The Eden Hall Ducks were all very confused when they all left the team change rooms and headed toward the ice rink. Their coach from last year, Coach Orion, had yet to be seen. The last time they saw Coach Orion was right before summer and now it was their first practice of sophomore year and he was missing in action. The team just hoped that he hadn't been fired or worse, replaced.
When the team entered the rink they were surprised to see a girl standing there in a pair of worn hockey skates. It was the first time they noticed the upbeat music playing in the background. The team all looked at each other with confusion evident in their expressions. Had they all gotten the information wrong; were they early for practice? Did they even have practice today?
Unanimously and silently it was decided that Charlie, the team captain, would speak on their behalf. The girl to this point had been standing with her back toward the entrance to the rink and seemed to have her head tilted back to look at all the banners hanging from the wall.
"Excuse me?" Charlie called loudly, the girl turned immediately and smiled. Adam gaped at the girl as she skated toward the team; possibly so Charlie didn't have to raise his voice anymore.
"No way," He muttered in disbelief; Connie who was standing next to him looked over in annoyance feeling as though Adam knew something that she didn't.
"What?" She hissed but Adam was ignoring her and thinking back to this morning when his father had dropped him off at school today. He should have recognized the girl immediately just from her thin fabric sweat pants which were frayed badly at the bottom and had copper stains splattered on the shins. This morning she had been wearing beat up sneakers with a few holes in them.
From the bottom down she looked like any normal kid on the street, Charlie had multiple pairs of jeans in the same state as her pants and once wore a shoe that had a hole the size of three fingers. Her torso on the other hand was beautifully dressed. The blue shirt she wore was scrunched at the neckline and had a string tied in a bow at the front. Overtop of this blue shirt was a black sweater with only the first button down up so that the edges blew out behind her as she walked and now skated.
He had thought she was beautiful; the blue and black worked very well with her ivory skin and dark hair that fell below her shoulders in soft curls. When he saw her this morning she was being dragged across campus by her wrist and her cerulean eyes were narrowed in some sort of anger. He hadn't seen who was leading her into Eden Hall but he had noticed how she stood out amongst the other students.
No girl at this school would wear shoes in that kind of condition let alone pants that was missing strips of cloth from the hem.
"Banks, what is it?" Connie hissed again bringing Adam out of his reverie.
"Nothing, I just saw her this morning." He murmured softly to her. By now the girl had stopped in front of them and raised a clipboard.
"The Eden Hall Ducks I presume?" She asked in a very businesslike tone. The team looked around at each other again and then turned to their fearless leader.
"That's us, the Ducks." Charlie confirmed. The girl gave a curt nod and Adam was fascinated by how the light reflected off her hair and he was slightly curious as to whether or not her hair was black or really dark brown. He also wondered if there were red highlights or something because when the light hit her hair a certain way it looked red in some parts. Some sections were lighter than others, too. She had very nice hair and her cheeks were rosy from being out on the ice.
The girl then pulled back the sleeve of her sweater to reveal a small wrist watch and then turned the face of the watch toward her.
"You're exactly four minutes and twenty-three seconds late for practice. That's not a good way to start off the season. Let's get started now; shall we? You all can think of me as your own personal hell; I will not go easy on any of you under any circumstances. I will work you so hard that you'll be lucky if you are able to walk off the ice. We are going to have a very rocky love and hate relationship. I will love being here with you and you will hate me and wish that I would be struck by lightning where I stand. Understood?"
The team stared at each other in confusion and more than one person scoffed. More or less they were all thinking as one and what they were thinking was; who the hell does this chick think she is? The team started to whisper among themselves; vocalizing their disbelief.
The girl stood up straight with her shoulders rolled back; accentuating her womanly curves and skated closer to the entrance. She fished something out of her shirt and placed it in her mouth. A powerful blast emitted from the whistle right in the Ducks' captain's face. He cringed away from it and the team was immediately silenced.
"I said: is that understood maggots!" She yelled like a general in military school.
The team nodded briskly with resentment and bitterness in their eyes. It was obvious that this girl meant business and whoever she was; she called the shots.
"Good," She commended softly; skating backwards slowly. "I expect you to give me thirty laps in two minutes time starting... now." She commanded coolly; staring down at her wrist watch. The team looked at each other and then stepped onto the ice and began skating around the rink; glaring at the small girl that stood in the center watching with cold eyes. Charlie kept glancing toward the entrance of the rink and to the stands in search of their coach.
Adam sighed as his attraction for the girl melted away. She was cold and hostile and the way she spoke nearly froze his bloods right in his veins. He was the only one not glaring at her as he skated and he noticed that she was staring intently at the entrance and making markings on her clipboard.
The sounds of their skates gliding and cutting into the ice were covered by the music. Some songs were so catchy that the team would probably have them stuck in their heads for the rest of the week.
"Time is up, come grab a knee." She shouted; she was staring intently at her clipboard so she didn't see Luis crash into the boards but she certainly heard it and looked up to see him lying flat on his back on the ice. She shook her head and continued to flip through the papers on her clipboard.
The team gathered a knee and stared up at her with mixed expressions of relief, contempt and already exhaustion.
"Mendoza, I commend you on being the only duck to actually reach the quota but that achievement is spoiled by your inability to stop. The rest of you fell short, some of you should think about spending some time working on speed and strengthening your leg muscles. I hope to see improvements by the fourth practice. Now when I call your name and number please stand and follow me: Banks, Adam number 99."
Adam nervously stood and skated a bit behind the nameless girl. She turned suddenly and began to lift her shirt to which Adam evaded his eyes with a deep flush coloring his cheeks.
"This is a red bandana. The objective of this exercise is to simply take this bandana from me. Do you think you can succeed Banks?"
"Yes." Adam replied sounding confident. How was this a challenge at all?
"Then come and get it." She challenged. Adam lunged for the bandana but she easily dodged left and shoved him down. While he was pushing himself up she created some distance between them and when he began to approach her she twisted around and turned to skate away. Adam was fast on her trail and reaching around to grip the bandana when she gripped his arm and pulled him forward and used his own momentum to send him flying past her. He leaned heavily on the edges of his skates and began to pursue her once more.
"Still think its so easy Banks?" She taunted skating backwards and turning left and right while going backwards. He growled in frustration and reached for the bandana again but she gripped his forearms and pulled him flush against her and had the nerve to laugh.
"You're the first-line center right?" She asked quietly. Adam nodded in response breathing heavily. "Treat this like a face off, take what you want from me and knock me down. Banks, you're bigger than me; use that to your advantage. Be aggressive not arrogant." She instructed before ducking down and pulling his leg out from under him.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Charlie cried.
"Banks, thank you for trying but I'll have to classify this as an incomplete. Number 96, Conway comma Charlie; tell me do your opponents always play fair?"
"No, they don't but you're not an opponent and this isn't a game." He defended.
"I see. Conway, would you please stand and attempt to take this bandana from me?" She requested and her sudden use of manners seemed strange but she still spoke distantly and coolly with authority. Adam was satisfied to see that Charlie was unable to complete the task, as was everyone on the team.
She knocked people down (most shockingly was Portman and Fulton) or kept so far ahead that they were unable to get close enough to get the bandana. All in all the team was not happy but it seemed neither was she.
"What is wrong with all of you? I'm small! I'm also tired and yet none of you were able to take the bandana from me! Who can tell me why?"
"You played dirty." Portman shouted indignantly.
"Exactly and what do you do when your opponents are playing dirty?" She asked; barking like a drill sergeant.
"Play dirty back." Averman joked.
"Wrong, you keep playing clean. The ref won't see everything and you have a responsibility to this school and your coach to always play fair. When someone grabs onto you and pulls you down, get back up and keep skating. There is no 'I' in hockey so whatever happens to you independently out on the ice is not priority. You know what else? You are a team, I guarantee you that if two or more of you attempted to take this bandana you would succeed." She took the time while she spoke to make eye contact with every player, making shivers run down their spines at the intimacy and intensity of the situation.
Then something caught her eye.
"Ah, coach Orion, do you have anything you'd like to say to your team?" The team turned their heads so fast that some of them were certain to suffer whiplash.
"Team, I'm sure by now you've gotten acquainted with my niece and the new assistant coach."
"She's an Orion; that explains everything!" Averman exclaimed. Something in her eyes seemed to harden like the ice they all were supported by.
"Actually, I am not an Orion." She snapped and then continued calmly. "You may call me Carter, addressing me as anything else will have dire consequences. The first time you call me anything other than Carter you will do thirty sprints. Five for each letter of the name you will learn to respect."
"Alright team; you have fifteen minutes to clear out of the locker room. And remember to stay away from Varsity until we play them. We will see you bright and early tomorrow morning." Coach Orion dismissed and the ducks all dragged themselves off the ice.
"What do you think of the new assistant coach?" Goldberg questioned as they headed down the hall.
"I think she's hot but a frigid bitch." Portman stated at once.
"Yeah, she's definitely attractive." Many guys commented.
"Well it's nice to know what you all think of my niece." Orion stated coolly from behind them.
They entered the locker room in silence under the penetrating glare of their coach and the even more chilling glare coming from Carter.