After his classes on Tuesday, Adam headed straight for the library.
He figured it would be a good way for him to get away from his friends. He
wasn't sure why but for some reason he felt like heading for JV practice
alone this afternoon. After all that had happened it seemed strange to be
going back. He had been bouncing back and forth between the two teams the
whole school year. He wasn't sure any more which team he belonged on. Part
of him wasn't even sure which team he wanted to be on. The only thing he
knew for sure was that he wanted to play hockey.
He had yet to tell his parents about him going back to JV. He wasn't sure how to break the news to them. He hadn't been kidding when he had told Charlie the night before that his Dad would be mad. And in his heart he knew he was letting his Dad down. But Adam was determined to make it up to him. If that meant pushing himself to be back out there during games than that was what he was going to do.
He unsuccessfully attempted to do some of his homework between the time he arrived at the library and practice time. Instead of actually doing any of it though he found himself thinking about other things and watching the clock. He finally decided that it would be safe to head over to the ice arena. By the time he got there the Ducks should be in the locker room getting into their gear. Adam quickly packed up his books and headed over to the ice arena.
"Has anyone seen Adam this afternoon?" asked Russ. All the Ducks were in the locker room getting ready for practice.
"He went to the library after our last class," Connie said. "Said something about getting his homework out of the way."
"Homework, before hockey practice. None of us do that," Russ said. Connie just shrugged.
"Do you think maybe he's going to bail on us?"
"Averman," said several of the Ducks at the same time in response to the question.
"It was just a question," Averman said getting defensive.
"Just chill guys. He'll be here," Charlie said. In his mind he added the words I hope to the end of that comment. Adam had been quiet all day. Charlie wasn't sure if he was having second thoughts or not.
Charlie finished lacing up his skates and stood up grabbing his hockey stick. He headed out to the rink hoping that Adam would be there by now. As he walked toward the rink he could see that Adam had showed up while they were getting ready. Adam was sitting in the player's box talking with Bombay. Charlie stepped out onto the ice and skated over to them.
Before long the rest of the Ducks had joined them and Bombay started practice. Not being able to be out on the ice, Adam resumed the role of an assistant coach like when he had been on the varsity team. It didn't take him long to start feeling like a part of the team. Maybe he had earned a spot on Varsity but Adam also knew he still had a place on this team. Even if he and the others had forgotten that momentarily.
After practice, Adam waited outside of locker room for Charlie, Connie and Guy. They were going to go out for pizza instead of eating at the school cafeteria that night. As he saw Riley, Cole, and Mosley enter the ice arena he started to wish he wasn't waiting outside of the locker room alone. He tried to pretend that he didn't notice them but out of the corner of his eye he saw them head straight toward him.
"Look what we have here," Riley said as he approached Adam. "It's a lost little Duckie."
Adam just ignored them as Cole and Mosley laughed at Riley's joke.
"You couldn't cut it as a Warrior so you went crawling back to your so called little duck friends. The ones who dropped you when you made varsity. At least you knew where you stood with us Banksie. As soon as it suits them they'll drop you again. Your not one of them."
Adam found himself looking Riley eye to eye. He couldn't believe what Riley had just said. He didn't want to believe him.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Adam said evenly never taking his eyes off Riley.
"Keep telling yourself that kid and maybe you'll believe it. Of course we're better off without you. We don't need quitters on the team."
"I didn't quit," Adam said getting angry and shoving Riley.
Cole immediately stepped past Mosley and put himself in between Riley and Adam. He grabbed Adam's jacket and pushed Adam up against the wall.
"You just made a big mistake," Cole told him.
Before Cole could do anything else though another voice was heard from behind them.
"Leave him alone," Fulton told him. Behind him stood Portman and the rest of the Ducks.
"He didn't quit varsity," Charlie said stepping forward to stand next to Fulton. "Coach Wilson used his injury as an opportunity to get Adam off the team and I bet you were behind it Riley. You probably went and ran to your Daddy just like with your attempt to get our scholarships revoked. It didn't work Riley. We're still here."
"You little punk," Riley said going after Charlie. Dean and Fulton both stepped in front of Charlie and together knocked Riley to the ground.
Cole let go of Adam pushing him away and into the wall. Adam lost his balance and fell to the ground. As he went down he could feel slight pain in his left knee.
Cole turned around and headed for Dean and Fulton only to find himself surrounded by Ducks. That stopped him in his tracks. Sure they were all shorter than he was but there were more of them. Off to the side he could see Mosley , who was on the edge of the group anyway, take a few steps backwards. Cole was starting to think that Mosley had he right idea.
The same thought was going through Riley's head as he got to his feet.
"You Ducks are going to regret this," Riley said as he fixed the collar on his varsity jacket. "Let's go guys," he said as he started heading toward the varsity locker room. He pushed his way through the Ducks with Cole following him. Mosley chose to go around the group of Ducks to follow his two teammates.
As most of the Ducks watched the varsity players walk away Charlie made his way over to Adam who was being helped to his feet by Guy and Averman.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked him.
"Yeah," Adam told him not admitting to the pain in his knee.
"What he said isn't true Adam," Connie said. "We're not going to drop you again. We're you're friends and what we did was wrong. We know that now."
The other Ducks nodded in agreement with Connie's words.
"I know that," Adam said. He knew varsity had never really accepted him as one of them. They merely tolerated him on the team because they had to. Sure the Ducks had ignored him when he first made varsity and had included him in their pranks against varsity but at least he still felt accepted by them. They had been angry and probably jealous when he had made varsity but in the end they had showed that they were still his friends. They were there when he had been hurt when the varsity, with the exception of Scooter and a few others, hadn't been despite the fact that he was suppose to be on their team at the time.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Fulton asked him again. When Adam nodded he left with Portman and Ken. The other Ducks gradually left too leaving only Adam, Connie, Guy and Charlie still there.
"We still going for pizza?" Guy asked looking to Adam for an answer.
"Sure," Adam said. He really wanted to head back to his dorm room not go out for Pizza but he figured if he said that they would suspect something was wrong and he didn't want that.
The four of them left the arena and started walking toward the bus stop. Not much was said between them. The run in with varsity had definitely ruined everyone's mood that evening.
When Mrs. Banks dropped Adam off at the ice arena the next afternoon after his physical therapy session he was tired but it was a good tired. His knee ached but the physical therapist had told him that was to be expected and that he could expect to be sore for the next few sessions until the muscles got built back up.
"You sure you don't want me to take you back to the dorm, honey?" his mom asked him concerned, as he got ready to get out of the car. "I'll tell the coach why you weren't there today."
"I'll be fine Mom," he told her opening the car door and stepping out. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."
"Okay," she said although she still didn't sound to convinced. "And don't worry about your father. I'll break the news to him about you being back on JV."
"Thanks," Adam told her closing the car door and heading into the ice arena. He didn't hear the car pull off and he knew his mom was hanging around until he got into the ice arena.
The Ducks practice had already started as he walked into the ice arena. They were doing a scrimmage game and no one noticed him walking in. Adam made his way to the player's box that Bombay was hanging out in.
"Charlie you have two open teammates," Bombay yelled as Adam took a seat on the bench.
Charlie had control of the puck and was going one on one against Dwayne. Instead of passing Charlie kept the puck and Dwayne was able to steal it away from him. Dwayne got by Charlie and headed back for the goal that Julie was guarding for Charlie's team. As he came up to Averman who was playing defense for Charlie's team Dwayne passed the puck to Luis. Luis got the puck and immediately passed it off to Guy when he saw that Fulton was directly between him and the goal. As soon as he had gotten rid of the puck Luis ran into Fulton sending them both down to the ice.
"You really need to learn to stop on your own," Fulton told Luis as they got to their feet.
"Sorry," Luis said and then headed down toward the goal where Dwayne and Guy were still trying to get an open shot at the goal. Finally Guy to a shot but it was stopped by Julie.
Julie passed the puck over Averman who missed the pass. The puck went right by him and hit the boards where Dwayne picked it back up. Dwayne passed the puck back to Luis who was open and set up for a shot at the goal. Luis got the puck and took his shot and the puck sailed by Julie and into the goal giving them a two nothing lead over the other team.
Bombay blew his whistle and motioned for Charlie, Russ, Julie, Averman, Fulton and Ken to come over to the bench."What went wrong with that play," Bombay asked them.
"I should've known not to pass the puck to Averman," Julie said.
"Sorry," Averman said "but I'm not the only one making mistakes out there."
"No you sure aren't. I shouldn't have kept the puck with Dwayne on me like that," Charlie said.
"Right, especially when you had two open teammates. The other teams defense players were out of position and not covering the other two offense players. You've got to keep your eyes open for opportunities like that out there and use them to your advantage. Okay get ready for another face-off."
As Charlie put his helmet back down he noticed Adam talking quietly to Averman, probably given him a pointer or two.
"Russ, why don't you take center this time," Charlie said as they skated toward center ice.
"Okay," Russ said. He took his place center ice as Charlie took up position as right wing.
While Bombay had been talking to the others Guy had brought the puck to center ice and placed it on the blue circle. As the other team took there places Guy's team broke up their little pack they had been talking in and took up their places with Guy going to center to face off with Russ.
As soon as Averman was in position Bombay yelled for everyone to get ready and then blew his whistle. Guy got control of the puck on the face off and passed it over to Dwayne. As Bombay continued to watch the practice game he asked Adam "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired," Adam admitted.
"Charlie told me about what happened after practice yesterday. He seemed a little concern that you may have hurt your knee when Cole shoved you down. He said you seemed to be limping a little bit afterwards.
"It did hurt for a little bit," Adam admitted "but the pain went away by the time I went to bed last night. I'm doing fine Coach, really."
Bombay glanced away from the game briefly to look over at Adam. Adam met his gaze steadily. "Okay," Bombay said accepting that Adam was telling him the truth. He then turned his attention back to the game.
By this time, Charlie's team had gotten control of the puck and was making an attack on the other teams goal. Connie and Portman were in better position defensively this time. As Fulton skated into the zone with the puck he got checked by Portman. Connie and Charlie both rushed to get control of the now loose puck. Connie beat Charlie too it and went to pass it off to Guy but Russ intercepted the pass and headed for the goal. He took a shot and the puck got pass Goldberg putting the score at two to one.
Bombay talked to both teams this time and then had them set up for another face off. Practice continued like this for the rest of the afternoon. By the time the practice was over Charlie's team had loss five to three.
"See you guys at the game tomorrow," Gordon told them as he dismissed them to the locker room.
"You waiting for us Adam?" Guy asked.
"No, I think I'm just going back to my room," Adam told him.
"Okay," Guy said as he followed the others off the ice.
"You want a ride over to the dorms?" Bombay asked.
"Yeah, sure," Adam said relieved that he didn't have to walk back to the dorm. Bombay grabbed his stuff from the bench and the two of them headed out to the parking lot.
The Ducks won their game the next afternoon five to zero. After the last couple of games the win was nice and lifted their spirits. On Friday evening, while most of the kids on campus were at the varsity game the Ducks gathered in the common room for a movie night instead, except for Julie and Luis. Julie had gone to the game to see Scooter play and Luis was still going out with Riley's old girlfriend so he was there to watch her cheer.
They had just started the movie when Philip Banks walked into the dorm building. He motioned to his son and Adam got up from his place on the couch to go talk to his father in the hallway. At first the Ducks went back to their movie but as the voices in the hallway got louder they found themselves listening to the conversation.
"I'm not going to quit," they heard Adam telling his Dad.
"You don't belong on JV. You're too good for that team of ragtag misfits. You always have been."
"The Ducks are the best team I've ever skated with. Maybe their families don't have money, prestige or influence but that doesn't matter. They're all good skaters and despite any differences we may have had in the past they're my friends. Better friends than McGill and Larson ever were," Adam said referring to his so called best friends from the Hawks. The three families had been close for years and Adam's falling out with the other two kids had caused problems between the parents too something that Adam knew his father blamed on him.
"You know you need to stop blaming McGill for what happened at that game. He didn't do it on purpose and Coach Reilly did not have you taken out of the game on purpose. You want to blame someone, blame that Coach Bombay. He's the one who took you off the Hawks."
"I can't believe you."
"Don't talk back to me. Your Mom and I have tried to give you and your brother everything. Your brother is grateful, why don't you show a little gratitude. Look, you have a choice - you either quit playing for the Ducks or we'll never speak again."
"You can't mean that," Adam said his voice pleading. Despite not sharing the same views as his father he still loved him. He had always tried to make his dad proud of him. But he couldn't quit the Ducks for him. Not after everything that had happened. He couldn't believe that his Dad was even asking him to make that decision.
"I do. You don't belong with them. You're better than them and not just at hockey either. I thought you'd realize that yourself so I let you play but I was wrong. I don't want you to throw your life away because of those people. They don't even belong at this school. So what's your decision? Are you going to quit JV?"
"I can't," Adam said softly. The Ducks had gathered in the doorway to the common room at this time so they could still hear his reply.
"Fine," Philip Banks said evenly. "I have a legal obligation to provide for you until you're eighteen but once you're eighteen you are on your own." With that said Philip Banks turned and walked out of the dorm leaving a very stunned group of kids in his wake.
Adam watched in shock as the door closed behind his father. He then looked over to the gathered Ducks who looked as shocked as he felt. Slowly they came out into the hallway.
"Adam," he heard Charlie say as they walked toward him. Adam couldn't move or find any words. He didn't know what to do.
Connie walked up to him and pulled him into a hug. He didn't resist her and as he hugged her back he felt the tears start to fall. He couldn't stop them and he didn't really care. He felt Charlie put his arm across his shoulders and was aware of the other Ducks moving in close around them. As much as it hurt he knew he had made the right decision. He belonged with the Ducks. He couldn't bail on them.
After awhile, he let his friends lead him up to his room. The movie had long been forgotten. He was vaguely aware of what was going on around him.
As the group came into the room Steve made a hasty exit seeing that something serous was going on. No one really heard the excuse that Steve gave as he walked at the door.
"Thanks," Guy told Steve as Steve walked out the door. They all knew that Steve didn't have to leave but was grateful that he did.
"No problem," Steve told him.
No one spoke after that. No one knew what to say. Adam was sitting on his bed between Connie and Charlie, both of them still had an arm around Adam's shoulders. Adam was grateful that they were all there. He didn't really want to talk about what had just happened but he didn't want to be left alone either. It was Adam who eventually broke the silence.
"I'm sorry that you guys had to hear that and what he said about you guys. Just because we have money doesn't make us any better. You guys taught me that."
"It's okay Adam. He said it not you," Guy said.
"Besides we were no better than him when Bombay first recruited you for the game," Averman said.
"Yeah, we didn't like you just because you had money. We didn't know you but we just assumed you were like all the others," Connie said.
"Being a Hawk didn't help any," Averman said getting a laugh out of everyone. The laughter eased the tension some.
"You know we would have understood if you quit," Russ told him.
"But its not what I wanted. I want to be with you guys. I enjoy hockey yes but it was my Dad's dream that I become some big hockey star. All the pressure to do good came from wanting to make him proud of me but I wasn't happy. I want to enjoy the game for now. If I make pros eventually great but if not I could live with that too."
"Then you made the right decision," Connie said.
"Then why do I feel like such a rotten person."
"This isn't your fault," Charlie told him. "Your Dad should have never even asked you to make that decision. He wasn't being fair to you."
"And just remember that we're all here for you no matter what happens," Connie told him. "We'll always be there for you."
Adam looked up to see all of the others nodding in agreement to Connie's words. He slowly looked around the room and made eye contact with each of his teammates. He saw the same thing in everyone's eyes - sympathy and understanding.
"Thanks guys," Adam said.
Shortly after that the other Ducks started leaving Adam's room. As Guy and Averman walked out of the room they met up with Luis and Julie who had been looking for everyone.
"What's going on?" Julie asked seeing the downcast look on everyone's face.
"Come into my room and I explain everything," Guy said leading them to the room he and Charlie shared. Charlie and Connie were still sitting with Adam.
Dwayne watched the Guy, Averman, Julie and Luis all disappear into Guy's room. He felt someone put a hand on his shoulder.
"What's up cowboy?" Russ asked Dwayne. Dwayne had looked lost through all of this.
"I guess I just comprehend what just happened tonight. My parents have always supported me and my brothers and sisters no matter what we wanted to do even when we knew it wasn't what they really wanted."
"Then you're lucky," Russ told him. "Not everybody have parents like that," he said thinking about his own parents. It was there idea that he come to Eden Hall not his. However, he had to admit he liked it here and he was glad that they had made him come. Even so he didn't think his parents would have reacted the way Mr. Banks had if he truly didn't want to do something.
"It's not fair," Dwayne said.
"Life ain't always fair," Russ said and then headed to their room. Dwayne followed him after casting one more look in the direction of Adam's room.
He had yet to tell his parents about him going back to JV. He wasn't sure how to break the news to them. He hadn't been kidding when he had told Charlie the night before that his Dad would be mad. And in his heart he knew he was letting his Dad down. But Adam was determined to make it up to him. If that meant pushing himself to be back out there during games than that was what he was going to do.
He unsuccessfully attempted to do some of his homework between the time he arrived at the library and practice time. Instead of actually doing any of it though he found himself thinking about other things and watching the clock. He finally decided that it would be safe to head over to the ice arena. By the time he got there the Ducks should be in the locker room getting into their gear. Adam quickly packed up his books and headed over to the ice arena.
"Has anyone seen Adam this afternoon?" asked Russ. All the Ducks were in the locker room getting ready for practice.
"He went to the library after our last class," Connie said. "Said something about getting his homework out of the way."
"Homework, before hockey practice. None of us do that," Russ said. Connie just shrugged.
"Do you think maybe he's going to bail on us?"
"Averman," said several of the Ducks at the same time in response to the question.
"It was just a question," Averman said getting defensive.
"Just chill guys. He'll be here," Charlie said. In his mind he added the words I hope to the end of that comment. Adam had been quiet all day. Charlie wasn't sure if he was having second thoughts or not.
Charlie finished lacing up his skates and stood up grabbing his hockey stick. He headed out to the rink hoping that Adam would be there by now. As he walked toward the rink he could see that Adam had showed up while they were getting ready. Adam was sitting in the player's box talking with Bombay. Charlie stepped out onto the ice and skated over to them.
Before long the rest of the Ducks had joined them and Bombay started practice. Not being able to be out on the ice, Adam resumed the role of an assistant coach like when he had been on the varsity team. It didn't take him long to start feeling like a part of the team. Maybe he had earned a spot on Varsity but Adam also knew he still had a place on this team. Even if he and the others had forgotten that momentarily.
After practice, Adam waited outside of locker room for Charlie, Connie and Guy. They were going to go out for pizza instead of eating at the school cafeteria that night. As he saw Riley, Cole, and Mosley enter the ice arena he started to wish he wasn't waiting outside of the locker room alone. He tried to pretend that he didn't notice them but out of the corner of his eye he saw them head straight toward him.
"Look what we have here," Riley said as he approached Adam. "It's a lost little Duckie."
Adam just ignored them as Cole and Mosley laughed at Riley's joke.
"You couldn't cut it as a Warrior so you went crawling back to your so called little duck friends. The ones who dropped you when you made varsity. At least you knew where you stood with us Banksie. As soon as it suits them they'll drop you again. Your not one of them."
Adam found himself looking Riley eye to eye. He couldn't believe what Riley had just said. He didn't want to believe him.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Adam said evenly never taking his eyes off Riley.
"Keep telling yourself that kid and maybe you'll believe it. Of course we're better off without you. We don't need quitters on the team."
"I didn't quit," Adam said getting angry and shoving Riley.
Cole immediately stepped past Mosley and put himself in between Riley and Adam. He grabbed Adam's jacket and pushed Adam up against the wall.
"You just made a big mistake," Cole told him.
Before Cole could do anything else though another voice was heard from behind them.
"Leave him alone," Fulton told him. Behind him stood Portman and the rest of the Ducks.
"He didn't quit varsity," Charlie said stepping forward to stand next to Fulton. "Coach Wilson used his injury as an opportunity to get Adam off the team and I bet you were behind it Riley. You probably went and ran to your Daddy just like with your attempt to get our scholarships revoked. It didn't work Riley. We're still here."
"You little punk," Riley said going after Charlie. Dean and Fulton both stepped in front of Charlie and together knocked Riley to the ground.
Cole let go of Adam pushing him away and into the wall. Adam lost his balance and fell to the ground. As he went down he could feel slight pain in his left knee.
Cole turned around and headed for Dean and Fulton only to find himself surrounded by Ducks. That stopped him in his tracks. Sure they were all shorter than he was but there were more of them. Off to the side he could see Mosley , who was on the edge of the group anyway, take a few steps backwards. Cole was starting to think that Mosley had he right idea.
The same thought was going through Riley's head as he got to his feet.
"You Ducks are going to regret this," Riley said as he fixed the collar on his varsity jacket. "Let's go guys," he said as he started heading toward the varsity locker room. He pushed his way through the Ducks with Cole following him. Mosley chose to go around the group of Ducks to follow his two teammates.
As most of the Ducks watched the varsity players walk away Charlie made his way over to Adam who was being helped to his feet by Guy and Averman.
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked him.
"Yeah," Adam told him not admitting to the pain in his knee.
"What he said isn't true Adam," Connie said. "We're not going to drop you again. We're you're friends and what we did was wrong. We know that now."
The other Ducks nodded in agreement with Connie's words.
"I know that," Adam said. He knew varsity had never really accepted him as one of them. They merely tolerated him on the team because they had to. Sure the Ducks had ignored him when he first made varsity and had included him in their pranks against varsity but at least he still felt accepted by them. They had been angry and probably jealous when he had made varsity but in the end they had showed that they were still his friends. They were there when he had been hurt when the varsity, with the exception of Scooter and a few others, hadn't been despite the fact that he was suppose to be on their team at the time.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Fulton asked him again. When Adam nodded he left with Portman and Ken. The other Ducks gradually left too leaving only Adam, Connie, Guy and Charlie still there.
"We still going for pizza?" Guy asked looking to Adam for an answer.
"Sure," Adam said. He really wanted to head back to his dorm room not go out for Pizza but he figured if he said that they would suspect something was wrong and he didn't want that.
The four of them left the arena and started walking toward the bus stop. Not much was said between them. The run in with varsity had definitely ruined everyone's mood that evening.
When Mrs. Banks dropped Adam off at the ice arena the next afternoon after his physical therapy session he was tired but it was a good tired. His knee ached but the physical therapist had told him that was to be expected and that he could expect to be sore for the next few sessions until the muscles got built back up.
"You sure you don't want me to take you back to the dorm, honey?" his mom asked him concerned, as he got ready to get out of the car. "I'll tell the coach why you weren't there today."
"I'll be fine Mom," he told her opening the car door and stepping out. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."
"Okay," she said although she still didn't sound to convinced. "And don't worry about your father. I'll break the news to him about you being back on JV."
"Thanks," Adam told her closing the car door and heading into the ice arena. He didn't hear the car pull off and he knew his mom was hanging around until he got into the ice arena.
The Ducks practice had already started as he walked into the ice arena. They were doing a scrimmage game and no one noticed him walking in. Adam made his way to the player's box that Bombay was hanging out in.
"Charlie you have two open teammates," Bombay yelled as Adam took a seat on the bench.
Charlie had control of the puck and was going one on one against Dwayne. Instead of passing Charlie kept the puck and Dwayne was able to steal it away from him. Dwayne got by Charlie and headed back for the goal that Julie was guarding for Charlie's team. As he came up to Averman who was playing defense for Charlie's team Dwayne passed the puck to Luis. Luis got the puck and immediately passed it off to Guy when he saw that Fulton was directly between him and the goal. As soon as he had gotten rid of the puck Luis ran into Fulton sending them both down to the ice.
"You really need to learn to stop on your own," Fulton told Luis as they got to their feet.
"Sorry," Luis said and then headed down toward the goal where Dwayne and Guy were still trying to get an open shot at the goal. Finally Guy to a shot but it was stopped by Julie.
Julie passed the puck over Averman who missed the pass. The puck went right by him and hit the boards where Dwayne picked it back up. Dwayne passed the puck back to Luis who was open and set up for a shot at the goal. Luis got the puck and took his shot and the puck sailed by Julie and into the goal giving them a two nothing lead over the other team.
Bombay blew his whistle and motioned for Charlie, Russ, Julie, Averman, Fulton and Ken to come over to the bench."What went wrong with that play," Bombay asked them.
"I should've known not to pass the puck to Averman," Julie said.
"Sorry," Averman said "but I'm not the only one making mistakes out there."
"No you sure aren't. I shouldn't have kept the puck with Dwayne on me like that," Charlie said.
"Right, especially when you had two open teammates. The other teams defense players were out of position and not covering the other two offense players. You've got to keep your eyes open for opportunities like that out there and use them to your advantage. Okay get ready for another face-off."
As Charlie put his helmet back down he noticed Adam talking quietly to Averman, probably given him a pointer or two.
"Russ, why don't you take center this time," Charlie said as they skated toward center ice.
"Okay," Russ said. He took his place center ice as Charlie took up position as right wing.
While Bombay had been talking to the others Guy had brought the puck to center ice and placed it on the blue circle. As the other team took there places Guy's team broke up their little pack they had been talking in and took up their places with Guy going to center to face off with Russ.
As soon as Averman was in position Bombay yelled for everyone to get ready and then blew his whistle. Guy got control of the puck on the face off and passed it over to Dwayne. As Bombay continued to watch the practice game he asked Adam "You feeling okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little tired," Adam admitted.
"Charlie told me about what happened after practice yesterday. He seemed a little concern that you may have hurt your knee when Cole shoved you down. He said you seemed to be limping a little bit afterwards.
"It did hurt for a little bit," Adam admitted "but the pain went away by the time I went to bed last night. I'm doing fine Coach, really."
Bombay glanced away from the game briefly to look over at Adam. Adam met his gaze steadily. "Okay," Bombay said accepting that Adam was telling him the truth. He then turned his attention back to the game.
By this time, Charlie's team had gotten control of the puck and was making an attack on the other teams goal. Connie and Portman were in better position defensively this time. As Fulton skated into the zone with the puck he got checked by Portman. Connie and Charlie both rushed to get control of the now loose puck. Connie beat Charlie too it and went to pass it off to Guy but Russ intercepted the pass and headed for the goal. He took a shot and the puck got pass Goldberg putting the score at two to one.
Bombay talked to both teams this time and then had them set up for another face off. Practice continued like this for the rest of the afternoon. By the time the practice was over Charlie's team had loss five to three.
"See you guys at the game tomorrow," Gordon told them as he dismissed them to the locker room.
"You waiting for us Adam?" Guy asked.
"No, I think I'm just going back to my room," Adam told him.
"Okay," Guy said as he followed the others off the ice.
"You want a ride over to the dorms?" Bombay asked.
"Yeah, sure," Adam said relieved that he didn't have to walk back to the dorm. Bombay grabbed his stuff from the bench and the two of them headed out to the parking lot.
The Ducks won their game the next afternoon five to zero. After the last couple of games the win was nice and lifted their spirits. On Friday evening, while most of the kids on campus were at the varsity game the Ducks gathered in the common room for a movie night instead, except for Julie and Luis. Julie had gone to the game to see Scooter play and Luis was still going out with Riley's old girlfriend so he was there to watch her cheer.
They had just started the movie when Philip Banks walked into the dorm building. He motioned to his son and Adam got up from his place on the couch to go talk to his father in the hallway. At first the Ducks went back to their movie but as the voices in the hallway got louder they found themselves listening to the conversation.
"I'm not going to quit," they heard Adam telling his Dad.
"You don't belong on JV. You're too good for that team of ragtag misfits. You always have been."
"The Ducks are the best team I've ever skated with. Maybe their families don't have money, prestige or influence but that doesn't matter. They're all good skaters and despite any differences we may have had in the past they're my friends. Better friends than McGill and Larson ever were," Adam said referring to his so called best friends from the Hawks. The three families had been close for years and Adam's falling out with the other two kids had caused problems between the parents too something that Adam knew his father blamed on him.
"You know you need to stop blaming McGill for what happened at that game. He didn't do it on purpose and Coach Reilly did not have you taken out of the game on purpose. You want to blame someone, blame that Coach Bombay. He's the one who took you off the Hawks."
"I can't believe you."
"Don't talk back to me. Your Mom and I have tried to give you and your brother everything. Your brother is grateful, why don't you show a little gratitude. Look, you have a choice - you either quit playing for the Ducks or we'll never speak again."
"You can't mean that," Adam said his voice pleading. Despite not sharing the same views as his father he still loved him. He had always tried to make his dad proud of him. But he couldn't quit the Ducks for him. Not after everything that had happened. He couldn't believe that his Dad was even asking him to make that decision.
"I do. You don't belong with them. You're better than them and not just at hockey either. I thought you'd realize that yourself so I let you play but I was wrong. I don't want you to throw your life away because of those people. They don't even belong at this school. So what's your decision? Are you going to quit JV?"
"I can't," Adam said softly. The Ducks had gathered in the doorway to the common room at this time so they could still hear his reply.
"Fine," Philip Banks said evenly. "I have a legal obligation to provide for you until you're eighteen but once you're eighteen you are on your own." With that said Philip Banks turned and walked out of the dorm leaving a very stunned group of kids in his wake.
Adam watched in shock as the door closed behind his father. He then looked over to the gathered Ducks who looked as shocked as he felt. Slowly they came out into the hallway.
"Adam," he heard Charlie say as they walked toward him. Adam couldn't move or find any words. He didn't know what to do.
Connie walked up to him and pulled him into a hug. He didn't resist her and as he hugged her back he felt the tears start to fall. He couldn't stop them and he didn't really care. He felt Charlie put his arm across his shoulders and was aware of the other Ducks moving in close around them. As much as it hurt he knew he had made the right decision. He belonged with the Ducks. He couldn't bail on them.
After awhile, he let his friends lead him up to his room. The movie had long been forgotten. He was vaguely aware of what was going on around him.
As the group came into the room Steve made a hasty exit seeing that something serous was going on. No one really heard the excuse that Steve gave as he walked at the door.
"Thanks," Guy told Steve as Steve walked out the door. They all knew that Steve didn't have to leave but was grateful that he did.
"No problem," Steve told him.
No one spoke after that. No one knew what to say. Adam was sitting on his bed between Connie and Charlie, both of them still had an arm around Adam's shoulders. Adam was grateful that they were all there. He didn't really want to talk about what had just happened but he didn't want to be left alone either. It was Adam who eventually broke the silence.
"I'm sorry that you guys had to hear that and what he said about you guys. Just because we have money doesn't make us any better. You guys taught me that."
"It's okay Adam. He said it not you," Guy said.
"Besides we were no better than him when Bombay first recruited you for the game," Averman said.
"Yeah, we didn't like you just because you had money. We didn't know you but we just assumed you were like all the others," Connie said.
"Being a Hawk didn't help any," Averman said getting a laugh out of everyone. The laughter eased the tension some.
"You know we would have understood if you quit," Russ told him.
"But its not what I wanted. I want to be with you guys. I enjoy hockey yes but it was my Dad's dream that I become some big hockey star. All the pressure to do good came from wanting to make him proud of me but I wasn't happy. I want to enjoy the game for now. If I make pros eventually great but if not I could live with that too."
"Then you made the right decision," Connie said.
"Then why do I feel like such a rotten person."
"This isn't your fault," Charlie told him. "Your Dad should have never even asked you to make that decision. He wasn't being fair to you."
"And just remember that we're all here for you no matter what happens," Connie told him. "We'll always be there for you."
Adam looked up to see all of the others nodding in agreement to Connie's words. He slowly looked around the room and made eye contact with each of his teammates. He saw the same thing in everyone's eyes - sympathy and understanding.
"Thanks guys," Adam said.
Shortly after that the other Ducks started leaving Adam's room. As Guy and Averman walked out of the room they met up with Luis and Julie who had been looking for everyone.
"What's going on?" Julie asked seeing the downcast look on everyone's face.
"Come into my room and I explain everything," Guy said leading them to the room he and Charlie shared. Charlie and Connie were still sitting with Adam.
Dwayne watched the Guy, Averman, Julie and Luis all disappear into Guy's room. He felt someone put a hand on his shoulder.
"What's up cowboy?" Russ asked Dwayne. Dwayne had looked lost through all of this.
"I guess I just comprehend what just happened tonight. My parents have always supported me and my brothers and sisters no matter what we wanted to do even when we knew it wasn't what they really wanted."
"Then you're lucky," Russ told him. "Not everybody have parents like that," he said thinking about his own parents. It was there idea that he come to Eden Hall not his. However, he had to admit he liked it here and he was glad that they had made him come. Even so he didn't think his parents would have reacted the way Mr. Banks had if he truly didn't want to do something.
"It's not fair," Dwayne said.
"Life ain't always fair," Russ said and then headed to their room. Dwayne followed him after casting one more look in the direction of Adam's room.