Here's the next chapter. As for the last question: Monopoly prints more money daily than the U.S. Treasury. Hard to believe I know but it's the complete and utter truth.

Here's my next question: Why is it that when people ask you "What three things would you bring with you on a desert island?" No one ever replies a BOAT? Or now-a-days a CELL PHONE?

Oh and by the way I still don't own them.


Chapter 28: Are you good enough?
Portman's PoV
When I sat down to dinner I sat at the opposite end from Lizzy and I could tell she knew something was up. I don't know why I didn't sit by her, I mean she is my girlfriend and all, but I guess I just had some thinking to do. I think I knew what Bastian wanted too, I pretty sure he was just going to tell me he was watching me to make sure I wasn't hurting his cousin and that didn't bother me all that much.

The one thing that did really bother me was Lizzy's schedule for the next nine weeks. I saw her planner in study hall and it had almost every day filled to the max from the time she woke up to the time she went to bed with either studying or practice of some sort. That really bugged me. Would this mean she was going to work that hard all the time and soon not have enough time for me? That's what's happening to my dad. He works so much at his office, at work or at home, that we never really get to see him anymore.

I was jerked out of my thoughts when something slammed roughly against the table and a chair clattered to the floor. I looked up to see a determined and very pissed off Fulton and a slightly scared ER. I also noticed that the rest of the team had sat down and that Bash had joined us. Fulton was almost in Lizzy's face and was yelling at her. He was madder than I had ever seen him and it surprised me that he was yelling at his best friend. A tiny part of my mind said she deserved it but the majority was yelling at me to defend her. I noticed that when the Varsity baseball team stood Fulton lowered his voice.

Just out of the corner of my eye I could see the disapproving pissed off look on Julie's face and that disappointed look on Connie's face. Just then a baseball guy came over to our table and laid a hand on Fulton's shoulder. Again the tiny voice inside of me told me to say something to him but with a nod from Bash the guy walked away. When Fulton sat back down a couple things happened. First the baseball guys sat back down, second Lizzy started eating quickly, and lastly the noise level in the cafeteria went back to normal.

The baseball team was really protective of Lizzy and I realized that I would hate to make them mad at me, but that wasn't my only worry. If I pissed the team off that would mean I would have pissed Bash off and Bash would end up telling Matt, Chris, and Ben and I'd have three very angry brothers breathing down my neck.

Sometimes I wondered if it was a smart move to get involved with Lizzy but I would then remember the way her eyes lit up when she was genuinely smiling, the way she could go from spitting mad to completely upset to truly happy in a matter of minutes, and the way she fit perfectly in my arms when we cuddled on one of our beds and all other regrets are blown from my mind.

After dinner I walked out into the hallway followed by Adam and Charlie and was grabbed by two big guys. They were about my height and size, were wearing letterman jackets, and both had Varsity baseball/cross bat logo. I knew these two were baseball players.

"Take care of him guys, just don't let Lizzy know or she'll hurt you." Charlie called as he and Adam headed in the direction of the dorms.

The guys lead me away, down a few hallways to where an empty classroom door stood open and they drug me inside. I knew Charlie wouldn't let them hurt me too much because Lizzy would question it at the game if she could see it. I got a good look at the names on the jackets as they stopped to turn on the lights at one end of the room. James 'Jim' Williams was on my right and Josh Wilson was on my left. They were people Lizzy had mentioned before but I just didn't remember them quite well.

They forced me down in a chair roughly as two others were perched on the table in front of me. I knew the one on the right, well my right their left, was Bash but the one on the left I didn't know. He was the same one who had come over during dinner and his jacket read Mike Marshall.

"What do you want Johnson? I'm not going to hurt your cousin if that's what you're thinking." I barked. The hands on my shoulders grew tighter as Bash's look grew serious.

"First you are going to shut your trap and listen to me because what I'm about to say could severely damage your relationship with not only Lizzy but with the JV hockey team if your response isn't exactly what I want to hear." Bash said not moving from his spot on the table.

"I don't give a shit about who you are you will not threaten me. Only two people can get away with threatening me. Lizzy and my sister Alyssa." I barked trying to stand but Jim and Josh were stronger than I thought and they kept me sitting.

"Shut up Dean Portman." Mike barked standing. Bastian moved his hand and forced Mike back onto the table.

"What was your first date with my cousin?" Bash asked.

"Um well..." I thought hard but couldn't really remember an actual date.

"You've been dating her for almost two months and you haven't had an official date?" Mike ordered.

"We've been really busy and she hasn't complained about it. Neither have her three brothers so why don't you back off." I snapped. Bash sighed and again pushed Mike back onto the table. "Why are you doing this anyway? Matt, Chris, and Ben don't have a problem with me."

"Matt's cautious of you, Chris doesn't think he has any say in it, and Ben's another story." Bash said. "Do you plan on ever taking her out?"

"When she's not so busy." I answered.

"What does she see in you? What makes you better than a guy like Adam Banks?"

"Well Banksie's a cake-eater and I'm not."

"Define cake-eater." Jim said.

"Cake-eater like you guys, the people that can have their cake and eat it too."

"Dean." Bash said.

"Alright fine. Rich, parents are big time preps, goodie two-shoes, good grades, stuck up." I said.

"All but the goodie two-shoes and stuck up define you and Lizzy too."

"Lizzy is not a cake-eater."

"What makes you say that?" Mike asked.

"She is not stuck up in any way and isn't a bitch like the rest of the female cake-eaters in this place." I snapped.

"So what makes you not a so called 'cake-eater'?" Bastian asked.

"I'm not like that either."

"Sure you are. Your parents own one of the largest car companies in Chicago, they're fancy execs, and you have good grades due to hockey. So by almost every meaning you're a cake-eater." I opened my mouth to argue with Mike but closed it again when I realized he was right. "Face it you're just a cake-eating jock in hood's clothing."

Bastian stood up and came between me and Mike. "You are not helping this at all shut up and sit down or get out." He demanded his hands tightening into fists facing Mike. I could see Mike backing up and sitting on the table. Bastian didn't turn around but he did ask, "Aside from you not being a cake-eater what does Lizzy see in you?"

"I'm not really sure, she's never told me but I gu-" I started but a voice in my ear cut me off.

"Never guess with something like this, you'll leave yourself open to suggestion."

"I know she loves me and to me that's all that matters." The hand on my left shoulder, Josh, loosened and I could tell he, at least, was happy with that answered. Bastian turned around to face me.

"What if that's not good enough for me?" He snapped.

"What do you want me to say? She likes me for my good looks? She likes me for my personality, for my brains, for my jockness? Too bad I can't. I can tell you that I don't intend to hurt her, but if you want to know why she likes me so much you're going to have to ask her." I said crossing my arms over my chest. Jim loosened his grip at that and I could tell I had the two behind me convinced.

"Do you plan to stay with her when she goes to college? Or when she decides she's ready to get married will you be the guy in front of the alter with her?" Bastian asked mirroring my actions.

"I don't know, maybe but I'm still in high school. If our relationship leads that far then yes I'll be there for her but if not then I hope she is truly happy with whoever she's with because I will always love her and I just want to see her happy."

"I'll give you 50 dollars to dump her and come up with a good reason why you did." He said. I stared at him like he was out of his mind.

"You can't be serious." I answered.

"How 'bout 100?"

"No."

"Probably not rich enough for him." Mike laughed.

"How 'bout 1,000?"

"No way." I couldn't believe this guy was trying to pay me off.

"How 'bout 10,000?" Bastian said.

"Absolutely not." I answered.

"100,000?" Bastian asked.

"You're out of your freaking mind." I answered.

"Half a million is my final offer."

"And my final answer is there's no way in heaven or hell I would take any amount of money to dump Lizzy I love her and I will not hurt her like that. You will not change my mind." I said roughly standing up and glaring at Bastian. He didn't say anything so I walked to the door. When I reached for the knob a voice spoke up.

"You passed."

"Passed? Passed what?" I asked spinning around.

"The 'are you good enough test'." A guy said coming away from the window. I don't know how I didn't see him in the first place except for the fact that it was kind of dark over there.

"What are you talking about?"

"Every time Lizzy gets a boyfriend Chris, Ben, and I use a friend or in this case her cousin to give them the 'are you good enough test'." He explained. The guy stepped closer and I racked my brain for a name but I couldn't find one.

He was about 6'1 with hazel eyes, dirty blond messy hair, and was built along the same lines as Goldberg only with less fat and a bit more muscle. 'Chris, Ben, and I' his quote rang in my head.

"You're her other brother. The asshole."

"I prefer Seth." Even though I had just met him I wanted to kick his ass for what he had done to Lizzy.

"Lizzy says you're in college." He nodded.

"Dad, Matt, and I came to see her game." Seth put in.

"What about Alicia?"

"Yeah she came too but I think it was more for the shopping at the Mall of America than Lizzy's game."

"Does ER know?"

"Not yet, we wanted to surprise her after her game. Listen Portman I've majorly screwed up with her and I'm not asking you to fix that. I know you can't nor can you fix the fact that she barely trusts me. I have to do it even if I don't want to. For some weird reason my sister trusts you and most of me doesn't want to see that end. Take care of my baby sister. There is an extremely minor part of me that says you'll break her heart. You're a hormonally driven teenage guy and it's extremely rare that you'll end up marrying your high school sweetheart but I want to see you prove me and Chris wrong. Show us you're not a complete jackass and that if you have to end it with her don't break her heart when you do end it." Seth threatened.

"Great just what I need three of her brothers don't say anything about it, one's head hunting, Charlie is too protective, and what do you have to say about this Bastian. She's your cousin do I have to ask your permission too?" I snapped.

"No, like Chris, I think it's none of my business. Although that's what I think I will not hesitate to hurt you if you hurt her."

"Get in line; I'm sure Fulton will beat you to it." I muttered.

"I was just like you when I went here." Seth said. I cocked an eyebrow so he continued. "Cocky, smart, a babe magnet, arrogant, didn't have a care in the world, and charming. That was just some of the things Coach Wilson had to say about me. I also broke a few hearts. One girl in particular was a real spit fire, just like Lizzy is. I cheated on her, lied about it, and didn't confess until after she dumped me. Her brother found out and he beat me so bad I was thankful it wasn't hockey season. Don't make my mistakes. Now I believe you have a game to get to." I blinked a few times and shook my head walking down the hall. I made up my mind then to apologize to Lizzy for getting so mad at her earlier. It wasn't that what Seth said had scared me it just made a crap load of sense.

Connie's PoV
Fulton scared most of us Ducks at dinner when he was yelling at Lizzy but I knew that everything was ok when she left to prepare. I looked at the clock as most of us finished and saw that it was around six.

"Game time in an hour everyone knows the rule." Charlie said. We all nodded and Julie, Guy, and I stood.

"See y'all there." Dwayne said. We nodded and left.

Julie turned a little red as a kid brushed past her. "Oh sorry." He muttered flashing a smile.

"It's ok." Julie answered as he turned back around.

"Someone's got a crush." I taunted.

"Do not."

"Bash wait up." The guy called. His friend, Bash maybe, stopped but didn't turn around.

"Wait a minute isn't that one of Lizzy's baseball friends?" Guy asked.

"Mike Marshall, he's the catcher." Julie answered gazing after him.

"What do you think their up to?" Guy asked.

"No clue." Julie and I answered.

At 6:30 we walked into our locker room and Julie froze. Lizzy was sitting there fully dressed minus her skates with her eyes closed, legs crossed Indian style, and her hands resting on her knees.

"What's she doing?" Julie whispered.

"Pre-game prep. She'll sit like that 20 minutes before home games and for most of the bus ride for away games. Just don't bother her." I explained. We got dressed and waited. We had to be out on the ice at 10 till so we had a bit of time. Just then there was tapping on the door. I checked the clock but it said 6:45.

"Girls, Coach wants you in the locker room." Ken said.

"Alright." Julie answered. "Lizzy?" This time her voice was hesitant.

Lizzy took a few deep breaths and unfolded herself before standing. "Ice time yet?" She asked gabbing her skates, stick, and helmet.

"No Coach wants to talk, most likely to tell us the starting line-up since Adam's not playing tonight." I answered. Lizzy nodded and placing her helmet on the end of her stick she padded, in her socks, out the door and down to the boys room as we followed.

"You've been in the locker room for the past half an hour at least and you still don't have your skates on? What were you doing?" Russ asked Lizzy almost as soon as we entered the room.

I nodded to the rest of the D-5 ducks and we answered in almost perfect unison "Pre-game prep." Lizzy blushed and took a seat between the bash brothers and started lacing up her skates.

"What's pre-game prep?" Luis asked.

"She'll meditate for at least 20 minutes before home games and for most of the ride before away games." Charlie answered.

"Alright team listen up..." Orion said stepping out of his office.

Dwayne's PoV
I was getting ready for the game when Portman walked in with an extremely thoughtful look on his face.

"Hey what did Bastian want?" Luis asked.

"A talk about Lizzy." Portman answered shaking his head. I walked slowly past him and Fulton and heard him mutter, "I can't believe he tried to pay me off."

I froze. 'Pay him off?' I questioned in my head. 'The 'are you good enough test'.' "Portman can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked.

"Can it wait until after the game?" He asked.

"No, it has to be before you see Lizzy." He sighed but followed me into the empty bathroom.

"What's up Cowboy?" He asked.

"You just took it didn't you?" I asked.

"It?"

"You know what I'm talking about."

"Yeah so what of it?"

"What ever you do, what ever it made you think about you have to promise, no swear ta me, you won't let Lizzy find out."

"Why?"

"Look just swear to me you will not let Lizzy find out."

"Fine I swear I will not let Lizzy find out I took it, but what difference would it make if I did?"

"When Lizzy and I first started dating Ben forced me to take it and I kinda let it slip to Lizzy later that they wanted to pay me off. Lizzy got really upset and now Ben has a 4 inch scar on his right shoulder from the vase she threw at him because of it." I could see he didn't believe me. "Who gave it to you?"

"Seth." Portman answered.

I shifted my weight and looked at the floor. "Lizzy doesn't exactly get along with him and I doubt she even trusts him, if you let it slip it could be seriously dangerous."

"Thanks." He nodded after considering it for a bit. "You've taken her on dates before right?"

"Yeah almost every Friday night when I had the chance."

"Well where did you take her?"

"Wendy's is her absolute favorite fast food place. So we mainly went there but we also went to a couple other fast food joints. Lizzy loves fast food, hates all that expensive, fancy places, she's pretty simple, and she loves movies; action, sports, romance, comedy, Disney, pretty much everything except scary movies. She can't stand Child's Play, IT, and your basic scary movies." I told him.

"Thanks."

"Sure, I know Lizzy about as well as Fulton did you can ask me just about anything." Portman nodded and we walked back into the main locker room where he finished getting ready and I sat down on the bench fiddling with Kit.

Kit was basically my good luck charm I've used before almost every game I've ever played since I got it. It's just a stuffed cat that Lizzy gave me but it was the meaning behind it that made Kit so special.

I was drawn out of my thoughts when I heard the door open and then shut making me look around to see that Kenny had left more than likely to get the girls. I put Kit back in the top of my locker just as the door opened again and the girls walked in. Lizzy only blushed slightly when the D-5 Ducks mentioned her pre-game prep, then she brushed it off and put her skates on sitting between the two bash brothers.

ER's PoV
I grimaced as Coach Orion called out the starting line-up. I shot a look at Russ who just shrugged.

"You've got to start somewhere Lizzy you know that." Fulton said as we went out to the ice.

"Yeah but I've been skating since I was four and playing hockey since I was five. I've still got a record of 19 out of 20. As much as I hate to say it I liked Bombay's methods. He let everyone have an equal shot at starting. He didn't favor anyone 'cept for Charlie and that was only off the ice. I don't know why Orion is starting me."

"You went five years without playing Lizzy."

"Yeah but you've seen me at practice I'm still just as good."

"Practice and games are two different things; besides maybe he doesn't want to stress you out by starting you then you choke before the game even really plays out." Dean added.

"Save your hostility for the ice Lizzy we'll need it there." Charlie said.

"In case you haven't noticed Charlie I'm not getting ice time." I snapped.

"I don't know why though. You're too good to sit the bench. We can't win without you."

"A team isn't built on how good one player is, it's built on team dynamics. As I told you before I joined you don't need me to win Charlie all you need is to stick together like ducks." I said. Although that went completely against my previous argument with Fulton it seemed to pacify Charlie.


Well that is all for now tune in next time to find out what happens at the game.