Disclaimer- I don't own the Ducks, Disney does. The prelude's title is taken from Linkin Park's Crawling
Rating-Rated R for subject matter and themes that might be disturbing to some readers. Also for strong language and violence.
A tall, lean man walked towards his dorm of Eden Hall. He laughed with his friend as he moved a misplaced bang to the to of his head, where it collected with the light blonde, neatly combed hair. Continuing to laugh, he took his dorm key out and rattled it in the lock. The door opened and he through his books on his bed. Saying a quick goodbye to his friend, he shut the door and leaned on it. His laughter slowly faded, as did his smile. Looking at the wall, he took in for the thousandth time the surroundings of his dorm room. It was adorned with the pictures of his hockey career, through the pee-wee leagues to his current stay at Eden Hall. He took a prolonged look at the clipping from the school newspaper. "Junior Varsity Ducks Defeat Varsity Warriors!" He let his eyes follow the wall to a framed hockey jersey. On the jersey was displaced a "very pissed off" duck as he had heard others call it. He slowly sat on his bed and laid back. Why, after feeling so good a second ago, did he feel now as if his heart were in a vice? He slowly sat up and went to his restroom. Turning on some mildly hot water, he leaned down and rubbed it across his face. Feeling slightly refreshed, he grabbed a towel and dried himself off. As soon as the towel moved down, he was entranced by the mirror.
His heart skipped a few beats as he continued to stare into that cold glass. Very cold, it seemed now as he looked in it. Yet as he reached out to touch his reflection, the glass was slightly warm. He felt his heart quicken again. For the first time in his life, Adam Banks did not recognize the person staring back at him. Adam shook himself and snapped off the light, glad to be away from the feeling. Just as he came back in, he heard a voice at the door.
"OK, baby, I'll c-ya tomorrow then?" it said with snobbish debonair. Adam looked up in time to see Luis walk in with a smile, waving to whichever girl he was with this time. Luis walked in, "Hey Banks, what's goin' on?"
All Adam could think to do was shrug. He was stuck rooming with Luis, having to put up with his fancies and preppy attitude.
Preppy attitude? thought Adam, If HE'S a preppy, what does that make me? Rich family, star hockey player, when did I loose that status? He guessed that popularity had just passed him by, or maybe it was the balance of hockey and his studies kept him from the in-crowd life. Whatever it was, he was glad to be apart from it.
Adam had always been great at hockey, but he was also damned intelligent. He always worked for high marks in his classes, and had always received them. The smart star hockey player? He should have been the most popular kid in the school.
All he received, however, was reticule, especially from the upper classman over the JV vs. Varsity incident. The rest of the Ducks were congratulated for their efforts, he was merely put down. He also received the cold shoulder from most of the Ducks themselves. He had pondered many times how alone he was. Alone except for…
"Baaanks?" Luis waved his hand in front of Adam's face.
"I'm sorry, you say something, Luis?"
"I said, ya commin' to practice? It's only in an hour."
"Right, of course I am."
"I'll see ya there. I have some…business to take care of." Luis said with a mischievous grin on his face. Grabbing his hockey bag, he left Adam alone in the room.
As Adam got his hockey gear together, he continued his thoughts. Alone, except for my best friend, except for Charlie. Adam pondered the thought. When had Charlie become his best friend? He wasn't too sure, but he knew that Charlie meant more to him than any person he had met, even his brothers. Adam shook his head. No, it wasn't anything "weird". He felt…he felt as if Charlie were the brother he should have had. Shaking his thoughts away, he let his mind drift to hockey. Timing the perfect triple deak in his mind, Adam picked up his gear and headed for the rink.