Disclaimer: I don't own The Mighty Ducks.
Okay, so I decided to do something different. Let's see how second person goes instead of third or first!
You look at the jersey that was just given to you by Coach Wilson. The black and red that indicates Varsity. The only difference between the jersey you're going to wear and the jersey you want to wear on JV is the black is replaced by white.
No doubt Charlie will throw a mini fit about not being able to wear the Duck jerseys, you think as you throw the jersey on.
You look at the number that is on your helmet.
You think about the two numbers you have worn in the past four years. How you either had a 9 or a 99 on your back. You remember the feeling of putting on that 99 for the first time. Not having the 9 on your back, but a double 9 made you feel different. Not just a Cake-Eater, but an outsider.
Ever since the end of your first hockey season with the Ducks, 99 has felt like home. 99 on your green Ducks jersey, the 99 on your white Ducks jersey, replacing the 99 on the red, white and blue that was on the USA Junior Goodwill Games jersey.
99 had always been where the Ducks were. You would put on that green jersey when you practiced outside, even without the rest of the Ducks. It made you feel more confident about your playing abilities when you doubted them.
"Banksy, come on!" Riley shouts at you.
You're pushed out of your reverie, noticing that no one else is in the locker room.
"Coming!" you say back, still staring at the black helmet with the 99 on it.
This was not the place where you were supposed to wear this number. This jersey was not the jersey you were supposed to wear this number with. These people were not the people you were supposed to wear this number with.
Some people might think 99 was just a number. It was just a number you had on the jerseys that you had worn for the past four years. But, to you, it wasn't just a number. It was the number you had worn when the Ducks had first become your friends. Where the people you used to hate, and who used to hate you, and ended up hating the team you used to be apart of.
99 wasn't some silly number.
99 was home.
So…I hope this was good. I wrote it in, like, 10 minutes. I just thought about how Adam wouldn't want 99 to be his number if he were on Varsity. That 99 was reserved for the Ducks.