Author's Note: *Talking to myself* All right, Jaime, let's cut the cute
stuff and get down to the dirty truth of it all. No, wait, that can't come
yet. *Now addressing audience* Sorry, everyone. I know, I know. My stories
either come along too quickly or too slowly. Let me see what I can do to
fix that. And thanks to everyone who made suggestions. I'll certainly use
them and I'll do my best to avoid the hated "Mary-Sue". I have officially
decided to type out each chapter without any rough drafts on the lined
paper that I so adore. So, if this site has to re-do everything again, I'm
going after them because I now have nothing written down except the
storyline and character descriptions! Haha, I'm only kidding. Well, then,
enjoy the story.
First hockey practice of the season. How exciting. I wonder why I'm suddenly so sarcastic now that I'm finally at school. I'll have to figure that out sometime.
We were in the guys' locker room after school, changing into our hockey gear. The place was filled to the brim with noise, shouting, chasing... you know, all that insane stuff that proves you're not ready to grow up yet. Everyone acted like there had been no summer vacation; it seemed as if this was simply another practice, another day. Averman and Goldberg were sharing jokes. Russ, Portman, and Fulton were having a supposedly "gentle" beat-up session on Ken, who had lightened up since lunchtime. I guess food really does help.
"Hey, are you guys done in there?" Julie knocked on the door.
Adam let Connie and Julie in for the personal team pep talk. We had agreed to have one before we went to practice, just to get things in order for the season and school year.
Charlie banged on one of the lockers and stood up on a bench. "All right, you all! You can shut up now! We have ten minutes before we need to be out there!"
The team quieted and allowed the Duck's captain to begin talking.
"Okay. First of all, just wanted to say that the Ducks are back, and we are going to rule this school!"
Everyone cheered and clapped loudly; it took another minute to get all of us settled down again.
"I was just kidding. We won't rule the school."
Fulton and Portman groaned in disappointment.
"But if you guys don't know already we're gonna have a new assistant coach."
"I heard it's some lady from Arizona. Think we should give her a challenge?" Russ asked.
Portman answered, "Don't mind if we do!"
Dwayne shook his head and sighed. "Look, guys, we're here to be Ducks. Yeah, we fly together, but let's give the lady a chance, especially if she's new in town."
"What the heck kinda Duck are you, Robertson?" said Fulton.
Charlie stepped down from the bench. "Dwayne's right. Let's give her a chance. If she blows it, well, you know what comes next." He grinned. "So, let's go get the intro over with. She might as well get to know us today before she starts judging us."
Grouped together, we skated out into the rink, as the varsity hockey team finished up their practice and headed out. After what happened last year, I think they lost some pride, but they're still as mean as hell in the hallways.
Julie looked around for the coaches. "They're not here yet. Should we wait?"
Portman began skating around the rink, speeding up with each turn. "Why wait? We got the rink all to ourselves; let's use it."
"I don't have my rope with me today," Dwayne began.
Portman looked at the Texan hockey-player. "I wasn't talking about that, cowboy. Let's do some hardcore scrimmage."
I almost laughed aloud. Hardcore scrimmage? I've never heard that one before, especially not from the Ducks. Sure, we were competitive, and sometimes we were a little too competitive, but hardcore? That's an over- exaggeration of what our real practices are like.
"Hardcore scrimmage on your own time, boys." A lady skated swiftly onto the ice and stopped at the group of Ducks on the other side of the rink. She saw Julie and Connie and added, "And girls. This is Eden Hall territory. You play how we teach you to play and how you know to play. Either that, or you're out. We don't need any attitudes here." She removed her blue cap and eyed each of the players.
"Are you serious? Where's Coach Orion?" Portman came up behind her, incredulous.
She was dressed in a black sports jacket and dark blue jeans, but she certainly didn't look like the casual type. "Coach decided that the only way for me to get to know you all is to have one day of practice alone with the team. My name's Coach Cortez. No Missus Cortez, no Miss Cortez. I'm here only as a coach."
We remained silent. She was definitely going to be a challenge, but we were ready. By talking to us like we were just a bunch of undisciplined kids, she was asking for big trouble. And I could already feel the team formulating some plan to torture her on and off the ice.
Coach Cortez continued to talk. "I've heard a lot about you Eden Hall Ducks." Her laugh was short and sarcastic. "It's sophomore year. Time to grow up. You guys played games last year. Let's get some real hockey out here."
Portman raised his hockey stick in the air. "So, what do we do then, Coach?" he asked, his voice dripping with the heavy sarcasm that matched her laugh.
She glared at him. "Take a ten-lap warm-up. Then scrimmage. I want to see where all you guys are in this game." Her lips were pressed tightly together in a straight line.
Oh, yes, this is going to be a most pleasant hockey season.
Author's Note: I just need to post a notice right here. I won't be posting another chapter until Friday night or Saturday sometime since I have school and softball practice. What a pain. But now I get an extended amount of time to edit the upcoming chapter and make it longer! You may not have noticed, but this chapter is a little longer than the previous two. Maybe I should keep lengthening each chapter like this. It makes for a good read, does it not? Well, I know the plot has not yet fully built-up yet, but I'm getting there! I promise to have more "action" in chapter four!
First hockey practice of the season. How exciting. I wonder why I'm suddenly so sarcastic now that I'm finally at school. I'll have to figure that out sometime.
We were in the guys' locker room after school, changing into our hockey gear. The place was filled to the brim with noise, shouting, chasing... you know, all that insane stuff that proves you're not ready to grow up yet. Everyone acted like there had been no summer vacation; it seemed as if this was simply another practice, another day. Averman and Goldberg were sharing jokes. Russ, Portman, and Fulton were having a supposedly "gentle" beat-up session on Ken, who had lightened up since lunchtime. I guess food really does help.
"Hey, are you guys done in there?" Julie knocked on the door.
Adam let Connie and Julie in for the personal team pep talk. We had agreed to have one before we went to practice, just to get things in order for the season and school year.
Charlie banged on one of the lockers and stood up on a bench. "All right, you all! You can shut up now! We have ten minutes before we need to be out there!"
The team quieted and allowed the Duck's captain to begin talking.
"Okay. First of all, just wanted to say that the Ducks are back, and we are going to rule this school!"
Everyone cheered and clapped loudly; it took another minute to get all of us settled down again.
"I was just kidding. We won't rule the school."
Fulton and Portman groaned in disappointment.
"But if you guys don't know already we're gonna have a new assistant coach."
"I heard it's some lady from Arizona. Think we should give her a challenge?" Russ asked.
Portman answered, "Don't mind if we do!"
Dwayne shook his head and sighed. "Look, guys, we're here to be Ducks. Yeah, we fly together, but let's give the lady a chance, especially if she's new in town."
"What the heck kinda Duck are you, Robertson?" said Fulton.
Charlie stepped down from the bench. "Dwayne's right. Let's give her a chance. If she blows it, well, you know what comes next." He grinned. "So, let's go get the intro over with. She might as well get to know us today before she starts judging us."
Grouped together, we skated out into the rink, as the varsity hockey team finished up their practice and headed out. After what happened last year, I think they lost some pride, but they're still as mean as hell in the hallways.
Julie looked around for the coaches. "They're not here yet. Should we wait?"
Portman began skating around the rink, speeding up with each turn. "Why wait? We got the rink all to ourselves; let's use it."
"I don't have my rope with me today," Dwayne began.
Portman looked at the Texan hockey-player. "I wasn't talking about that, cowboy. Let's do some hardcore scrimmage."
I almost laughed aloud. Hardcore scrimmage? I've never heard that one before, especially not from the Ducks. Sure, we were competitive, and sometimes we were a little too competitive, but hardcore? That's an over- exaggeration of what our real practices are like.
"Hardcore scrimmage on your own time, boys." A lady skated swiftly onto the ice and stopped at the group of Ducks on the other side of the rink. She saw Julie and Connie and added, "And girls. This is Eden Hall territory. You play how we teach you to play and how you know to play. Either that, or you're out. We don't need any attitudes here." She removed her blue cap and eyed each of the players.
"Are you serious? Where's Coach Orion?" Portman came up behind her, incredulous.
She was dressed in a black sports jacket and dark blue jeans, but she certainly didn't look like the casual type. "Coach decided that the only way for me to get to know you all is to have one day of practice alone with the team. My name's Coach Cortez. No Missus Cortez, no Miss Cortez. I'm here only as a coach."
We remained silent. She was definitely going to be a challenge, but we were ready. By talking to us like we were just a bunch of undisciplined kids, she was asking for big trouble. And I could already feel the team formulating some plan to torture her on and off the ice.
Coach Cortez continued to talk. "I've heard a lot about you Eden Hall Ducks." Her laugh was short and sarcastic. "It's sophomore year. Time to grow up. You guys played games last year. Let's get some real hockey out here."
Portman raised his hockey stick in the air. "So, what do we do then, Coach?" he asked, his voice dripping with the heavy sarcasm that matched her laugh.
She glared at him. "Take a ten-lap warm-up. Then scrimmage. I want to see where all you guys are in this game." Her lips were pressed tightly together in a straight line.
Oh, yes, this is going to be a most pleasant hockey season.
Author's Note: I just need to post a notice right here. I won't be posting another chapter until Friday night or Saturday sometime since I have school and softball practice. What a pain. But now I get an extended amount of time to edit the upcoming chapter and make it longer! You may not have noticed, but this chapter is a little longer than the previous two. Maybe I should keep lengthening each chapter like this. It makes for a good read, does it not? Well, I know the plot has not yet fully built-up yet, but I'm getting there! I promise to have more "action" in chapter four!