Eden Hall academy, 2019
"Are you serious?!" Russ exclaimed in disbelief.
"Yeah! He said he didn't wanna go to a "preppy" school and that his mom needed help taking care of the house and his younger sister after...you know…" Charlie explained.
The Ducks had just found out that one of their defensive players, Peter, wasn't returning. They had all been recipients of a full athletic scholarship to the prestigious Eden Hall Academy. A few of them were unhappy with Bombay's decision to retire from coaching them and take a position with the League Administration. Charlie had been particularly vocal about his disdain for the situation, thinking Bombay just "dumped" them into a fancy school to get rid of them.
"We better hurry for the "big speech"" Charlie made air quotes and rolled his eyes, "or the preppies are gonna be mad".
"I can't wait to meet this coach Orion", remarked Julie.
"I heard he punched out his own coach when he played in the pros!" Luis informed the others.
"Bet he's gonna be scary…" Averman shuddered.
"Don't worry, guys, we'll show him who the Ducks are!" Charlie and the rest cheered.
The gang skated to campus and one by one walked into the assembly hall and took their seats.
"Hey cake eater, you're gonna fit in pretty well in here!" Jesse teased Adam.
"You snots don't belong in our school." A voice said from behind.
Charlie, Russ and Dwayne turned around to see a few Varsity players smirking at them.
"I'm sorry?" Russ said, looking over his sunglasses.
"Easy, Russ." Charlie said. "Hi, I'm the captain of the new hockey team!" Charlie grinned and extended his hand for a shake.
One of the goons spat out his gum and placed it in his hand.
"*We* are the *only* hockey team in this school", a dark- haired, intimidating guy with a "C" on his varsity jacket remarked. "You weirdos don't belong in our school. That's my dad over there and he's going to make sure you're out of here by the end of the week." He pointed towards the man in a suit on the stage standing next to the dean.
"Man, I didn't know colonel Sanders was your dad" Russ mocked him and the Ducks next to him laughed.
"Ladies and gentleman", the dean addressed the audience," it is my great pleasure to announce the beginning of a new school year and welcome the new students who are joining us in their senior year! The whole assembly hall erupted in applause apart from the guys from the varsity team. "And now I would like to invite Mr. Gordon Bombay, former coach of the Ducks hockey team and an alumnus of Eden Hall Academy.
"Thank you all for inviting me here today. I would like to express my gratitude to the alumni association for providing these wonderful young people with a chance at a great education, the kind that you gave me. I believe you will find each and every one of them brilliant and unique. I hope you learn as much from them as I have and see them grow. Thank you very much!" The whole crowd applauded his speech.
After assembly, the Ducks gathered around Bombay to bid him goodbye. "Guys, I know this was all a bit sudden but I'm leaving you in good hands and…" he was interrupted.
"And what, coach? You dumped us here in some upscale school with people we don't belong with just so you could take up a fancy job with the league…" Charlie erupted.
"Charlie, I understand…"
"No! You don't understand...you obviously don't even have a clue…" Charlie retreated a bit "...let's go, guys" he addressed the others.
"It's okay, coach, he'll come around" Connie said and hugged Bombay. A few of the other Ducks also gave him hugs and followed Charlie into the school.
The Ducks had four periods that day and during each one of them they were informed of the heavy workload that was expecting them.
"We better be careful or we might learn something in here" Goldberg said while walking alongside Averman, Jesse and Russ in the hallways. Their phones chimed. Charlie had sent a mass text calling for everyone to the locker rooms for practice.
In about 10 minutes, everyone had gathered in the locker rooms.
"Charlie, shouldn't we wait for the new coach before we mess around?" asked Connie.
"Let's do some warming up!" Charlie suggested, getting nods of agreement from the others.
The warm up the Ducks intended on doing had turned into a game of chasing each other. Soon enough, a whistle pierced the air.
All Ducks froze in place and turned to the source of the voice. A man in his mid 40s skated towards the group with a serious look on his face. The Ducks scrambled to their feet.
"I'm coach Orion" the man introduced himself.
"I'm Charlie, the captain" Charlie smiled and extended his hand. Orion looked at him and then the rest of the team. The Ducks exchanged uncomfortable looks.
"This is my team now and I will be selecting the captain!" he announced.
Charlie glared at the coach. "You're kidding, right? I've been the captain since the Pee Wees, we've all been together for 6 years!" He got some nods from some of the Ducks but mostly, they were too afraid to speak.
Charlie had opened his mouth to retaliate but the sharp gaze of the coach stopped him.
"We've got a lot of work to do," he said. "I've seen your tapes, you can play offense great but your defense is lacking. Now, I know you're down a man so I'm bringing in a replacement. You'll meet her soon enough."
Upon hearing that their new teammate was a girl, the Ducks all exploded in chatter.
"I expect you all to be on your best behavior and work hard!" Orion's voice boomed once again through the place. The Ducks all shut up. "Dismissed." Orion said without any emotion and skated off.
"Oof...he should be in the army", remarked Goldberg while shaking his head.
"Hey, do you think the new girl will be hot?" Luis asked.
"Dibs!" Portman raised his arms in the air. Luis and a few other guys protested. "Hey, I'm the alpha here...clearly." He said while looking around and his gaze stopping on Averman. "Plus, Luis, you're already after that cheerleader bimbo. None of you twerps stand a chance." Portman flexed.
There was a mass eye roll from most of the Ducks, the girls included.
"Dean, you're such an ape!" Connie smacked him.
"I bet you like that, baby." Portman smirked at her. Guy shot him a look. "What!? I'm going to the gym." Portman announced. Luis and Fulton joined him.
"Hey, cake eater, what are you gonna do?" Jesse turned to Adam.
"I have a history essay to do", Adam grunted.
"Oh yeah, *that* one' Kenny sighed.
'Have fun' Charlie said sarcastically.
'Who's hungry?' Russ looked at his phone to check the time. 'The cafeteria is still serving lunch.'
'I could eat 'Goldberg said and the rest exhaled sharply.
'Of course you could' Russ teased him.
'Well, you guys have a good lunch' Charlie said 'I'm gonna go see my mom at the diner.'
'Alright, see ya, Charlie'.
'Guy and I are gonna go see a movie, see you, guys!' Connie waved bye to the others and walked out hand in hand with Guy.
Averman, Russ, Kenny, Goldberg, Jesse and Dwayne went to have lunch at the school cafeteria.
"Yum! It's lasagne day! Goldberg exclaimed.
They were all eating and chatting until Dwayne said 'Hey, yall, who's that girl?' He pointed to a girl who was sitting by herself at the far end of the cafeteria.
They couldn't see her face due to her big hair that covered it. She had long, wavy dark hair and was listening to something through her headphones.
"Well why don't go talk to her?" Averman smirked.
"Naah...she seems scary" Dwayne shuddered.
"You big baby." Jesse mocked him and stood up.
"You gonna go talk to her?" Russ raised his eyebrows and gave a small laugh.
Jesse fixed up his clothes and popped up his collar. "Hell yeah!"
He took a few steps but stopped and turned back. The guys all gave him thumbs up and grinned. Jesse walked over to the girl who took off her headphones. The gang couldn't tell what they were talking about but they made suggestive noises anyways.
Jesse ran back to them and with a huge grin. "Her name is Jessica, she's from New York and recently transferred to the school.
"Soooo...are you guys gonna hook up or anything?" Averman asked, smirking.
Dwayne nudged him.
Jesse raised his eyebrows and gave a cheeky smile. "I dunno...I might invite her to one of our games and when she sees how awesome I am, maybe then I'll ask her out!"
The rest of the guys punched him in the arms and cheered him on.
"Man, Jesse, we don't need another perv on the team!" Kenny joked.
Jesse looked over to the girl who was now joined by another one, a girl modestly dressed and with long dark hair. The two seemed familiar with each other and were now chatting and laughing.