Summary: A tale of our favorite Ducks and where their lives take them, beginning Senior Year at Eden Hall. Focuses on Adam, Charlie, Julie, Dean, Connie, Guy…and more to come!
Disclaimer: The Mighty Ducks and all its characters belong to Disney. I do not own any of it!
Flying Together
By Rebecca
Chapter 16: Commencement
Very few people were surprised when they found that Portman had moved out and moved on. When he went back to the dorm to pack his things, Fulton tried to convince him as Julie had…without much effort, to stay. But when Dean Portman made up his mind, very little would change it.
Down an enforcer and his star center, Coach Orion had to push hard to make his ducks fly. Teams that they ordinarily creamed in the past, they struggled to overcome in the few remaining games of the regular season. But first and foremost, hockey is what brought them together and hockey is what kept them going. Over the years Orion noticed that Adam Banks wasn't the only one who used stress as a strength on the ice. Over time Julie's game had improved dramatically as did Luis's. Connie and Guy were both skating better than ever, and in the end the Eden Hall Ducks pulled it off. They won the state championship, a record of three years in a row for Eden Hall and most of them headed into graduation with at least two athlete scholarship offers each for several state universities…most of them.
Adam Banks had spent the remainder of the season in the stands. He had been released from the hospital two days after Portman left. Dean had come to say good-bye as he'd promised, but Adam didn't have much to say back. The overflow of apologies mixed in with a few vague promises to at least keep in touch barely registered in Adam's memory. He had been far too upset and focused on other things at the time, half of which dealt with whether or not he could still play hockey, the other half with Julie. As expected, the Cyclones dropped him as soon as they learned of his injury. No one wants a center with a bad knee. He started physical therapy as soon as he was able and it was painful. Far too painful for someone only 18 years old to have to go through. By the time he graduated, he needed a cane to get up onto the stage.
And then of course there was Julie. It didn't help that the Cat had become so distant. She barely said three words to him sometimes. Their friendship had de-evolved into a polite discourse that neither of them seemed to want to change.
"Jules, you have got to be joking. You're not gonna resolve this? You're gonna fly to Maine tonight and leave things the way they are?"
Julie huffed as she threw what little was left in her room into a couple big garbage bags. "Things are the way they are because he wants them that way. Don't you get that?" She hated snapping at Connie like that. She knew she was just trying to be helpful. But she couldn't help but be bitter about their comparative situations. At the beginning of the year, they were in the exact same predicament. Now Connie was off in paradise with Guy…Guy. Ugh, they're so cute it makes me sick. She swallowed her own thoughts and tried to put them out of her mind. She tried so hard to be happy for Connie and Guy, but every time she saw them, scenes from her own romantic disasters came to mind. Sometimes she remembered Scooter dumping her. Or Dean cutting out the way he did. But not so much anymore. All she could think of, once again, was the look on Adam's face every time she walked into a room or skated out to the ice…he hated her…blamed her. There was nothing left of the Adam she'd grown to know…and love. Just the bitter shadow of him who wouldn't even meet her eyes.
"Look," she turned back to Connie, "Adam doesn't really want anything to do with me anymore. The accident was partly my fault. I-"
"What?!" Connie exclaimed, "Who told you that?"
"No one. But it's true. If Dean hadn't been trying so hard to impress-"
"Oh Julie for cryin' out loud. You're still bothered by that? Look, Dean doesn't do well under pressure. He was backed into a corner. He didn't even mean it the way you took it. Would you let that go? Adam does not blame you for his accident."
"Then why won't he talk to me?" Julie challenged. Connie was silent, "Why won't he say something to me. Anything? Look at me even?"
Connie sighed, "Why don't you go find out?"
Julie shook her head and continued to pack the rest of her stuff.
"Jules, if you get on that plane tonight and you two still haven't worked this out, you're gonna regret it. Believe me."
"This coming from someone who is oh so wise in the ways of love this year herself?" Connie glared and Julie sank to the bare mattress. "God, Connie I'm sorry. I really…oh man."
Connie softened, "I know. It's ok."
"No it's not. I've been like this ever since the accident."
"You can fix it you know. Just talk to him."
Julie looked at the one thing left in the room that was hers: a framed 3x5 of her and Adam at the Goodwill Games. They'd been through so much in such a short time and had grown up so much more than a teen should be expected to. But in the end it'd been for nothing. She set the picture in her bag and closed it. "I can't," she whispered.
The door opened to reveal Julie's dad ready to take her stuff to the car. She gave Connie a quick hug and shut the door behind her.
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