Adam smoothed things over with Steve later that night when Steve came
back from the library. Early Saturday morning his mother came to pick him
up so he could spend the weekend at home. Adam just felt like he had to get
away from things for a little while. They didn't talk to much on the way
home. Adam knew she knew about Coach Wilson's decision. His parents talked
about everything to each other and his Dad had not been happy after talking
to Wilson the afternoon before and even less happy after talking with the
Dean. In fact, later that evening Philip Banks told his son that he had
talked to both parties again and neither one would change their position.
Adam waited for his Dad to tell him he wasn't going to go back to Eden Hall
Academy but luckily it was never mentioned.
Adam stayed at his home until Monday morning. His mother dropped him back off at Eden Hall in time for his first class.
"Bye Mom," he called as he got out of the car. As she waved back he turned and headed for the academic building of Eden Hall.
"Hey kid," Adam heard as someone fell in step beside him. He looked over to see Scooter walking beside him. Julie was on the other side of Scooter. "I think its rotten what Wilson is doing," Scooter told him.
Not knowing what to say Adam just nodded. He still wasn't sure how to take Scooter and he also didn't really want to talk about Coach Wilson or the varsity hockey team.
"Look, when you get back to skating if you want someone to train with just let me know. I would be willing to help you out and I've talked to Kilpatrick and Brown and they said they would be willing to help out to."
"I'll keep it in mind," Adam told him. "Thanks."
"I got to get to my class," Scooter told them when they had walked into the building. "Catch you later," he told Julie giving her a quick kiss on the cheek as he headed down the hallway in the opposite direction that Julie and Adam had to go.
Adam and Julie walked to their first class together.
The Ducks had another home game on Wednesday night. They thought about asking Adam if he was coming but decided against it. Things were going well between them and Adam and they didn't want to get anything started again. In fact the whole week they had been avoiding talking about practice or anything to do with hockey when Adam was around.
By this time they all knew Charlie was up to something but didn't know what it was and Charlie wouldn't even drop a hint. He told them they would know what it was when the time was right. They were all pretty sure that Bombay was involved in whatever it was but their Coach was being as quiet about it as Charlie was.
"Hey everyone," Averman said as they stepped out on the ice that evening for warm-ups. "Look who came to the game."
The rest of the Ducks looked in the direction that Averman was pointing to see Adam sitting in the stands with Scooter. The two of them saw the Ducks looking in their direction and waved to them. The Ducks waved back and then started their warm-up.
The first period of the game didn't go much better than their last game had. By the end of the first period they were behind four to zero. After a quick pep talk from their coach in between periods they went into the second period determined to catch up. The beginning of the second period though wasn't going much better for them though. The Ducks offense was unable to get a good shot at the JV Ram's goal. However, they were playing better defense and the Rams were also unable to score any more goals.
With four minutes left to the second period Charlie was finally able to score a goal against the Rams. That goal seemed to be a turning point for the Ducks as they were able to score two more goals in the final minutes of the second period bringing the score to four to three still in favor of the Rams.
Though they mounted a couple of good attacks on the Ram's goal as the third period began they were unable to make a goal and the score remained four to three for most of the period. In the final couple of minutes of the game though Dwayne was able to get out on a break away. He took a shot at the opposing goal and scored tying the game.
Charlie looked at the clock to see that there was only a little over a minute left in the final period.
"Let's just try to keep them from scoring guys," he told his teamates quickly as they headed for center ice for the face off. "A tie is better than another loss."
"Right," Dwayne, Guy, Goldberg and Connie said in agreement.
Charlie was able to get control of the puck on the face off and sent it over to Guy. The five members of the Ducks passed the puck between them keeping control of the puck until the clock ran out ending the game in a four to four tie. The tie kept them from losing any positions in the league standings.
As they were wrapping up practice on the following Monday afternoon the Ducks were surprised to see Adam walk into the arena.
"Hey, Adam," the Ducks who saw him called out interrupting what Bombay had been saying to them. The rest of the team turned as Adam came into the players box.
"What happened to the crutches?" Russ asked noticing that though Adam still wore the brace he didn't have his crutches with him.
"The doctor said I didn't need them anymore," Adam said with a smile. "In fact I start physical therapy on Wednesday," he told them. He had been thrilled when the doctor told him that his knee had healed faster than the he had expected though he still cautioned Adam to take it easy. Adam had been so excited he knew he had to share the news with his friends and so he had his mother drop him off at the ice arena instead of his dorm.
"That's great news," Bombay said voicing everyone's thoughts. Bombay quickly finished what he had been telling the team and then dismissed them.
"Adam I'ld like to talk to you for a few minutes," Bombay said as the Ducks headed for the locker room.
"What's up Coach?" Adam asked when the two were alone in the player's box.
"Let's sit down," Bombay said sitting down on the bench and motioned to Adam to sit down beside him. When Adam was sitting down beside him he continued.
"I've been talking to Dean Buckley this past week and considering Coach Wilson's stand on you skating on varsity this season I've gotten him to agree to let you come back on JV. I realize this isn't fair to you because you belong on Varsity. No matter what anyone says you earned your spot on that team this year. However, I think that Coach Wilson is determined not to let you skate the rest of the season no matter how hard you try to get back on the team. If you come back to JV for the rest of the season you'll at least have a chance to play some more this season and I'm sure you'll be back on varsity next year. What do you say?"
"Yeah, I'ld like to come back to JV for the rest of the season," Adam said. Although he couldn't help but think that he was letting Riley, Cole and the rest of the Varsity win. He was quitting which was what they had wanted all along. But still, skating with the Ducks was going to be a lot more fun.
"Okay, even though you're not skating right now I still expect you to be at practices and games unless of course you're therapy sessions or a doctor appointment interfere with that. I'm not going to take any chances and I'm not going to let you take any chances. You won't skate until the Doctor clears you for practice and then for games. That means if you don't get clearance you might not play this season but at least you'll have a chance and you will be part of this team."
"Thanks, Coach," Adam said. "I'll be here tomorrow afternoon. I may be late Wednesday but I'll be here as soon as I can after physical therapy," Adam told him. His mother was driving him again and he knew it the session was going to run close to the Ducks practice time.
"That's fine," Bombay told him. "Welcome back," he said smiling. "I think your teammates are waiting for you," he continued indicating the group gathered outside the locker room.
Adam got up and headed to where his friends had gathered. From the smiles on their faces Adam had a feeling Charlie had let them in on what was going on. Even though Bombay hadn't said so Adam knew that he had Charlie to thank for Bombay getting involved. This had been the secretive thing that Charlie had been up to lately.
"Are you coming back?" Russ asked.
"Yes," Adam told them. The Ducks started cheering and surrounded Adam. Finally, for the first time since coming to Eden Hall the Ducks were truly together again. After a few minutes of noisy celebrating everyone started walking back toward the dorms for dinner. Before long Adam and Charlie found themselves a little bit behind the rest of the group.
"Thanks for doing what you did, Charlie," Adam said.
"I didn't do anything," Charlie said innocently.
"I know you're the one responsible for Bombay talking to Dean Buckley about me skating for JV because it sure didn't come up in my Dad's conversation with the Dean."
"How do you think your Dad is going to take this?" Charlie asked trying to change the subject.
"Probably not good. He'll probably start yelling at me and tell me I'm taking a step backwards when I should be going forwards. He's probably right but this is my best chance of playing again this season and I just want to play hockey."
Charlie found himself thinking back to the last time that Adam had said those last words-"I just want to play hockey". That had been Adam's first game with the Ducks and none of them really wanted him on the team. Charlie remembered thinking that Adam looked lost and scared without his Hawk buddies around. All he had wanted to do was put Adam a little bit more at ease but Jesse had put a stop to that. However that locker room scene quickly became forgotten by every member of the team as soon as Adam had scored the first goal of that team. By everyone except for Jesse. Since then Charlie had often wondered if Adam ever resented having to come skate with the Ducks or what would have been different if he hadn't. He glanced over at his friend walking beside him. He couldn't imagine what the last four years would have been like without Adam.
"Yeah, well he'll eventually get over it right," Charlie told him. "He got over you becoming a Duck didn't he."
"You know, I'm not sure he ever did," Adam said laughing. It was going to be great being back with the Ducks once again.
Adam stayed at his home until Monday morning. His mother dropped him back off at Eden Hall in time for his first class.
"Bye Mom," he called as he got out of the car. As she waved back he turned and headed for the academic building of Eden Hall.
"Hey kid," Adam heard as someone fell in step beside him. He looked over to see Scooter walking beside him. Julie was on the other side of Scooter. "I think its rotten what Wilson is doing," Scooter told him.
Not knowing what to say Adam just nodded. He still wasn't sure how to take Scooter and he also didn't really want to talk about Coach Wilson or the varsity hockey team.
"Look, when you get back to skating if you want someone to train with just let me know. I would be willing to help you out and I've talked to Kilpatrick and Brown and they said they would be willing to help out to."
"I'll keep it in mind," Adam told him. "Thanks."
"I got to get to my class," Scooter told them when they had walked into the building. "Catch you later," he told Julie giving her a quick kiss on the cheek as he headed down the hallway in the opposite direction that Julie and Adam had to go.
Adam and Julie walked to their first class together.
The Ducks had another home game on Wednesday night. They thought about asking Adam if he was coming but decided against it. Things were going well between them and Adam and they didn't want to get anything started again. In fact the whole week they had been avoiding talking about practice or anything to do with hockey when Adam was around.
By this time they all knew Charlie was up to something but didn't know what it was and Charlie wouldn't even drop a hint. He told them they would know what it was when the time was right. They were all pretty sure that Bombay was involved in whatever it was but their Coach was being as quiet about it as Charlie was.
"Hey everyone," Averman said as they stepped out on the ice that evening for warm-ups. "Look who came to the game."
The rest of the Ducks looked in the direction that Averman was pointing to see Adam sitting in the stands with Scooter. The two of them saw the Ducks looking in their direction and waved to them. The Ducks waved back and then started their warm-up.
The first period of the game didn't go much better than their last game had. By the end of the first period they were behind four to zero. After a quick pep talk from their coach in between periods they went into the second period determined to catch up. The beginning of the second period though wasn't going much better for them though. The Ducks offense was unable to get a good shot at the JV Ram's goal. However, they were playing better defense and the Rams were also unable to score any more goals.
With four minutes left to the second period Charlie was finally able to score a goal against the Rams. That goal seemed to be a turning point for the Ducks as they were able to score two more goals in the final minutes of the second period bringing the score to four to three still in favor of the Rams.
Though they mounted a couple of good attacks on the Ram's goal as the third period began they were unable to make a goal and the score remained four to three for most of the period. In the final couple of minutes of the game though Dwayne was able to get out on a break away. He took a shot at the opposing goal and scored tying the game.
Charlie looked at the clock to see that there was only a little over a minute left in the final period.
"Let's just try to keep them from scoring guys," he told his teamates quickly as they headed for center ice for the face off. "A tie is better than another loss."
"Right," Dwayne, Guy, Goldberg and Connie said in agreement.
Charlie was able to get control of the puck on the face off and sent it over to Guy. The five members of the Ducks passed the puck between them keeping control of the puck until the clock ran out ending the game in a four to four tie. The tie kept them from losing any positions in the league standings.
As they were wrapping up practice on the following Monday afternoon the Ducks were surprised to see Adam walk into the arena.
"Hey, Adam," the Ducks who saw him called out interrupting what Bombay had been saying to them. The rest of the team turned as Adam came into the players box.
"What happened to the crutches?" Russ asked noticing that though Adam still wore the brace he didn't have his crutches with him.
"The doctor said I didn't need them anymore," Adam said with a smile. "In fact I start physical therapy on Wednesday," he told them. He had been thrilled when the doctor told him that his knee had healed faster than the he had expected though he still cautioned Adam to take it easy. Adam had been so excited he knew he had to share the news with his friends and so he had his mother drop him off at the ice arena instead of his dorm.
"That's great news," Bombay said voicing everyone's thoughts. Bombay quickly finished what he had been telling the team and then dismissed them.
"Adam I'ld like to talk to you for a few minutes," Bombay said as the Ducks headed for the locker room.
"What's up Coach?" Adam asked when the two were alone in the player's box.
"Let's sit down," Bombay said sitting down on the bench and motioned to Adam to sit down beside him. When Adam was sitting down beside him he continued.
"I've been talking to Dean Buckley this past week and considering Coach Wilson's stand on you skating on varsity this season I've gotten him to agree to let you come back on JV. I realize this isn't fair to you because you belong on Varsity. No matter what anyone says you earned your spot on that team this year. However, I think that Coach Wilson is determined not to let you skate the rest of the season no matter how hard you try to get back on the team. If you come back to JV for the rest of the season you'll at least have a chance to play some more this season and I'm sure you'll be back on varsity next year. What do you say?"
"Yeah, I'ld like to come back to JV for the rest of the season," Adam said. Although he couldn't help but think that he was letting Riley, Cole and the rest of the Varsity win. He was quitting which was what they had wanted all along. But still, skating with the Ducks was going to be a lot more fun.
"Okay, even though you're not skating right now I still expect you to be at practices and games unless of course you're therapy sessions or a doctor appointment interfere with that. I'm not going to take any chances and I'm not going to let you take any chances. You won't skate until the Doctor clears you for practice and then for games. That means if you don't get clearance you might not play this season but at least you'll have a chance and you will be part of this team."
"Thanks, Coach," Adam said. "I'll be here tomorrow afternoon. I may be late Wednesday but I'll be here as soon as I can after physical therapy," Adam told him. His mother was driving him again and he knew it the session was going to run close to the Ducks practice time.
"That's fine," Bombay told him. "Welcome back," he said smiling. "I think your teammates are waiting for you," he continued indicating the group gathered outside the locker room.
Adam got up and headed to where his friends had gathered. From the smiles on their faces Adam had a feeling Charlie had let them in on what was going on. Even though Bombay hadn't said so Adam knew that he had Charlie to thank for Bombay getting involved. This had been the secretive thing that Charlie had been up to lately.
"Are you coming back?" Russ asked.
"Yes," Adam told them. The Ducks started cheering and surrounded Adam. Finally, for the first time since coming to Eden Hall the Ducks were truly together again. After a few minutes of noisy celebrating everyone started walking back toward the dorms for dinner. Before long Adam and Charlie found themselves a little bit behind the rest of the group.
"Thanks for doing what you did, Charlie," Adam said.
"I didn't do anything," Charlie said innocently.
"I know you're the one responsible for Bombay talking to Dean Buckley about me skating for JV because it sure didn't come up in my Dad's conversation with the Dean."
"How do you think your Dad is going to take this?" Charlie asked trying to change the subject.
"Probably not good. He'll probably start yelling at me and tell me I'm taking a step backwards when I should be going forwards. He's probably right but this is my best chance of playing again this season and I just want to play hockey."
Charlie found himself thinking back to the last time that Adam had said those last words-"I just want to play hockey". That had been Adam's first game with the Ducks and none of them really wanted him on the team. Charlie remembered thinking that Adam looked lost and scared without his Hawk buddies around. All he had wanted to do was put Adam a little bit more at ease but Jesse had put a stop to that. However that locker room scene quickly became forgotten by every member of the team as soon as Adam had scored the first goal of that team. By everyone except for Jesse. Since then Charlie had often wondered if Adam ever resented having to come skate with the Ducks or what would have been different if he hadn't. He glanced over at his friend walking beside him. He couldn't imagine what the last four years would have been like without Adam.
"Yeah, well he'll eventually get over it right," Charlie told him. "He got over you becoming a Duck didn't he."
"You know, I'm not sure he ever did," Adam said laughing. It was going to be great being back with the Ducks once again.