Chapter 3 Pre Tournament Preparation
Charlie barged out of the locker room, boiling with anger. Who did Banks think he was, anyway?
"Charlie!" yelled Averman. "Hey, Dwayne and I are going to start packing. Want to come?"
"Already?" Charlie asked, surprised, "I would expect that from Julie and Connie." "Nah, dude, I'm talking strategy." Averman said mischievously. "Now, Coach is going to be onto us, so it's we're going to have to be extra careful. We'll make sure those other teams are sorry the ever played the Ducks. Now, do you think Orion will be suspicious of harmless little balloons in my suitcase?"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "You have to be kidding." Seeing Averman's disappointment, Charlie changed his tone. "Give Coach a little credit, I know you can think of something better than that."
Averman's face lit up. "Hey, you're right. I gotta go, ok, Charlie?" And Averman was gone before Charlie even had a chance to say bye.
Charlie smiled. He could always count on Averman to make him feel better, even when Averman didn't even know what he was doing.
But back to business, thought Charlie. Maybe it was Adam's words or something else entirely, but suddenly Charlie was determined to patch things up with Linda. He knew where to find her.
She was standing in the Eden Hall parking lot, enjoying some fresh air before class, when Charlie walked up to her. Charlie put his best foot forward trying to talk to her about things he knew she would enjoy. Basically that meant anything but sports, especially hockey. I'll show Banks, Charlie thought stubbornly, though he didn't actually what he was showing him by making peace with Linda.
"So, Charlie," Linda said sweetly, "What are we doing for my birthday next week?"
Oh, boy, Charlie thought under his breath. "Yeah, about that," he said shifting nervously, "Maybe we could celebrate at the end of this week." Linda's eyes shot up. "But my birthday is next week? What's wrong with next week?"
"Coach just called us in this morning," Charlie explained, "We have a tournament in Pennsylvania." "For how many days?" Linda asked, exasperated. "Just three weeks," Charlie said, as if it were only a weekend.
"Three weeks?! What about school, Charlie? What about me?" Linda's voice got louder.
"We'll have a tutor," Charlie explained. "Still!" Linda protested. "You can't just leave school. Don't you care about your education?" "Look, this is what I do," Charlie said. "Besides, this is a really great opportunity for us. And especially Adam. If any of us want to get to the pros, we need to compete in some big tournaments."
"Why do you care about Adam and the pros? Let him figure it out." Linda snapped.
And that's when Charlie knew that even if Linda lived to be a hundred, she would never understand.
Teammates were for life. Even though he was angry at Adam, he still wanted only the best for him. It was a loyalty Linda just couldn't comprehend.
He wanted to tell her about quacking at the principal in grade school. It was almost mythical now. He wanted to tell her how Gordon had bailed them out of detention. But Linda would probably say they deserved to be there and he wouldn't take the risk of her belittling his memories.
Most of all he wanted to tell her what it was like to be a part of something so special. How even when he could no longer play hockey, he would remember the days of District 5, tying Goldberg to the goalie net to make him stay there, and smile because he had been so lucky.
But he said none of those things. She would never understand. The only people who ever would, were the people who had sat with him at the locker room meeting this morning.
"Charlie," Luis yelped, "Averman flooded the toilets in the locker room. He said he was practicing for something. Orion and the dean are going to have our heads, man."
Charlie's eyes widened. "Tell him to get out of there! We can blame it on the Varsity or something." He was thinking fast and not laugh, though the mental image of Averman flooding toilets was hilarious.
"Come on!" Luis urged, dragging Charlie by the arm. "Sorry, Linda," Charlie said, but not really apologizing.
And off he ran with Luis, to bail out a Duck in distress.
Chapter 4: The Ducks are off to Pennsylvania for the tournament and are in for a big surprise.
Charlie barged out of the locker room, boiling with anger. Who did Banks think he was, anyway?
"Charlie!" yelled Averman. "Hey, Dwayne and I are going to start packing. Want to come?"
"Already?" Charlie asked, surprised, "I would expect that from Julie and Connie." "Nah, dude, I'm talking strategy." Averman said mischievously. "Now, Coach is going to be onto us, so it's we're going to have to be extra careful. We'll make sure those other teams are sorry the ever played the Ducks. Now, do you think Orion will be suspicious of harmless little balloons in my suitcase?"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "You have to be kidding." Seeing Averman's disappointment, Charlie changed his tone. "Give Coach a little credit, I know you can think of something better than that."
Averman's face lit up. "Hey, you're right. I gotta go, ok, Charlie?" And Averman was gone before Charlie even had a chance to say bye.
Charlie smiled. He could always count on Averman to make him feel better, even when Averman didn't even know what he was doing.
But back to business, thought Charlie. Maybe it was Adam's words or something else entirely, but suddenly Charlie was determined to patch things up with Linda. He knew where to find her.
She was standing in the Eden Hall parking lot, enjoying some fresh air before class, when Charlie walked up to her. Charlie put his best foot forward trying to talk to her about things he knew she would enjoy. Basically that meant anything but sports, especially hockey. I'll show Banks, Charlie thought stubbornly, though he didn't actually what he was showing him by making peace with Linda.
"So, Charlie," Linda said sweetly, "What are we doing for my birthday next week?"
Oh, boy, Charlie thought under his breath. "Yeah, about that," he said shifting nervously, "Maybe we could celebrate at the end of this week." Linda's eyes shot up. "But my birthday is next week? What's wrong with next week?"
"Coach just called us in this morning," Charlie explained, "We have a tournament in Pennsylvania." "For how many days?" Linda asked, exasperated. "Just three weeks," Charlie said, as if it were only a weekend.
"Three weeks?! What about school, Charlie? What about me?" Linda's voice got louder.
"We'll have a tutor," Charlie explained. "Still!" Linda protested. "You can't just leave school. Don't you care about your education?" "Look, this is what I do," Charlie said. "Besides, this is a really great opportunity for us. And especially Adam. If any of us want to get to the pros, we need to compete in some big tournaments."
"Why do you care about Adam and the pros? Let him figure it out." Linda snapped.
And that's when Charlie knew that even if Linda lived to be a hundred, she would never understand.
Teammates were for life. Even though he was angry at Adam, he still wanted only the best for him. It was a loyalty Linda just couldn't comprehend.
He wanted to tell her about quacking at the principal in grade school. It was almost mythical now. He wanted to tell her how Gordon had bailed them out of detention. But Linda would probably say they deserved to be there and he wouldn't take the risk of her belittling his memories.
Most of all he wanted to tell her what it was like to be a part of something so special. How even when he could no longer play hockey, he would remember the days of District 5, tying Goldberg to the goalie net to make him stay there, and smile because he had been so lucky.
But he said none of those things. She would never understand. The only people who ever would, were the people who had sat with him at the locker room meeting this morning.
"Charlie," Luis yelped, "Averman flooded the toilets in the locker room. He said he was practicing for something. Orion and the dean are going to have our heads, man."
Charlie's eyes widened. "Tell him to get out of there! We can blame it on the Varsity or something." He was thinking fast and not laugh, though the mental image of Averman flooding toilets was hilarious.
"Come on!" Luis urged, dragging Charlie by the arm. "Sorry, Linda," Charlie said, but not really apologizing.
And off he ran with Luis, to bail out a Duck in distress.
Chapter 4: The Ducks are off to Pennsylvania for the tournament and are in for a big surprise.
