By Victory Thru Tears and Star
Charlie's POVI'm first to enter the locker room. Luis is right behind me, and he pushes me hard into the lockers. Fulton goes after him, but Portman holds him back. Adam is at the back of our line. The Queertet makes their way to the back of the locker room, our area as designated by Captain Darling. Guy follows us. The gay-haters have started gunning for him too, since his break up with Connie yesterday. I start to take off my jersey, trying to get dressed as quick as possible. Coach and Captain aren't going to be happy.
We lost the game 11-1. Highlights include Goldberg checking Adam into the boards right after he made our only goal, Adam falling to the floor and not being able to play for the rest of the game on account of his wrist. Oh, and I can't forget when Connie stole the puck from Fulton just as he was gearing up for his shot…oh, and when Luis made Guy pass out from the hip check he gave him. That was pretty, too.
"Let's all give a round of applause to the Queertet, who managed to lose that game for us." Connie says loudly as she enters.
Luis, Averman, and Goldberg boo heartily.
"They were too busy checking out the other players to pay any damn attention to the game. I swear queers shouldn't be allowed to play!"
Portman is starting to get angry. Fulton puts a hand on his shoulder, and I can see the rage draining out of him. Adam sits down on the bench, starting to unwrap his hand.
"Aside from being fucking un-natural, they're now screwing up our chance of making the JV playoffs. I say they should leave." Connie continues, glaring in our direction.
Her comments fly right over my head as I watch Adam take the bandaging off. I haven't seen his wrist unwrapped since the incident with his brother over Thanksgiving break. I mutter a curse when I catch a glimpse of it. I sit down beside him, cradling his arm in my hands. It's bruised a horrible shade of black, darker than I thought any mark could be. Adam meets my eyes, and I make a helpless noise. Its almost like I'm feeling the pain for him.
"Oh please, Charlie. Don't start getting teary on us, we don't need any gay action in here. Leave your boyfriend the alone, get your clothes on, and get the hell out. We hate you fucking queers."
Connie finally notices the silence around her. Coach Orion is standing in the doorway of the locker room, staring at her with a great deal of intensity. He lets the door close behind him, and slowly walks to the center of the room.
"Ideally, Adam Banks would be able to play with an unblemished wrist. His own teammates wouldn't be trying to further his injury. Fulton Reed would not try to punch out Luis Mendoza at the drop of a hat. Guy Germaine wouldn't have passed out for the third time this season. Ideally, we wouldn't have lost that game. But you would realize the way that you're tearing yourselves apart. Ideally, I would not have heard Connie Moreau make those comments. Although, in a perfect world, she would not have said them. She would not be captain, and that is something that I'm changing right now. Charlie Conway would be your captain. But he doesn't want it that way. We obviously do not live in a perfect world."
I've never heard him so calm, and so sad sounding. He has his hands in the pockets of his blazer, and he is staring at the floor.
"Banks, Conway, Fulton, Portman, Moreau…come into my office as soon as you're done."
The locker room is silent as he leaves. No comments about saving Connie from the Queertet, no comments on the tears coming down Adam's cheeks as he rewraps his wrist, no comments on the kiss I give him.
The five of us finish dressing at the same time, and leave the locker room for what is going to be an interesting discussion.
Fulton's POVThis is not going to be fun. I take Portman's hand as we walk towards Orion's office, Connie notices, but says nothing. I think even she realises she's said way too much today.
I squeeze his hand, silently begging him to understand, we're going to have to tell Orion the truth. That doesn't mean we talk about my paren – Mr and Mrs Reed.
Charlie knocks and we all walk in to his office. Connie looks terrified, for the first time, she's completely outnumbered. She's not sorry for what she said, just that she got caught, any idiot knows that.
"Have a seat." Orion offers. There are only three, Connie gets one because she's a girl, and despite our hatred of her, we're all too well mannered not to offer a girl a seat. Adam thankfully sits down, from the looks of him he's about to pass out, whether from fear or pain I wouldn't know. I guess thinking about it, it must be pain. Adam may be reluctant to speak about his problems, it doesn't mean he's scared.
Portman and I offer to stand, letting Charlie take the seat next to Banks.
I'm still holding his hand.
Orion takes a deep breath, and begins to talk in the same calm, sad tone he used earlier. "For the past couple of months I've watched this team fall apart. At first, to be honest, I thought it was boys and their egos, I'm aware of exactly how wrong I am, but I want to hear the whole tale from you." He glares at Connie. "All of you."
Silence.
I look around. Charlie's our leader, but he's saying nothing, just staring at the floor. Adam, who was so vocal at the dance, is silent – and truthfully, he looks as if he's just working on not passing out. Connie glares at the wall, refusing to make eye contact.
I wonder if I should say something.
"Talk to me." Orion insists.
I feel Portman squeeze my hand, and then he speaks. Just one sentence, but it's the start of a huge discussion.
"Five of the team," he sneers the word team, "are homophobic."
"Tell me more."
"We're the Queertet."
Portman's words astound me. Not what he said, but the pride he said it with.
He grins at Connie who ignores him, keeping her gaze focused on the wall. "Some people aren't supportive, to the point where we've been called, and I quote, 'fucking unnatural'. Anyone who's gay, or doesn't openly join the hate crusade has been picked on. Banksie and Charlie have had it the worst, they don't have the gall to pick on me or Fulton quite as much."
"How long has this been going on?" Orion asks.
Charlie speaks up. "Everyone found out at the dance. All the nastiness started then."
Orion now turns to Connie, who is pale with fright. "And you've headed this?"
She doesn't speak. She doesn't move. She won't meet his eyes.
Not so proud of yourself now, huh Con?
"I asked you a question, Connie." His voice takes an icy tone.
I wouldn't be her for all the money in the world.
She still doesn't say anything.
"Have you been heading a hate campaign?" He thunders.
She finally meets his eyes. "Look, I can't help what I believe in."
"If you believe in your convictions so strongly, why did it take you so long to admit to them?" he counters. "You must surely know that you were being prejudiced, or you would have answered immediately."
She looks… confused of all things, she shakes her head.
"Your actions were very wrong, and don't think I'm not going to talk to the other four, I have a good idea who they are."
"I'm suspending you from the team." He continues.
"What?" She looks deeply shocked.
To be fair, I think we all are. We weren't expecting this.
"You can't do this to me! What am I going to tell my parents?"
"How about the truth." Adam suggests in a hazy voice. I'm thinking if this meeting ever ends we're taking a trip to the hospital with him. "You were quick enough to tell us how immoral it is to be queer. Tell your parents, I'm sure they'll be very proud of you."
I have my first smile of the day.
Adam's POVGoldberg is a really big guy. Very strong. Very very big and very very strong.
God, I can't think straight. It feels like I have a weight sitting on my right arm, and every single bone is slowly being crushed into oblivion.
Charlie's holding my other hand as we sit in Orion's office, and I'm trying to keep my eyes open and my head clear. It's not really working.
I answer Connie when she asks what she's supposed to tell her parents, and I can tell that speaking wasn't a good idea. I feel my head spinning again. Charlie squeezes my hand, and I slump in my chair.
"Banks, you ok?" Coach takes his mind off of our discussion for a moment.
I shake my head. No sense in lying.
"Take some Tylenol for now, and then we'll take you to the nurse in a little bit." He hands me a few pills and Portman gets me a cup of water from the cooler next to him.
I swallow them gladly.
"Moreau, I do think that I'm finished with you. You're suspended until further notice, and I'm stripping you of your title. You may leave."
Connie gets up and exits the small room, tears in her eyes. Somewhere in my heart I feel pity for her. She used to be a sweet girl, she doesn't deserve to be rotten.
Coach now turns to us.
"I don't know what to say to you four."
Is he going to throw us off of the team, too? Orion may have had some hard times with his daughter, but he might be just as prejudiced as the others.
"I'm disappointed that you weren't able to talk to me about this."
Charlie, Fulton, and Portman all look at each other in surprise. I would have joined in, but I'm too dizzy to move.
"I understand that I'm not always likeable, and that you've only known me for a few months. I'm no Coach Bombay. But I can try to be a friend to you, as well." He looks each of us in the eye before continuing. "My younger brother is gay. Our family did not treat him well, especially my father and older brother. I love Jim. He's my brother, and his sexuality doesn't matter at all. If you four boys decide that being gay is who you are, then you shouldn't take any garbage for it."
Older brother and father? Sounds slightly familiar. Fulton puts his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it lightly. I would turn around and smile at him, but right now that's out of the question.
"I'm going to extend the offer to make you Captain again, Conway."
Charlie swallows audibly. He's clearly shocked by Orion's kindness. He slowly shakes his head.
"I want to, but I can't. They're not my Ducks."
Coach sighs, and runs both of his hands through his hair. I hadn't realized that this was taking so much out of him.
"But I do know who you should make Captain." Charlie speaks up again. "Guy Germaine. He deserves it."
Coach Orion pauses for a moment, and then nods. "Yeah, I think he's worthy for me to use my third 'C' on."
He laughs. "I just hope he doesn't pass out again."
We try to laugh, but it doesn't come out quite right.
"Let's get Banks to the nurse now." He says, standing up. Charlie and Fulton help me up, and I lean on them as we leave his office.
Portman's POVSix people really shouldn't be crammed into such a small space. And five people certainly shouldn't be crammed onto one bed.
We're in Charlie and Adam's room, Adam has been given some amazing painkillers by the nurse and is contentedly passing out, waking up, saying stupid stuff and passing out again in the luxury of his own bed.
The girls waited for us after the game, they got quite worried having to wait for so long, but on hearing the news they decided we had to celebrate.
They went to get pizza and drinks while we took Adam to get drugged up.
It's not comfortable being scrunched up on a single bed with four other people, but it's not unpleasant.
None of us can quite believe how things turned out. Connie being suspended, I never saw that coming, but the real kicker is Coach Orion. Fulton told me that the team, mainly he and Charlie, hadn't got off to a good start with him, so they must be even more shocked than me.
Taz is scribbling away in her notebook. I hope it's not more Irish. It started out funny, then became endearing when she taught Charlie, now it's just irritating. Only she and Charlie know what she's talking about.
She tears out the page and hands it around. It's not Irish. It's a sketch, a good one too. She's drawn the Queertet in their hockey gear, with her and Maya either side in cheerleader outfits, holding a banner aloft that reads "The Mighty Queertet", instead of a Duck symbol on our uniforms, there's a rainbow triangle.
"A toast." Maya says holding up her can of coke. "To the mighty Queertet, and their fabulous Coach."
We clink cans, except for Banks, who has managed to wake up again. He stares at us, mutters "Purple… should have known.", sighs deeply and passes out again.
I snort. Ok, he's finally managed to identify all of us now. He saw Charlie ("Love you"), passed out, saw Maya ("I don't wish I was your girlfriend"), passed out, Fulton, ("You threw me in garbage!!"), passed out and then saw me ("Hello, Dean").
I'm wondering if I should be offended that I didn't get a more interesting comment. He's the only person on the planet (except for my parents) who calls me Dean.
"I wish I was on the same thing as Banks. He looks quite happy." I comment. I shift, trying to put my arm around Fulton and manage to knock Maya off balance. She grabs Taz and they both crash to the floor.
"That's it! Lesbians, stay off the bed, you're taking up too much room!" I tell them.
"Too much room? Me and Maya combined are only half the size of you!" Taz responds.
Banks wakes up due to the noise, frowns at us and mutters something incomprehensible, then passes out again.
Fulton turns to me. "You really should learn not to annoy her."
"Taz, shh. We'll stay down here." Maya tugs on her arm. "There's more room on the floor, we can snuggle."
Taz gives us a grin and turns back to her girlfriend.
"Great!" Charlie rolls his eyes, "Now everyone's hugging but me! How come I end up with the comatose boyfriend?"
At this point the comatose boyfriend looks at Charlie lovingly and mutters something that sounds suspiciously Irish.
Charlie and Taz burst into hysterical laughter.
"When on earth did he learn that?" She asks between giggles.
Charlie shrugs. "I practice a lot."
"I have to ask, what did he say?" Fulton asks.
"He said, I hope the Tadpole God fire-bombs your home."
We're laughing so hard we almost don't hear the insistent knocking on the door.
Guy's POVCaptain. Captain Guy Germaine? It's not right. But I'll deal with it, I guess.
Coach came to back in to talk to us after he was done with the others, and Adam was taken to the nurse's. There had been a nice fight in the locker room while the 'Queertet' and Connie were in Coach's office. Averman's glasses broke, I ended up with a hefty shiner, Goldberg cut his lip, and Dwayne's nose started to bleed. I don't care though. We still won the fight.
He told us that I was going to Captain. Surprisingly, there hadn't been any comments objecting to it.
I'm still kind of iffy about it. I don't like having power- it's just not my thing.
I knock on Charlie's door again, hoping that they can hear me over the noise they're making. A few moments later a short girl with bright purple hair greets me. Taz, I think it is. I've seen her with Adam, Charlie, Fulton, and Portman, but I've never actually spoken to her. She's always with Maya, this girl from my gym class. I recognized her as Charlie's date to the dance.
"Hello there," she steps aside to let me in. Maya's on the floor, Banks is on his own bed passed out, and the other three are smushed onto Charlie's bed.
"Hey Guy!" Charlie grins. "I hear you're Captain!"
I nod. I figured that Charlie had something to do with it.
"Why don't you take a seat?" Charlie scoots over to make room for me on his already over crowded bed. I reluctantly sit down.
"See Charlie, now you have someone to cuddle with!" Fulton jokes. Charlie laughs, and puts his arm around me. I know he's kidding around, and play along.
Adam wakes up on the other side of the room, and gazes at me thoughtfully for a moment.
"You know Adam, you're really looking different these days." He says before passing out again.
We stare at each other in amused shock. Does he think that I'm…him?
"He's drugged up pretty bad." Portman tells me, starting to laugh.
We chat a little bit for the next few minutes, and I find that I'm having a lot of fun. I've never really been around Fulton and Portman with so few people around, and they're a lot cooler than I imagined. The girls are really great too. Taz and Charlie seem to have an intense love-hate relationship with each other, and keep flinging insults at each other in some strange language. Maya watches the scene thoughtfully, laughing occasionally. After a little while, the conversation dies down.
"I think I'm going to go wake up Adam, and get him to change into some other clothes or something." Charlie gets up and crosses the room to his boyfriend. He mumbles a little bit, and Adam rouses. He mumbles something back to Charlie, who starts laughing. All of us are eagerly trying to listen to their conversation. Charlie heaves Adam to his feet and starts to lead him to the bathroom.
"…You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life…Oooh, see that girl, watch that scene, diggin' the dancing queen…"
Charlie closes the door behind them, and we stare in shock for a moment, before bursting out with laughter.
Adam is never going to live this down.
*~*~*~*
Notes: Victory and I would just like to state for the record that we were sober when we wrote this chapter. You'll notice when we write chapters together we tend to try for big laughs. Hope you enjoyed this as much as we did. We're trying to get Adam stoned again real soon!