Title: More Than You'll Ever Know
Summary: All Adam's dad wants is for Adam to make pro-hockey. All Adam ever wanted was a friend. A friend to stick by him. He'd lost one before, and when she comes back, sparks fly, but not for the better.
Main Duck: Adam Banks
Rating: PG-13 for language especially in this chapter and later violence
Time frame: After D2, before and during D3 maybe after D3 if I feel like it and if you give me reviews =p
Author's Note: Thanks for the reviews!
Disclaimer: Nope, don't own 'em. I just own Jessica, Ethan, Sally, Jason, and Andrew.
This chapter: A little of the after-shock and some realization.
Riley
The unofficial game didn't go well. Orien caught us playing and kicked us off the ice. But I wasn't really playing hockey. It was the anger of what just happened to Jessica that was playing for me. Nobody messed with my teammates like that and got away with it. Especially not Jessica and it wasn't because she's a girl either. No, it was more than that. Jessica had this brightness to her that reminded me of my older sister who I loved very much.
Later that day, I was surprised to find Jessica dressed in her Warrior sweatshirt, going to classes. Somehow, everyone found out about what happened to her. There were fairly varied reactions:
1) "Oh my God! Are
you okay? (mainly by the cheerleaders and non-jocks)
2) "That asshole! Where is he? I'm gonna get him so bad! (mainly by the
football team and a few other jocks)
3) "So tell me, what do you want to be when you grow-up? A prostitute or a
hooker? You'd be great at both, you're that easy!" (JV-Hockey)
4)"WHORE!" (JV-Hockey and their supporters)
It got so bad, especially two days later at lunch from the JV team, it looked like she was going to start crying in the middle of the cafeteria. Every few minutes she would look down at the poor excuse for food, blinking several times or bite on her lip. The table was fairly quiet except for the occasional exchange of words to outside people making snide comments to Jessica.
"I-I'm leaving guys. I'll see you later," Jessica said the first words since the beginning of the lunch period. We all looked up from our food in time to hear, "You're not going anywhere." It was Zak again, ready to cause more trouble. Now we had everyone's attention.
"What the hell do you want man?" I stood up, the rest of the team following suit, "Didn't you have enough last time? And how did you get here?"
"No, Mr. Warrior sir, I didn't have enough last time. I want her. She left me and nobody leaves Zak Hill until he finishes. Quite frankly, Jess, I haven't finished." He grabbed her arm and tried to pull her in, but Jessica shook him off violently, "I'm not going anywhere with you. I told you no more before the school year had started!"
"And I told you I'd get you back, bitch. That's what I'm doing!" He grabbed her breasts this time.
"You sick freak!" Adam yelled pushing him away from her.
"Banks…nice to see you again."
"You need help, man."
"Me? Nah, you're the one defending the bitch. Did you hear what she did to me?" Everyone, and I mean everyone, looked at Jess, who gave up trying to stay calm.
"I BROKE-UP WITH YOU! IS THAT SUCH A CRIME? DAMMIT, I HAD A FUCKING REASON, A DAMN GOOD ONE TOO! YOU TOLD ME YOU LOVED ME AND SHIT LIKE THAT! I BELIEVED YOU TOO! THE NEXT THING I KNOW, YOU'RE FORCING ME TO HAVE SEX WITH YOU AFTER I TOLD YOU A COUNTLESS AMOUNT OF TIMES THAT I DON'T FUCKING WANT TO! YOU KNOW WHAT THAT'S CALLED? RAPE, JACKASS, RAPE!!" It seemed like Jessica needed to get that out. Everyone now looked at Zak. Ethan jumped out his seat now.
"WHAT?!" he screamed, walking over to our table, "Is this true, Zak? Have you been forcing my little sister to be your sexual toy?" The little punk looked satisfyingly scared, "Uh…I…well…you see…"
"Look, you should just tell the truth. If you don't," Adam looked at us and then to the football team, "we have the Varsity hockey team and the Varsity football team backing Jessica." Captain Duck from the JV table, who'd been treating Jess the worst, suddenly stood up, "And me." Jessica's eyes flew over to him in surprise as did the rest of the JV and Varsity hockey teams.
"So tell them Zak," Jessica challenged after getting over the shock, "Tell them about the wild sex you, I mean we had and how you told me it wasn't really rape. You were just getting me used to it. Oh yeah and what about the time I refused to do it so you beat me up, threatening that if I told anyone, you'd get your father's gun and come after me? I'm sure they won't want to miss that story; it's pretty funny since you told everyone that I fell down a flight of stairs when they questioned me about the bruises after a date with you. Oh, hi Dean Buckley!" We all looked up from Jessica's ranting to see Dean Buckley staring intently at Zak.
"Is this all true Mr. Hill?" Zak was probably ready to lie and say no, but took one last glance at everyone glaring at him before he said quietly ,"Ye-yes sir."
"Come with me." They left, but not before Zak threw a menacing glare at Jessica. As soon as they were gone, Charlie asked to talk to Banksie, who nodded, leaving with Captain Duck.
"See you later, guys," Jessica muttered, practically running out of the cafeteria. I watched her go, hoping she was okay.
Charlie
I know Jessica was a bitch; my feelings hadn't really changed about her. But she was Coach Bombay's daughter and Bombay really cared about her. Besides, what kind of sick person was Zak Hill anyway?
"What did you want to talk about?" Banks broke into my thoughts. Oh yeah…I had to talk to him. Guy moved over a seat to let Banks sit. Reluctantly, he took the seat.
"Right...what was that dinner thing all about anyway?"
"I swear Charlie, I didn't' know it was a prank until after we left the restaurant. They didn't tell me until it was too late!" he told us.
"Yeah, right," I retorted. 'Charlie, what are you doing? You're supposed to be apologizing!' I yelled at myself. I threw that thought out the window and let my mouth run.
"Look, if you brought me here to argue on weather I knew or not, I'm leaving."
"Fine! Go back to sit with those stupid Varsity goons. See if we care!"
"I'm just going to tell you one more time, I didn't know until it was too late. You don't have to believe me, but it's that truth." He walked away. The team looked at me.
"Charlie, I think he's being sincere," Julie said, shifting in her seat.
"Oh so now you're taking his side? This is just great. My own team is against me!" I threw up my hands in exasperation. In all reality, I was just mad because I knew I'd really blown it and I felt horrible. But I didn't let anyone else know that.
"No Charlie," Guy explained calmly, "We're not against you. It's just that Banksie's one of us too."
"Whatever."
"What happened to 'Ducks fly together'?" Guy asked me staring at me. I looked down and didn't say anything back. He was right.
"Hey did anyone study for the math test today?" Averman asked, changing the subject abruptly. The conversation was normal again, mindless babbling and laughing. It was just the way I liked it to be. That way, I didn't have to think about what a horrible friend I've been to Banksie.
After school that Friday, I did all my homework so that I wouldn't have to do any over the weekend. Then I headed over to Mickey's to visit my mom and apologize for my behavior towards her after the Blake game. Plus, Guy called to say that my mom was looking for me and it sounded like she was upset. I hated it when my mom was upset. She worked so hard all the time that she deserved all the happiness in the world.
"Mom!" I ran into Mickey's, "Mom? What's wrong?" That's when she told me. Hans was dead. And that was it. Hans, my mentor, my surrogate father, was gone. I stood there hugging my mom, in a daze and feeling kind of numb. It didn't hit me until that night and when it hit, it hit hard. I didn't want to believe it and sometimes even convinced myself it was all just a dream and I'd walk into the shop to find Hans with the ketchup again. But no matter what I thought, I knew that it had been Hans' time to go.
Banks was at the funeral for Hans. My first thought had been that he was a traitor, why the hell was he a the funeral? But was he really a traitor? Had he laughed with Varsity every time they made fun of us? No. Had he joined in on their lunch snagging? No. Banks just sat or stood there with that same stoic expression on his face that was unreadable. Yet, over the years I'd learned to read them. So why had I failed to read the pleading and unhappiness in his eyes? Or had I read them and refused to do anything about it because he wasn't on the team anymore? What kind of friend was I? I realized that I hadn't been there through the whole Jessica ordeal and that was when he needed a friend the most.
I turned back to the funeral. I know it sounds rude to not be paying attention, but I figured that if I didn't, everything would be okay. Bombay stepped in at that moment, placing Hans' Duck jersey over the coffin and then stepped back. That was the trigger. Tears blurred my eyes and I couldn't keep them back so I did the next best thing. I ran.
Everything was just so confusing. What was going on? I wasn't sure I knew what I wanted anymore. Of course hockey was important to me; hell, it was all I thought about sometimes. So if hockey was so important to me, why did I quit the team? I admitted that it was because I didn't have the C. Hans was right. Maybe it was me, not coach Orion. Tears, fresh ones, rolled down my cheeks as I thought about Hans. And the ketchup.
That afternoon, I collapsed into bed and lay there staring at my ceiling. I don't even remember what was going through my mind. All I know is when my mom called me for dinner, I was exhausted for some reason. I guess my thoughts tired me. I'd come to realize that I had changed a lot, maybe a bit more ego-inflated, but Coach Orion was still a jerk. And I couldn't deal like that. But hadn't Adam?
Adam…I didn't use his first name much. Adam…it sounded weird, as opposed to what? Banksie? Cake-eater? I laughed quietly as I went to set the dinner table.
The next morning Bombay woke me up at six, not my best hour of the day. He took me to the rink and I watched Orion and his daughter on the ice. It was like he was a totally different person when he was with his daughter than with the team. He seemed at peace, almost happy. It was then that I realized maybe he deserved another chance. Or maybe…it was me that needed another chance.
"So Ethan told me what happened to Jessica," Bombay said almost casually, but when I looked at him he looked kind of worried.
"Yeah, it's a big thing around school. A lot of people are taking it the wrong way, especially the Ducks," I admitted.
"What do you mean?" We were walking outside now.
"Well…they think she asked for it, but well, in the cafeteria, we were proved wrong."
"Yeah I talked to Jessica. It's really affecting her game. I just hope it doesn't do anything bad to her hockey career." I stopped and stared at him. This was not the Coach I knew and loved.
"Coach," I started, "You know that I don't like Jessica too much. But you can't push her in hockey. It's just a game, it may not be her life. She's not me, she's not Adam."
"Yes, Charlie, but scouts--!"
"Scouts? You're beginning to sound like Adam's dad, which is scary."
"I am?"
"Yeah. I think you need to talk to Jessica, find out what she really wants."
"I guess…" We saw the team, plus Adam, playing a game of schoolyard puck.
"See Charlie? They're the same old Ducks," Bombay pointed out. I nodded and found myself a little nervous around Adam. What was I supposed to say to him?
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