just have to show them that we’ve found some common ground, some mutual respect.” It would be a bit of a balancing act for the pair, because they couldn’t lay it on too thick and give the game away. Would it be hard for Sam to pretend to respect Stella? Sam was too stubborn to admit that he already did. That was the point of all of this tension to begin with!
“We should start by getting off of the floor,” Sam said. “You were just pounding on the door so they probably won’t believe us if we say we made up, so let’s just sit in silence for a few more minutes and we can work out how we play it when they come back. How does that sound?”
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Seeker
Everything good happens after midnight. |
Steph
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Post by Estrella Quinn on Apr 29, 2024 11:19:24 GMT -8
Stella was doubtful that they could keep this up for long. Sooner or later, they would be back in this room, but she was going to make sure it wasn't going to be because of her. Or maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she was imagining. As much as it killed her to admit, and she never would say it out loud, Sam was a really good player and captain. He knew this sport better than anyone else.
So OKAY, she also knew that when he pointed out the drop that day, he maybe possibly could have been right. There had been one too many times where she dropped too low and dove straight into the ground. It was fine when she was still learning the move at school. One little trip to the Hospital Wing and no one would freak out, but now she had the Cannon's staff following her every move. They had invested so much in her; they couldn't afford to let her be reckless. BUT Sam could be right and she could still be stubborn and not like him. It was her right.
"Fine by me," she mumbled. Stella sighed and pushed herself off the carpet. How long did they have to wait until they could start playing this game? She settled back into her chair and crossed her arms over her chest again. "So how are we going to do it?"
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on Apr 29, 2024 12:27:02 GMT -8
Sam crossed his arms and tried not to smile as Stella climbed to her feet. Had he technically won? They were still in a standoff, but admitting that it would be better to hate each other privately had been like his own victory, but he knew if he showed too much confidence in himself it would ignite everything all over again.
He slid back into his chair and tried his best to look casual. “We found common ground,” he said. “We both want to win, isn’t that true? And what’s best for the team is that we find a way to work together. That should be good enough for now. Then we come back in a couple of weeks and play it up like we’ve found mutual friendship in our passion for Quidditch and now we’re just the best of buds.”
Was that a bit much? If they overdid it, it would be obvious to management that they were faking it. But why should management care how they really felt anyway? The whole point was that they didn’t air their grievances out on the practice pitch every single day. If they found a way, even while hating each other, why should anyone care?
“We need to show them that we’re serious. I don’t think you’re going to like how though.”
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Seeker
Everything good happens after midnight. |
Steph
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Post by Estrella Quinn on May 14, 2024 20:40:13 GMT -8
Stella couldn’t tell where Sam was going with this. How did getting along with Sam Spade go? She never had the chance to experience it. Well, she didn’t give him a chance and she still stood by her decision. He was only doing this to get out of their punishment. It wasn’t like they were going to be best buds all of a sudden. They only had to pretend.
“You’re not going to try to kiss me are you?” she asked as a joke. Her arms slowly unfolded from her chest and she let herself relax into the chair. “You’re not my type, Sam.”
She knew he’d never do such a thing. She could feel the disdain he had for her from a mile away. Sometimes she would be running through diving drills and she would see him looking her way. Even from up in the sky, she could feel his blue eyes burning right into her. What was he even looking at? If she had to guess, she’d say he was taking notes on any mistakes she made. Sam’s contempt only pushed her forward in her desire to be absolutely perfect.
Stella waited for him to continue, her brown eyes expecting him to spill her plan, but she had to ask, “What is it?” He was right, she already didn't like this.
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Year/Job
Chudley Cannons Chaser
"Don't ask me for my autograph, ask me about the rage inside me." |
Travis
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Post by Sam Spade on May 15, 2024 10:43:29 GMT -8
Kiss her? What kind of a conclusion was that to jump to? She was starting to sound like the tabloids.
“You’re not mine,” he said coolly. Sam had a specific type of girl that he’d dated since high school. Cute, artistic types who had a thing for strong guys and athletes but knew absolutely nothing about sports. It would be completely out of character for him to date another Quidditch player. The thought had never crossed his mind. “But you’ll probably hate what we have to do more,” he added as one last jab at her.
Sam pointed his finger at her when he spoke next. “You do drop your nose too much when you’re accelerating,” he said. “You don’t do it on purpose, it’s easy to lose focus when your attention is on that little glimmer in the sky, but you’re dropping distance in the approach. If we’re serious about appearing to be copacetic, you have to be a little bit coachable. Just try it, I swear it’s going to make a difference.”
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