Julie's POV:
When I stepped off the plane into the terminal at the airport on Monday morning I wasn't surprised to find Ms. Conway waiting for me instead of Coach Bombay. I had talked to Connie on Thursday night after I had sprained my ankle so I knew all about what was going on back here in Minnesota. Even about the pending wedding.
"Congratulations on the engagement," I told Ms. Conway as I walked over to where she was waiting for me.
"Thanks," she said showing me the ring and then we left the terminal and headed to get my luggage. "Dwayne's flight is due in twenty minutes so I figured we'd get your stuff out to the car and then come back in and meet him. Then I'll take you both over to Eden Hall. The other kids won't get in till this afternoon."
"Okay," I said. We were standing at the luggage carousel at this point. As the luggage started going by I kept a look out for my two suitcases. Once I had them Ms. Conway and I headed out to her car with my stuff.
We put the stuff in the trunk and then headed back into the airport. As we arrived at the terminal the arrival of Dwayne's flight was being announced. As the people started coming off the plane I kept a look out for my friend. The first thing I saw of him was his cowboy hat. As I saw him look in our direction I waved. He waved back and headed over toward us.
"Where's Coach Bombay?" Dwayne asked.
"It's a long story," I told him. "I'll fill you in later."
"Hi Dwayne," Ms. Conway said.
"Hi, Ms. Conway, thanks for picking me up."
"No problem Dwayne," Ms. Conway told him.
The three of us headed to get Dwayne's luggage. After we got it we went out to the car again and loaded his stuff up. We were then off to Eden Hall. On the way there I filled him in on Adam being sick. I didn't tell him about Ms. Conway and Bombay being engaged because I figured Charlie would want to tell him that. Connie had said that Charlie was so thrilled that the two were finally getting married. I also didn't say anything about Guy's parents or Connie and her father because I figured that it was up to them to tell who they wanted about that.
When we got to Eden Hall, Dwayne and I got our stuff, said good-bye to Ms. Conway and headed inside. Even though it was still fairly early in the day the dorm building was already a zoo. Kids were running up and down the steps and yelling from room to room. Up the stairs I could hear several voices that belonged to Ducks. I headed down the hallway to the room on the first floor that I shared with Connie.
As I opened the door I found Connie already in our room and almost settled in.
"It must be so nice to be local," I commented dropping my bags on the floor right inside the door way.
"Well, hello to you too," Connie said turning around from where she was putting clothes in her dresser drawers.
"Hello," I told her picking up one of my bags and tossing it on my bed.
"Let me finish up here and I'll help you put your stuff away," Connie said.
"Thanks," I told her. "So any word on when Adam is coming back."
"No, Charlie said he had a doctor appointment this morning but that he didn't think he was going to be coming back to school right a way," Connie told me. "Rumor has it though that his roommate isn't coming back this semester though."
"Steve isn't coming back? Why not?"
"No one is really sure. I've heard everything this morning from his parents thought Eden Hall was a bad influence to he failed last semester."
"You've got to be kidding," I said. "The guy was always studying. There is no way he failed last semester."
By this time Connie had finished with her clothes and was helping me put my stuff away. "So have you seen or heard from Scooter yet?" Connie asked changing the subject.
"No not yet. I sent him a post card from the resort once."
"Only once. I thought you were madly in love with him," Connie said with an evil smile on her face.
"Yeah, well I kind of got distracted with a certain cute ski instructor," I admitted.
"But I thought you were a good skier?"
"I am but that's not what I told him. He was cute and what harm is a little flirting. Its not like Scooter and I are written in stone."
"So were you able to pull off being a bad skier?" Connie asked me.
"Actually yeah. He fell for it. Of course after I tripped getting off the ski lift anyone would have believed I knew nothing about skiing."
"You didn't tell me you tripped in front of a cute guy. That must have been so embarrassing."
"Why do you think I didn't tell you," I told her. "Of course I'm over it now. I'll probably never see the guy again so what does it matter."
"And you still have Scooter."
"Yeah, there is that isn't there," I said. I knew I was beaming and I really didn't care.
Connie and I kept gossiping while we got our room in order. We were just finishing up when there was a knock on the door.
"Yeah," I called as I shoved my last suitcase underneath my bed and out of the way.
"Its lunch time girls. You two coming?" Charlie asked sticking his head in the door.
"Yeah, be right there," I told him.
"Okay, make it quick," he said disappearing.
Connie and I quickly finished up and left our room locking the door behind us. We made our way down the hallway and found most of the guys gathered around the bottom of the steps. Russ, Portman, and Luis still hadn't got in yet.
"Ah and here come the two beautiful ladies," Averman said as we joined them.
"No I'm not putting in a good word with Scooter for you Averman. You got to make the roller hockey team on your own," I told him. Averman had been bugging me about it before the holiday break and it looked as if he was going to pick up from where he left off.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," Averman said.
"Who'd want to be on that lame roller hockey team anyway," Goldberg said.
"Your just saying that because you don't think you can make it either," Averman told him.
"Who are you kidding. I'd make it on the team hands down," Goldberg said as we started walking toward the cafeteria.
"Then you'll be a try outs on Wednesday, right Goldie," Charlie said.
"Ah, I'll have to check my schedule," Goldberg said quickly. The rest of us just laughed. We all liked Goldberg but we all knew he could be dangerous on roller blades.
"What about you Dwayne?" Charlie asked. "You trying out."
"Nah, I think I'm going to join the equestrian club," he said.
"Personally, I like hobbies that don't have minds of their own," Fulton commented.
"So you in for tryouts?" I asked him.
"Nah, Portman and I have decided not to join any sports of clubs this semester. We want some free time."
"That could be dangerous," Charlie said.
"I'm trying out for the school play," Ken said.
"You know you could do both. Drama club meets at night," Connie said. "I looked into it already."
"Yeah, but if I get a part I need my afternoons to memorize my lines," Ken told her.
"I'm not trying out for the play with you," Guy told Connie. "I have my limits." By this time we were waiting in line for our food.
"Did I ask you to," Connie said.
"No." Guy admitted.
"Did you hear that Mr. Gubbine resigned," Averman said.
"Just great he was suppose to be my PE teacher this semester," Fulton said. "We'll probably end up with someone we all hate."
"Yeah, from what I hear I don't think you guys will like the new PE teacher at all," Charlie said as we made our way to a nearby table.
"You know who it is?" Fulton asked.
"Who is it?" Goldberg and Averman asked.
Charlie shrugged with an evil smile on his face. I could tell he was having fun with his little secret.
"Spill it Conway," Guy said as he sat down next to Conway.
"Well, its some guy named Bombay," Charlie said nonchalantly.
"Coach Bombay is the new PE teacher," Fulton said incredulously. "You're not just joking with us are you Conway."
"No honest. Come on would I lie about something like that," Charlie said.
"I guess not," Fulton said.
"So have they set a date for the wedding yet?" Guy asked.
"No not yet," Charlie said. "They're waiting to see how Adam's recovery goes. Once he comes back to school they'll probably set the date. I know they're planning small and are going to do it soon. I've already seen the house they're buying. We're planning on starting to move things in this weekend."
"I heard Linda's not coming back to Eden this semester?" Connie said.
"What she do, run off with Steve," Averman wise cracked. Charlie shot him an evil look before talking.
"Yeah, she's staying home this semester. Her mom is sick and needs some help around the house so Linda is going to school closer to home."
"Sorry, to hear that," I told him.
"Yeah, well things happen. I don't know, we may try keeping things going but I don't know if its going to work."
After that Ken and Dwayne started telling us about their Christmas breaks. From the sound of it they had as much fun as I had. Dwayne had spent some of his time riding in local rodeos doing calf roping and had come in first place in the last one he had done. Ken said he had fun seeing all his old friends and just hanging out even though he didn't do anything special. I couldn't wait for Portman, Luis and Russ to get in so we could find out how their break had gone.
Charlie's POV:
It was nice being back at Eden Hall with all my friends even though Linda wasn't coming back. She had called me the night before and told me. I doubted very much we would keep in touch like we had promised each other the night before but you never knew.
After lunch most of the Ducks went there separate ways. I headed back to the dorms alone. I wanted to call Adam and see what the doctor had told him.
Once in the dorm building I headed upstairs to my room to grab the cell phone Coach Bombay had gotten me for Christmas. I don't think my mom was to happy about it but she didn't actually say anything about it as far as I knew. As I reached the top of the stairs I noticed that the door to the room that Adam had shared with Steve the previous semester was open and the light was on. From what I knew Steve hadn't been coming back to Eden and I didn't think Adam would be here yet even if he had been cleared to come back to school.
Curious I made my way down the hallway glancing into the room as I did so. There was a kid putting stuff away on what use to be Steve's side of the room. It took me a moment but then I realized that I knew the kid.
"Jesse," I said surprised walking into the room. "What are you doing here?" Jesse had turned down the scholarship all of the Ducks were offered last summer. He said he wanted nothing to do with a private school.
"Eden Hall offered me a scholarship again, this time for basketball as long as I got through try outs. My Dad told me I would be stupid to pass up the scholarship again so I decided to make him happy. Try outs were last Friday and I made the JV team so here I am."
"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked him.
"I wanted to surprise you guys," Jesse said.
"Well, you certainly did do that. You playing hockey next year?"
"As long as I can deal with this preppy school yeah," Jesse said.
"Don't worry," I told him. "We're doing a pretty good job making our mark on this school. I think you'll like it here. Do you know who your roommate is?" I asked.
"No, they wouldn't tell me. I have a feeling you know though," Jesse said seeing the smile that had come to my face.
"Yeah," I said purposely not telling him who it was.
"Okay, will you please tell me who my roommate is?" Jesse asked starting to sound exasperated.
"Well, why didn't you ask in the first place?" I told him. "Adam is your roommate."
"Are you serious?" Jesse asked.
"Would I lie about something like that," I said acting like I was actually hurt by his doubt. "You don't have to answer that," I told him before he could say something smart.
"When is Adam coming back to school?" Jesse asked.
"I don't know for sure yet. I was actually on my way to call him to find out how his doctor's appointment went." I told Jesse. "Let me go make the call and then I'll help you get settled in," I told him.
"Okay, thanks," he said.
I left Jesse's room and headed for the one I shared with Guy. I picked up my cell phone off the desk where I had left it and dialed Coach Bombay's number. Adam answered the phone as Coach Bombay was at the airport picking up the other Ducks whose flights were all coming in within the hour.
"So what did the doctor tell you?" I asked him getting right to the point.
"I can't come back until next week and even then I'm suppose to take it easy for the next few weeks. She told me it would probably be better if I didn't get involved in any extracurricular activities this semester."
"That sucks," I commented.
"Yeah, but I'm looking at it this way, at least I got sick after the hockey season. If I have to be banned from extracurricular activities I'm glad it is during the spring semester and not the fall semester."
"You have a point there," I said. I thought about telling him about Jesse but decided not to. Why ruin the surprise? I talked to Adam for a little while and then said good-bye and headed back to help Jesse get settled in.
We were just finishing up when we heard footsteps pounding up the steps. I looked at Jesse. There was no doubt who was thundering up the steps. Portman and the other Ducks had finally arrived from the airport.
"Hey guys," I said to Russ, Portman and Luis as they walked by. Jesse was standing behind me and at first all three of them walked by with a quick hi. Then all three of them stopped in mid stride and looked back at us.
"Jesse, where did you come from?" Russ said asking what all three of them were wondering.
Jesse filled them in on what he had already told me and then we both helped them get settled into there rooms.
Later that even all of us who were at Eden Hall staked out the dorm common room. We spent the evening just swapping stories about our Holiday break and joking around. It was good to be back here with my friends even though I was excited about the upcoming wedding to. There was also roller hockey tryouts in a couple of days and it looked as if I was going to have to follow the Eden Hall JV basketball team too. Even without Linda here it looked like there would be plenty to keep me busy here at during this upcoming semester and I was planning on having fun and being a better friend than I had been since coming here last September.
-The end Note: Thanks for all of you who've reviewed the story. To find out what happens during the spring semester you're going to have to come back for the next story in what seems to be turning into a series. Thanks for reading.
When I stepped off the plane into the terminal at the airport on Monday morning I wasn't surprised to find Ms. Conway waiting for me instead of Coach Bombay. I had talked to Connie on Thursday night after I had sprained my ankle so I knew all about what was going on back here in Minnesota. Even about the pending wedding.
"Congratulations on the engagement," I told Ms. Conway as I walked over to where she was waiting for me.
"Thanks," she said showing me the ring and then we left the terminal and headed to get my luggage. "Dwayne's flight is due in twenty minutes so I figured we'd get your stuff out to the car and then come back in and meet him. Then I'll take you both over to Eden Hall. The other kids won't get in till this afternoon."
"Okay," I said. We were standing at the luggage carousel at this point. As the luggage started going by I kept a look out for my two suitcases. Once I had them Ms. Conway and I headed out to her car with my stuff.
We put the stuff in the trunk and then headed back into the airport. As we arrived at the terminal the arrival of Dwayne's flight was being announced. As the people started coming off the plane I kept a look out for my friend. The first thing I saw of him was his cowboy hat. As I saw him look in our direction I waved. He waved back and headed over toward us.
"Where's Coach Bombay?" Dwayne asked.
"It's a long story," I told him. "I'll fill you in later."
"Hi Dwayne," Ms. Conway said.
"Hi, Ms. Conway, thanks for picking me up."
"No problem Dwayne," Ms. Conway told him.
The three of us headed to get Dwayne's luggage. After we got it we went out to the car again and loaded his stuff up. We were then off to Eden Hall. On the way there I filled him in on Adam being sick. I didn't tell him about Ms. Conway and Bombay being engaged because I figured Charlie would want to tell him that. Connie had said that Charlie was so thrilled that the two were finally getting married. I also didn't say anything about Guy's parents or Connie and her father because I figured that it was up to them to tell who they wanted about that.
When we got to Eden Hall, Dwayne and I got our stuff, said good-bye to Ms. Conway and headed inside. Even though it was still fairly early in the day the dorm building was already a zoo. Kids were running up and down the steps and yelling from room to room. Up the stairs I could hear several voices that belonged to Ducks. I headed down the hallway to the room on the first floor that I shared with Connie.
As I opened the door I found Connie already in our room and almost settled in.
"It must be so nice to be local," I commented dropping my bags on the floor right inside the door way.
"Well, hello to you too," Connie said turning around from where she was putting clothes in her dresser drawers.
"Hello," I told her picking up one of my bags and tossing it on my bed.
"Let me finish up here and I'll help you put your stuff away," Connie said.
"Thanks," I told her. "So any word on when Adam is coming back."
"No, Charlie said he had a doctor appointment this morning but that he didn't think he was going to be coming back to school right a way," Connie told me. "Rumor has it though that his roommate isn't coming back this semester though."
"Steve isn't coming back? Why not?"
"No one is really sure. I've heard everything this morning from his parents thought Eden Hall was a bad influence to he failed last semester."
"You've got to be kidding," I said. "The guy was always studying. There is no way he failed last semester."
By this time Connie had finished with her clothes and was helping me put my stuff away. "So have you seen or heard from Scooter yet?" Connie asked changing the subject.
"No not yet. I sent him a post card from the resort once."
"Only once. I thought you were madly in love with him," Connie said with an evil smile on her face.
"Yeah, well I kind of got distracted with a certain cute ski instructor," I admitted.
"But I thought you were a good skier?"
"I am but that's not what I told him. He was cute and what harm is a little flirting. Its not like Scooter and I are written in stone."
"So were you able to pull off being a bad skier?" Connie asked me.
"Actually yeah. He fell for it. Of course after I tripped getting off the ski lift anyone would have believed I knew nothing about skiing."
"You didn't tell me you tripped in front of a cute guy. That must have been so embarrassing."
"Why do you think I didn't tell you," I told her. "Of course I'm over it now. I'll probably never see the guy again so what does it matter."
"And you still have Scooter."
"Yeah, there is that isn't there," I said. I knew I was beaming and I really didn't care.
Connie and I kept gossiping while we got our room in order. We were just finishing up when there was a knock on the door.
"Yeah," I called as I shoved my last suitcase underneath my bed and out of the way.
"Its lunch time girls. You two coming?" Charlie asked sticking his head in the door.
"Yeah, be right there," I told him.
"Okay, make it quick," he said disappearing.
Connie and I quickly finished up and left our room locking the door behind us. We made our way down the hallway and found most of the guys gathered around the bottom of the steps. Russ, Portman, and Luis still hadn't got in yet.
"Ah and here come the two beautiful ladies," Averman said as we joined them.
"No I'm not putting in a good word with Scooter for you Averman. You got to make the roller hockey team on your own," I told him. Averman had been bugging me about it before the holiday break and it looked as if he was going to pick up from where he left off.
"Can't blame a guy for trying," Averman said.
"Who'd want to be on that lame roller hockey team anyway," Goldberg said.
"Your just saying that because you don't think you can make it either," Averman told him.
"Who are you kidding. I'd make it on the team hands down," Goldberg said as we started walking toward the cafeteria.
"Then you'll be a try outs on Wednesday, right Goldie," Charlie said.
"Ah, I'll have to check my schedule," Goldberg said quickly. The rest of us just laughed. We all liked Goldberg but we all knew he could be dangerous on roller blades.
"What about you Dwayne?" Charlie asked. "You trying out."
"Nah, I think I'm going to join the equestrian club," he said.
"Personally, I like hobbies that don't have minds of their own," Fulton commented.
"So you in for tryouts?" I asked him.
"Nah, Portman and I have decided not to join any sports of clubs this semester. We want some free time."
"That could be dangerous," Charlie said.
"I'm trying out for the school play," Ken said.
"You know you could do both. Drama club meets at night," Connie said. "I looked into it already."
"Yeah, but if I get a part I need my afternoons to memorize my lines," Ken told her.
"I'm not trying out for the play with you," Guy told Connie. "I have my limits." By this time we were waiting in line for our food.
"Did I ask you to," Connie said.
"No." Guy admitted.
"Did you hear that Mr. Gubbine resigned," Averman said.
"Just great he was suppose to be my PE teacher this semester," Fulton said. "We'll probably end up with someone we all hate."
"Yeah, from what I hear I don't think you guys will like the new PE teacher at all," Charlie said as we made our way to a nearby table.
"You know who it is?" Fulton asked.
"Who is it?" Goldberg and Averman asked.
Charlie shrugged with an evil smile on his face. I could tell he was having fun with his little secret.
"Spill it Conway," Guy said as he sat down next to Conway.
"Well, its some guy named Bombay," Charlie said nonchalantly.
"Coach Bombay is the new PE teacher," Fulton said incredulously. "You're not just joking with us are you Conway."
"No honest. Come on would I lie about something like that," Charlie said.
"I guess not," Fulton said.
"So have they set a date for the wedding yet?" Guy asked.
"No not yet," Charlie said. "They're waiting to see how Adam's recovery goes. Once he comes back to school they'll probably set the date. I know they're planning small and are going to do it soon. I've already seen the house they're buying. We're planning on starting to move things in this weekend."
"I heard Linda's not coming back to Eden this semester?" Connie said.
"What she do, run off with Steve," Averman wise cracked. Charlie shot him an evil look before talking.
"Yeah, she's staying home this semester. Her mom is sick and needs some help around the house so Linda is going to school closer to home."
"Sorry, to hear that," I told him.
"Yeah, well things happen. I don't know, we may try keeping things going but I don't know if its going to work."
After that Ken and Dwayne started telling us about their Christmas breaks. From the sound of it they had as much fun as I had. Dwayne had spent some of his time riding in local rodeos doing calf roping and had come in first place in the last one he had done. Ken said he had fun seeing all his old friends and just hanging out even though he didn't do anything special. I couldn't wait for Portman, Luis and Russ to get in so we could find out how their break had gone.
Charlie's POV:
It was nice being back at Eden Hall with all my friends even though Linda wasn't coming back. She had called me the night before and told me. I doubted very much we would keep in touch like we had promised each other the night before but you never knew.
After lunch most of the Ducks went there separate ways. I headed back to the dorms alone. I wanted to call Adam and see what the doctor had told him.
Once in the dorm building I headed upstairs to my room to grab the cell phone Coach Bombay had gotten me for Christmas. I don't think my mom was to happy about it but she didn't actually say anything about it as far as I knew. As I reached the top of the stairs I noticed that the door to the room that Adam had shared with Steve the previous semester was open and the light was on. From what I knew Steve hadn't been coming back to Eden and I didn't think Adam would be here yet even if he had been cleared to come back to school.
Curious I made my way down the hallway glancing into the room as I did so. There was a kid putting stuff away on what use to be Steve's side of the room. It took me a moment but then I realized that I knew the kid.
"Jesse," I said surprised walking into the room. "What are you doing here?" Jesse had turned down the scholarship all of the Ducks were offered last summer. He said he wanted nothing to do with a private school.
"Eden Hall offered me a scholarship again, this time for basketball as long as I got through try outs. My Dad told me I would be stupid to pass up the scholarship again so I decided to make him happy. Try outs were last Friday and I made the JV team so here I am."
"Why didn't you say anything?" I asked him.
"I wanted to surprise you guys," Jesse said.
"Well, you certainly did do that. You playing hockey next year?"
"As long as I can deal with this preppy school yeah," Jesse said.
"Don't worry," I told him. "We're doing a pretty good job making our mark on this school. I think you'll like it here. Do you know who your roommate is?" I asked.
"No, they wouldn't tell me. I have a feeling you know though," Jesse said seeing the smile that had come to my face.
"Yeah," I said purposely not telling him who it was.
"Okay, will you please tell me who my roommate is?" Jesse asked starting to sound exasperated.
"Well, why didn't you ask in the first place?" I told him. "Adam is your roommate."
"Are you serious?" Jesse asked.
"Would I lie about something like that," I said acting like I was actually hurt by his doubt. "You don't have to answer that," I told him before he could say something smart.
"When is Adam coming back to school?" Jesse asked.
"I don't know for sure yet. I was actually on my way to call him to find out how his doctor's appointment went." I told Jesse. "Let me go make the call and then I'll help you get settled in," I told him.
"Okay, thanks," he said.
I left Jesse's room and headed for the one I shared with Guy. I picked up my cell phone off the desk where I had left it and dialed Coach Bombay's number. Adam answered the phone as Coach Bombay was at the airport picking up the other Ducks whose flights were all coming in within the hour.
"So what did the doctor tell you?" I asked him getting right to the point.
"I can't come back until next week and even then I'm suppose to take it easy for the next few weeks. She told me it would probably be better if I didn't get involved in any extracurricular activities this semester."
"That sucks," I commented.
"Yeah, but I'm looking at it this way, at least I got sick after the hockey season. If I have to be banned from extracurricular activities I'm glad it is during the spring semester and not the fall semester."
"You have a point there," I said. I thought about telling him about Jesse but decided not to. Why ruin the surprise? I talked to Adam for a little while and then said good-bye and headed back to help Jesse get settled in.
We were just finishing up when we heard footsteps pounding up the steps. I looked at Jesse. There was no doubt who was thundering up the steps. Portman and the other Ducks had finally arrived from the airport.
"Hey guys," I said to Russ, Portman and Luis as they walked by. Jesse was standing behind me and at first all three of them walked by with a quick hi. Then all three of them stopped in mid stride and looked back at us.
"Jesse, where did you come from?" Russ said asking what all three of them were wondering.
Jesse filled them in on what he had already told me and then we both helped them get settled into there rooms.
Later that even all of us who were at Eden Hall staked out the dorm common room. We spent the evening just swapping stories about our Holiday break and joking around. It was good to be back here with my friends even though I was excited about the upcoming wedding to. There was also roller hockey tryouts in a couple of days and it looked as if I was going to have to follow the Eden Hall JV basketball team too. Even without Linda here it looked like there would be plenty to keep me busy here at during this upcoming semester and I was planning on having fun and being a better friend than I had been since coming here last September.
-The end Note: Thanks for all of you who've reviewed the story. To find out what happens during the spring semester you're going to have to come back for the next story in what seems to be turning into a series. Thanks for reading.