"Am I a bad girlfriend if I bail on Mickeys and go to the dorms to catch up on sleep?" Allie asked Linda as they pulled into the parking lot next door to the Diner.
"I tried that once and Charlie went ballistic. Believe me its not worth the whining" Linda laughed killing the engine and stepping out of the car into the cool night air.
"Looks like the team are already here" Allie commented seeing the various motor vehicles that she recognised as belonging to the Ducks.
"Well we did make a pit stop or three" Linda laughed finding it funny now that she'd guzzled so much Coke that she had needed to pee every five minutes, earlier however was a different story.
"Ah I bet they haven't even noticed" Allie laughed.
"And of course just to prove me wrong" Allie whispered to Linda as she saw Charlie and Portman burst through the doors of Mickeys to quiz them on where they'd been.
"Bathroom breaks, you know I really suggest not going for the super jumbo coke" Linda laughed at her boyfriend's worried expression.
"Too much info" Portman groaned as he nuzzled into his girlfriend's neck.
"Hey new perfume?" he quizzed when the fresh, crisp scent hit his nostrils.
"Yeah I got bored waiting in the car so I went 'shopping'" Allie confessed.
"You two are unbelievable" Connie's voice cut in.
The group spun around to see her standing with her head on Adam's shoulder.
"Where was my invitation?" she laughed.
"Lost in the mail, sorry!" Linda joked back grabbing Charlie by the arm and hauling him back into Mickeys.
"Wooooooo its about time!" Averman and Goldberg commented loudly when Allie and Linda entered the dining car to see it jam packed with Ducks players, relatives, Coach Orion, his daughter and numerous fans.
"Yeah, yeah" Linda waved his comment off as she slid into a booth next to Julie and Ken.
"So now can you tell us this big announcement?" Goldberg was getting impatient.
"Yep now that everyone's here, Coach do you wanna come over here?" Charlie beckoned for Coach Orion to join him at centre stage.
"Well now that the seasons over and summer is looming upon us" Coach Orion started but was interrupted by a loud cheer emerging from the Ducks.
Coach Orion rolled his eyes. He was used to the constant interruptions by the Ducks.
He waited for the Ducks to settle back down.
"now as I was saying, I got a call from Gordon Bombay who had an excellent suggestion that the Ducks attend a coaching clinic over the summer run by Hendrix Hockey and the Goodwill Games Committee"
Orion waited for the reaction.
"Where is this clinic?" Julie asked.
"Los Angeles, held at the Coliseum, I believe you guys are already familiar with that facility" Orion replied with a smirk.
"ALRIGHT!" Russ yelled.
"And as added incentive, Bombay has allowed you guys to stay in his Malibu pad rather than the university dorms, he mentioned something about you guys not being welcome there again"
Everyone immediately looked across to Portman and Fulton who shrugged innocently.
"Not our fault they didn't like Metallica" Fulton mumbled.
"So what do you guys think?" Charlie piped up excitedly.
"Yeah!" came the enthusiastic response.
"We can go shopping on Melrose!" Connie grabbed Julie excitedly.
"I can see Scooter!" Julie replied just as happily.
Portman and Fulton remained calm.
Linda made her way over to Allie.
"Why did we have to be here for this?" she whispered not understanding why Charlie made everyone wait for them to arrive so they can tell them they're ditching them for the entire summer.
"Beats me, but I'm heading over to Southern California with Hayley and some of the other girls over the summer. We're renting a house. Do you wanna come too? LA's not too far away from where we'll be staying" Allie offered.
Linda thought about it for a moment.
"Sure why not? Charlie's not the only one who can have fun this summer" she replied.
"Excellent! The beaches are amazing" Allie recalled.
"Hey there you are, you should come too. I'm sure Bombay would let you stay in the house with us" Charlie didn't see the volcano about to explode in front of him.
Allie grabbed Fulton and Portman by the arms and dragged them away. She knew what was coming.
"Duck and cover!" she hissed to the confused Bash Brothers.
"Huh?" Portman was completely oblivious.
"Oh" he added just before the entire diner heard what Linda had to say.
"How nice to include me in your carefully laid out plans" Linda spat out with venom.
"Of course I've included you" Charlie was oblivious to the sarcasm.
"Gee its too bad though Charles I've already got plans with people who don't think to include me as an afterthought" Linda clenched her fists at her sides.
"Oh shit this does not look good" Fulton commented from his spot next to Allie.
"I know" Allie whispered back.
"huh?" Charlie replied as if it was only occurring to him now that Linda had made plans for the summer without him.
"That's right Charlie Conway, I've been invited to spend some time with some friends over the summer and you know what, I'm gonna go and have the best time. Without you" she added before shoving him aside and exiting the dining car leaving a very quiet crowd staring at Charlie.
Charlie stared at the door for a moment wondering what on earth had just happened. He finally snapped out of it when he realised that everyone was staring at him.
"WHAT!?" he snapped before storming out.
"And the award for the most dramatic exit goes to...…. Well I think Linda. What do you guys think?" Averman broke the silence with another joke.
"Well they both had their good points but I think Charlie with the way he snapped at everyone before stomping out" Goldberg had just started a rather detailed discussion on who made the best exit.
Allie shook her head and smiled.
"Hey I don't have to go to LA if you don't want me to, I'm not sure I wanna go yet anyway" Portman piped up hoping Allie wasn't mad at him for the whole hockey clinic thing.
"You're going Dean and that's final. Besides I'll be over there anyway remember? I promised Hayley I'd spent at least a week at the beach with her and the girls but if you're gonna be in LA anywa I can make the trip even longer" Allie explained.
"Phew, so you're not all mad at me like Linda is with Charlie?" Portman relaxed. He didn't want to be a subject of the discussion of dramatic exits that had now roped in Guy, Adam, Connie and Luis as well as Averman and Goldberg. Julie and Ken were still talking in the corner but had been joined by Becky Orion and Fulton.
"Nope but I would have been mad if you stayed here all summer because you thought I'd want you to. Well I do want you to, wait no that sounded wrong, what I meant was I want to be near you all summer but this hockey thing sounds exciting for you and I'll only be an hour or so away so why not go?" Allie was talking a mile a minute, she didn't want Portman to think she didn't want to be around him for the summer.
"I get it, I think" Portman looked confused but nevertheless understood what she was trying to say.
"Good" Allie replied pulling him over to the table where Julie, Ken and Fulton were chatting to Becky Orion.
"You guys don't have to talk to me just cos I'm the coaches daughter" Becky said with her eyes downcast.
"Becky, Becky, Becky" Portman began as he shook his head. Becky looked up.
"Yeah I'm hurt by that Becky, the first hot chick I've talked to all year and she doesn't wanna talk to me" Fulton feigned hurt as Becky stared at him in disbelief.
"You are so full of shit" she said softly causing the rest of the table to stare at her open mouthed before bursting into laughter.
"Oh yeah, I really, really like you, please tell me you're coming to LA with us" Julie gave Becky's arm a little squeeze.
"Dunno, I guess I'll have to ask my dad" she replied relaxing a little. She always felt out of place with the Ducks because they were her dad's 'other' pride and joy and being around cute teenage boys kind of overwhelmed her. She felt incredibly self conscious being in a wheelchair and not being able to do the things they did but the ones she was talking to now made her feel right at home.
"Hey team!" Coach Orion called for the Ducks attention.
In true Ducks fashion no one listened to him.
"DUCKS, SHUT UP!" Orion bellowed startling everyone.
"Thank you" Orion breathed, his face slightly purple with exertion.
"Yes Coach Orion sir?" Averman asked softly with a grin.
"Team meeting in my office Monday morning 7 am. Can someone fill Conway in on it?" he asked.
"I'm proud of you team, we've proven that we're worth the Varsity title. One more State Championship and we've earned four consecutive, a new record I believe. I expect to see all of you out on the ice fitter, faster and more determined to work than ever before after this hockey clinic. Now get out of here, Casey wants to close up"
"YEAH!" the Ducks cheered at Orion's little speech. The man wasn't too big on overpraising the team for their efforts and they liked it like that.
"So Linda was my ride, can I go with you guys?" Allie asked Portman.
"Charlie was my ride" Portman realised.
"And mine!" Fulton blurted out.
"Sorry guys, I'm taking Connie, Adam, Ken and Luis. I'm all full" Julie explained.
"Averman's got Goldberg, Russ, Guy and Dwayne" Ken added.
"Oh well looks like we're walking boys" Allie laughed at the Bash Brothers groaning.
"Remind me never to rely on Charlie to drive me anywhere" Fulton grumbled sliding out of the booth. He said a quick goodbye to Julie and Ken before giving Becky an over the top hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"Ew get off of me" Becky complained but the grin on her face told her father that she wasn't really being bothered by a Bash Brother's affections.
"Come on Fulton" Allie dragged the Bash Brother out the door where the other one was waiting impatiently.
"See ya Becky" Allie called over her shoulder.
"I swear to God Fulton you are worse than a girl!" Allie laughed when she arrived at Fulton's house to find him sitting on the front step surrounded by three enormous suitcases.
"Shut up!" Fulton retorted making a great show of picking up all three cases and carrying them to the trunk of Allie's BMW SUV.
He dropped one at the last second and it landed squarely on his foot that was only covered by a beach sandal.
"OW!" he cried hopping up and down in pain.
Portman lost it.
"Are you okay?" Allie asked.
"No!" Fulton sulked.
"Get in, Portman will fix those" Allie volunteered her boyfriend to load up his friend's bags.
"Will I?" Portman challenged.
All Allie had to do was raise an eyebrow and he did as he was asked.
"Thank you baby" Allie called after him as she got in the drivers seat.
"So what do you girls plan on doing for a whole week without us Ducks? Sit in your rooms and cry I hope" Fulton teased.
"No see I figured we'd have this enormous pool party with loads of college guys home for the summer, you know the ones that used to be on Varsity, yeah, especially that really nice one, now what was his name, oh yeah Rick Riley!" Allie teased trying not to laugh when she saw Fulton's face turn even paler than usual.
"You're joking right?" he asked
"Oh no, then we're gonna go hit all the bars in Minnesota and get so drunk that we have to be carried out of each one with puke all down our clothes" she continued as Portman was getting into the car.
"What the fuck? Who's getting drunk? Better not be you" he warned.
"And then after all that we're gonna do bodyshots with Biff Cole now that he's finally graduated" Allie knew this would get a reaction.
"YOU'RE WHAT?" Portman bellowed.
Allie burst out laughing.
"Just kidding guys, nah seriously Linda, Hayley and I are going bikini shopping and we might have a pool party but only with the girls invited" Allie gave Portman her best innocent smile.
"Way to give a dude a heart attack babe" Portman breathed.
"Yeah for a minute there I was not going to go to LA just to stop you from doing bodyshots with that asshole Biff Cole" Fulton said from the back seat.
"Oh Fulton I didn't know you cared" Allie laughed as she pulled away from the curb.
"Hey!" Portman whined and Allie patted his arm.
"Are you looking forward to the clinic?" Allie asked the boys.
"Yeah but I'm not looking forward to the 4.00 wake up calls. We have to be awake, suited up and on the ice by 5.00 sharp. So not good" Fulton grumbled.
"Aren't you guys used to it yet? What was it that Coach Orion used to say, something about getting up early to hunt goose eggs?" Allie tried to remember Coach Orion's reasoning.
"Yeah – 'you gotta get up early if you wanna hunt goose eggs' I swear Connie was gonna hurt him there and then" Portman replied.
"She's not a morning person I take it?" Allie asked. She didn't know Connie half as well as she knew Julie.
"Nope and I think Julie being so cheery in the morning makes it worse" Fulton laughed.
"Speak of the Devil" Fulton said aloud as his cell phone starting playing Nirvana's Smells Like Teen Spirit.
"Hey Jules" he answered.
Allie concentrated on getting the boys to the airport in one piece as she ducked and weaved through traffic. She'd only had her license for a few weeks now.
"Julie says we have to go to gate 32, most of the team's there except for Charlie, Averman and Guy" Fulton instructed.
"Yeah I know where that terminal is" Allie informed him. She'd been to the airport so many times throughout her life to see her father off or pick up her mother.
She flicked on her blinker to pull into the airport parking lot.
The trio got out of the car and managed to get to the gate to meet the Ducks.
"Its about time!" Goldberg complained from his chair. From the look of him, he obviously had to be physically woken up and dragged to the airport.
"Hey Charlie isn't even here yet!" Julie stuck up for the Bash Brothers.
"Don't count on Linda showing up" Connie piped up from next to Adam.
"She still pissed?" Portman asked amazed.
Connie nodded "I hope she forgives him soon, Charlie's such a pain in the ass when they're fighting"
"Agreed" Luis, Dwayne, Russ, Ken and Adam.
"Agree mphmm" Goldberg mumbled before he fell asleep again.
"Well look who's finally arrived!" Russ saw the late Ducks rushing towards them.
"We're here!" Charlie announced looking just as tired as Goldberg did.
"About time Spazzway" Connie grumbled. She hated waiting and upon seeing the people who were making her wait she was now grumpy.
"C'mon Ducks we have a plane to catch" Coach Orion did a quick headcount and ascertained that everyone was present and accounted for.
"Well I guess this is it" Portman turned to his girlfriend.
"Babe, its only gonna be a week until I land LA!" Allie pointed out.
"I know but I'm gonna miss you" he whispered.
"I'll miss you too" Allie whispered back.
"And I'm gonna miss you too!" Averman wailed flinging an arm around Allie's shoulders and pretending to weep.
"No ones gonna miss you after I beat the snot out of you and bury you in my backyard" Portman threatened.
"Okay I'm going now, bye Allie" Averman quickly retreated back to the safety of the other Ducks.
"So I'll see you in a week?" Portman tried to say his goodbyes again.
"Yep but I'll be expecting at least a phone call in that week" Allie told him giving him a hug.
"I'd phone you three times a day if I thought you wouldn't get annoyed with me" Portman smiled.
"You know me so well" Allie laughed accepting the kiss Portman planted on her lips.
"Don't bother saying goodbye to me" a sarcastic voice Allie and Portman only knew too well interrupted their time.
"Aw shit!" Allie whispered against Portman's lips before they broke away.
And standing behind them was Kate Portman and she did not look happy.
"I'll see you later" Allie told Portman giving his hand one last squeeze.
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Portman asked. He was really starting to worry about her state of mind, given he'd just seen her that very morning.
"I'm glad to see you didn't lie to me" Kate placed her hands on her hips.
Portman knew what she was talking about. He'd told his mother purposely that Allie wasn't attending the hockey clinic therefore she wouldn't be joining him in LA. It was a half truth but his mother didn't really need to know that.
"Why would I lie to you? Allie's really not coming out to LA with me, as you just saw" he added.
"Don't take that tone with me Dean" his mother warned.
"What tone? I would have asked you to come with us to the airport if I thought you wouldn't make a scene with Allie here. Get used to it mom, she's my girl and nothing's gonna change that" Portman was itching to get going.
"Portman hurry up!" Coach Orion barked.
"I have to go, I'll see you when I get back" he gave his mother a quick one armed hug and a quick kiss on the cheek.
And with that Portman ran across the waiting lounge to join the rest of the team.
"Oh yeah, Kate showed up and ruined it of course. I swear that woman has me on radar lockdown or something" Allie was sitting in her SUV with her cell phone at her ear.
"Yeah Hayls, I should be about an hour. Do you wanna give Linda a call?"
"Yeah Charlie was late and he looked terrible, like he hadn't slept for weeks, months even. I know, I hope she talks to him when we go to Laguna"
"Yep so we'll meet at yours say around 10? Okay see you then" Allie flipping the cell shut and placed it on the passenger seat.
She turned the key in the ignition and put the car in reverse ready to back out of the parking space. She pushed a button on the CD player console to switch back to radio and turned the volume up.
She was greeted by Aerosmith's Crazy playing
I go crazy, crazy, baby, I go crazy
You turn it on
Then you're gone
Yeah you drive me
Crazy, crazy, crazy, for you baby
What can I do, honey
I feel like the color blue...
As she passed the last row of cars she noticed a woman standing next to a silver Lexus cussing. Allie slowed down and pushed the button to open the window.
"Do you need any help?" she asked.
"Yeah I have a flat" the woman turned around and Allie was just as stunned to see Kate Portman as Kate Portman was stunned to see Allie.
"Nevermind I'll call AAA" Kate added sharply.
"It's okay, I can change it for you in about a third of the time it'll take for them to get here" Allie pulled the BMW into the parking space next to Kate's and got out.
"Fine" Kate looked defeated when she realised Allie was right.
"Could you open the trunk please?" Allie asked as politely as she could.
Kate rolled her eyes and obliged.
Allie tried not to disturb anything in the trunk as she removed the jack from its holster.
"You might need to put this stuff in the backseat for now, the spare's actually in a compartment under the floor mat" Allie informed her.
Kate sighed and proceeded to put all of her shopping and other junk into the backseat of the Lexus.
Kate watched in silence as Allie proceeded to take the spare out of its hiding place and roll it next to the wheel arch that held the flat tyre.
"What are you doing?" Kate demanded when Allie reached into the drivers compartment.
"Putting the handbrake on. I don't want it moving on me" Allie explained.
"Oh" Kate replied softly. She still didn't like the girl.
She watched on as Allie continued changing the tyre. In total it only took around 10 minutes to complete.
"There you go" Allie announced closing the trunk lid.
"Thank you" Kate said shortly before getting into the Lexus and peeling out of the car park.
"You're welcome" Allie muttered getting back into her SUV.
"Holy shit, guys look at this!" Charlie called the Ducks over to check out the view of the ocean Bombay had going on from his balcony.
"Wow, its so beautiful" Connie exclaimed.
"Awesome" Fulton opened the balcony doors to see whether or not you could access the beach from the pad.
"Hey guys!" he called.
The other Ducks moved outside to where Fulton revealed a gate with a set of steps leading down towards the beach.
"Wow Bombay must get paid A LOT" Julie decided.
"Come on lets go work out what we want to do today" Charlie ordered. Since landing in LA he had perked up considerably. Goldberg on the other hand was currently sleeping it off in one of the guest rooms Bombay had made up for the Ducks visit.
"Any suggestions?" Charlie called the little meeting to order.
"Swimming!" Connie piped up excitedly.
"Hockey!" Adam and Guy announced.
Connie shot each of them a filthy look.
"We're here on a hockey clinic you idiots!" Connie informed them.
"Duh!" Guy gave her a look that said 'so what?'
"Yeah hey, Russ we should play street hockey with your brother again!" Charlie had just decided what they were doing that day.
"Yeah!" Russ' face lit up. He hadn't seen his older brother James since the previous summer.
"Well give him a call Tyler!" Charlie ordered.
Allie was just giving Hayley and Linda an animated version of her little run-in with Kate Portman when her cell phone went off.
She dug it out of her bag and frowned when she didn't recognise the number.
"Hello?" she answered cautiously.
"Told you I'd call" Dean's voice came across the phone.
"Hey!" Allie exclaimed.
"So what's up?" Portman asked.
"Oh my god, you'll never guess what happened. Oh wait, can I put you on speaker? I was just telling Hayley and Linda about it"
Allie pressed the button to turn her cell to speaker.
"Are you there?" Allie asked.
"Yep" Portman replied.
"Hey Hayley and Linda" Portman added.
"Hey Portman" the girls answered.
Allie then started the story about her helping Kate with her flat tyre.
She got to the part where Kate said an abrupt 'thank you' and then sped off.
"She what?" Portman couldn't believe his mother was still being rude after Allie had helped her out.
"Its okay, she did say thank you" Allie assured him.
"Hey Portman we're gonna go play some street puck with James Tyler and his crew" Charlie's voice was heard in the background.
"I gotta go babe, I'll talk to you later" Portman was reluctant to end the conversation.
"Okay, have fun, we've gotta get to the shops before they close anyway" Allie informed him.
"Babe its only midday" Portman pointed out.
"Exactly, do you have any idea how long it takes to find the right bathing suit" Allie informed him on the ways of swimmer shopping.
"A long time I'm guessing" Portman answered.
"Clever boy!" Allie laughed.
"Portman come on!" someone screamed at Portman on the other end.
"Okay I really have to go, I love you" Portman announced.
"Love you too, bye" Allie replied hanging up the phone.
"Thank god you two don't do the whole, you hang up, no you hang up bullshit, I overheard Courtney and Dwayne doing it the winter break they were going out and I swear I felt like shooting myself" Hayley laughed.
"I know its so overrated, Charlie tried it once so I said "okay" and hung up on him!" Linda admitted.
"Nice!" Hayley exclaimed.
"Come on lets go" Allie rounded up the girls and they all piled into Hayley's jeep to head to the mall.
