D4: The Mighty Ducks – Will We Quack You?
Charlie sat in the stands, his graduation robe draped over the back of the rows behind him. He stared out at the ice that glistened before him. Memories swam before his eyes. Players materialized and soon a fully fledged game was taking place in his head. It was his final game for the Eden Hall Ducks. There was fifteen seconds of the third period to go, the scores were tied at 3-3. Charlie could hear Coach Orion shouting at him from the bench, he was on the breakaway, blitzing the opposition's defense, he was all alone. The clock had decreased to ten seconds, he only had to score once more, then the Ducks could defend, they had this all wrapped up. He began his triple deke;
One, he could hear the defense scrambling to reassemble and catch him; it was going to be a foot race. Two, out of the corner of his eye he saw Adam Banks edging forward, a support player for Charlie, but Charlie didn't need it. Three, Coach Orion bellowed "Shoot" from the bench. Charlie swung, the puck sailed from his stick and the goalie dived.
Charlie shook his head in disgust; he rubbed his eyes and as he did the remnants of his daydream faded. In a last ditch effort the goalie and leapt to defend, his outstretched stick had knocked the puck off its perfect course. It had landed at Bank's feet, with an open goal all Adam had to do was tap in the puck, and he did, dashing any dreams Charlie had held of being the hero of the Ducks last senior game, and thrusting them upon himself. Adam had been the hero of the game. He had been swamped by the team when the buzzer went. Coach Orion had named him most valuable player of the season. He had got the Dean's personal congratulations at the awards ceremony. And to top it off, he had spent the after party being smothered by girls.
It wasn't as if Charlie resented Adam's success, but it had finally been Charlie's moment, not a team effort, not the Duck's pulling together, it had been Charlie Conway all alone, and it had been taken from him. Letting his shoulders drop Charlie sighed and stood up. He made his way down the stairs and walked to the door of the stadium, running his hand along the boards as he left the rink.
"Charles Conway" Charlie walked along the podium towards the Dean who presented him with his high school diploma. Charlie shook his hand as the Dean put his arm around Charlie's shoulders as the cameras flashed. Charlie nodded at the Dean as he walked to the other side of the podium and down the stairs where he waited with his fellow Ducks. As he stepped off the podium Averman ran to greet him,
"We did it Charlie! Man we graduated!" he said patting Charlie on the back. Charlie grinned as Banks came over to join them,
"Congratulations Charlie" Banks said smiling softly, Charlie returned the smile and shook Adam's hand. The three ducks turned towards the stage and watched their fellow Ducks receive their diplomas. One by one, Julie, Guy, Goldberg, Luis, Connie, Dean, Fulton, Dwayne, Russ and finally Kenny each received their diplomas and shook hands with the Dean, with the exception of Portman who hugged the Dean and then cried out "Yeah" to the awaiting crowd. As Kenny was the final graduate, after he had collected his diploma, Julie was called back to the stage as she was Valedictorian to make her speech.
The Ducks cheered her back on the stage, lead by Portman who was making the most noise. As Julie reached the microphone she blushed as Portman called out one last "Go Julie". As the noise deceased Julie began her speech,
"Within my first week at Eden Hall, I had already received some advice which I would henceforth allow to guide me through life. This advice came from a very wise man, he said that real confidence came from attacking life, in every aspect, not only when you had control, but even when you were on the rebound of some strange bounce life had thrown your way. And when you did attack life, not to be careless in your choices, but not too careful either, you couldn't be afraid, because that's how you gained the confidence to attack life. Another wise person told me, that my peers and I, were wonderful young people, and if given our full shot, we would achieve great things and fulfill our potential; we would do this because we were given a good education, by Eden Hall. I was also told that if we did learn one thing here it was to follow those two pieces of advice. The two men who told me this were my hockey coaches, but that wasn't just about hockey, They told me that was how you attack life, even when you had no control, because we had been equipped with the tools to achieve, and had been given our full shot, and that is how we were told to play real defense; never give up."
As Julie finished all the Ducks leapt to their feet and began applauding and cheering Julie. Portman whistled which was followed closely by Fulton and Russ. Dwayne let out a "Yee Ha" and Connie called out "Go Julie". The whole crowd began to stand and applaud Julie, as did the rest of the graduates. Julie stepped back from the podium and shook the Deans hand as he put his arm around her and more photos were taken as she was presented with her Valedictorian medal. As she exited the stage, she was overwhelmed by the Ducks as they all hugged her. That speech had struck a chord with all of them. It had been the advice Coach Orion had given to them at one of their first practices, the other words had been that of Gordon Bombay, in a successful attempt to reinstate the Ducks athletic scholarships. As his thoughts turned to Bombay he saw him parting the crowd and making his way towards Charlie.
Charlie patted Fulton on the back as he left the group huddle and made his way to Bombay. As they met Charlie threw his arms around his former Coach, Bombay returned the hug. As they broke apart Charlie wiped his eyes with his sleeve,
"Well, we did it Coach" Charlie said, his voice a little husky. Bombay smiled and clapped Charlie on the shoulder,
"You really have become that man, I'm proud of you Charlie" Bombay said as he once more embraced Charlie. Charlie grinned as they broke apart. Suddenly there were hands on Charlie's shoulders as the rest of the Ducks flocked to say hi to their old Coach. Charlie smiled as Bombay was flooded with a million different conversations from each of the Ducks, as he listened Charlie began to look around, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Orion watching the Ducks talking to Bombay, Charlie shrugged off the hands on his shoulders and made his way over to Orion.
As Charlie approached Orion, Orion nodded at Charlie, indicating to the "C" that was stitched onto Charlie's graduation robe,
"You really have earned that Captain "Orion said smiling as he shook hands with Charlie who soon threw his arms around his Coach, as he let go Orion smiled at Charlie, "It was always there, I never took away what was there, you just had to lead the way and it would come" Charlie grinned,
"Well Coach, how does it feel for you, coaching the state champs for four years running?" Charlie asked,
"Pretty special, you kids were always a bunch of something else," Orion said as he put his hand on Charlie's shoulder, "Well it looks like you kids have got some more photos to have taken, so I'll see you kids later, goodbye Charlie"
"See you later Coach," Charlie said as he watched Orion walk over to his wife and daughter. Turning back towards his fellow Ducks, Charlie felt a rush of emotion. His time with them as a team was nearly over; he had to make it count. Rushing back over to them Charlie placed himself in the centre of a group hug.
Adam stood in front of the full length mirror he had hanging on the back of his bedroom door. It was 6.30pm; he had half an hour until the post-graduation party started. This afternoon had whirled past in a series of photos, tears, hugs and handshakes. Adam glanced at the graduation robe which was slung across his bed, there, stitched in gold and red on the front were the letters "MVP", signifying his triumphant senior season at Eden Hall. It had really been a last minute surprise. The whole team had thought that Charlie's close relationship with Coach Orion and indeed his captaincy had guaranteed that the "MVP" would adorn his graduation robe along with his captains "C". But through a twist of fate Charlie had had his gold opportunity snatched from him by a flailing goalkeepers stick in a last ditch effort, Adam had merely been in the right place at the right time. But it had allowed to Ducks to clinch victory and remain undefeated in their senior year.
And so this honor had been thrust upon him at the end of season party that had followed the game. This had resulted in Adam finding some newfound "friends" in the cheerleaders. The seemed to be like magnets and never left his side throughout the party. Adam hadn't exactly objected towards this either, it had been nice to be somewhat rewarded for his efforts, and his "rewards" were good company, in fact he was taking Rebecca to the graduation party, well they were going together at least.
Rebecca wasn't exactly like any other girl Adam had met, and in his head he cursed it for sounding so cliché, but she wasn't. She wasn't a feminist, tough, kick butt, independent girl like Connie and Julie, and she wasn't annoying, shallow, appearance orientated and apathetic like the other cheerleaders. She was smart, humorous, spontaneous and affectionate. And Adam had been awed when she had first started talking to him; it wasn't as if he'd never talked to a girl. But dating wasn't exactly his area of expertise.
Adam shook himself awake, and took one last look at himself in the mirror before he left. The invitation/announcement for the post-graduation party and said it was informal attire, but Rebecca wasn't exactly a slouch so Adam had on some black trousers, with his formal black leather shoes, and a white polo shirt under his Eden Hall sports jacket. Adam re adjusted his jacket and smiled, he looked ok; as he left his room he grabbed his car keys and ran downstairs.
Adam pulled up at the hall were the party was being held and ran around to the passenger side of his silver Audi B5 S4, his Dad had bought it for him as a graduation gift, he thought it was the perfect gift for his "MVP" player of a son as it had only been available in the states for a few months, Adam couldn't bring himself to say he didn't like the car. Sure it was too ostentatious and it cost too much money but Adam loved driving it, and it was the envy of every senior boy at Eden Hall, except maybe Portman, who loved his self-styled Chevrolet Blazer sometimes more than life itself. Portman had spent two summers worth of savings that he had accumulated from helping out at the local mechanics back home in Chicago and had added a new paint job, new rims, new tires, a new sound system and jacked up the suspension, the car was now what you called "A Big Dog Vehicle" according to Portman, who had affectionately named it Carmen after his current favorite pin-up girl.
Adam laughed to himself as he opened the passenger door and Rebecca got out. She had on an olive green halter neck dress which stopped a little bit above her knees, it also came down a little at the front where Rebecca had pinned a simple diamond brooch and looked very stunning in Adam's opinion. As she stepped out of the car Adam put his hand out for her, Rebecca grinned and grabbed his hand.
When he'd pulled up at Rebecca's house Adam had had to give himself a small pep talk before he got out. His palms were sweating and he could have sworn he felt more relaxed being carted off on a stretcher on the ice. He took a deep breath and got out of the car. Slowly walking up their paved drive, Adam could hear his heartbeat and his blood rushed through him, pounding in his ears. As he reached the door he peered through the stained glass window that was the centre panel. He could see the silhouette of two people. One was short and had what looked to be like ringlets. That had to be Rebecca. The other one, well that was at a minimum 6'4" and about as built as a professional NFL linebacker. Adam nearly fainted, if this was her father, he probably would faint. He raised a shaking hand and knocked on the door and stepped back as he silently said his prayers.
The door opened and Rebecca rushed out,
"Hi Adam, you early, that's great. Come in there's someone I'd like you to meet" Rebecca said as she grabbed Adam's hand and pulled him inside. As she shut the door behind Adam, Rebecca bounced back beside him and held out her hand, gesturing towards the hulking figure Adam had seen outside. He was tall, as tall as Adam had guessed and had his arms folded, emphasizing the amount of muscle that clad his enormous frame. He had short brown hair and brilliant green eyes. But his face, he had round cheeks but a well defined jaw and chin, and his face was absent of the wrinkles Adam had expected to find there. His confusion must have shown because Rebecca spoke up;
"Adam I'd like you to meet Jeremy, he's my brother" Adam let out a sigh of relief and shook Jeremy's hand, "Jeremy's 21, he's on a football scholarship at Youngstown State University, he's back on break" Rebecca said smiling. Adam smiled too, as they got to talking; Jeremy seemed like a very friendly, joking and generally kind hearted guy. They talked about school, Adam and Rebecca graduating in-particular, football, hockey and what their summer break plans were. Adam looked at his watch, it was 6.50pm, Rebecca noticed him check, "Well we'd better get going, only a little bit until the party starts," Rebecca walked over to Jeremy and gave him a hug, he wrapped his arms around his sister and lifted her off the ground,
"Is Adam, driving you to and from?" Jeremy asked looking at Adam,
"No Jeremy, what do you think, he's going to drive me halfway go to the party then pick me up at the same place on his way home?" Rebecca said sarcastically,
"Oh, wow you witty this evening Bec. Mom just wanted to know" Jeremy said rolling his eyes,
"Oh, Adam wait here" Rebecca ran out of the room and into the kitchen, as she walked back she was wheeling a lady in a chair, she was about in her late thirties and had very curly brown hair like Rebecca, she smiled at Adam as Rebecca stopped, "Mom, this is Adam. Adam this is Mom. Sorry you didn't meet her properly but she didn't want to scare you off, you know how Mom's are." Adam nervously smiled. Rebecca leant down and hugged her Mom,
"Now Rebecca I'm expecting you home by 11.30pm ok, you're not all that grown up yet" She said addressing Rebecca, "I'm sure this charming young man can do that for me. How are you this evening Adam?" She said smiling at Adam again.
"I'm fine thanks Mrs. McCarthy" Adam said, his mouth had suddenly gotten very dry.
"That's good, well you two best be off, but wait a second first," She said as she lifted a camera off her lap, "Now bunch up and smile" she said holding up the camera. Adam moved over to Rebecca and she wrapped her arms around his waist, Adam stood up straight in surprise, and then Mrs. McCarthy took the photo, "Beautiful, now off you go, Goodnight Adam" she said waving,
"Uh, you too Mrs. McCarthy" Adam said as Rebecca opened the door and dragged him outside. When they were outside and Adam had shut the door behind him, Rebecca jumped up and down in excitement,
"How cool is this, we're going to our graduation party!" She said and run down the drive pulling Adam behind her.