Alright, so sneaking up on a girl in the dark, then admitting you know what she wrote in her diary is not a good way to impress her. I get that now. I didn't get to apologize to her the next morning at breakfast like I intended to though because when I approached her table she whispered something to her friends, Dwayne, Russ, Luis and Kenny and got up from the table. That was okay I understood she was mad, the thing that got me was the four guys held up their scrambled egg loaded forks like they were going to catapult their food at me if I didn't go away. I was glad the rest of the Ducks lived at home with their parents, who knows what else could've been thrown at me.
Then there was lunch, again not the best time to make my move. Why? Simple, I was busy trying to get Cole to give Ken Wu back his lunch and keep Banks from opening his mouth to our loud, large, blonde enforcer and getting his ass handed to him on a plate. 'Ducks Fly Together', that was great and all but Cole didn't care about loyalty to anyone but Riley so the Duck slogan wasn't going to keep him from pounding our small third line center. Then we'd all get called to the office, suspended from the team of a week or something, another hassle I wasn't in the mood for. Plus I thought Adam was a pretty cool kid, he didn't say much, was nice to everyone, was an awesome player and needed a friend. He'd told me at the beginning of lunch Orion had told the JV to keep away from the Varsity, that included him too I guess and he wasn't happy about it. Lunch did end with the entire Varsity (Adam included) chasing Charlie Conway, Fulton Reed and Russ Tyler out of the dining hall after they gave Cole a bag of horse crap. Which by the way I found pretty funny.
Then came practice, the Ducks were leaving the rink as we were coming in and I'm not sure which was worse the look Julie was giving me or the one my team was giving hers. Either way we were not bonding in the faintest bit. That was too bad, she was so cute. And the JV seemed really cool, I mean sure they weren't over flowing with class and style but they always seemed to have fun. No matter where they were if they were together things would be okay. I remember hearing Charlie say something about not being able to play for a drill sergeant like Orion, then Fulton told him to play for the team then.
Rick, Biff (Cole) and I, we used to be like that. From peewees until they started at Eden Hall, they really belonged there, I wasn't sure I did. I mean money wise I fit in no problem, personality wise, not at all. Not to mention the fact I hated the way everyone was treating the freshmen team. To me it didn't matter what side of the state they were from as long as they nice people. My friends weren't meeting that requirement anymore. As much as I love hockey, I've never been as close to quitting as I was that season.
After our first grueling practice as an entire team was over we hit the showers. No strike that we all hit the showers but Banksie, he sat on one of the benches in the locker room and waited for us to finish before he went in. He was a strange little boy. It was almost like he was trying to separate himself from the group. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that, but he would tell me later that day why.
After practice I like to drive around, it let's me think. I guess wanting to be alone is the best way to find company though. My Mercedes was cruising down the local streets when I saw a tall, light haired kid with a scrawny build and Warriors jacket tied around his waist. I sighed heavily before pulling over along side of him.
"What are you doing?"
"Walking." Was the response I got
"To where?"
"Home."
"And that's?"
"Edina."
What was it with this kid and the one word answers, damn I was only trying to be pleasant.
"You do realize that's like an hour walk."
"So?"
"Alright Banks get in the car." I leaned over and pushed the passenger side door open and he got in without a word.
"So what's up?" I shattered the silence that had filled my car for the past ten miles
"You don't wanna hear it." He grumbled turning to stare out the window
"News flash Banksie-Boy but this school isn't exactly over flowing with people that care about you guys, so you might as well take advantage of one of the few that do." Okay that did come out harsher then I planned it to
"You don't care about me, all you care about is having an in with Julie." He snapped
"First off ouch, secondly if I remember correctly I've been watching your back and sticking up for you against people I've been friends with for years, risking their respect for you some kid I've known all of two days." When in doubt use guilt. *Smiles evilly.*
"You're right I'm sorry, I'm just a little stressed out. I shouldn't take it out on you."
"Okay let Dr. Vanderbilt help, tell me all your troubles my boy." I coaxed in a lame Sigmund Freud voice
"Its just that I thought is was going to be great having the whole team here together you know. Julie, Russ, Dwayne, Luis, Kenny and Dean all live in different states, so we don't get to see them very often. Then Portman flaked out on us and my one of my best friends Jesse Hall decided Eden Hall wasn't for him, and Charlie he was my other best friend and he's treating me like I'm a leper because I play on another team. I haven't felt this alone since my first day on the team."
"I take it you weren't born with feathers like the rest of them."
"Well I was actually but not Duck feathers, I was a Hawk." He didn't sound to proud of it and I knew exactly why, I was a Hawk too until we moved. I knew first hand how brutally Reilly was.
"Oh yeah, I was too so were Cole and Riley."
"They fit right in, they're jerk just like the rest of the Hawks. My ex friends McGill and Larson were Hawks to the core, they remind me of Riley and Cole. They'd do anything to win including knocking me out during the championship game. That's when the Ducks really started to trust me, Charlie and Jesse were in the hospital waiting room all night. Now Jesse's moved on and got his own life and Charlie, hates me."
"I'm sure he doesn't hate you." I tried to console him
"I called him last night and he told be I was a 'brain dead, preppy snot' and hung up.' When I tried to talk to him today his precise words were 'go play with your Varsity goon buddies you sell out.' He didn't even call me Cake-Eater."
"You want someone to refer to you as a Cake-Eater?" I raised my eyebrows
"It's a long story, don't ask."
"Fine." I sat wordlessly for the rest of the ride letting Banks spill his guts to me and I have to say while I couldn't really relate I could in fact understand.
"Well here you go 450 North Hennipen Avenue." I declared pulling up his long drive way
"That's Scooter, for the ride and for listening you're a really nice guy." He called over his shoulder heading up the walk
"No problem." I yelled backing up down the driveway thinking 'Yeah I'm a regular RobinHood'
Then there was lunch, again not the best time to make my move. Why? Simple, I was busy trying to get Cole to give Ken Wu back his lunch and keep Banks from opening his mouth to our loud, large, blonde enforcer and getting his ass handed to him on a plate. 'Ducks Fly Together', that was great and all but Cole didn't care about loyalty to anyone but Riley so the Duck slogan wasn't going to keep him from pounding our small third line center. Then we'd all get called to the office, suspended from the team of a week or something, another hassle I wasn't in the mood for. Plus I thought Adam was a pretty cool kid, he didn't say much, was nice to everyone, was an awesome player and needed a friend. He'd told me at the beginning of lunch Orion had told the JV to keep away from the Varsity, that included him too I guess and he wasn't happy about it. Lunch did end with the entire Varsity (Adam included) chasing Charlie Conway, Fulton Reed and Russ Tyler out of the dining hall after they gave Cole a bag of horse crap. Which by the way I found pretty funny.
Then came practice, the Ducks were leaving the rink as we were coming in and I'm not sure which was worse the look Julie was giving me or the one my team was giving hers. Either way we were not bonding in the faintest bit. That was too bad, she was so cute. And the JV seemed really cool, I mean sure they weren't over flowing with class and style but they always seemed to have fun. No matter where they were if they were together things would be okay. I remember hearing Charlie say something about not being able to play for a drill sergeant like Orion, then Fulton told him to play for the team then.
Rick, Biff (Cole) and I, we used to be like that. From peewees until they started at Eden Hall, they really belonged there, I wasn't sure I did. I mean money wise I fit in no problem, personality wise, not at all. Not to mention the fact I hated the way everyone was treating the freshmen team. To me it didn't matter what side of the state they were from as long as they nice people. My friends weren't meeting that requirement anymore. As much as I love hockey, I've never been as close to quitting as I was that season.
After our first grueling practice as an entire team was over we hit the showers. No strike that we all hit the showers but Banksie, he sat on one of the benches in the locker room and waited for us to finish before he went in. He was a strange little boy. It was almost like he was trying to separate himself from the group. I can't imagine why anyone would want to do that, but he would tell me later that day why.
After practice I like to drive around, it let's me think. I guess wanting to be alone is the best way to find company though. My Mercedes was cruising down the local streets when I saw a tall, light haired kid with a scrawny build and Warriors jacket tied around his waist. I sighed heavily before pulling over along side of him.
"What are you doing?"
"Walking." Was the response I got
"To where?"
"Home."
"And that's?"
"Edina."
What was it with this kid and the one word answers, damn I was only trying to be pleasant.
"You do realize that's like an hour walk."
"So?"
"Alright Banks get in the car." I leaned over and pushed the passenger side door open and he got in without a word.
"So what's up?" I shattered the silence that had filled my car for the past ten miles
"You don't wanna hear it." He grumbled turning to stare out the window
"News flash Banksie-Boy but this school isn't exactly over flowing with people that care about you guys, so you might as well take advantage of one of the few that do." Okay that did come out harsher then I planned it to
"You don't care about me, all you care about is having an in with Julie." He snapped
"First off ouch, secondly if I remember correctly I've been watching your back and sticking up for you against people I've been friends with for years, risking their respect for you some kid I've known all of two days." When in doubt use guilt. *Smiles evilly.*
"You're right I'm sorry, I'm just a little stressed out. I shouldn't take it out on you."
"Okay let Dr. Vanderbilt help, tell me all your troubles my boy." I coaxed in a lame Sigmund Freud voice
"Its just that I thought is was going to be great having the whole team here together you know. Julie, Russ, Dwayne, Luis, Kenny and Dean all live in different states, so we don't get to see them very often. Then Portman flaked out on us and my one of my best friends Jesse Hall decided Eden Hall wasn't for him, and Charlie he was my other best friend and he's treating me like I'm a leper because I play on another team. I haven't felt this alone since my first day on the team."
"I take it you weren't born with feathers like the rest of them."
"Well I was actually but not Duck feathers, I was a Hawk." He didn't sound to proud of it and I knew exactly why, I was a Hawk too until we moved. I knew first hand how brutally Reilly was.
"Oh yeah, I was too so were Cole and Riley."
"They fit right in, they're jerk just like the rest of the Hawks. My ex friends McGill and Larson were Hawks to the core, they remind me of Riley and Cole. They'd do anything to win including knocking me out during the championship game. That's when the Ducks really started to trust me, Charlie and Jesse were in the hospital waiting room all night. Now Jesse's moved on and got his own life and Charlie, hates me."
"I'm sure he doesn't hate you." I tried to console him
"I called him last night and he told be I was a 'brain dead, preppy snot' and hung up.' When I tried to talk to him today his precise words were 'go play with your Varsity goon buddies you sell out.' He didn't even call me Cake-Eater."
"You want someone to refer to you as a Cake-Eater?" I raised my eyebrows
"It's a long story, don't ask."
"Fine." I sat wordlessly for the rest of the ride letting Banks spill his guts to me and I have to say while I couldn't really relate I could in fact understand.
"Well here you go 450 North Hennipen Avenue." I declared pulling up his long drive way
"That's Scooter, for the ride and for listening you're a really nice guy." He called over his shoulder heading up the walk
"No problem." I yelled backing up down the driveway thinking 'Yeah I'm a regular RobinHood'