Disclaimer: I do not own the ducks.
Trials of Love Rewrite Chapter 12
Helping Adam
Everyone finally finished their suicides and we were excused to the locker room. Of course once we were inside Riley started running his mouth.
"When I found out who the hell told Wilson about the prank, I'm going to beat them a new ass."
"Relax man; it was probably one of the ducks." I tried calming him down.
"If it was one of them, they had better be glad that come Saturday, they are going to be out of this school."
"I'm not sure it works like that. I think if they take the scholarships, they would be able to stay at least for the rest of the semester." I told him. I was pretty sure the school was obligated to do that, but I wasn't sure.
"Whatever man. All I know is that the ducks are as good as gone now. There is no way the board is going to let them keep their scholarships. They haven't done anything to deserve them." Riley continued ranting and I decided to tune him out.
The locker room quickly cleared and I was the last one there, at least I thought I was. I turned to see Adam walking out of the shower obviously upset about something, probably whatever it was Orion told him. I could tell that he had been crying. I decided to try to talk with him.
"Hey, are you okay?" I asked as he quickly got dressed.
He turned to look at me. "I'm fine."
"Then why did you collapse on the ice if you are fine?"
"Okay, so I'm not fine." He sat down across from me and I noticed a tear running down his cheek.
"Tell me about it."
"H-Hans died." He said quietly. "I told you something bad was going to happen."
"Who is Hans? Is he one of your relatives?"
"He might as well have been. He was a close friend to all of the ducks. He has been with us since the beginning. When he couldn't be the, his brother Jan was there. He was like a grand father to us all. When I first joined the ducks, he was the first one to except me."
"I'm sorry for your loss." I told him. I really didn't know what to say. I hadn't expected it to be something like this. No wonder he collapsed to the ice in pain. I probably would have too.
"And hockey, I'm miserable here. All of my friends hate me. Charlie, Julie, all of them. To make things worse, everyone on this team, except you, hates me as well."
"Yeah, I noticed that they seamed to be out for blood today."
"Can I tell you something?"
"What?" I asked cautiously, not sure what he wanted to say.
"I was the one who told Wilson about the prank?"
"WHAT!" I yelled even though I didn't mean too.
"I told Wilson about the prank."
"I know what you said; I just can't believe you are the one that did it. I thought it was one of the ducks."
"You're mad at me."
"No, I don't care that you told. Riley and Cole deserved what they got for it. On the other hand, Riley's already trying to find out who told so he can pound them."
"Great, now people can hate me for an all new reason." He told me before getting up and walking out.
I just sat there stunned. He was miserable here. There had to be a way to make him feel better. I could even earn some points with Julie by doing it. I sat there for another couple of minutes thinking about what to do. That's when it came to me.
I rushed out of the locker room and knocked on Wilson's door. "Who is it?"
"It's Scooter. I need to speak to you about something."
"Come on in." He yelled and I opened the door and sat down in front of his desk. "What do you need to talk to me about?"
"Adam," I answered.
"What about him?"
"I think you should seriously consider putting him back on the Junior Varsity team."
He shook his head at me. "Why should I do that? Adam seems to be doing fine here."
"Yeah, it would seem that way on the outside, but on the inside he is miserable."
He took a deep breath, "what do you mean by that?"
"I mean he's not happy on this team. No one on the Varsity team likes him. Don't you see the way they go after him during practices? They are trying to hurt him. To make things worse, he lost all of his other friends when he joined this team. He has no one." I paused, taking a short breath. "I think he would be much happier back on JV. He could get his friends back and develop into a better player. He can be a star there."
"I have noticed that he hasn't been himself. You really think they are trying to hurt him?"
"Riley and Cole hate everything that is or used to be duck. I think Banks would be happier and better off back on the ducks." I told him.
"You need to take sometime and think about this. If I put Adam back on the JV team, then he will stand a chance of losing his scholarship as well."
"Do it." I told him.
"Scooter, this is a big decision. I want you to go back to your dorm and think this through. After you have took some time to think about it, let me know your decision. If you think he will be happier with the ducks, then I will put him back on the JV team. I just want you to keep in mind the risk you would be taking."
"Alright, I'll think over it, but I doubt my position will change." I told him as I left his office. I wasn't going to bother thinking about it. I knew what Adam wanted. I could see on the day we first met. He wants to be with the ducks and I am going to make sure he gets back to them. Besides, I have a sneaking suspicion that the ducks aren't going anywhere.
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