Drake is outside the hospital at the nearby milkshake shop. He can feel his head spinning. He's got a lot on his mind and he is distracted. He's been extremely worried about Gosalyn, especially after she would not allow him to stay with her at the hospital last night. She insisted that she was fine and demanded that he leave her alone. He gets that he can be overbearing with her sometimes. He can't help it. He still sees her as his little girl and all he wants to do is protect her. It is killing him that he was not able to do that. Somehow a monster was able to worm his way into her life and violate her in the worst way. His thoughts are interrupted by a voice of a young child.
"Look Daddy, its Detective Drake"
Drake turns around and sees Leo and Chelsea Vassar. Chelsea's arm is still in a sling, but she has a smile on her face as though everything was right with the world. For her and her family, it is anything but. Her sister died recently and her other sister is still in the hospital. He thinks to himself about how a child could be so cheery in light of what life has dealt her. He greets the Homicide Detective with a handshake.
"Good morning Detective. Hi Chelsea. What brings you two here so early?" Drake asks them.
"Chelsea had a check up this morning and then she has physical therapy. We decided a milkshake break was in order" he answers him. He puts in his order which includes a vanilla shake for him and a strawberry shake for Chelsea. Drake puts in his order for a banana shake and a mint shake, the mint is for Gosalyn.
"So, uh, how are things going? Is Chloe still in the hospital?" Drake asks lightly.
"Yeah, both my daughter and my nephew are still in ICU. My wife and my sister are with them in Duckburg. Actually, my Captain arranged for a helicopter ride for Chelsea and I, so we're going out there to visit for a few days."
"That's good. It must be hard to be apart from them. I don't know how you do it" Drake tells him.
"We do what we have to do. One day at a time, right Chels?"
"Right!" she says as she takes her milkshake from the lady. Leo helps her since she is not supposed to move her arm.
"Let me get that" Drake says as he hands money to the lady for all of their milkshakes.
"Thanks Drake, that's very kind of you"
"Don't mention it"
"Thank you Detective Drake" Chelsea says after she takes a few sips of her milkshake.
"You're welcome. You take good care of your father okay?" Drake says.
/
Skyler is hastily packing a bag at his retreat. Tank has been sleeping, but wakes up to the sound of Skyler moving things around.
"Dude, what's the big idea?"
"I'm leaving" Skyler says.
"Whoa, wait, hold it. You are not leaving me alone in this geek infested death trap" Tank says.
Skye and Tank have been on a retreat with some other kids from their school, but Tank was a non-willing participant. His parents made him go because they thought it would help round off some of his rough edges. There is no cell phone reception, so they have not talked to Gosalyn or Abby since they got there.
Tank stands and starts to gather his things. He wraps his arms around a big pile of his clothes and just throws them into his bag.
Skye stops what he's doing and looks over at him. "What are you doing?"
"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm packing" Tank says with an attitude. He stuffs all of his clothes into the bag until he is able to zip it up.
Skye shakes his head. He doesn't have time to help Tank properly pack. He read in the paper that there was a fire, and that Javo was in the hospital. The press released his name since he is an adult, but the article does not mention Gosalyn. He has a feeling that Gosalyn was in the fire too, and he's in a hurry to get home to see her.
/
Drake walks into Gosalyn's room with their milkshakes, only to find her missing. He puts the milkshakes down and rushes to the nurse's station.
"Excuse me. Where's Gosalyn? Where's my daughter? Was she taken for tests?"
The nurse gives him a look as though he has three heads.
"Well?" Drake slaps his hand on the counter and glares her.
The nurse walks past Drake and into the room to look for Gosalyn. She checks the bathroom, which is something that Drake didn't bother to do. She is not in there. "I'm sorry Mr Mallard, I don't know where she is."
"You lost my daughter?" Drake asks with anger in his voice.
"Do you have any idea of where she might have gone?" she asks him.
Drake thinks about it for a few seconds. "I'm afraid I do."
/
Gosalyn slowly approaches another hospital room. She is being careful and looking around to make sure nobody sees her. When she is satisfied she tiptoes in and closes the door. She is wearing a hospital gown, robe and slippers. Her eyes have bags underneath since she did not get any sleep. She looks over at the patient in the bed. It is Javo. He is in a coma and hooked up to several machines. She keeps her distance from him and just stares. She desperately tries to remember the events that lead up to the fire, but she can't. The last thing she remembers is standing by the window in the dance studio and drinking her water.
/
Skye and Tank are walking down a dirt road with their duffle bags. Since they are leaving the retreat early, they are responsible for their own transportation. Skye decided that the only way to go was to hitchhike. He is walking with determination, while Tank is lagging behind.
"Are we seriously going to walk the whole way home? At this rate we'll be home the same time as those other losers" Tank says.
"You've got any better ideas, Tank?" Skye asks. He is not in the mood for Tank's antics right now, but secretly he is glad he has someone to make the trip home with him.
"Yeah, we find the nearest phone and we call a cab"
"Cabs are expensive Tank. When we get to the next town we can look into catching a bus"
"A bus. Right" Tank says. He is nearly falling asleep and continues to lag behind.
/
Gosalyn continues to stare at Javo. She hasn't moved from her spot, which is only a few steps away from the door. Drake walks in and sees her. He is relieved that he found her, and he starts to breathe a little easier. Of course she would go to see Javo. He is the only one that can help her fill in the blanks of what happened before the fire. However he is in a coma, so he is not going to be talking to anyone anytime soon. Drake softens. He doesn't yell at her, instead he calmly escorts her out of the room. She leaves with him willingly.
/
In Gosalyn's room, she and Drake are drinking their milkshakes in silence. They haven't said anything to each other all morning. Drake decides to put an end to that and sits on her bed.
"Did you get any sleep?"
Gosalyn continues to stare down at her bed and shakes her head yes. Drake brushes her hair out of her face and really sees her eyes for the first time all morning. "Liar"
Gosalyn takes a few more slow sips of her shake and looks up at him. "I'm sorry I went to Javo's room."
"It's okay. I just got so worried when I didn't know where you were. But I'm not surprised. I'm sure it's killing you that you can't remember what happened." Drake says as he continues to gently push her hair out of her face.
"I knew he was in a coma. I thought if I saw him, it would somehow jog my memory."
"You know what I think? I think that your mind is blocking it out, and when you are ready, you'll remember" Drake explains to her. "How's your milkshake?"
Gosalyn takes some more sips. "It's good. Thanks for getting it for me"
"You're welcome. Is there anything else I can do?"
"You can stop worrying. I'm gonna be fine" she lies.
"I'll never stop worrying. Someday you'll have kids and you'll understand" he says to her with a grin.
A doctor joins them and lets them know that Gosalyn can go home today. He instructs Drake to see the nurse at the nurse's station to sign the release papers. They both leave Gosalyn to change into clothes that Drake brought for her, in anticipation that they would release her today.
/
Skye and Tank have managed to hitch a ride with an older man that sings show tunes. He is currently singing "If I Were A Rich Man". Tank has been nodding off and snoring, while Skye has been staring out the window thinking about Gosalyn. He is really worried about her. He didn't bring his cell phone with him because he knew he wouldn't be able to use it.
"Any requests boys?" the older man asks, referring to show tunes.
"Ah, no. Thanks" Skye says. He goes back to staring out the window.
"What's got you down son?" the man asks as he looks up at him in his rear view mirror.
Skye looks up at the old man and then looks over at a snoring Tank. He is reluctant to answer, but there's not much else to do. "I'm trying to get home to my girl"
"Oh yeah, why'd you leave her in the first place?"
"Some kids from my school went on a retreat for a couple days. I thought I could handle a few days without her, but…"
"You miss her" the older man finishes his sentence.
"Yeah, something like that" Skye says. He leaves the part about the fire out of the conversation because he's been trying to convince himself that Gosalyn wasn't in the building.
"Young love. You're very lucky kid. You need to hold onto that as long as you can."
Skye looks at the man again. "Love?"
"Don't try to deny it kid. You have it written all over your face. You're in love with this girl"
Skye lets out a soft laugh and thinks about the man's words. That's not entirely inaccurate. In fact, it is right on the money. "I'm…. in love with her." He says out loud.
"That's great kid" the older man says with a smile. Skye continues to stare ahead with disbelief. He's fallen in love with his girlfriend. He tries to figure out when this happened. The older man starts to sing another show tune called "When Did I Fall In Love"
/
Drake and Gosalyn are greeted by Beth when they arrive home. Abby and Jake are at school since it is Friday. Beth offers to make them lunch. Gosalyn decides that she wants to take a shower first. The adults excuse her and she walks up the steps. They both watch her with the look of worry in their faces.
"Is she alright?" Beth asks her husband.
"She says she is" Drake says with his eyes still glued to the stairs.
"But you don't believe her"
"She's a tough kid. I think she's trying to make this alright for herself and for us"
"She doesn't have to do that" Beth says.
Drake looks down before he looks at his wife. "It's not healthy for her to do this. She's keeping this all inside of her and she's not talking about it. And…. I don't know how to talk to her about this. I honestly never thought I'd have to."
Beth takes his hand in hers. "We just have to let her know that we are here for her. She'll talk when she's ready"
/
Honker approaches Abby at school. "Hey, have you talked to Gosalyn?"
Abby looks up from her locker to answer him "No, Drake and Beth told me that she inhaled a lot of smoke but she's okay. She should be coming home today."
"That's good. I can't believe she was in a fire again"
"I know" Abby says. She closes her locker and clutches her books. "At least this time it wasn't set by that maniac father of hers, Negaduck"
Another female duck joins them and puts her elbow on Honker's shoulder. "Oh, hello. Should I be jealous?" The girl has a smile on her face. Honker blushes and looks back at Abby.
Abby gives the girl a curious and concerned look. She is petite and skinny with white blond hair pulled back into a pony tail, and she's wearing black pants and a purple shirt that bares her midriff. She oozes with confidence and is clearly not Honker's type. "Who's your friend?"
"This is…" Honker begins, but he is interrupted.
"Nala, my name is Nala. You must be Abby" she holds out her hand for Abby. Abby continues to look at the girl and is reluctant, but she eventually shakes her hand.
"Honker's been tutoring me in Chemistry" Nala explains.
"I see" Abby nods
"We're on our way to the tutoring center now. Can you tell Gosalyn I'll check in with her later?" He asks.
Abby is still unsure about Honker having any affiliation with this girl. She has a bad feeling. She hides it and nods her head. "Sure. Just…. be careful, okay?"
"What?" He asks her.
"Okay bye bye!" Honker and Nala watch as Abby rushes away from them.
"She seems very troubled" Nala observes.
"Don't worry about her. We should get to work" Honker says. They start walking toward the tutoring center, and Nala locks arms with Honker.
/
Drake and Beth are in the kitchen preparing lunch and folding laundry. They can hear the shower water running, and it suddenly occurs to them that the water has been running for quite some time. They both continue to work in silence, both thinking the same thing. Gosalyn never spends this long in the shower. It's been forty minutes since the shower water started running, and each additional passing minute starts to eat away at them.
Drake stops what he's doing and looks at his wife, and she looks back at him. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asks her.
/
The girls on the soccer team finish their run and converge on side of the soccer field. Coach watches them as they stretch and catch their breath. She notices that her team captain is not in attendance and she immediately questions Abby.
"Where is Gosalyn?"
"She's not coming" Abby nervously says.
"What do you mean she's not coming?" She asks very angrily. The other girls start to get nervous too.
"There was a fire last night. She was in the hospital. I'm sure Mr Mallard can get you a doctor's note."
"I don't want no doctor's note!" Coach screams. "I want my star players to take this game seriously and show up to practice. Everyone on the field. Now!"
The girls do what they are told and take their positions on the field to run drills.
/
Drake and Beth are standing outside the bathroom door. They can hear the shower water running, and Gosalyn crying. This scares Drake more than anything. He looks at Beth, who is also scared and worried for her step daughter. She has her arms folded across her chest, her hand clenching a dish towel. Drake puts his hand on the bathroom door handle. He only hesitates for a second, then opens the bathroom door and walks in. He slowly approaches the shower with Beth a few steps behind him. He looks back at Beth and hesitates before he opens the shower door. When he does, his heart breaks as he spots Gosalyn sitting on the floor of the shower. Her back against the wall, her arms and knees to her chest and her head buried. Drake turns off the water and grabs a towel. He wraps it around her until she is completely covered. He then sits next to her on the wet shower floor and holds her as she continues to cry. All Beth can do is stand and watch. She can feel tears running down her face. She was so stunned by Gosalyn's emotional state that she didn't even realize that she herself was crying.
A few minutes later, Drake carries a towel clad Gosalyn into her room. She is still sobbing, which causes more worry for her parents. With the fire incident still fresh in their minds, they feel like they need to handle Gosalyn with more care. She is usually very tough, so strong and lively, but right now she is about as small as an ant. This breaks their hearts. Drake sits her down on her bed and wheels her desk chair over so he can sit in front of her. She is shivering and sobbing. He adjusts her towel under her chin and she holds onto it tight. Every inch of her body is covered by her towel except her head and her feet. The ducks are speechless for a few seconds before Beth speaks up.
"Honey, maybe we should let your Dad go downstairs so we can talk."
"No, no" she speaks through her sobs. "I wanna talk to my Dad" she adds as she shakes her head and continues to shiver.
Drake is surprised that Gosalyn would rather talk to him about this. "Are you sure Gosalyn?"
Gosalyn nods her head. Drake looks up at Beth, who has been standing next to him. They can hear the front door opening, which means Jake is home from school. "Alright, I'll be downstairs if you need me."
Drake watches as Beth leaves. Gosalyn hasn't taken her eyes off the floor since the moment she was put down on her bed. Drake turns to look at Gosalyn. "Gos, are you sure you wanna talk to me about this and not Beth?"
Gosalyn continues to stare at the floor. Tears are dripping off of her face. She nods in response to his question.
Drake speaks slowly, hoping that he can get her to talk. "Okay. Well… we were worried when we noticed that the shower was running for over forty minutes. I know that you pride yourself on how you can take the shortest amount of time in the shower in this family. Can you tell me what happened?"
Gosalyn is somewhat calmer as she finds her voice, but continues to stare at the floor. "I was scrubbing…. and I kept scrubbing….. and scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing… and it wasn't working." Gosalyn's cries return as she tries to tell her story.
Drake can feel his heart breaking again, but he tries to get more information from her. "What do you mean? What wasn't working?"
"I couldn't get clean. I… I'm still dirty. I'm always going to be dirty." Gosalyn says as she sobs.
Drake puts his hands on the bed on each side of her. She continues to look down as she cries. "Listen to me. You are not dirty. Okay? What happened to you is dirty. But we are going to get through this." Gosalyn continues to cry and shakes her head, but that doesn't stop Drake from coaxing her to talk some more. "Gos, did you remember something from the fire?" Gosalyn doesn't confirm nor deny it. Drake starts to think that there is more going on than he is aware of. "Gos, you can tell me. It's okay."
Gosalyn sniffles as she tries to calm herself down. Then she finally looks up at her father. "You can't tell anyone about this."
"I won't tell anyone" Drake says.
"I mean it. You can't tell anyone, not even Beth"
Drake hesitates for a moment. He and Beth don't keep secrets from each other. But this might be the exception. Still, Drake can't help but wonder why he can't talk to his wife about this. "Gos, why can't Beth know about this?"
"Because, it's too humiliating" She answers him as she looks down again.
"Beth loves you. You can tell her anything Gos, she would never judge you."
"No, no, you can't… you …. you can't tell anyone…you can't…" Gosalyn says as she starts to cry again. This time her cries cause her to have problems breathing.
Drake cups her face with his hands and tries to get her to calm down. "Alright alright, settle down. Gosalyn…. Honey, you need to calm down or else you're gonna make yourself sick. Alright? Take some deep breaths for me, please."
Gosalyn does what he says and takes some deep breaths. He continues to hold her face and rub his hand down her soaked fiery red hair.
"That's it, good. Take some more breaths for me, okay?" Gosalyn continues to take deep breaths to calm herself down. Drake lets go of her and reaches for some tissues. Since her hands are under her towel he uses the tissues to dry her tears for her.
After he disposes the tissues he sits on the chair again and puts his hand on the outside of Gosalyn's leg. Without even thinking about it, Gosalyn pulls her leg away from his hand and flinches. Drake looks at Gosalyn with shock. She is looking down at the floor again. She's never flinched or pulled away from him like that. He hesitates for a few seconds before speaking. Rather than touch her again, he leans his body forward until his elbows are on his legs. His approach with her is calm and his voice is soft but firm. "Gosalyn, whatever this is, you need to tell me. And whatever you say to me will stay in this room."
"Promise?" Gosalyn says without looking at him.
"I promise. I won't tell Beth or anyone else."
Gosalyn is satisfied and nods her head. She waits a few seconds before speaking. When she does, she looks at her father's knees rather than his eyes. She knows she can't look him in the eye right now. She'll only fall apart again. "Um, it's Javo. He…before the fire he did things to me. Really…. bad things." As she continues, she grows more uneasy and her voice quivers. "During rehearsals he um, he touched me…. he groped me in some places…..he…. he put his fingers inside of me…and… and it hurt…. he hurt me and… and I let him do it. I didn't do anything to stop him." Gosalyn starts to cry again and shakes uncontrollably. Drake sits next to her on the bed, pulls her head to his chest and holds her tight.
Her behavior over the past few weeks starts to make sense to him now. Her grades have been slipping, and she's been distant. She's been in so much pain and didn't feel like she could tell anyone. Not even him. She's been going through this by herself. As he considers what she's been going through, he feels tears starting to form in his eyes and does his best to keep his composure. He cannot lose it, not now. He kisses the top of her head and waits a few minutes before talking to her about it.
"Honey, you didn't do anything wrong, okay?" He kisses the top of her head again. "But I need to ask you something. If you knew that what he was doing was wrong, why do you think you let him do it?"
Gosalyn pulls away from his embrace to answer him. She looks down at the floor again. "This is going to sound really stupid. I didn't want him to think that I was a baby. He already saw me as this little freshman in high school. And he's this big time professional dancer. I didn't know what to do."
"So you felt the need to impress him" Drake confirms. Gosalyn sniffles and nods her head. "Did you think that allowing someone older and more experienced…. do that to you would get him to treat you like you were older and more experienced?"
"I guess I thought that it would make him like me."
Drake sighs hard. He is angry but does his best to contain it. He rubs his head as he calms himself down so that Gosalyn doesn't see it. But Gosalyn knows better. She can sense his anger and mistakenly thinks that it is reflected at her. She looks up at him with tears in her eyes.
"Are you mad at me?"
"No, no I'm not mad. I'm just troubled by what you just said. You wanted Javo to like you. Gos, did you have feelings for him?"
"No!... Yes… I don't know!" Gosalyn looks down again as she is confronted with this question. "I have a boyfriend, I'm not supposed to have feelings for another guy. I can't have feelings for him."
"It's not impossible Gosalyn. Perhaps you saw something in him that made you feel attracted to him. It's not unheard of to have feelings for someone that you spend a lot of time with that isn't your boyfriend" Drake explains as he tries to ease her conscience. But it isn't working.
"I feel like I cheated on Skyler. I'm a horrible person."
"You are not a horrible person. I know you don't like to hear this but… you are still very young, and Javo took advantage of that. What he did to you is sick and it is wrong. And I wish…."
"What?" Gosalyn asks as she looks up at him again.
"I wish you would have come to me or someone else before he took it this far. I wish you would've let someone help you with this."
"I'm sorry Dad."
Drake looks at Gosalyn and considers his words for a second. "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that I didn't see what you were going through. And now that I know, I'm going to do everything I can to help you through this."
/
At the school, Honker and Nala are working together in the tutor center. Nala starts to gain a better understanding of the material that they are going over and she's filled with excitement. They decide to call it a day and start to load their books into their backpacks. As they start walking, Nala positions herself in front of Honker and kisses him. Honker is shocked. He certainly wasn't expecting this and doesn't know how to handle it.
"What?" She asks him with a smile.
"Nothing, I'm…. just not used to pretty girls kissing me."
"Oh, so just the ugly ones then, huh?" she says flirtatiously.
Honker laughs, which makes Nala laugh too.
"Seriously though, girls aren't exactly lined up to kiss me" Honker confesses.
"Well, they don't know what they're missing. I'll see you Monday?" she asks him.
"Ah, yeah. Monday"
Honker watches Nala leave. When she reaches the door she turns and waves before she completely disappears into the hallway. He touches his beak and thinks about the kiss.
/
At the Mallard house, Abby joins Gosalyn in their bedroom. Gosalyn is towel drying her hair. Abby gives her friend a hug, thankful that she is okay. The only thing that Abby knows is that her friend was in the building when it was on fire. She does not know that Gosalyn was raped. Gosalyn prefers to keep it that way for now.
"You must have been so scared" she tells her.
"I'm fine. I don't even remember it. It's like I fell asleep and woke up in the hospital, except my throat was really sore." Gosalyn continues to towel dry her hair. "So, how bad was coach when she realized that I wasn't there?"
"Same as she always is, loud and angry. She made us do extra laps."
"Sorry Abby. Don't worry, I'll be there tomorrow" Gosalyn finishes with the towel and starts to brush her hair.
"You sure you're ready to go back? I mean you just got out of the hospital."
"I'm fine" Gosalyn says with a hint of frustration in her voice. "Let's talk about something else, please. Anything else. What happened at school today?"
"Well, Honker's got a girl" Abby says
Gosalyn's ears perk up. "A girl? Really? Who is she?"
"I don't know. I've never seen her before. She says he's tutoring her but, I could sense that there was more to it than that. She seems like too much girl for him to handle if you know what I mean."
Gosalyn laughs it off. "What, just because she's a girl? Come on, Honker was bound to get a girlfriend sooner or later."
"Still, I think we should keep an eye on them" Abby says. She is genuinely worried about their friend.
/
Beth finds Drake in their bedroom. He is sitting on the couch that they've recently purchased in case one of the kids need to sleep in their room at night. His head is in his hands and he is on the verge of losing it. Beth sits next to him and gently puts her hand on his back.
"Honey, what is it?" she asks him.
Drake shakes his head. "It was my job to keep her safe from all the bad things in this world." Drake starts to cry. He puts his head in Beth's lap and she allows him to let it out as long as he needs to.
/
It is the next morning, and Tank is rudely awakened by Skye at the bus station. "Tank! Wake up. We have to go"
Tank is groggy. "What… what… what is it? Where are we?"
"Bus is here" Skye says to him.
"Right" Tank starts to find his bearings while Skye looks for the rest of the money they had from their retreat.
"Tank, where's the money that was in here?" Skye asks him.
"What money?" Tank is still half asleep, which annoys Skye.
"The money we were supposed to use for the bus tickets, where is it?"
Tank thinks this over for a minute. "You mean the money we spent on dinner last night?"
"Tank!" Skye yells
"Take it easy Pettitte. There has to be some money left over"
"Ten dollars is not going to get us back to Saint Canard. How could you be so careless? I told you we needed to put that money aside for the bus tickets."
"I forgot" Tank says as he yawns.
"Now what are we going to do?" Skye asks in an angry tone.
A stranger that overheard their conversation approaches them. "You can go to Jimmy's"
Skye looks up at the man. "Excuse me?"
"Jimmy's, it's this establishment across the street. You can make a hundred dollars in a day to pay for your bus ticket" the stranger explains.
Tank stands up to join Skye. "Doing what exactly?"
"Whatever the owner needs you to do. Oh, it's all legal of course. You should go check it out." The stranger gets on a bus, leaving the boys to ponder the possibility of taking on an odd job to fund their way home.
/
Gosalyn and Abby are preparing to leave for soccer practice. Drake joins them in the foyer and is surprised to see that Gosalyn is going.
"Gos, are you sure you are up for this?" he asks her.
"Dad, I'm fine, really. I can't stay cooped up in this house all day. Besides, if I miss another practice Coach is going to have a coronary"
"That would probably be a good thing. Maybe then she wouldn't be such a tyrant" Drake jokes.
"Come'on Dad, we're going to be late" Gosalyn says. She has a grin on her face, which eases Drake's mind. He starts to think that maybe Gosalyn getting back to her normal activities could be good for her. The ducks pack into the car and drive to the soccer field.
/
Skye and Tank meet with Jimmy. He owns an eatery and is always looking for entertainment, the good and the bad. He tells them that he wants them to dance on stage. The boys refuse and begin to walk away, but then they remember that they are stranded and need to raise money for bus tickets.
Skye approaches Jimmy again. "There's just one problem. We don't know how to dance hip hop."
"You're in luck kid. My son Jimmy Junior over there is a natural. He can teach you some moves." Jimmy summons his son to come over to meet them. Skye and Tank give him a funny look. He is short, and doesn't look like a kid that can dance. They are shocked when he starts to show them some moves.
"You've got thirty minutes to whip these boys into shape. Think you can do it?" Jimmy asks his son.
"Sure Pop. Let's go boys" Jimmy waves his arm over his head and instructs Skye and Tank to follow. Skye and Tank look at each other and shrug their shoulders. They follow the kid into the back room to learn some dance moves.
/
At soccer practice, the girls are split into teams to run a full game. Some of the parents are there to observe, including Drake and Trina. Coach is really giving Gosalyn a hard time for missing practice, and Drake does not like it at all. Every inch of him wants to just march onto the field and yank his daughter out of there, but he knows he can't do that. If she says she's fine, he needs to trust her.
"Mallard, get your head in the game!" Coach screams. Gosalyn doesn't answer or react. She does her best to focus on what she is doing. She knows she needs to focus on soccer and block out everything that has to do with Javo. "Easier said than done" she thinks to herself.
"Mallard, watch your defense!…. Get in back of the ball Mallard!… Are you kidding me! How did you miss that shot?….. Mallard, watch your defense….you're offside Mallard!"
Gosalyn has had it. She can't take it anymore. The girls stop playing and the Coach is there in the middle of the field with them. She immediately confronts Gosalyn. "What is the matter with you today? You miss one practice and come back and play like this? This is an embarrassment to me and to the rest of your team!"
Gosalyn crosses one arm across her stomach and places her other hand on her beak. She starts to cry, and a few of the other girls try to comfort her. Drake sees her crying and starts to walk toward her.
"I can't put up with this. I tell you girls all the time. Do not bring your drama onto this field. Leave that and the crying at home where it belongs" Coach says.
Gosalyn turns to walk away but Drake is there. He pulls her into a hug and she sobs into his shirt. He glares at Coach but he doesn't say anything. Trina also joins them and is there to hear Coach's comment to Abby.
"And you, quit putting steaks in your hair. It's tacky" Coach says to Abby.
"What is the matter with you? How could you speak this way to our children?" Trina asks as she puts a hand on Abby's shoulder.
"I am not their girl scout leader, alright. I am their coach, and I am here to make them better soccer players. Soccer takes a lot of time, a lot of discipline and a lot of concentration. It leaves no time for dancing or this teenage drama. If they don't like it, they can leave. There are other girls lined up to be on this varsity team.
"You know what, we're leaving. Let's go" Drake says. He gets Gosalyn, Abby and Trina to leave with him.
"That's fine" Coach fires back. "Practice is over. Everyone out of my face, now. Go home"
/
Skye and Tank are getting ready for their hip hop dance debut. Young Jimmy has taught them some moves they could do while on stage. They only need to be up there for ten minutes and they will earn one hundred dollars.
"Dude, are you sure about this?" Tank asks him.
"It's either this or we walk home. Just, think about Abby, you wanna get home to see her, right?"
"Good point. Let's do this"
The boys appear on stage and the crowd cheers for them. There are about twenty people there enjoying lunch and cocktails. Skye and Tank both appear nervous. The music begins but neither of them moves. They look at each other and the crowd starts to yell at them to dance. They look out and see little Jimmy doing some of his moves. Skye starts to dance and Tank looks over at him like he's crazy. Skye is not a good hip hop dancer, in fact that is the point. The crowd finds his dancing hilarious and they clap for him. Tank slowly starts to get into it and the crowd accepts him too. Both boys smile and start to have fun with it.
/
Gosalyn and Abby are in their bedroom. Abby is really worried about her friend. She knows that Gosalyn would never let Coach get to her like that, unless something was really wrong.
"Coach was really harping on you today" Abby says.
"Yeah, but I guess I'm not surprised. I did miss practice yesterday and I wasn't really giving it my best today"
"She made you cry Gos, and you never cry. So, what's really going on with you?"
Gosalyn looks at Abby and it suddenly occurs to her that she cannot keep this from her best friend. She thinks it over for a few seconds before she speaks. She takes a deep breath.
"Gos?"
"Abby, I did something…. really horrible. And I'm never going to forgive myself" Gosalyn starts.
Abby gives her a confused look. "What did you do?"
"I had sex with Javo"
Abby gives her a surprised look. She doesn't say anything, and neither does Gosalyn. They spend the rest of the afternoon in silence.
/
It is the next day, and Gosalyn gets a surprise visit from Skyler. He and Tank were able to use the money from Jimmy's and catch a bus ride home to Saint Canard. Gosalyn has no choice but to invite him in. The rest of the family went out for ice cream, but Gosalyn opted to stay home. She is regretting that decision now that she is faced with seeing her boyfriend.
"I thought you were coming home tomorrow" she tells him.
"I was, but I heard about the fire, and since Javo was in the building, I had a feeling that you were there too" Skyler touches her face. "I had to make sure you were okay"
Gosalyn stares into his eyes for a few seconds, and then breaks eye contact. "I'm okay, really. I just… inhaled a lot of smoke, that's all"
"The paper said that Javo's in a coma" Skye says.
"Yeah, I guess he inhaled a lot more smoke than I did" Gosalyn turns and takes a few steps away from her boyfriend and awkwardly plays with her hands.
"Is everything alright? You seem… distracted"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I just wasn't expecting you, that's all" Gosalyn lies.
Skye starts to smile as he thinks about what he wants to say to her. He wants to tell her that he's in love with her. That he's been in love with her for some time. "Listen, there's something I gotta tell you"
Gosalyn turns to face her boyfriend. "There's something I need to tell you too" Gosalyn is a lot more firm and direct, as opposed to Skye who is light and nervous.
"Okay, you go first" he says to her.
Gosalyn's eyes find the floor for a few seconds. Once she says these words, she cannot take them back. But if she keeps this to herself, it will eat away at her. "I…. had sex with Javo"
Skye's smile slowly fades as he takes in what his girlfriend just said to him. "You what?"
Gosalyn repeats herself. "I had sex with Javo"
Skye looks down and away from her. He suddenly feels pain in his chest. His girlfriend that he is in love with just told him that she had sex with someone else.
"I'm so sorry Skye" Gosalyn says as tears run down her face.
Skye can't even look at her. He turns around and walks out without saying a word, leaving Gosalyn in tears.
