Soon the days of summer faded into fall and school was getting ready to start up again. During the summer Ryan had hung out with the Ducks while Keri had gone off to so camp or another. It was the day before school was to start up again and all the other Ducks had moved back into their boarding rooms at Eden Hall. The Ducks were gathered on a vacant basketball court and were playing street hockey on their blades.
"Hey Ducks," A voice said all of a sudden. The JV hockey team stopped and glared at the group of boys on the other side of the fence. Hawks. The whole team from five years ago was gathered on the other side. Keri as there too, but as to where the Hawks were giving the Ducks very nasty looks she just rolled her eyes.
"What do you want McGill?" Charlie asked as he skated over and stood in front of the Cake Eaters. Josh smirked.
"A rematch, you bet us once, dumb luck."
"Good Lord that was five years ago!" Adam exclaimed as he tossed her hands into the air.
"Ok rematch, how about right now?" Charlie asked.
"Good choice," Josh replied. "Come on Keri you're playing too." It was a command, not a request. Keri hadn't even planed on being here. She had been skating over to Adam's house to apologize, she had crossed a line and felt a little bad about it, when she had run into Josh who had hauled her along to go play the Ducks.
"For crying out loud Josh I don't wanna play!" She exclaimed as she pulled her arm out of Josh's grip. "All I want to do is go home!"
"I bet she's just scared," Luis whispered to Kenny as the team waited for the Hawks to get ready. Keri glared at the two, she then let out a loud sigh.
"Fine, I'll play."
Within minutes the two teams were lined up and the game was starting. Keri, against her will, had been placed on the front line and was just ready to play some hockey…even if it wasn't on the ice. The game got heated and for the first part things had gone pretty smoothly. The scored was tied and the Hawks were getting rougher than necessary. When Josh smashed Adam into the fence in an illegal check Keri tore her helmet off and skated over to the over grown jerk.
"Look McGill," Keri said her voice had as she pulled the bigger boy off her backdoor neighbor. "I'm sick of you! Play fair or don't play at all."
"You're sticking up for a Duck?" Josh asked sneering. Keri had begun to believe that that expression was not permanently stuck on Josh's face.
"Well," Keri's voice faltered. She looked around her at the two teams then at Adam. "Yeah I am," She shoved Josh into the fence. "Not just a Duck but Adam. So play fair or else."
"Or else what midget?"
"Or else you'll wish you hadn't made me play," Keri replied through clenched teeth. Even if she didn't like the Ducks she hated it when people cheated. She let Josh go as she skated back over to her helmet and placed it back on her head.
"Check it out man," Portman said to Fulton who was standing with him. "It's a little Bash Babe." Fulton nodded and the game began once again.
For a while things went smoothly. The Hawks were down by two, and the Ducks were only three goals away from the 15 goal cut off to win the game. Then out of nowhere Josh sent Les Averman flying into the fence before her could score. As Charlie and the rest of the Ducks rushed over to check on their friend Portman and Fulton were getting ready to go show Josh the error of his ways when Keri smashed into the older youth. McGill crashed into the pavement and Keri stood above him.
"I told you you'd regret it, now if you want to keep all of your teeth you should leave," Keri stated her voice cool and even. Josh sat there for a bit then slowly began to get to his feet. "Now McGill. If you don't play fair I told you wouldn't play at all, don't make me do this again another time at a different game." Josh gave Keri a little shove as he skated past and the rest of the Hawks followed.
"Hey uhhh, thanks," Connie said as Keri gathered her gear. Les was being hauled to his feet by Dwayne and Goldburg and seemed to be pretty well considering how strong Josh could be.
"Yeah, no problem, Josh is an asshole, just…just don't expect for this to ever happen again, you're still Ducks," Keri said a little nervously as she skated off in the direction of her house.
"Why does she hate us so much?" Dwayne asked confused in his Texan accent.
"Because it's the way they think Cowboy, ever since she can remember it's Hawks are the best, better than anyone else. Also the fact that her family's close friend is Coach Riley," Adam answered as the Ducks began to gather their own gear. "She'll come around sometime. Once you get to know her she's really nice."
"Yeah, she has to be, she a little Bash Babe," Fulton said with a grin.