~ BARBECUE ~ (Adam/Connie)
"Left, right, left, right," Adam whispered to himself as he pumped his rhythmically. It was barely six o'clock in the morning; the sky was a dim gray. Adam was out for his usual morning skate. There wasn't much traffic at this time of day, so he could skate in the middle of the road and weave about as he pleased. Adam loved skating. He loved the way the wind swept his hair aside, loved the way his legs moved rhythmically, loved the way he seemed to fly when he was on wheels.

Adam skated back through the gates of Eden Hall, and past the Green, so-named because it was a large square patch of grass that lay at the center of Eden Hall grounds. There were already workers setting up the barbecue grills, for the Labor Day barbecue that was coming up later in the day. Adam took a shortcut between two buildings and reached the dormitory. He skated into the elevator, pressed his floor, sat down, and began taking off his roller skates. By the time the doors slid open to his floor, Adam had already taken off his skates. Carrying his skates, Adam walked back to his dorm room.

Charlie was slumbering heavily in his bed when Adam walked in. Adam was careful to shut and set his skates aside quietly. Charlie was always irritable in the morning. Adam sat back in the chair at the computer desk. He pulled out "The Great Gatsby", his summer reading homework. He had one and a half chapter left. Adam began reading.

"Man…what are you doing? Reading at this hour?" Charlie was awake. He propped himself up on his elbow and stared at Adam with half-open eyes.

"Summer reading. I haven't finished all of it yet." Adam said, waving the book at Charlie.

"Oh…that." Charlie rolled out of bed. "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you, Banksie."

"You've finished already?" Adam raised his eyebrows, obviously impressed.

"Of course not! I've got cliff notes. Banksie, I'm thinkin' you don't know me." Charlie grinned as he walked into the dresser. "Ow…see ya in a few minutes, Banksie." Charlie stumbled into the bathroom. It took a full half an hour before Charlie had showered and actually looked awake. "Ah…what a beautiful morning. Banksie, I can't understand how you manage to get up that early every morning to skate…but I really do appreciate your talent in not needing an alarm clock. It'd suck if I had to wake up that early every morning, too."

Adam laughed. "Yeah, I first taught myself to do this when Averman kept threatening to smash my alarm clock in at the Junior Goodwill Games."

"Ah…Team USA. The USA Mighty Ducks." Charlie stretched. "Those were some good times, weren't they?"

Adam smiled, nodding. He could still see vividly the goal that he scored for the tiebreaker. Many professional scouts had seen it, seen him make one of his best goals. It was thanks to that goal, plus Bombay's excellent words, that had scouts still contacting him and his father. "By the way Charlie, it was thanks to you that I got to play in the final game." Adam said. He was eternally grateful to Charlie for his sacrifice.

"That was nothing." Charlie said with a wave of his hand, but he looked pleased all the same. "Hey, Banksie, you wanna know something?"

"Know what?"

"I think I'm falling for her again."

"Linda Chavez?" Adam grinned.

"Yeah."

"I knew it. You should've seen the way you were staring at her yesterday. It's the first time I can remember that Captain Conway ran out of things to say." Adam laughed.

"Shut-up. We need to get breakfast." Charlie rolled out of bed.

Adam and Charlie made their way to the mess hall. Adam sat down next to Guy at the Ducks' table, while Charlie immediately departed to join Linda and a small group of her friends.

"What the hell is Charlie doing?" Guy shook his head. "He should be sitting with the Ducks. After all, today's the first day the Mess Hall's open."

"Isn't it obvious? Charlie's gonna get together with Linda again. She's got him wrapped around her little finger." Goldberg said while pushing a piece of toast into his mouth.

"Captain of the Eden Hall Varsity hockey team is whipped." Russ shook his head. Averman made a snapping motion with his arm that sounded surprisingly like a whip.

"Don't say that," Julie rolled her eyes. "Linda's a sweet girl and I think Charlie really likes her. After all, their relationship was pretty intense a few years back."

"It was, wasn't it? I wonder how long it'll take them to get back together." Connie said thoughtfully, digging into her sunny side up egg, causing the yolk to overflow. "Yuck, the yolk is still runny."

"I bet they're gonna get married as soon as they get out of high school." Louis nodded.

"Ew, don't be gross." Ken wrinkled his nose.

"What's wrong with marrying after high school?" Dwayne asked.

"Texas boy," Russ stared at Dwayne with pity. "You're so out of it."
~
"Adam's gorgeous, isn't he?" Julie sighed as Connie sat beside her. The two girls were sitting at a picnic table under the shade of a large tree in the Green. Both their plates were piled high with the food offered at the Labor Day barbecue. Connie looked in the direction where Julie was staring. Adam, Guy, and Averman were playing Frisbee with a few other Eden Hall boys.

"Coordinated, too." Connie added, watching as Adam jumped gracefully into the air to catch the Frisbee. "Not many guys can do that without falling on their face." Connie opened her bag of potato chips, and munched. "So tell me Jules, how come you haven't gotten together with Banksie yet?"

"I don't know…it's just…he's always surrounded by girls." Julie shook her head.

"Hey! Since when is the Cat afraid of competition?" Connie nudged her friend.

"Since the prize was Banksie." Julie replied playfully.

"Well, there really is no competition, if you ask me." Connie said, nodding to herself. Adam and Guy had just sat down at a table, and immediately a group of girls had already joined them, giggling and flipping their hair. "Just look at those girls, Julie. They're all girlie, giggly, whimpy, nothing like you."

"Adam seems to like them."

"I think you need glasses. It's GUY that enjoys this kind of thing." Connie rolled her eyes. Guy had strayed from her the moment they arrived at Eden Hall and he found himself surrounded by giggly girls. 'Well,' Connie thought with a toss of her head. 'If giggly is the kind of girl that Guy likes…then let him like it.'