Underneath the Flames

Chapter 1: Lost In A Contraption

"Hi, my name's Dean Portman. Umm, I just transfered here from Santa Teresa high school in California to play lacrosse." I grin easily, thinking to myself how much I hate this "tell us a little about yourself" introductory crap, and continue. "I'm 17, I snowboard and I like moonlit strolls on the beach and candle lit dinners." Several girls giggle to eachother and begin whispering and the teacher gives me an exasperated look. He raises an eyebrow and motions towards a seat near the back.

"Thank you, Mr. Portman. Welcome to Eden Hall. Please take your seat next to David." He continues to talk as I move to my seat and nod at David.

"Hey."

"Hey man, how do you like Eden Hall so far?"

"It seems ok. This is only my second class but..." I shrug.

"Yeah, well Dean, if you need anything..."

"Call me Portman."

Mr. K. shoots us a shut-up glare and we quickly do our best to look innocent. The bell rings 40 minutes later and I follow David outside. As he shows me around more of the campus he explains the Eden Hall tradition, which is basically dominating any sport they decide they want to. "Winning is everything here, but at the same time, it's expected, so it's no big deal if you actually do."

This becomes apparent over the next week I'm there. This school may be the most competetive place I've ever seen.

It's a rainy Wednesday, and I've been at Eden Hall 8 days. I leave David and his friends early and swing by my locker to grab some of my stuff. As I head towards English I see David heading in the opposite direction. He yells that he'll be a bit late and I shrug, not wanting to bother him. I come in out of the rain and sit down at my desk in English and glance around curiously. It seems more crowded today, My stuff is soaked and I'm pretty sure I have water dripping off my nose. It seems like any other day, waiting for David to show up, when I see...HIM.

He's standing in front of the door, rain pouring behind him. He has black hair hanging around a pale face and when he looks up I see a pair of pale blue eyes. He looks around the classroom and when he sees all the desks are taken he moves to the corner and leans up against the wall. I watch as he puts on a pair of headphones, pulls his hood back up and, as far as I can tell, falls asleep. The lights flicker and I glance up as they go out. This snaps me out of my reverie and I look around the room. Kids are piling into the room, anxious to get out of the rain and I see David come running in followed by Mr. K. and another teacher. I'm still vaguely shellshocked and I snap to attention when Mr. K. bangs on his desk and says "In case you didn't notice the power is out. Mr. Dunn's classroom is leaking so they will be spending the period in here. Please keep it to a dull roar." He goes back to talking with the other teacher (I assume Mr. Dunn) and just as I am about to go back to sneaking glances at Boy in Corner, David kicks out the kid who stole his desk and sits down.

"Hey man, how's it hanging?"

"Pretty good. Lacrosse is brutal though. Johnson's a slave driver. I'll be out running drills in this rain."

"That sucks," he says cheerily, "How's school otherwise?"

"Pretty good. Hey, who's that?" I ask motioning towards Boy in Corner.

"Oh god, that's Fulton Reed. They brought him here on a hockey scholarship. Nobody knows much about him. He's the big enforcer, only time we see him is on the ice and when he bothers to show up to class. He sent a kid from Blake to the hospital 3 games ago."

"How?"

"Checked him into the boards. Poor kid was leveled, never knew what hit him. I'd stay away from him if I were you."

"Why?"

"He's on drugs, a murderer, completely psycho, take your pick. Any one of them is true according to rumors. At the least it'll make you unpopular."

"I heard he's a coke addict... They say he's related to some hardcore drug ringleader or something," adds the blonde cheerleader sitting on my other side, Candy or something. I turn this information over in my head as I continue to stare at him.

The rest of the class passes quickly and I find myself following David to his locker and then to the Cafeteria. It's here where I see him again.

I'm sitting next to David and the blonde cheerleader from English blowing bubbles into my milk when I see him go walking by the window. He doesn't seem to care that it's still dumping down rain and he has a cigarette in his mouth that, despite the heavy rain, is somehow staying lit. I watch as he passes Dean Buckley and, to my shock, Dean Buckley simply turns his head and pretends not to see this very flagrant disregard for school rules. David must see my look of shock because he says, "Yeah, being the only enforcer has it's perks. They basically let him do whatever he wants. Getting him in trouble would mean him not playing and with the other enforcer hurt... Eden Hall is obsessed with winning."

This is just something I'm throwing out there. Not sure if I'm going to continue it unless people say they like it. So yeah let me know what you think.

A/N - All the chapter titles are song names. umm the story name is an h20 song and chapter 1 is a cky song. sometimes itll be the name of the song and sometimes the actual content will have to do with the chapter.

Disclaimer: I dont own the mighty ducks. They would not have been fit for Disney if i had...

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