Courtney didn't sleep peacefully for long. She woke up, frequently, from the same dream over and over. She dreamed that her mother allowed her to play hockey, but came to the game with a gun. For a very strange reason, her mother always shot Adam during halftime. Courtney couldn't grasp what the dream meant. All she could get from it was the feeling of loss after Adam had been shot. Around seven forty-five, Courtney just got up and stayed up.
Mrs. Robertson trudged down the stairs to see her daughter gazing mindlessly at the television screen. She blocked Courtney's view and snapped it off. "Courtney, why don't you go outside for awhile?" Her mother sighed.
"I'll be outside later, remember?" Courtney whined. Mrs. Robertson stared at her daughter. "Fine," she eventually mumbled. Courtney switched the TV back on just as the phone rang. Courtney reluctantly got up to answer it.
"Hello?" she asked, politely.
"Hey, Courtney," It was Guy. Courtney got a very uneasy feeling in her stomach. She was expecting the worse. She knew she could trust Charlie with her secret, and Guy had nothing to be suspicious about, but suppose he did know? He could just be calling about later today? Yeah, that's it, Courtney thought.
"Hey, what's up?" she asked, calmly.
"Just watching some TV. Listen, is your mom near you?"
"No, she's in the kitchen," Courtney replied.
"Okay, Adam told me he told your mom about today, well, sort of told her about today. I wanted to tell you that you don't have to bring gear, Connie's got some extra gear. I knew you couldn't sneak it out of your house so I asked her if you could borrow it. What time did Adam tell you?" Guy asked.
"Two o'clock, but where? Adam might've told me or not." Courtney whispered into the phone. She didn't want her mom hearing. She listened for any type of movement in the kitchen. She heard her mother clanking plates around.
"Um...we're gonna play at the court near where Jesse lives."
"Guy, in case you forgot, I don't know where Jesse lives!" Courtney snapped, sarcastically.
"Oh-sorry, I forgot. Do you know where Glaze Road is?" Guy questioned.
"Yeah, I do. Thanks. So, is your whole team gonna be there?"
"Everyone but Fulton," Guy responded. "He can't go because he has to help his mom with some things around the house. In other words spring cleaning," Guy moaned
"Oh no! My mom will want me to help her as soon as I get home!" Courtney whined.
"My mom too. Oh man! I gotta go, I've got to help my little brother get dressed!" Guy whined. "Well, see ya' later today!"
"Okay, bye," Courtney laughed.
Courtney stepped out into her backyard. It was such a beautiful day. It wasn't too hot and it wasn't too cold. She ran up to her room and picked out a pair of white shorts and a tight blue tank top. She hurried back outside and laid down a blanket. She stared up at the cloudless blue sky above her. She wished there were at least a few clouds so that she could make shapes out of them. She was almost asleep when her mother called for her from the house. She sat up and stared through the screen door. "What do you need?" she asked.
"The phone is for you!" her mother yelled to her. Courtney hadn't even heard the phone ring. She had gotten caught in the silence around her; thinking about situations she had been through in life and the problem that she now faced.
Courtney pulled herself from her thoughts and ran into the house to grab the portable phone. "Hello?" she asked, curiously.
"Hi, Courtney? This is Connie. What are you doing?" She asked, hurriedly.
"Not much. What about you?" Courtney replied.
"Um…. Same. I was thinking, do you wanna come over? Until around 1:30, I mean. 'Cause remember the team was going to get together and-"
"Yeah, I remember. Let me see if it's cool with my mom," Courtney exclaimed.
Mrs. Robertson was cleaning out the hallway closet. Oh no! Courtney thought. She'll want me to help clean! "Mom," Courtney said sweetly.
"Yes?" she mother responded her head still in the closet.
"That's Connie on the phone, she wants to know if I can come over, then we can go over to Jesse's house with the rest of the team?" Courtney mumbled.
"Sure dear, how long will you be at Jesse's?" she asked. I dunno. How bout I call you around 4:45 and see, okay?" Courtney asked.
"That's good," her mother replied. Courtney rushed back to the phone.
"Hey, Connie, it's cool with her, so I'll see you in a couple of minutes?" Courtney exclaimed.
"Yeah, awesome!" Connie said.
Once again, Courtney pulled out her sister's skates and rushed to put them on. She quickly skated out of her mother's sight, down the driveway right into Charlie.
"Oomph!" Charlie squealed. She had knocked him down in her hurry.
"Oh my gosh!" she cried. She helped Charlie up and was glad to see that he was okay.
"I am so sorry!" she shouted.
"No, it's okay. I'm fine." Charlie insisted. "So where are you going?" he asked. Courtney looked down at her skates. For a brief moment, she had forgotten that she was going anywhere. "Oh, just over to Connie's, then we're gonna go over to Jesse's," she sighed. "Sorry for leaving you with Adam last night, but I really had to get home," Charlie apologized. At the sound of Adam's name, her stomach did a flip. "It's okay. I understand," Courtney mumbled.
"It wasn't too awkward, was it?" Charlie asked, half-afraid of the answer.
"No, not really. It was actually okay," Courtney told him about it on the way to Connie's.
When they arrived at Connie's house, the three of them just sat around in the air-conditioning watching TV. Connie's mom was very nice and made them Ice Cream sundaes and brought each of them fresh lemonade. At 1:45, they all got up, reluctantly, from sitting in front of the air-conditioning and the TV. "I actually don't wanna go," Charlie whined. "It's too hot out there."
"Come on, Charlie, don't be a baby," Courtney teased.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever. I'm goin'," Charlie muttered.
Connie and Courtney practically had to push Charlie out of the door. He was very stubborn. Finally, Charlie left with them. Connie and Charlie promised that Courtney would love the rest of them team. Her nerves returned, just as they had at the movies the previous night. She kept glancing nervously at the two of them. What if the rest of the team didn't like her? What if they thought she was too much of a girlie girl and that was the real reason she didn't play?
Courtney nervously skated behind Charlie and Connie when they got to Jesse's house. There was a group of people in a huge circle in the driveway that she had never seen before. None of them had been at the movies, except Jesse.
"Hey," he greeted her. "Glad you could come. Wasn't sure if your mom would let you,"
"My mom doesn't know I'm here to play to hockey, she just knows that I'm with your team," Courtney grinned. The group behind Jesse stared at Courtney, apprehensively.
"Oh," Jesse yelled. "This is Dwayne Robertson," Jesse said, pointing to a tall boy with reddish hair.
"Howdy," Dwayne said back. Courtney nodded her head in a way to say hello back. Charlie gave Courtney a weird look.
"No relation," Courtney stated, confirming Charlie's thoughts. Jesse went down the line introducing everyone.
"Greg Goldberg, Les Averman, Ken Wu, Luis Mendoza, and Russ Tyler." They all nodded to Courtney.
"Hey Jesse! I wanna play too!" A small boy shouted from the garage.
"Oh yeah, and this is my little bro, Terry, he's not on the team, though." Terry grinned up at Courtney.
"Hi," she said sweetly. Terry grinned and hid his face behind Jesse.
"Where are Adam, Guy, and Fulton?" Charlie asked.
"Well, there's Adam, Guy's gonna be a little late, he got stuck helping his mom with cleaning, and Fulton has to clean all day," Jesse laughed.
"What's so funny?" Adam asked, as he skated up to Jesse.
"Nothin' Cake-eater, lets play some puck!" Jesse bellowed.
Everyone skated to the court that was just down the road. Jesse's dad followed to be a referee. They split up into teams and Courtney was put playing against Adam for the face off. She groaned.
"Just try your hardest. Don't go easy on him, okay? If you try harder and beat him, he might like you more than if you just give him the puck, got it?" Charlie whispered to her. She nodded. Jesse's dad dropped the puck and Courtney and Adam both dived for it. She felt victory as she swept the puck right out from Adam's feet. She passed it to Dwayne, who played around with it a little bit, and then passed it back to Courtney, who shot it right through Goldberg's fingers. Her team cheered and even people from the other team gave her high fives. "Now that's what I'm talking bout!" Charlie yelled to her from the sides. She was proud of herself and couldn't help grinning.
Once again they all lined up, but Adam got possession of the puck. Courtney raced down the side of the court trying to catch up. Averman swooped in from the left, but wasn't able to get the puck. Finally, Adam shot. SCORE! Now the other side cheered. The game went on like that. The score ended up being Courtney's team 5 and Adam's team 4. At the end of the game, Courtney was too happy to realize how tired she was. She didn't realize until the end of the game that Guy never showed up. Must have had to stay all day, she decided.
Everyone congratulated Courtney on how well she had played. Courtney was just glad that she hadn't messed up. After everyone had left, Mr. Hall strolled up to her.
"That was some great playing, Courtney," Jesse's dad grinned.
"Thank you, sir. I sure had a lot of fun out there. That usually makes you play better. If you have fun doing something, then you're going to do well at it," Courtney exclaimed.
"Those are some very wise words, Courtney. If you enjoy playing so much, how come you don't play on a team?" Mr. Hall asked, curiously.
"My mom," Courtney grumbled in reply.
"What about her? He asked.
"She doesn't like the idea of me playing hockey," Courtney shrugged. Mr. Hall nodded.
"I understand," he whispered to himself, as he walked away.
Courtney hurried to catch up with everyone.
"Hey, Charlie!" she screamed. Charlie turned to see who had called his name. He stopped and waited for her to catch up.
"Yeah?" he asked. Charlie grinned at her from underneath his helmet. He was proud of her. She played like a real duck.
"How did I do?" Courtney asked.
"You did great," Charlie shouted. "It's too bad you can't play."
"Yeah, I know," She mumbled. "I didn't let Adam get the puck."
"I know. You did really great today, Courtney," Charlie said seriously.
"Charlie," Courtney hesitated. "Is it bad that I didn't even realize that Guy wasn't here, and I didn't miss him?" Charlie looked at her, surprised. He had realized Guy wasn't there from the beginning. He didn't want to make her feel bad, so he lied.
"No, you just had other things to on your mind. Don't let that bother you," Courtney smiled.
"Thanks!" she replied.
Jesse invited everyone inside for a drink. At four forty-five, Courtney called her mother. She asked her mom if she could stay until eight o'clock because they were all going to watch a few movies at Jesse's. Her mother said yes. Before she hung up, Courtney's mother reminded her that her father would be home in a few weeks and to not forget a welcome home present. She agreed to go shopping with her mom the next day. Courtney decided anything was better than cleaning the house.
Everyone gathered around in sofas, armchairs, or on the floor in Jesse's den. Courtney got a very comfortable space on the couch. Connie was on one side and Averman on the other. Courtney got to know Averman a little better and enjoyed his comments throughout the movies, though everyone else found it annoying. Averman was a tall, skinny boy with red hair and glasses. When Connie had to leave early, Dwayne took her spot. Courtney didn't know whether to be happy about this or not. Dwayne seemed like more of the quiet type. However, she was wrong. Averman started to talk about an old western movie he had seen and that got Dwayne going. After that, no one could get him to shut up! Courtney found it enjoyable to just listen to the conversations around her. Sometimes, questions would come up for her, but not very often.
After the first movie, "Pleasantville", was over, Courtney went to the kitchen to get more chips. Of course, she had only gotten up after Averman and Dwayne had promised to keep her seat. Jesse was also in the kitchen.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey. Just getting some more chips," Courtney replied.
"What about your seat?" Jesse asked.
"They promised to keep it for me."
"They won't. They never do. But hey, it's my house and I'll make 'em move!" Jesse laughed. Courtney stared down at the bag of chips she held in her hand. These people, that she didn't even know, were so kind to her. Here she was in their house, eating their food, sitting on their couch, and watching their movies.
"Jesse, thanks for everything. All of you guys are great," Courtney whispered. "I mean, I don't even know you that well and you treat me like I'm one of you!"
"Well, you may not be on our team, but you've got the heart of a duck, so it's kind of like you are one of us," Jesse explained. "Okay, now I've got a question for ya'. Do you like Charlie or somethin'?"
"What!?" Courtney shouted. "Charlie and I are just really good friends. Where did you ever get an idea like that?"
"Well, it seems like you're always talking with him."
"I do talk to him a lot, but that's because I can trust him with things, ya' know?"
"Yeah, I get it. So-can you trust me?" he asked.
"I guess. Why?" she asked, curiously.
"No reason," he answered.
Courtney walked back into the den and found that her spot on the couch was still there. She wondered if everyone else considered her as one of them just like Jesse. As she sat down, Averman called to Adam, who was sitting with his legs over the arms of a chair.
"Banks, wanna switch? I can't see over here."
"That's what glasses are for," Luis said, sarcastically.
"I know, but I need a new prescription," Averman snapped.
"Okay, I'll switch with you," Adam responded. Averman quickly got up and switched with Adam. As he did so, Ken grabbed a pillow that was near him and threw it at his head. Perfect aim. The pillow hit Averman's head with a soft plump!
"Hey!" Dwayne shouted. He picked up his pillow and through it at Ken. Charlie gave Dwayne a dirty look and picked up his pillow. He threw it at Dwayne, but missed.
"Charlie!" Courtney shouted. She picked up her pillow and slammed it against Charlie's head. Then, Jesse threw a pillow at her, which resulted in Adam throwing a pillow at him. In less than a minute, feathers were flying everywhere. Everyone was laughing so hard people were gasping for air.
At the end of "The Sixth Sense", Courtney started on her way to the door. Everyone told her good-bye and that they hoped they would see her again soon. Adam met her at the door and sat down beside her as she put on her skates.
"I'm really sorry about last night. I shouldn't have pressured you into telling me anything. I'm very sorry if I made you feel weird around me. I hope we can still be friends?"
"Of course we can Adam!" she shouted in disbelief. "You did make me feel a little uncomfortable at first last night, but I got over it. We're cool." she hesitated a moment. She wasn't sure what she should say next. "But let's keep what happened just between us, okay? Oh, but Charlie knows, he saw it," Courtney apologized.
"Actually, I figured he knew anyway. He has this weird way of knowing things like that," Adam shrugged. He and Courtney sat in silence, neither of them knowing what to say next.
"Beautiful sunset, isn't it?" Courtney asked, looking for anything to talk about.
"Yeah. My dad and I used to watch it a lot together. Then he got a new job that required more time. So, he's not home a lot. Most of the time it's just my mom and I," Adam replied, quietly.
"Me too. My dad's away on business right now. So it's just my mom and I." Courtney agreed. "Hey, what's your IM or your phone number and I'll call you later," Courtney suggested.
"Oh, hold on." Courtney waited on the front porch while Adam went to look for pen and paper inside. Despite the warmth of the day, she shivered. There was something special about Adam. However, there was also something special about Guy. She could either keeping denying her feelings for Adam, or choose one.
"Maybe Charlie's right. I'll give it a few days," she muttered to herself.
"Here you go," Adam announced, handing her the paper. Courtney held onto the paper, folding the edges and not really concentrating on what it said.
"I've got to get going. I'll see ya' later," Courtney said as she left Jesse's house.
Courtney didn't actually look at the paper until she was getting ready for bed later that evening. "379-2813," she read aloud. It was very similar to hers.
"379-2876," she read her phone number aloud too. Then, she concentrated on his screen name. "Hockey_shooter_01," she whispered. She loved it. She said to herself all night long. Her mother must have thought she was crazy.