Disclaimer: I don't own The Mighty Ducksand Cheez-Its
It had been a month since the hallway conversation, and everything had gone back to normal (except for the occasional whisper or stare as the boys dubbed "Chadam" walked down the hall together), which annoyed the Ducks very much.
So, that Friday, a month after everything had gone down, the Ducks minus their Captain and Adam, met in the JV locker room after school.
"We need a plan. Things were going forward and now they're standing still!" Averman shouted.
"What are we going to do? Locket them in a closet?" Guy asked.
"No, that's far too old. They'll realize what we're doing the second we push the second boy in there," Connie said.
"Well," Julie started, "I, for one, think we should leave them alone. Let them get together on their own time."
The Ducks looked at each other and told the goalie, "Nah!"
Julie sat back with a huff.
"Julie, if we wait for them to get together, they'll never get together. Eventually one of them will move on," Russ said.
She huffed again.
"Well, whatever we do, it has to be done tonight at Averman's party. Those two need to get together now!" Fulton said, and everybody agreed, even Julie, though she didn't agree with a plan to get them together.
"Spin the Bottle?" Portman said.
"Well, how are we going to make sure it lands on them?" Dwayne asked.
"Magnets? Put one magnet inside one of the boys' pockets, put one on the bottle?" Luis said.
"Great idea," Ken said. "But how do you know that they're going to confess their feelings afterwards?"
"Lock them in a closet," Guy suggested again. His best friends looked at him in disbelief "It could work."
"It could also end up getting us killed," Julie rebutted.
"Cat, if you want to spoil one of the greatest ideas ever, go away," Goldberg demanded.
It was no surprise when Julie left.
"See you tonight at seven!" she called back, slamming the locker room door.
"So, we play Spin the Bottle, make sure it lands on them and stuff them in a closet? Isn't that called 7 Minutes in Heaven?" Connie asked.
"Yep, that's the plan," Fulton answered. "Should we all get to Averman's house and set up?"
The team looked at their watches. It was just about 3:30. Lester's party started in three and a half hours.
"Yeah, let's head there now," Lester said, picking up his skates and putting them on.
The rest of the Ducks did so as well. They grabbed their bookbags and skated the ten minutes back to Averman's house.
"Hey, Mom, we're just getting ready for the party," the hockey player said as all but three of his teammates walked through the door.
"Uh, I think you're missing two boys and one girl," Mrs. Averman noticed.
"Well, we came up with a plan to get the two boys together, and they can't know. The one girl didn't like the fact that we're going to try to get the two boys together, so she'll be appearing in three hours.
"Wait…you guys aren't waiting for Adam and Charlie to get together by themselves? You're making them force their feelings on each other? When they look back and think how they got together, would you rather them think about how they got together locked in a closet, or some romantic way?"
"Well…when you put it like that…" Russ said, pretending to mull it over. "Sorry! Cake-Eater and Captain Duck have to get together soon."
"It's okay," Connie said, clapping her best friend's mom on the back, "Julie didn't agree either."
"I can see why," Mrs. Averman said. "Just…go set up for the party."
The Ducks went into the basement and started putting up decorations. Lester got the food bowls from the kitchen and filled them with pretzels, Cheez-Its, trail mix and other assorted snack foods, along with some soda bottles and plastic cups.
Julie arrived around six-thirty.
At seven, the doorbell rang and the Ducks smiled at each other as the soon-to-be-couple arrived together. Adam had told the gang that he would be catching a ride with Charlie. When they had heard that the day before, the shared secret smiles with each other.
"Welcome, to my humble abode!" Averman announced as Charlie and Adam came inside and followed the host into the basement. Averman put his arm around Charlie. He wanted to put the magnet in his pocket, but when they played the game, it would always land on Charlie…and he didn't think that Charlie nor Adam nor Connie or Guy would like if everyone had to kiss Charlie. "So, how's your day been?"
"Good," Charlie answered, sharing a look with Adam, who was also as confused as him to Averman's overly cheery mood, as he had just failed his Math test first period today, which he was overly upset by. "You over your test?"
"Not yet. But soon."
"Adam! Charlie!" Julie said as the two and Averman appeared on the basement steps. "How's it going?"
"What's with everybody and the overly cheery mood today?" Charlie whispered to Adam as he went over to the snack table and grabbed a soda.
"I don't know, but it's creeping me out," Adam whispered back.
"Me too. If it gets too creepy we're leaving, okay?"
"Deal."
"What are you two whispering about?" Luis asked from across the room.
"That if it gets too overly cheery in here we are leaving," Adam replied.
"At least stay for Spin the Bottle!" Dwayne said.
"Spin the Bottle?" Charlie said in disbelief. "Aren't we a little too…old for that?"
"Yeah, isn't it a little to juvenile?" Adam agreed.
"These two boys are completely oblivious to how perfect they are for each other," Julie whispered to Connie.
"Because they're boys and they're idiots," Connie said. "You don't know how long it took Guy to realize that not only did he like me but how long I liked him."
"Hey, stop whispering about me!" Guy said, coming over to Connie and kissing her on the cheek. "How many times did I say I was sorry?"
"About a million." Connie kissed him on the cheek.
"How long until Operation: Chadam takes place?" Julie said.
Connie and Guy raised their eyebrows at each other and then at their goalie teammate.
"I thought you didn't like the plan?" Connie said.
"I don't. I just think that them getting together needs to happen soon," Julie responded.
"Who's ready for Spin the Bottle?" Dwayne said, pulling out a root beer bottle.
"Me!" All the Ducks chorused.
"Fine," Adam said, dragging his feet and going to center of the room, away from the TV and couch and table.
Charlie looked over at Adam moving away from him.
He's playing? He thought.
He didn't necessarily like that Adam was playing. I mean, he was in love with him and he didn't want to see him kissing the girls or any of the other Ducks.
"Great. Let's play," Charlie said, following Adam and sitting down next to the boy.
Averman slipped the magnet in Charlie's front pocket, unbeknownst to Adam or Charlie.
"Adam's first," Goldberg said.
The former Hawks player sighed and put his hand on the bottle, ready to spin it. The rest of the Ducks, except Charlie, smiled.
Let Operation: Chadam begin.
