AN: Here's chapter two!

To hannah, yousuckbai.
To galindapopular, thank you! Here's an update!
To brnnttebabe12, thank you! Here's another chapter!
To 8JbFbAbM9, fancy seeing you here! Haha. I agree, it's going to be fun watching their relationship develop. Charlie has no idea what he's getting into.. but does Julie? Thanks for the review!
To sableye, thank you! Charlie and Julie are in for one heck of a ride. Hope you enjoy the next chapter!


Suicide Blonde
1. like a cheap distraction


"Hey, have you seen my bag?" Adam Banks asked his captain when he entered the dorm they shared that year, "I need it for practice."

Charlie shook his head no, to which Adam groaned. He'd been searching for it about half an hour now. Classes had ended a while ago, and they had practice in a few minutes. Where the hell could it be? He was sure he'd brought it with him. Of course he had, his hockey gear was in it!

Charlie, who hadn't been able to talk to his best friend all day, wondered whether he should tell him the 'good news'. Though Julie had said he shouldn't tell the Ducks the truth unless he had to (because knowing Connie, she'd blab it to the whole school and Scooter would find out), Charlie was positive he could tell Banksie. He wondered what his reaction would be. He cleared his throat once and then breathed in, expecting the worst. "So, I'm dating Jules."

Adam, still looking for his duffel bag, nodded, "That's great."

Charlie raised an eyebrow, but when his friend didn't look up at him, he repeated, "Julie."

"I heard you the first time." Adam told him plainly.

"Julie Gaffney."

Adam, reaching under the bed where he'd finally found his bag, which had probably been kicked under there by Charlie when they'd moved in, looked at him, exasperated. "I know, Charlie--"

Charlie continued, "Julie 'The Cat' Gaffney."

"Charlie--" Adam tried, but Charlie threw his hands up wildly.

"Cat-lady!"

"Conway, shut the hell up!" Charlie immediately shut up, lowering his arms slowly. Adam shot him a look and then said, calmly, "I get it. You're dating Julie. I think it's great. She'll be good for you."

Adam patted him on the back and then headed out, "Come on, we've got practice." And he was gone.

Charlie stared at the spot Adam had stood, bewildered. He hadn't even been able to tell him the truth! He sighed, took his own bag out of the corner and muttered as he followed his friend.

"Unbelievable."


"I told Banksie we were dating," Charlie grumbled to his 'girlfriend' as they all hit the ice. Julie turned towards him, raised eyebrow. "What did he say?"

"Said it was great," Charlie was still sure Adam hadn't hear him clearly. "You'll be good for me."

To Charlie's chagrin, Julie smiled, looking incredibly pleased with herself. "I told Connie, too." She then informed him, to which Charlie looked genuinely interested, "What'd she say?"

His answer was a loud bang. Charlie winced, knowing he'd leave practice with an enormous headache, when Connie whacked his helmet with her hockey stick again. "You!" Connie glared at him, "You better treat my best friend right. I don't care how long I've known you, Conway." She hit his helmet again, and Charlie wondered why the rest of his team was just staring at them. Didn't they realize he was being attacked by a mad-woman?

"Damn it, Connie, stop!" Charlie hollered as his childhood friend continued to hit him.

"I also told her we're just pretending," Julie suddenly intervened. Charlie gaped at her and then quickly looked at the girl he'd known since he was just a kid. Connie smiled innocently, "What? I had to, or the others would suspect something."

"No, they wouldn't!" Charlie scowled at her, and then turned to Julie, "What happened to 'keep it a secret, Charlie, we don't want the entire school to know'?"

Julie shrugged, "I couldn't keep it from Connie." Connie beamed at her.

"Fine! Then I'm telling Banksie--" Charlie, who'd been about to skate towards Adam, was hauled back by the two girls. "You can't." Julie told him, shaking her head, "Adam knows Scooter best."

"Yeah," Connie agreed, "And you never know what Adam might do. He's mysterious like that." At once, the two girls turned to stare at the enigma that was Adam Banks, who was talking to Guy.

"What?" Charlie, following their gaze, wondered whether they'd fallen out of bed this morning and hit their heads. "No, he's not." he told them, incredulous.

A whistle blew. Everyone turned to see Coach Orion skate onto the ice, telling them practice had begun. "Look, we're not telling anyone, okay?" Julie asked, to which Charlie rolled his eyes, "Fine."

"And you better buy her something nice for her birthday next week!" Connie suddenly shouted and, with a final whack of her stick on his helmet, tossed her hair behind her and skated towards where the team stood.

"You owe me," Charlie murmured to Julie with a glare. Julie smiled at him in return, apologetically. He could clearly see the glint of amusement in her eyes, though.

"Conway! Gaffney!" Orion shouted, sarcasm heavy in his voice. "If you're quite done staring into each other's eyes, could you join us?"

As Charlie heard his team laugh, he sighed.

So not worth it.


"Charlie!"

Charlie removed his helmet as he caught the water bottle Guy threw at him, drinking some of the water as he skated towards Julie who'd called him. She was still standing near the goal. Charlie skidded to a stop, "What's up?"

"He's here," Julie told him, excited. Charlie followed her gaze and saw she was right: Scott, Riley, Cole and a few other Varsity players were sitting in the stands. He scowled, "What are they doing here?" Probably there to spy on us, he thought.

"I don't know. But, we need to show Scooter that we're together." Julie looked at him, pointedly. Charlie cocked an eyebrow, not sure whether he liked this look. "And how you suggest we do that?"

"I don't know," Julie looked thoughtful, before an idea struck her. "Hold my hand! All couples do."

Charlie stared at her hand before he cleared his throat, "You're wearing gloves."

"Oh, right." Charlie couldn't help but grin as she struggled to get the glove off, eager to make Scooter notice her. He looked towards the stands, noticing Scooter was in fact watching them intently. He looked back at Julie, still fighting her gloves. Screw it, Charlie decided. Holding her hand wouldn't be enough.

"Come here, Cat-lady." As Julie looked up at him, Charlie took her helmet off. Without hesitation, he then leaned in and kissed her. Julie, surprised, let go of her glove, and it hit the ice with a thud. Charlie pulled back before she could respond, watching her face to gauge her reaction. A five second kiss (not that Charlie had counted, of course not) was more than enough to show Scott Vanderbilt someone was moving in on the girl he liked, Charlie was sure of it.

Julie's smile was bright as she suddenly realized the same thing. And then, she scrunched her nose in distaste. "Next time," Julie started, using the back of her hand to wipe below her lips, "A little less sweat."

"Next time," Charlie began, rolling his eyes, "Scooter can do it." He handed back her helmet and skated towards the benches, taking another sip from the water bottle as he went.

Julie looked past her 'boyfriend' to see whether her crush had seen: by the stunned look on Scooter's face, she guessed he had. Score: 1-0 for Julie. Or, well, Charlie. It'd been his idea. She really had to thank him for it.

As Orion told them to get back to practice, Connie skated up towards Julie with the largest smile. "And?" She asked, to which Julie tilted her head to the side, confused. Connie continued, "Is he a good kisser? I bet he is."

"I don't know." Julie felt her cheeks heat up, "I was thinking about Scooter." That was only half a lie: she really didn't know, but not because she'd been thinking about Scooter. She'd been too surprised to react, hell; she'd been too surprised to think. When she'd finally realized Charlie had been kissing her, he'd already pulled back.

"Sure," Connie didn't look too convinced. Rather, she looked like she was having the time of her life. "By the way, you're blushing."

Julie rolled her eyes and shooed her best friend away. Practice was almost over, and they were about to do penalties. She managed to stop Fulton's slap shot and Russ' knuckle puck, much to their annoyance. Next was Adam, who looked as earnest as could be as he approached her with the puck. Then again, Julie thought, he always did. She waited as he took his shot. When the moment was right, she reached out with her glove. The puck rebounded back onto the ice. Adam smiled, unlike those before him, obviously not bitter. Fulton and Russ could learn a lot from him, Julie decided.

Last was Charlie, who Julie knew was going to use his infamous triple deke. Well, she was ready for it. As he came closer and closer to the goal, Julie's eyes were on the puck. At the last moment, she looked up to see the concentration on his face. She smiled; if there was one thing she knew he was serious about, it was hockey. As though realizing she was watching him, Charlie took his eyes off the puck and looked back at her. His gaze locked with hers.

Charlie winked.

Julie faltered.

Charlie slammed his stick against the puck and, before Julie could even think to move, it sailed right in.

As he skated off, laughing jovially, Julie stared at the puck that lay still against the net.

What the hell just happened?