Title: A Ducks Story
Author: Pixie13
Chapter: 1/?
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Don't own them. Don't sue.

"Did someone take my hat? I swear it was here a minute ago, ya'll."

"Hey guys, I can't see the stage from here. Someone switch seats with me?"

"Mendoza, you try that again and I'll break your fingers."

"Guy, stop staring at me. It's getting creepy."

"For God's sake, Charlie stop pouting. I'll talk to the RA and move back in."

"Stop poking me! ...Portman, I'm serious."

"No, I don't have food on me. Stop asking Goldberg."

Russ was fed up with his fellow Ducks and as soon as those last words left Averman's mouth, he reached over and smacked Goldberg across the back of his head before he could retort. He just needed to get that out. "Next person to talk, gets the same!"

Silence. The silence managed to reign for about five seconds before a very audible release of gas was heard, accompanied by smell. "...Portman!"

"Hee, sorry." Of course, Portman didn't look very sorry as he kicked up his boots onto the back of the empty chair in front of him. The Ducks were at the welcoming ceremony that took place in the beginning of every school year at Eden Hall. Unlike their arrival at their Freshman year ceremony, they were all there and seated like obedient students. At least, they were obedient for the most part.

Dean Buckley was on stage, giving the same boring dabble he did every year. The only reason they hadn't blown off this year's ceremony was because it was their fourth and final year at what they affectionately referred to as Eden Hell. They couldn't risk getting in trouble this year, as they were so close to breaking free of this place. That and Julie wouldn't let them skip out like they had the year before and the year before that.

Sure, they had managed to make their peace with the school, but they didn't have to like this Cake Eating school of theirs. The only reason they hung around this long was because, yes, this was a good opportunity for them and they were getting a free ride here. That and their parents would kill them for turning down this place.

"How much longer is this thing?" Guy asked, leaning his head a little to the right so he could mutter the question into Julie's ear. Russ was on the other end of the row they were sitting in and couldn't possibly reach him to hit him, but he wasn't taking any chances. He was also doing his best not to stare at Connie like the creepy stalker she claimed he was. They were once again on the 'off' portion of their on and off relationship and it showed by the glares and longing looks they occasional exchanged with one another.

Julie looked down at her wristwatch and leaned to her left to whisper back to Guy. "A few more minutes. You see? He's taking off his glasses and putting them away. It can't possibly be any longer." Connie, who was sitting directly in front of them in the row below them, could hear their voices and turned to glare over her shoulder at the both of them. Julie merely rolled her eyes. She had absolutely no interest in Guy, cute as he was. Guy just glared back at Connie and leaned closer into Julie's side and put an arm around her shoulders, to anger his girlfriend. Connie huffed at him and turned back to face the stage again and Julie shoved him away hard and knocked him into Kenny, who had the unfortunate luck to sit behind Portman.

"Sorry Wu," Guy grunted, straightening and sitting forward in his seat again. But Kenny merely waved him off, as he was too busy struggling to see over the top of Portman's head. Kenny had shot up in height, yes, but he still was one of the shortest members of the team, only beating out Connie in height. Even Julie was taller than him.

"Portman," Kenny whined, lowering his voice into a whisper when Russ glared at him. He would have gotten smacked too, if Averman and Goldberg weren't in between them. "Portman," he tried again, leaning forward so he knew Portman could hear him. "C'mon, can't you slouch like a normal teenager?" Portman grinned to himself and held up his right hand, middle finger prominent as he continued to face forward. Ken sorta growled, before leaning forward so he could pad his arms over Portman's head and watch the end of the ceremony that way. Portman frowned then leaned forward suddenly, almost sending Kenny crashing forward. Almost all the Ducks sniggered as Kenny cursed, all except for Charlie and Banksie, the former still pouting and the latter glaring at the former for his childish behaviour.

"I said I would do it, Spazway," Banks said, shoving Charlie. He had given up on trying to convince Charlie that he would move back into their dorm room verbally and had, of course, thought that getting physical was the way to go. This was just the type of behaviour from Charlie that had Banks moving out of their dorm room before the year had even started. Charlie was a terror of a roommate to live with and Banks, with his everlasting patience, found that there was actually a limit to how much he could take before he had to say something. This was his third year stuck with Charlie and there would be no way out of it, it seemed.

"You're only saying that," Charlie said, his pout turning into a semi-frown. For being the Captain of the Ducks, he sure was insecure. Julie would point out that he covered his insecurities by being the macho, hardass captain of the Ducks. Connie would tell her to shut up and nobody cared, because Connie and Julie didn't really get along, despite what people thought.

Banks had to reach over and thwack Charlie across the back of his head himself because he couldn't describe the frustration he was feeling with words anymore. The speech ended, the Dean thanked them, and the Ducks got up to leave. "Thank God," Banks said, rolling his eyes and following the herd out.

Notes: I used to write MD fiction before, before I lost my muse for all fanfiction. Then in one crazy night, I deleted all the stories I wrote here. So if you recognize my username, yes, I return finally! There's nothing majour going on in this chapter though. It's just setting a time and a place for the story and it's helping me get into these characters again. I don't even know if I'm going to be focusing on pairings, an overall story, or whatever. Reviews would be appreciated and would help me continue to write, but are by no means necessary. My grammar and spelling will probably be off, but let's just blame that on the fact that I'm out of school for the summer.