Chapter 18: Touching The Flame by Victory Thru Tears and Star

Maya's POV

I enter the dance hall in the middle of a swarm of people, attached to Adam. His friends keep giving us an all-knowing look. I realize that they probably think we're dating… he kisses me in the courtyard, in front of all of them, and now we're at the dance together? I sigh. That will be fun to deal with.

Out of the corner of my eye I can see Charlie and Taz pinching each other. Suddenly I regret letting them go with each other, as funny as it is to see them tortured. I should have given her the 'nice' one, and I should be the one to deal with Charlie. Oh well, we're going to be switching soon anyway.

"You know there's an awards thing, right?" Adam whispers into my ear.

I nod. I'm aware.

"Well, you're going to have to come onto the stage with me… you don't mind, do you?"

I smile, and shake my head. "It's the least I can do for you."

"Don't say that, it makes me forget that I did something wrong," Adam smiles. I catch three or four of the Ducks looking at us and grinning. Taz has murder in her eyes again.

We're barely sitting at the tables surrounding the dance floor when the Dean steps up to a microphone.

He clears his throat. "Thank you for joining us." He's looking straight in our direction. Adam and I glance at each other uneasily… we didn't realize that we were late.

"We're very pleased to have you all here tonight. As you may know, we've recently gone through a small change at Eden Hall—we have added the Mighty Ducks." The Dean launches into a speech about athletic achievement and leadership excellence and I find my attention wandering. The place is decorated nicely, very un-Eden Hall. Students are packed together, even in the vast hall. Most of the Ducks have dates, but there are a few loners, like Taz's friends, the Bash Brothers. I study them for a moment. She's never mentioned if they were a couple or not, but they look like it. They're not paying attention to the Dean either, and keep grinning at each other.

"And now, the players." The Dean's voice booms even louder. It was as if he knew I wasn't listening. The Ducks all get to their feet. I quickly follow Adam as he starts to lead me to the podium.

"We have here… Luis Mendoza, and his date Traci Michaels. Luis here is our resident speed skater! Next, ah, yes. Guy Germaine, and well… his date, Connie Moreau! Both Guy and Connie are on the team, and both are very good players. Here's Julie Gaffney and Scott Rosman. Both are excellent goalies! There you go." The Dean is handing the players an award as he says their names.

"Now we have Dwayne Robertson and his date Erika Clifford. Dwayne is first-rate at handling the puck. Here's Greg Goldberg, and his date Christine Polk. Goldberg is the new leading man on our defensive line. Next is Ken Wu, our Olympian. He's with Jennifer Hauch. Here's Russ Tyler with Alison James. This kid has got a great slapshot. Here we have Lester Averman with Linda Simon. Averman is… well, he's on the team."

"Linda? And Averman?" Adam says into my ear. I shrug, the name has no impact on me. Linda however, seems to be quite interested in our little group. Or Charlie and Taz, at least. She keeps looking at them and glaring. Suddenly I remember. Linda, the jilted girlfriend, Linda! I stifle my laughter… I can only imagine what she's thinking, seeing Charlie with Taz of all people.

"Fulton Reed, one of our enforcers…" The Dean has a disapproving look in his eye. "And Dean Portman, our other enforcer. Both without dates." He watches them leave the stage area, giving them a critical look.

"Adam Banks, and his date Maya Hansen. Adam is our star player, and I'm sure will help us to win many a game." Adam pulls me onto the stage, a charming smile on his face. We stumble off of the stage together. That was more embarrassing than I had thought it would be, and we were only on the stage for a second.

"Charlie Conway, our JV captain, and his date… Taryn McDonald…" The Dean definitely doesn't approve of Charlie's choice for a date. Dean Buckley and Taz don't really get along. As they get onto the stage, I see Taz hold her foot out. Charlie trips, but catches himself before falling flat on his face. The Ducks erupt into laughter; including Adam and me. I'm amused by the look on Charlie's face, and the grin that Taz is wearing. Charlie accepts his award, and pulls Taz off of the stage before she can do any more harm.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen… those are our Ducks! Thank you to the Board of Alumni for presenting them with these awards. Now, I could stand up here and talk for hours…"

The entire dance hall echoes with a groan. The Dean smiles.

"But I won't. Enjoy yourselves!" He steps off the podium, and music starts playing.

Taz's POV

Where did Maya go? I look around, she's only just dyed her hair, how the devil could I lose her?

"Relax." Charlie says in my ear. "I'm sure she's not looking for a replacement for you, although she was checking out that girl in the silver dress…"

I elbow him in the ribs.

Thank the stars that Charlie is gay. It means that there will never be a Charlie junior walking the planet. He's being extremely obnoxious. Maybe I shouldn't have jabbed him with the pin so many times…

Ooh, look, blood on his shirt.

I can deal with his teasing as long as I keep my eyes on that drop of blood.

I can deal with anything as long as I keep my eyes on that drop of blood.

"We'd better go and dance," he says, in much the same tone as someone would say "We'd better cut our arms off".

Eye on the blood, Taz. "Do we have to?"

He sighs. He doesn't want to dance any more than I do. "Well, we came here together. If we do it now, it's over and done with."

I weigh up the pros and cons. "When you put it that way…"

He holds out his hand and I slap mine down, hard enough to sting us both.

He links his fingers through mine and squeezes hard enough for my knuckles to pop.

I bet we make a cute couple.

A few minutes of dancing and I'm about to re-enact Carrie. If he steps on my feet once more…

"Ow!" I snap at him, making sure I stomp on his feet in return.

I catch a glimpse of Fulton and mouth the words "save me."

Fulton's POV

I suppose at some point I should ask a girl to dance, just… you know, for show. Except I can't be bothered.

Portman and I are just sitting and talking. Occasionally his hand will brush mine as we talk. I really don't know how Charlie and Adam have managed to hide their relationship for so long.

I've never seen him wear a suit before. He looks amazing.

I catch sight of Taz dancing with… Charlie? He steps on her foot and gives her a charming smile. She gives him and equally charming smile and stomps down hard on his toes.

She meets my eyes and mouths "save me."

I touch Portman's shoulder and he smiles at me. My hand lingers longer than it should. I suddenly remember we're in public and remove my hand.

I nod to the dance floor. "I'm going to go rescue Charlie."

He gives me a look, slightly baffled.

"I'm going to dance with Taz," I clarify. "I'm sure he'll thank me for it."

As I say that Charlie steps on her toes again. Portman snorts and over the music, I hear Taz lapse into Irish.

"Go, now before she starts yelling!" he tells me.

I walk across the floor and tap Charlie on the shoulder. "Can I cut in?"

They both give me a look of unbridled gratitude. Charlie can't get away fast enough.

"You really shouldn't bully him so much." I tell her.

"Me?" she gives me a look of indignation. "He's twice my size!"

I give her a look and she smiles slightly. "Ok, I'll try to behave." She concedes.

Taz is a surprisingly good dancer when she's not trying to mutilate someone's toes.

"Hey!" she says suddenly. "You're roommate has stolen my date."

I look over to where she's indicating, and see Maya dancing with Portman.

Suddenly I feel the urge to correct her. Portman is not just my roommate. Maybe it's because she's gay too. And not a Duck, that certainly makes things easier. And mostly because she's Taz, she's not going to care. Sure, she's terrifying when she's annoyed, but this won't annoy her.

I lean down and whisper in her ear. "Actually, I believe your date has stolen my date."

She raises her eyebrows and sighs loudly. "You know what this means?"

I shake my head.

She leans closer and whispers back to me. "It means my gaydar is officially broken. Be careful with yours, they don't seem to come with a warranty."

Portman's POV

Maya and I thread our way through the crowd towards Taz and Fulton. I'm doing the obligatory dance with a girl.

"Better get closer," Maya advises. "Taz is in one of her moods."

I frown at her, and she hastily adds, "She likes Fulton though. I'm sure she wouldn't hurt him."

Actually, she's probably right. Taz seems perfectly relaxed with him. I watch as she whispers something to him and he cracks up. I guess it's just Charlie that winds her up.

"I'm guessing I'd be expelled if I danced with her," Maya sighs.

"I know how you feel." I nod at Fulton, and she doesn't look even remotely surprised.

We move close enough to talk to them. Before we can say anything Averman comes up to us with his date… isn't that Charlie's rebound skank? Lydia or something.

"Lost your date?" Lydia-or-something asks Taz icily.

"No, she—uh, he's…" Taz looks around frantically. "Probably in the little boys room."

Lydia-or-something opens her mouth, but Averman beats her to it. "Eden Hall's big on tradition, right?"

Uh-oh. Averman's had an idea. This can't be good.

"We were thinking of starting a new one." He adds.

"Dude, just get to the point," I say impatiently.

"Charlie's going in the duck pond," Lydia-or-something interrupts.

"Linda, you took my line." Averman looks wounded. Oh well, at least I know her name. "So what do you think? Kinda fitting, Captain Duck in the pond."

"I'm in!" Taz says immediately, Maya frowns at her disapprovingly, then grins.

I meet Fulton's eyes. Why not? We've behaved ourselves for far too long. This could be fun.

"Count us in," he answers.

"So where is Charlie?" Averman asks Taz. "He's your date."

Taz grins big, and I begin to worry about what she's going to say. "It's more of a date of convenience." She says. Shut up, Taz. Please, don't say what I think you're going to say. I watch as Fulton squeezes her arm warningly.

"He begged and begged me to be his date." She says with a grin. "I got bored of saying no. It's nice to be wanted." She's cheerfully oblivious of the death glares that Linda is sending her way.

"Guys?" Connie walks over. "Come on."

We all uncouple and follow her. I hear Averman ask if she found him, but don't hear her response, mainly because Taz is walking in front of me, chattering away madly. Averman's idea has made her day.

Connie pauses at the door leading outside and presses her finger to her lips. She frowns at Taz to impress the point. "Shhh! We're gonna sneak up on him."

We obediently shut up and follow her.

Fulton suddenly takes my hand and squeezes it. I'm surprised that he's willing to do that in public.

He tugs my hand trying to get my attention. I look at him and he mouths, "Where's Adam?"

I look around and realize that he's not with us. Oh god! He's probably with Charlie.

I'm just about to shout something really loudly to call attention to us. Hopefully if they're around they'll hear and uncouple.

Just as I open my mouth we round a corner and find Adam and Charlie leaning against the wall kissing passionately.

Two thoughts hit me.

One: This is not good.

Two: Fulton's still holding my hand.

Adam's POV

"What the—"

"Oh my god."

"Is that them?"

"Charlie?"

"Yuck!"

"Is that Banks?"

"Holy—"

I whip my head around. We're both rendered speechless as we see the Ducks standing in front of us, different reactions on all of their faces.

"What… what are you doing here?" I finally stutter. I'm surprised that I'm first to speak—usually Charlie is the self-assured one.

"We were going to throw Charlie in the duck pond…" Fulton has a dismayed look on his face. Something tells me that Charlie had been right about him—I just know that he had been trying to stop them from finding us.

"Yeah." The rest of the Ducks mumble in agreement. We're all unsure of what to say. I can see that this is the time that I will divide my true friends and enemies.

"What does this mean?" Julie finally asks.

"What could it possibly mean?" Connie tells her. "They're gay!" I wince at the tone of her voice. She sounds so… condescending.

"How long has this been going on?" Russ doesn't look as mad as Connie does. He looks more concerned.

I glance at Charlie. He's still leaning against the wall, his eyes on the ground. Shock is running through my body. Isn't he the one that wants to come out? So why is he not speaking?

"Two years." I can't speak louder than a whisper. All eyes are on me, I can feel them burning into me. Why isn't Charlie saying anything?

"Two whole years?!" Averman bursts out. "That means I was right during the Goodwill Games?"

I nod numbly.

"Is this why you broke up with me, Charlie?" Linda has the same look on her face that Connie does.

"Yeah, that and you're a real pain in the ass," I can't help but say it. Oh well, now that I'm speaking up, I may as well go all out.

She glares at me. "So why did he start dating me in the first place?"

"To make Banksie jealous." Goldberg's smarter than I credited him for. "Doesn't anyone remember the morning of the JV-Varsity game? Well, the fake one."

The Ducks nod in agreement. I can see the division—half approve, half don't.

"What about your girlfriend?" Ken asks cautiously, motioning to Maya. I hadn't even seen her and Taz; they were blocked by the rest of the Ducks.

"That's my girlfriend, thank you very much." Taz puts a protective arm around Maya's shoulders.

"I can't believe that I never realized this… you're my roommate!" Guy bursts out. I can't tell if he's appalled or just puzzled. Luis nods in agreement.

"You know, maybe we should just drop it," Portman says nervously. It's the first time he's spoken, and I turn to look at him, surprised. I realize that he's holding on to Fulton's hand for dear life. He's… you know… too? Wow. I really have misjudged him.

The Ducks are staring.

"How many gay people are there?" Connie asks.

"I said, drop it…" Portman looks nothing like the mean enforcer that I'm familiar with.

"No, it's… it's disgusting!" Connie looks like she's literally going to be sick. She turns to me, her pretty face now hideously distorted. "You hear that? You're disgusting!"

Taz steps away from the crowd. "No, you're disgusting."

Connie snorts. "Me? I'm normal."

"No, your sexuality is average, just like your intelligence, if this is a deal-breaker for you." Taz is standing defiantly next to Charlie. He's staring open-mouthed at her. I want to laugh, but it is not the time at all.

"Yeah." Maya is quiet as she joins us. Fulton and Portman silently follow her, still holding each other.

We're now divided, homosexual against heterosexual. Six to ten. The war is nowhere near over.

Charlie's POV

I've stayed silent through the whole ordeal. My mouth feels numb. I can't speak. I'm so proud of Adam while being ashamed of myself. Why can't I back him up? Why am I making him do this by himself? He really does love me.

"No, you're disgusting." Taz steps away from Connie.

"Me? I'm normal." Oh Connie… I thought you were my friend.

"No, your sexuality is average, just like your intelligence, if this is a deal-breaker for you." Taz stands next to me, with a comforting hand on my arm. I can't believe it. She's seemed so malicious… but she must really be a good person.

Maya, Portman, and Fulton come to stand next to us as well. Adam is staring at me, begging me to say something. I take a deep breath, and finally open my mouth.

"Guy, Goldberg, Averman, and Connie. I have known you since I was eight years old. I stuck by you. I was your friend, and your leader. Luis, Dwayne, Julie, Ken… I welcomed you into the Ducks when nobody else would. Russ, I made you a Duck. I understand that I have no place to start acting like a bigshot, or act as if you owe me something… but you do. You owe me the same friendships that I have given you. And if you can't accept me for who I am, then I think that this is not only the end of our friendship, but also the end of the Ducks. I don't care if I lose my scholarship—I will not play hockey with people I cannot trust."

Everyone is staring at me. What kind of speech was that, Conway? I try to take a deep breath, on the verge of crying. Adam's arm is protectively around my waist.

Slowly, Guy steps away from his girlfriend's side. He comes to stand next to Adam.

"I'll stick by you, Spazway."

Connie's eyes are wide with rage. "Guy Germaine, you—"

"No, Connie. We're not one person." He can't look at her.

Ken, Russ, Julie, and Dwayne mumble to each other, and in a small line join our crowd.

We stand against Luis, Connie, Goldberg, Linda, and Averman. Three of the original Ducks. I'm filled with such emotion, I feel like I'm going to burst.

"I'm sorry Charlie," Averman says quietly. I can tell that he is sincere.

"Is this really the end of the Ducks?" Goldberg looks almost scared.

"I don't know." I don't want to end it. I had just been using it as part of a speech, and I wasn't sure if I meant it. "If you can't handle us, then it just might have to be."

Everyone around me exchanges a glance. Even Maya and Taz look worried… and they aren't Ducks.

"I'm going to go." Connie starts to walk away. Guy pats me on the back, and follows her. He's someone I really admire—going against his girlfriend like that? As much as I kid myself, I could never do it. The rest of the Ducks start to leave, too. In the end only the six gays are left.

"Thank you." I have to tell Taz how much her comments meant to me.

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you." The small Irish girl gets up on her toes and kisses me on the cheek. "I think Maya and I are going to head back. The night seems to have lost its charm."

"G'night." Maya hugs Adam, and takes Taz's hand. They walk off together in the direction of their room.

Portman and Fulton turn to us.

"I'm sorry," Adam says to Portman. "I shouldn't have judged you."

"Hey, I've never given you anything else to go by besides that fight we had last year." He grins, although he still looks tense.

"Well, I'm glad we're getting the chance to start again." Adam smiles back.

"Do you really think this is it?" Fulton asks.

"Like I told Goldberg… I don't know."

"It's your decision, Charlie," He says softly. "But just know that we're backing you all the way."

Portman nods, and the couple slowly walk away from us.

Adam turns to me. The tears have been rolling down my cheeks for a few minutes now, and he gently wipes them away with his finger.

"I thought I was supposed to be the wimpy one," he says softly, taking me into his arms. I start to sob, and we slowly slump so that we are sitting in a heap on the ground. He soothingly strokes my head as we rock back and forth.

"Charlie… hey, Charlie." He tilts my head up so that I'm looking at him.

"Just look at it like this. Maybe Guy will switch rooms with me now."

I smile through my whimpering.

"I love you."

"I love you too."