Chapter 11
Adam was able to return home the next day and after a week of good R&R he was able to recover just fine.
Cassie had the unfortunate luck of having to remain in the hospital for that entire week. Adam and his new friends visited her frequently and much to Adam's delight she became very close with Connie.
She was eventually released with strict orders to keep away from physical activity that could harm her arm. Of course she didn't hold tightly to these rules. She would sneak out with the gang in the afternoon to rollerblade. Her logic was that a cast is replaceable, but play time isn't.
The boys saw off their coach as he headed out, hoping for a shot at the minor leagues. No one doubted that he would succeed.
Cassie eventually dropped out of public school, sick of the bullying. She is now home schooled.
This of course is irrelevant, because where our story picks up today, it is three weeks into the best summer of our favorite Ducks' lives.
Cassie's POV
It's four in the morning and I'm sure I look like a nightmare, but this is going to be worth it some day. I was rollerblading to the indoor ice rink where my skating practices are held.
I wearily dragged myself into the building and made my way to the rink. The cool air mauling my face actually relaxed me as it brought me to my senses. Once my skates were efficiently laced I stepped onto the ice and made my way over to my partner. I'd been doing pair skating since I recovered from the accident. It was an undiscovered talent of mine. I never would have guessed that I would have a forte of ice dancing with a partner. It was enjoyable and it added to my friend base, which as of now was very small.
My partners name is Caleb Shock. He's amazing. He's been skating as long as I have and I'd trust him with my life out here.
I skated up to the brunette and he grinned giddily. I rolled my eyes, he is far to awake for this ungodly hour.
"Guess what?" he asked. I groaned as I turned a circle around him as I conjured up a retort.
"I have no idea so tell me before I do something drastic." He laughed.
"Okay, okay!" he exclaimed, throwing up his hands in mock defense. "Don't freak out. So, have you ever heard of the Goodwill Games?" I nodded. "How about the Junior Goodwill Games, heard of them?" Once again I nodded, unsure of where he was going with this.
"So there's this competition in exactly three weeks. The first place team gets to represent America in the games this year. They're in California!"
I was shocked? Did he actually think we had a chance? I understood his excitement, but on the other hand, I hadn't competed since the accident. I mean we've been practicing as if we were going to compete, and we'd been in shows. But I hadn't actually been judged yet. It was nerve wracking. He cut my thoughts off though.
"I know what you're thinking. But we can do this. And if we don't make it, who cares? No harm done."
I sighed and accepted. We had a lot of work ahead of us.
Two weeks had gone by and we were practicing from 4 to 7 in the morning, 12 to 2:00 in the afternoon, and 5 to 6 at night every other day. On the off days we practiced from 4 to 6 in the morning and 3 to 5 at night so that we didn't over exert ourselves. Our routine was almost flawless. Now we were simply sharpening things up. The competition was a week from today.
Adam's POV
I'm excited for Cassie. I really am. But, I'm also admittedly a selfish and possessive person. In my mind the only people in the universe allowed to spend more time with Cassie than me are her parents. Yet I hadn't seen her face in nearly two weeks. I didn't even see her when she told me the news. She'd called me! I mean, I live across the street, how hard is it to walk over and tell your best friend the most exciting news you've ever gotten? Was I being replaced? And if so, am I being replaced with Caleb, or skating? If anything, it had better be the latter.
Most of the ducks had summer jobs, simple ones, but the bottom line is I had no one to hang with. I'd heard through the grapevine that Bombay was back. I'd watched the game on TV where he hurt his knee. It was a real shame, he was doing so well. It got me thinking about my future. Was that all it took to ruin the entire plan I'd laid out for myself. One hit, one bad turn, one bad injury and I'd have no future, and no career. It was a bit unnerving, but I'd convinced myself that it was a rare phenomenon, no matter what statistics say.
I spent most of my time practicing. I would skate to the park and back and practice moves in my driveway using the net my dad had bought me for my birthday.
I was out in the sun, commentating an imaginary game of hockey when I heard something behind me. I turned to see the ducks skating up my street. My life just got a little bit better. I was beaming.
Jesse Hall was at the head of the group.
"Hey cake eater! Wanna play some real hockey?" I grinned and nodded without hesitation.
"Yeah!"
I joined their miniature parade and quickly reached the front of the group next to Charlie.
"Okay, so not that I mind because I've been practically dying of boredom, but why are we here?" The boys grinned as Charlie relayed his message from Bombay. We, the Ducks, were going to play internationally! This is insane! If anything was going to boost my career in hockey, this tops it all.
"You guys!" I called out, "This is an international competition! It's us against the world!" The boys cheered and we continued or journey. We lost Goldberg momentarily, but we left Charlie to handle that. Fulton joined the group as we passed three of my old teammates tied in the boxers to a tree, surely it was his doing. This day just couldn't get better.
Next thing I knew we'd met in a courtyard outside of a burger joint where Bombay stood waiting. I couldn't contain my enthusiasm any longer. I began a nice loud chant of "coach!" as we circled around him. Before he could explain the details a limo pulled up and he had to talk to who I assume is our sponsor. As we left we received one expectation. Show up at the rink tomorrow at 8 in the morning to meet the new members of our team.
I was pumped for this, but I wasn't sure how I felt about adding to the team. I reminded myself that I wasn't always a duck, and that I needed to be accepting. It was nice not to be the newbie anymore.
