~*Don't own the Ducks duh. Would love to own Banks and Portman but Disney won't share. Sam, Griffon and Sierra are mine, Cat is Cat's, and Emily and Delilah are Nicci's. See we're friends and we share. This story takes place after Poet Among Ducks, it's now senior year.*~
Adam Banks stretched with a smile as the early morning sun was beginning shine through his dorm room window. It was the first day of senior year and he was the best mood imaginable. He received an acceptance letter a week before from Stanford, his girlfriend Caroline had come back from Boston very late the night prior so he'd be seeing her for the first time in a month that day, he had finally got his father to stop telling him he was a screw up and the Ducks were playing better then ever. Life was great; if nothing changed for him for the rest of his existence he'd be content forever.
"Get up Luis." He flew to the window and tore the curtains open.
"Damn it Banksie, why do you feel the need to wake up at dawn?" His roommate and teammate Luis Mendoza grunted into his pillow.
"It's 7:00 A.M. Luis and we have to meet Carly and Emily before the assembly." Banks bounded over to his bureau and pulled out a perfectly pressed white oxford shirt and dark blue slacks.
"Dude lay of the crack." Luis put his feet on the cold hardwood floor and grimaced at the cold sensation on his bare feet.
Meanwhile
"So how was your vacation?" Emily Boyer stood at the full-length mirror in the room she and Carly Epson shared.
"Boston's Boston, I would've rather stayed here with Adam." Carly held a light green blouse up to her chest as the color picked up the red highlights in her hair.
"But if you didn't go home for the month, you never would have had the romantic night on the town."
"Yeah well, I wouldn't say it was that romantic."
"Oh come off it Caroline Epson, you know as well as I do that was the best night of your life."
"It was a night that changed my life." Carly observed thinking back to the night in question. Adam had taken her to dinner at the best hotel in the area and rented a room upstairs. In retrospect that night had changed her life it was her first time. Everything had changed that night. "Don't call me Caroline."
"Exactly. Sorry I forgot only Adam could call you Caroline."
"How was France?" Carly had something on her mind and thinking about Banksie was only making it worse.
"Terrible, my mother is a psycho bitch, her new husband Karim is scum and the most arrogant pig I have ever met. And if they made me eat escargot one more time, I was set to puke."
Puke was precisely what Carly did she ran to the half bath the girls shared and prayed to the porcelain god for twenty minutes.
"Are you okay?" Emily stood against the doorframe pulling her honey colored hair into a bun as Carly's gagging subsided.
"Yeah I'm fine, I've been doing that for a week now, I can't control it." Carly spat while brushing her teeth.
"Maybe you should see a doctor."
"I did, yesterday before I get ready to go to the airport. They're calling with my results around fourth period. Will you cover for me in Calc? I've got to be in here to answer the phone."
"Sure no problem."
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Adam and Luis walked in with ear-to-ear grins. The four got reacquainted and with morning kisses and headed off to the auditorium, meeting up with Portman and Samantha and Charlie and Cat on the way.
"Great, since you all decided to stay in the dorms last night, they'll be no one crashing through the curtain this morning correct?" Cat looked sternly at Charlie who blushed slightly.
"We would've been fine if Goldie knew how to skate, babe." Charlie wrapped his arm tighter around her waist.
"Why do I not think it was entirely Greg's fault?" Samantha asked not believing it at all.
"I'm not getting dragged into the office for something I didn't do this year." Luis declared
"It was really. Banks bail me out buddy you were there. And it was freshmen year people!"
"No way Charlie, Goldberg is bigger then you, I'm on his side." Adam held the door open for the rest of the group and then walked in to find a seat towards the back. He pulled Carly into his lap as the dean began his yearly rah rah; ask not what your school can do for you, but what you can do for your school speech.
"I love you." Banks whispered in Carly's ear, his breath tickling her neck.
"I love you too Hun." She snuggled into his chest and waited for the address end.
Along with her nausea Caroline was also becoming increasingly tired. By the end of the speech she was sound asleep on her boyfriend's lap in spite of the fact she'd only been awake for an hour. Adam's arms were so comforting that being in them could put her to sleep no matter what was on her mind at the time.
"Hey Sleeping Beauty." Banks kissed her cheek gently and her eyes fluttered open
"I fell asleep?" Carly's voice was groggy and her eyes slightly unfocused.
"Yeah, are you alright?"
"I think so, just a little tired."
"Walk you to class?"
"Like you have any choice."
When the bell sounded to end third period Carly picked up her books and ran out the door to her dorm, hoping she'd avoid seeing Banksie in the hall. She wasn't in the mood to explain to him what was going on. Still exhausted she flopped onto her bed and kept her head close to the phone incase she dozed off again. When it finally rang the voice on the other end belonged to a rather chipper sounding woman in her mid thirties.
"Are you sure?" Carly asked having a hard time processing what she was being told and wondering how the women could be so perky while telling her it "Yes I understand, I'll follow up with my Minnesota doctor right away." The girl hung up and buried her face in her pillow crying until her eyes were dry, until her throat hurt from sobbing, until she fell asleep again.
Caroline woke up hours later to a gentle tapping noise; at first she thought in was merely her pulse, which had been racing since she got the news. No it was definitely the door. Samantha Wyatt was her best friend, her editor and Portman's girlfriend. And she was making it no surprise she was on the opposite side looking incredibly worried.
"You weren't in fourth, fifth or sixth period and you didn't show at the news paper meeting. Are you okay?" Sam's green eyes were clouded with concern.
"No not really." She gestured for the other girl to enter the room and they both sat on her bed.
"What's the matter?" Samantha was now nearly panicked.
Carly leaned over and whispered the results of what the nurse had told her in her friend's ear and Sam gasped.
"Oh my god. Have you told Adam?"
"No it'll destroy him and it'll kill my parents."
"Well you need to tell someone Carly, you need somebody to help you through this."
"That's what you're for. Please Sam don't tell anyone, I don't want them to treat me differently."
Samantha put her hand on top of her friends and squeezed it lightly, "I promise. How long?"
"A little over a month." Caroline suddenly burst into tears again.
"Oh Carly." Sam threw her arms around the sobbing girl and rocked her soothingly.
In the mean time Connie had been sent by the team to bring Carly and Samantha down to dinner, but stopped and listened at the door when she heard the voices inside. Connie's jaw hit the floor at the conversation going on with in and she ran down the cafeteria to fill in the Ducks.
Adam Banks stretched with a smile as the early morning sun was beginning shine through his dorm room window. It was the first day of senior year and he was the best mood imaginable. He received an acceptance letter a week before from Stanford, his girlfriend Caroline had come back from Boston very late the night prior so he'd be seeing her for the first time in a month that day, he had finally got his father to stop telling him he was a screw up and the Ducks were playing better then ever. Life was great; if nothing changed for him for the rest of his existence he'd be content forever.
"Get up Luis." He flew to the window and tore the curtains open.
"Damn it Banksie, why do you feel the need to wake up at dawn?" His roommate and teammate Luis Mendoza grunted into his pillow.
"It's 7:00 A.M. Luis and we have to meet Carly and Emily before the assembly." Banks bounded over to his bureau and pulled out a perfectly pressed white oxford shirt and dark blue slacks.
"Dude lay of the crack." Luis put his feet on the cold hardwood floor and grimaced at the cold sensation on his bare feet.
Meanwhile
"So how was your vacation?" Emily Boyer stood at the full-length mirror in the room she and Carly Epson shared.
"Boston's Boston, I would've rather stayed here with Adam." Carly held a light green blouse up to her chest as the color picked up the red highlights in her hair.
"But if you didn't go home for the month, you never would have had the romantic night on the town."
"Yeah well, I wouldn't say it was that romantic."
"Oh come off it Caroline Epson, you know as well as I do that was the best night of your life."
"It was a night that changed my life." Carly observed thinking back to the night in question. Adam had taken her to dinner at the best hotel in the area and rented a room upstairs. In retrospect that night had changed her life it was her first time. Everything had changed that night. "Don't call me Caroline."
"Exactly. Sorry I forgot only Adam could call you Caroline."
"How was France?" Carly had something on her mind and thinking about Banksie was only making it worse.
"Terrible, my mother is a psycho bitch, her new husband Karim is scum and the most arrogant pig I have ever met. And if they made me eat escargot one more time, I was set to puke."
Puke was precisely what Carly did she ran to the half bath the girls shared and prayed to the porcelain god for twenty minutes.
"Are you okay?" Emily stood against the doorframe pulling her honey colored hair into a bun as Carly's gagging subsided.
"Yeah I'm fine, I've been doing that for a week now, I can't control it." Carly spat while brushing her teeth.
"Maybe you should see a doctor."
"I did, yesterday before I get ready to go to the airport. They're calling with my results around fourth period. Will you cover for me in Calc? I've got to be in here to answer the phone."
"Sure no problem."
A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Adam and Luis walked in with ear-to-ear grins. The four got reacquainted and with morning kisses and headed off to the auditorium, meeting up with Portman and Samantha and Charlie and Cat on the way.
"Great, since you all decided to stay in the dorms last night, they'll be no one crashing through the curtain this morning correct?" Cat looked sternly at Charlie who blushed slightly.
"We would've been fine if Goldie knew how to skate, babe." Charlie wrapped his arm tighter around her waist.
"Why do I not think it was entirely Greg's fault?" Samantha asked not believing it at all.
"I'm not getting dragged into the office for something I didn't do this year." Luis declared
"It was really. Banks bail me out buddy you were there. And it was freshmen year people!"
"No way Charlie, Goldberg is bigger then you, I'm on his side." Adam held the door open for the rest of the group and then walked in to find a seat towards the back. He pulled Carly into his lap as the dean began his yearly rah rah; ask not what your school can do for you, but what you can do for your school speech.
"I love you." Banks whispered in Carly's ear, his breath tickling her neck.
"I love you too Hun." She snuggled into his chest and waited for the address end.
Along with her nausea Caroline was also becoming increasingly tired. By the end of the speech she was sound asleep on her boyfriend's lap in spite of the fact she'd only been awake for an hour. Adam's arms were so comforting that being in them could put her to sleep no matter what was on her mind at the time.
"Hey Sleeping Beauty." Banks kissed her cheek gently and her eyes fluttered open
"I fell asleep?" Carly's voice was groggy and her eyes slightly unfocused.
"Yeah, are you alright?"
"I think so, just a little tired."
"Walk you to class?"
"Like you have any choice."
When the bell sounded to end third period Carly picked up her books and ran out the door to her dorm, hoping she'd avoid seeing Banksie in the hall. She wasn't in the mood to explain to him what was going on. Still exhausted she flopped onto her bed and kept her head close to the phone incase she dozed off again. When it finally rang the voice on the other end belonged to a rather chipper sounding woman in her mid thirties.
"Are you sure?" Carly asked having a hard time processing what she was being told and wondering how the women could be so perky while telling her it "Yes I understand, I'll follow up with my Minnesota doctor right away." The girl hung up and buried her face in her pillow crying until her eyes were dry, until her throat hurt from sobbing, until she fell asleep again.
Caroline woke up hours later to a gentle tapping noise; at first she thought in was merely her pulse, which had been racing since she got the news. No it was definitely the door. Samantha Wyatt was her best friend, her editor and Portman's girlfriend. And she was making it no surprise she was on the opposite side looking incredibly worried.
"You weren't in fourth, fifth or sixth period and you didn't show at the news paper meeting. Are you okay?" Sam's green eyes were clouded with concern.
"No not really." She gestured for the other girl to enter the room and they both sat on her bed.
"What's the matter?" Samantha was now nearly panicked.
Carly leaned over and whispered the results of what the nurse had told her in her friend's ear and Sam gasped.
"Oh my god. Have you told Adam?"
"No it'll destroy him and it'll kill my parents."
"Well you need to tell someone Carly, you need somebody to help you through this."
"That's what you're for. Please Sam don't tell anyone, I don't want them to treat me differently."
Samantha put her hand on top of her friends and squeezed it lightly, "I promise. How long?"
"A little over a month." Caroline suddenly burst into tears again.
"Oh Carly." Sam threw her arms around the sobbing girl and rocked her soothingly.
In the mean time Connie had been sent by the team to bring Carly and Samantha down to dinner, but stopped and listened at the door when she heard the voices inside. Connie's jaw hit the floor at the conversation going on with in and she ran down the cafeteria to fill in the Ducks.