That Saturday I was standing in the lobby of the airport with Julie by my side, she was crying and I don't know what to do. I couldn't think of anything to say that would make her smile and it made me heartsick to see that look on her face.
"Hey, cheer up will ya? If you get any bluer you'll turn into a Smurf." I squeezed her hand.
"I'll kill that Rick Riley." She declared without an air of play.
"Why, what did he do now?" I sighed.
"Nothing, it's just… if he wasn't such a jerk, you wouldn't have quit hockey and you'd be staying."
"It's not that bad, it's not like we'll never see each other."
"Stop it Scooter, you know this isn't gonna work." Jules was so worked up she was even making hand gestures.
"It'll work Gaffney, I'm not giving it the option of not working."
"NOW BOARDING FLIGHT 837 MINNEAPOLIS TO MANHATTAN" The call came out over the loud speaker.
"That's me." I said tossing my carry on, onto my shoulder.
"I'll walk you to the gate." She volunteered.
"No, it's okay, if you're that upset just knowing I'm going, it'll be worse watching me bored the plane. I'll call you when I get there." I kissed her cheek, now salty with tears. "Don't worry, I'm sure the next time we see each other will seem sooner then we expected it too."
"Yeah, bye Scooter."
"Bye Jules." With that I walked away.
AT THE EDEN HALL VS. THE WARREN LEARNING CENTER WEASELS GAME
Julie sat on the bench in the locker room with a blank expression, the words of coach Orion barely making it through the cloud in her head. Connie sat beside her, with her arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her friend.
"Alright team, I know this is going to be hard, the weasels are a tough team, but with concentration, focus and effort, we can win this game. Am I right?"
A loud cheer of 'Yeah' came up from the team.
"That's it. Now Charlie I feel like I'm forgetting something, what am I forgetting?"
The Captain scratched his head for joking emphasis.
"Yeah Coach, the alternate player."
"Oh that's right, let him in."
Charlie hopped up and opened the door to the hall and let Averman's fill in enter the room. Jaws dropped, eyeballs fell from peoples heads and I looked great in a JV jersey.
"Scooter!" Julie jumped up from her seat and shot across the locker room, tossing herself at me. "What are you doing here, I saw your plane leave."
"You saw the plane leave, but I wasn't on it. I waited just inside the terminal until you were gone." I picked her up in a hug.
"Wait, time out, he's a Goalie." Russ spoke up "And a Warrior at that."
"Ex Warrior Russ." The quiet Asian kid spoke up. "He quit remember."
"That doesn't change the fact you're a Goalie though." Julie looked at me.
"Well, you know how all week I kept telling you I couldn't hang out after school because I had to pack and spend time with my family?"
"Yes."
"We were having scoring lessons, Charlie and Banks and I. They were teaching me."
"Okay, how'd this come about?"
"I remembered that Scooter told me once, when I was playing for varsity, that sometimes he wishes he could play instead of just staying in goal." Banksie answered.
"Besides, he's filling in for Averman, it's not like he has to be any good." The curly haired Bash Brother joked.
"Thanks, thanks a lot, Portman." Averman retorted.
"Alright Ducks, let's go win this!" Orion yelled as we cleared the locker room.
I've never felt more comfortable, or more at home as I did in that uniform. The opening quack excitement cheer gave me goose pimples, the feel of the ice under my skates, it was like playing for the first time. Like I had never been a Hawk or Warrior, that I should've been a Duck just like the rest of the team. It was a pride I'd never felt before. We won that game, though I didn't score a point. But in retrospect that really didn't matter. I just had the best time and it was probably one of the best experiences of my life.
At the end of the game I grabbed Julie by the hand and pulled her up to the bleachers, sweat soaked and skates still on. In the second row was a redheaded women with a small little girl in her lap.
"Sky." I said gaining my stepmother's attention.
"Scooter, sweetie great game." The women complimented.
"Thank you. Um Sky, this is Julie. Jules this is my mother." I smiled at Sky and she grinned back, a tear rolling down her cheek. "And this is my little sister Bailey."
Julie extended her hand to Sky and turned her head to grin at me.
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Vanderbilt."
"The pleasure is all mine." Sky replied.
"Hey Julie come down here for a sec." Connie called from the ice.
"Excuse me." Jules pardoned herself and went down to join her friends.
"She seems delightful." My stepmother told me, bouncing my sister.
"She's fantastic, but I'm glad you like her, I'm thinking of asking her over to the house for dinner, you know so you and Bailey can get to know her."
"Well there's nothing better then love, I hope she says yes. As a matter of fact, I've been thinking, the house has been awfully quiet around the house these days, maybe we should have a party, we can invite your new friends."
"Really? That would be great."
"Scooter, we're goin' for burgers, you comin'?" Fulton yelled up to me.
"Be right there." I responded, "Um, can we make party arrangements later?"
"Sure, I'll see you when you get home, have fun." Sky nodded.
"Thanks Mom, bye Bailey." With that I bounded down the stairs.
I entered Wendy's with Julie by my side and Banksie who had ridden with us behind me. The rest of the team had taken the bus and had gotten there faster, I had had to stop for gas. They were loud and celebrating like they had that day at AppleBee's, after they meet us in the JV Varsity show down, only this time I didn't feeling like I was intruding, nor was I afraid that one of them was going to pound me to a pulp.
"What took you guys so long, I'm starving." Goldberg wined as we sat down at a nearby table.
"Yeah, you look like it." Averman joked.
We all broke into hysterical fits of laughter, that caused all the people at surrounding tables to turn their heads and roll their eyes.
"Alright, alright, alright, quiet everybody." Charlie stood up on his chair. "Scooter, on behave of the Ducks I'd like to officially welcome you to the team and we all chipped in and bought you a gift."
Guy leaned under his table and pulled out a white box.
"Here you go, hope it fits." He said handing it to me.
I pulled the lid off and inside, between two pieces of tissue paper was a purple and green Ducks jersey, just like the one the rest wore in the Jr. Good Will Games. I remember smiling a Cheshire cat grin, pulling the jersey out of the box and tugging it on over my clothes.
"Thanks guys, this is so great." I hopped up and shook hands with all of them, well except Julie, when I got to her I pulled her tightly to me and whispered "I love you."
"I love you too." She replied with a kiss.
Who says there's no such thing as happy endings these days?
"Hey, cheer up will ya? If you get any bluer you'll turn into a Smurf." I squeezed her hand.
"I'll kill that Rick Riley." She declared without an air of play.
"Why, what did he do now?" I sighed.
"Nothing, it's just… if he wasn't such a jerk, you wouldn't have quit hockey and you'd be staying."
"It's not that bad, it's not like we'll never see each other."
"Stop it Scooter, you know this isn't gonna work." Jules was so worked up she was even making hand gestures.
"It'll work Gaffney, I'm not giving it the option of not working."
"NOW BOARDING FLIGHT 837 MINNEAPOLIS TO MANHATTAN" The call came out over the loud speaker.
"That's me." I said tossing my carry on, onto my shoulder.
"I'll walk you to the gate." She volunteered.
"No, it's okay, if you're that upset just knowing I'm going, it'll be worse watching me bored the plane. I'll call you when I get there." I kissed her cheek, now salty with tears. "Don't worry, I'm sure the next time we see each other will seem sooner then we expected it too."
"Yeah, bye Scooter."
"Bye Jules." With that I walked away.
AT THE EDEN HALL VS. THE WARREN LEARNING CENTER WEASELS GAME
Julie sat on the bench in the locker room with a blank expression, the words of coach Orion barely making it through the cloud in her head. Connie sat beside her, with her arm around her shoulder, trying to comfort her friend.
"Alright team, I know this is going to be hard, the weasels are a tough team, but with concentration, focus and effort, we can win this game. Am I right?"
A loud cheer of 'Yeah' came up from the team.
"That's it. Now Charlie I feel like I'm forgetting something, what am I forgetting?"
The Captain scratched his head for joking emphasis.
"Yeah Coach, the alternate player."
"Oh that's right, let him in."
Charlie hopped up and opened the door to the hall and let Averman's fill in enter the room. Jaws dropped, eyeballs fell from peoples heads and I looked great in a JV jersey.
"Scooter!" Julie jumped up from her seat and shot across the locker room, tossing herself at me. "What are you doing here, I saw your plane leave."
"You saw the plane leave, but I wasn't on it. I waited just inside the terminal until you were gone." I picked her up in a hug.
"Wait, time out, he's a Goalie." Russ spoke up "And a Warrior at that."
"Ex Warrior Russ." The quiet Asian kid spoke up. "He quit remember."
"That doesn't change the fact you're a Goalie though." Julie looked at me.
"Well, you know how all week I kept telling you I couldn't hang out after school because I had to pack and spend time with my family?"
"Yes."
"We were having scoring lessons, Charlie and Banks and I. They were teaching me."
"Okay, how'd this come about?"
"I remembered that Scooter told me once, when I was playing for varsity, that sometimes he wishes he could play instead of just staying in goal." Banksie answered.
"Besides, he's filling in for Averman, it's not like he has to be any good." The curly haired Bash Brother joked.
"Thanks, thanks a lot, Portman." Averman retorted.
"Alright Ducks, let's go win this!" Orion yelled as we cleared the locker room.
I've never felt more comfortable, or more at home as I did in that uniform. The opening quack excitement cheer gave me goose pimples, the feel of the ice under my skates, it was like playing for the first time. Like I had never been a Hawk or Warrior, that I should've been a Duck just like the rest of the team. It was a pride I'd never felt before. We won that game, though I didn't score a point. But in retrospect that really didn't matter. I just had the best time and it was probably one of the best experiences of my life.
At the end of the game I grabbed Julie by the hand and pulled her up to the bleachers, sweat soaked and skates still on. In the second row was a redheaded women with a small little girl in her lap.
"Sky." I said gaining my stepmother's attention.
"Scooter, sweetie great game." The women complimented.
"Thank you. Um Sky, this is Julie. Jules this is my mother." I smiled at Sky and she grinned back, a tear rolling down her cheek. "And this is my little sister Bailey."
Julie extended her hand to Sky and turned her head to grin at me.
"It's nice to meet you Mrs. Vanderbilt."
"The pleasure is all mine." Sky replied.
"Hey Julie come down here for a sec." Connie called from the ice.
"Excuse me." Jules pardoned herself and went down to join her friends.
"She seems delightful." My stepmother told me, bouncing my sister.
"She's fantastic, but I'm glad you like her, I'm thinking of asking her over to the house for dinner, you know so you and Bailey can get to know her."
"Well there's nothing better then love, I hope she says yes. As a matter of fact, I've been thinking, the house has been awfully quiet around the house these days, maybe we should have a party, we can invite your new friends."
"Really? That would be great."
"Scooter, we're goin' for burgers, you comin'?" Fulton yelled up to me.
"Be right there." I responded, "Um, can we make party arrangements later?"
"Sure, I'll see you when you get home, have fun." Sky nodded.
"Thanks Mom, bye Bailey." With that I bounded down the stairs.
I entered Wendy's with Julie by my side and Banksie who had ridden with us behind me. The rest of the team had taken the bus and had gotten there faster, I had had to stop for gas. They were loud and celebrating like they had that day at AppleBee's, after they meet us in the JV Varsity show down, only this time I didn't feeling like I was intruding, nor was I afraid that one of them was going to pound me to a pulp.
"What took you guys so long, I'm starving." Goldberg wined as we sat down at a nearby table.
"Yeah, you look like it." Averman joked.
We all broke into hysterical fits of laughter, that caused all the people at surrounding tables to turn their heads and roll their eyes.
"Alright, alright, alright, quiet everybody." Charlie stood up on his chair. "Scooter, on behave of the Ducks I'd like to officially welcome you to the team and we all chipped in and bought you a gift."
Guy leaned under his table and pulled out a white box.
"Here you go, hope it fits." He said handing it to me.
I pulled the lid off and inside, between two pieces of tissue paper was a purple and green Ducks jersey, just like the one the rest wore in the Jr. Good Will Games. I remember smiling a Cheshire cat grin, pulling the jersey out of the box and tugging it on over my clothes.
"Thanks guys, this is so great." I hopped up and shook hands with all of them, well except Julie, when I got to her I pulled her tightly to me and whispered "I love you."
"I love you too." She replied with a kiss.
Who says there's no such thing as happy endings these days?