Adam and Anthony Banks were in their living room watching tv and
eating popcorn when their parents came home. They both looked at the
grandfather clock on the one side of the room and realized that they were
home early. It didn't take long to find out why.
"I can't believe you ruined the night," Phil Banks yelled at his wife as he slammed the door behind him.
"Me. Your so called friend Steve McGill is the one who started it. I heard his comment about Adam and my son is not a traitor. Is it his fault that the league redrew district lines."
"So that gives you the right to accuse his son of taking Adam out on purpose." Phil yelled back at her.
"I can't help it if I call them as I see them," Angela said.
"You weren't even at the game. What happened was an accident. It happens in a sport as physical as hockey. Both you and your son need to learn to accept that. You're being as childish as he is. And it was Adam that chose to play for the Ducks. I didn't want him to. I told him to wait until next year after the league fixed the lines but he chose to defy me. For all I care the league can leave the lines like they are. I don't care anymore."
In the living room Adam didn't hear anything else as he got up, knocking over the bowl of popcorn in the process, and ran up the stairs to his bedroom. Anthony debated on whether to go after his brother or keep listening to his parents. As Angela started to yell something back at Phil Anthony got up and followed his brother upstairs without turning of the movie.
"Adam," he called softly knocking on his brother's door.
"Go away," was the reply he got. Anthony tried the door but found it locked. With a sigh he went back downstairs to turn off the VCR and tv and clean up the popcorn. By the time that Anthony got back downstairs his parents had moved from the foyer into his father's den near the back of the house. He could hear their raised voices from behind the closed door so he knew they were still arguing but he couldn't make out what was being said.
Anthony picked up the remote and hit the stop button. He ejected the tape and put it away and then turned off the VCR and tv. He then knelt down on the floor and started picking the popcorn up off the floor and putting them back in the bowl. He was happy that he would be going back to Eden Hall in the morning. Away from his father who was doing to Adam exactly what he had done to Anthony up until this year we Anthony had refused to even try out for the hockey team at Eden Hall. Anthony missed hockey but it had been his way to make it clear to his father that he wasn't going to follow his Dad's dreams for him. Anthony wanted to be a lawyer not a hockey player.
His Dad had finally accepted that but now he was even more determined that Adam be a hockey star and Anthony knew that his brother wouldn't do what Anthony had. He would never have the nerve to quit hockey to prove something to his Dad. No, Adam would keep going on pushing himself to be good. Pushing himself to be what his Dad wanted just to keep those around him happy. Anthony had been surprised when Adam had actually said he wanted to keep playing even if it was for the Ducks. His dad had been upset but Adam had pointed out that if he didn't play he'd miss practice time. Mr. Banks had seen his point and reluctantly allowed Adam to play. Who knew what was going to happen next season though. Would Adam have to go back and face his former Hawk teammates or would he play for the Ducks again next year.
Adam watched as his father's car pulled out of the driveway with Anthony in the passenger seat. Philip Banks was going to drop Anthony off at Eden Hall and then go to the office himself. With his brother back at school again Adam felt completely alone.
"You're going to miss the bus if you don't get going," Angela Banks told her son walking into the living room with Adam's backpack.
Adam silently got his coat from the hook and put it on and then took his back pack from his mother.
"Have a good day at school," Angela told him kissing his forehead.
"Bye, Mom," Adam said quietly and then walked out the front door. He made his way slowly down the drive way and out to the sidewalk. He turned left and started walking toward the corner where he caught the bus which took him directly pass the Larson's house.
Four houses, that was the only difference that had kept Shane Larson in District 6 and Adam Banks in District 5. Life could play cruel tricks at time. As he walked by the Larson's house he couldn't help but look toward it. For years he had always met Shane at the end of this driveway and they had walked to the corner together. All that had changed when Adam had started skating with the Ducks.
The Monday following his first game with the Ducks he had gotten to the Larson's driveway and found that Shane was not waiting for him. Shane Larson had walked to the corner without Adam and it had been like that ever since.
Adam continued to walk toward the corner. He could see Shane Larson was already there chatting with some of the other kids. As he approached the group the others got quiet. Shane glanced over at Adam but didn't say anything.
At that point the bus pulled up and all the kids got on it. Adam took a seat in the front seat like he had been for the last couple of weeks and didn't talk to anyone. When they arrived at the school, Adam was the first one off the bus and he headed directly for his locker. Unfortunately, Shane's locker was right next to his and before Adam had gotten his books for his morning classes Shane was standing next to him at his locker.
"Congratulations, on the Ducks winning the game," Shane said quietly.
Adam was taken back. He hadn't expected Shane to even talk to him. He hadn't for awhile. The fact that what he had said was nice was even more unexpected.
"Thanks," Adam said quietly not looking up from his books. He didn't know what else to say although plenty of things were running through his mind. Would have been a better game if I had gotten to play the whole game. I'm just glad you guys lost. Why didn't you call?
Those were the thoughts that went through Adam's head. But he wouldn't voice them. He had always kept to himself even though there had been a time when he talked to Shane about almost everything. That time had passed now though.
Adam finished putting his book in his backpack and closed the locker door. He turned around to head for home room but found himself face to face with Ronnie McGill.
"Look what we have here. It's a lone Duck. How's the headache traitor," McGill taunted. Adam went to step around him but McGill grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him up against the lockers.
"You should have never scored that goal," McGill told him getting in his face. "I won't make that mistake again and Reilly's going to make sure the lines aren't redrawn. We don't want you back on the team."
"Is there a problem here?" came the principals voice.
"No, no problem ma'am," McGill said quickly letting go of Adam's shirt and turning toward the principal. The principal looked toward Adam who just stared down at the floor. The warning bell rang at that time.
"Then why don't all of you just head to your home rooms," the principal said.
"Yes ma'am," most of the kids said and quickly went separate directions. McGill's home room was in the opposite direction's as Adam's so Adam was able to get to his home room without further incident.
As he went from class to class that day Adam passed most of his former teammates in the hallway. Most of them just ignored Adam like he wasn't even there. Adam had to admit that he preferred that over what the others did to him. The others took advantage of the crowded hallways to shove him into a wall or a set of lockers without getting in trouble. By lunch time Adam knew he didn't want to go to the cafeteria. All of the Hawks had lunch together and Adam knew he couldn't face all of them. Instead he made his way to the school library and hid amongst the shelves of books.
In the afternoon, Adam had gym class. McGill, Ryan Foote, Shane, and Mark Murphy were the four Hawks that he had gym with. Adam tried to think of some way to get out of gym class but couldn't think of anything.
They were playing indoor soccer at this point in gym class and though Adam was usually pretty good at soccer he wasn't having much luck. McGill, Ryan and Mark made sure of that. They tripped him up on purposed quite a few times and McGill was even supposedly on his team. All Mr. Larson the gym teacher did though was tell Adam he needed to concentrate on the game more.
Adam couldn't wait for the final bell to ring. When it finally did he hurriedly made his way to the bus before any of the Hawks had a chance to find him. He took his seat at the front of the bus and watched as the other kids got on. When Shane got on Adam didn't miss the look of pity that Shane cast him although he didn't say anything to him as he walked by and took a seat in the back of the bus.
Normally, Adam would have gone out roller blading or even taken his ice skates down to the pond to skate but he stayed home. He didn't want to take the chance of running into anyone. Somehow he had managed to stay in one piece today and he wanted it to stay that way.
The rest of the week went like that for Adam. He went to school and tried to avoid his former teammates and stay out of trouble. Shane tried a couple of times to start a conversation with him but it seemed like every time he did McGill would show up and ruin things. As much as Shane wanted to be friends was Adam he wasn't going to get on McGill's bad side. It wasn't smart. He had to admitted that the bigger kid intimidated him as he did most of their peers.
None of the Ducks had called or stopped by since Jesse, Guy and Connie had stopped by the weekend following his injury. He didn't feel comfortable calling any of them. He figured that they didn't want to talk to him anyways which was why they hadn't called.
The following week Adam finally got sick of being in the house and decided to go outside after school. He grabbed his ice skates and told his mom he was heading down to the pond. As he approached the pond he could see a few kids already on the ice with hockey sticks passing a puck around. With a sigh he turned around and was going to go back home. He didn't really feel like facing anyone.
When he turned around though he found himself face to face with McGill and Murphy.
"What's wrong did you get lost from the flock?" Murphy asked tauntingly.
"Nah, don't you know he's the ugly duckling so they threw him out of the flock," McGill said with a sneer on his face.
"I don't want any trouble so just leave me alone," Adam said trying to walk around the two bigger Hawks.
"I don't think so," McGill said shoving Adam to the ground. Adam left his skates on the ground where they had fallen and pushed himself up to his feet.
"What is your problem?" Adam said angrily.
"My problem is you," McGill told him. "You skated with us ever since we started playing hockey and then bailed on us. I don't like traitors."
"It wasn't my idea. The league is the one who drew district lines."
"But you chose to skate with the Ducks."
"That doesn't mean we can't still be friends," Adam told McGill.
"Yes it does," McGill said lunging at Adam. The two boys went to the ground fighting. McGill being both bigger and stronger than Adam clearly had the advantage. Murphy watched the fight for a few moments and then split when he spotted two approaching figures. He recognized them and while one of them did not scare him he wanted nothing to do with the other person. Too busy fighting each other neither McGill or Adam noticed Murphy's retreat or the approaching people.
"I can't believe you ruined the night," Phil Banks yelled at his wife as he slammed the door behind him.
"Me. Your so called friend Steve McGill is the one who started it. I heard his comment about Adam and my son is not a traitor. Is it his fault that the league redrew district lines."
"So that gives you the right to accuse his son of taking Adam out on purpose." Phil yelled back at her.
"I can't help it if I call them as I see them," Angela said.
"You weren't even at the game. What happened was an accident. It happens in a sport as physical as hockey. Both you and your son need to learn to accept that. You're being as childish as he is. And it was Adam that chose to play for the Ducks. I didn't want him to. I told him to wait until next year after the league fixed the lines but he chose to defy me. For all I care the league can leave the lines like they are. I don't care anymore."
In the living room Adam didn't hear anything else as he got up, knocking over the bowl of popcorn in the process, and ran up the stairs to his bedroom. Anthony debated on whether to go after his brother or keep listening to his parents. As Angela started to yell something back at Phil Anthony got up and followed his brother upstairs without turning of the movie.
"Adam," he called softly knocking on his brother's door.
"Go away," was the reply he got. Anthony tried the door but found it locked. With a sigh he went back downstairs to turn off the VCR and tv and clean up the popcorn. By the time that Anthony got back downstairs his parents had moved from the foyer into his father's den near the back of the house. He could hear their raised voices from behind the closed door so he knew they were still arguing but he couldn't make out what was being said.
Anthony picked up the remote and hit the stop button. He ejected the tape and put it away and then turned off the VCR and tv. He then knelt down on the floor and started picking the popcorn up off the floor and putting them back in the bowl. He was happy that he would be going back to Eden Hall in the morning. Away from his father who was doing to Adam exactly what he had done to Anthony up until this year we Anthony had refused to even try out for the hockey team at Eden Hall. Anthony missed hockey but it had been his way to make it clear to his father that he wasn't going to follow his Dad's dreams for him. Anthony wanted to be a lawyer not a hockey player.
His Dad had finally accepted that but now he was even more determined that Adam be a hockey star and Anthony knew that his brother wouldn't do what Anthony had. He would never have the nerve to quit hockey to prove something to his Dad. No, Adam would keep going on pushing himself to be good. Pushing himself to be what his Dad wanted just to keep those around him happy. Anthony had been surprised when Adam had actually said he wanted to keep playing even if it was for the Ducks. His dad had been upset but Adam had pointed out that if he didn't play he'd miss practice time. Mr. Banks had seen his point and reluctantly allowed Adam to play. Who knew what was going to happen next season though. Would Adam have to go back and face his former Hawk teammates or would he play for the Ducks again next year.
Adam watched as his father's car pulled out of the driveway with Anthony in the passenger seat. Philip Banks was going to drop Anthony off at Eden Hall and then go to the office himself. With his brother back at school again Adam felt completely alone.
"You're going to miss the bus if you don't get going," Angela Banks told her son walking into the living room with Adam's backpack.
Adam silently got his coat from the hook and put it on and then took his back pack from his mother.
"Have a good day at school," Angela told him kissing his forehead.
"Bye, Mom," Adam said quietly and then walked out the front door. He made his way slowly down the drive way and out to the sidewalk. He turned left and started walking toward the corner where he caught the bus which took him directly pass the Larson's house.
Four houses, that was the only difference that had kept Shane Larson in District 6 and Adam Banks in District 5. Life could play cruel tricks at time. As he walked by the Larson's house he couldn't help but look toward it. For years he had always met Shane at the end of this driveway and they had walked to the corner together. All that had changed when Adam had started skating with the Ducks.
The Monday following his first game with the Ducks he had gotten to the Larson's driveway and found that Shane was not waiting for him. Shane Larson had walked to the corner without Adam and it had been like that ever since.
Adam continued to walk toward the corner. He could see Shane Larson was already there chatting with some of the other kids. As he approached the group the others got quiet. Shane glanced over at Adam but didn't say anything.
At that point the bus pulled up and all the kids got on it. Adam took a seat in the front seat like he had been for the last couple of weeks and didn't talk to anyone. When they arrived at the school, Adam was the first one off the bus and he headed directly for his locker. Unfortunately, Shane's locker was right next to his and before Adam had gotten his books for his morning classes Shane was standing next to him at his locker.
"Congratulations, on the Ducks winning the game," Shane said quietly.
Adam was taken back. He hadn't expected Shane to even talk to him. He hadn't for awhile. The fact that what he had said was nice was even more unexpected.
"Thanks," Adam said quietly not looking up from his books. He didn't know what else to say although plenty of things were running through his mind. Would have been a better game if I had gotten to play the whole game. I'm just glad you guys lost. Why didn't you call?
Those were the thoughts that went through Adam's head. But he wouldn't voice them. He had always kept to himself even though there had been a time when he talked to Shane about almost everything. That time had passed now though.
Adam finished putting his book in his backpack and closed the locker door. He turned around to head for home room but found himself face to face with Ronnie McGill.
"Look what we have here. It's a lone Duck. How's the headache traitor," McGill taunted. Adam went to step around him but McGill grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him up against the lockers.
"You should have never scored that goal," McGill told him getting in his face. "I won't make that mistake again and Reilly's going to make sure the lines aren't redrawn. We don't want you back on the team."
"Is there a problem here?" came the principals voice.
"No, no problem ma'am," McGill said quickly letting go of Adam's shirt and turning toward the principal. The principal looked toward Adam who just stared down at the floor. The warning bell rang at that time.
"Then why don't all of you just head to your home rooms," the principal said.
"Yes ma'am," most of the kids said and quickly went separate directions. McGill's home room was in the opposite direction's as Adam's so Adam was able to get to his home room without further incident.
As he went from class to class that day Adam passed most of his former teammates in the hallway. Most of them just ignored Adam like he wasn't even there. Adam had to admit that he preferred that over what the others did to him. The others took advantage of the crowded hallways to shove him into a wall or a set of lockers without getting in trouble. By lunch time Adam knew he didn't want to go to the cafeteria. All of the Hawks had lunch together and Adam knew he couldn't face all of them. Instead he made his way to the school library and hid amongst the shelves of books.
In the afternoon, Adam had gym class. McGill, Ryan Foote, Shane, and Mark Murphy were the four Hawks that he had gym with. Adam tried to think of some way to get out of gym class but couldn't think of anything.
They were playing indoor soccer at this point in gym class and though Adam was usually pretty good at soccer he wasn't having much luck. McGill, Ryan and Mark made sure of that. They tripped him up on purposed quite a few times and McGill was even supposedly on his team. All Mr. Larson the gym teacher did though was tell Adam he needed to concentrate on the game more.
Adam couldn't wait for the final bell to ring. When it finally did he hurriedly made his way to the bus before any of the Hawks had a chance to find him. He took his seat at the front of the bus and watched as the other kids got on. When Shane got on Adam didn't miss the look of pity that Shane cast him although he didn't say anything to him as he walked by and took a seat in the back of the bus.
Normally, Adam would have gone out roller blading or even taken his ice skates down to the pond to skate but he stayed home. He didn't want to take the chance of running into anyone. Somehow he had managed to stay in one piece today and he wanted it to stay that way.
The rest of the week went like that for Adam. He went to school and tried to avoid his former teammates and stay out of trouble. Shane tried a couple of times to start a conversation with him but it seemed like every time he did McGill would show up and ruin things. As much as Shane wanted to be friends was Adam he wasn't going to get on McGill's bad side. It wasn't smart. He had to admitted that the bigger kid intimidated him as he did most of their peers.
None of the Ducks had called or stopped by since Jesse, Guy and Connie had stopped by the weekend following his injury. He didn't feel comfortable calling any of them. He figured that they didn't want to talk to him anyways which was why they hadn't called.
The following week Adam finally got sick of being in the house and decided to go outside after school. He grabbed his ice skates and told his mom he was heading down to the pond. As he approached the pond he could see a few kids already on the ice with hockey sticks passing a puck around. With a sigh he turned around and was going to go back home. He didn't really feel like facing anyone.
When he turned around though he found himself face to face with McGill and Murphy.
"What's wrong did you get lost from the flock?" Murphy asked tauntingly.
"Nah, don't you know he's the ugly duckling so they threw him out of the flock," McGill said with a sneer on his face.
"I don't want any trouble so just leave me alone," Adam said trying to walk around the two bigger Hawks.
"I don't think so," McGill said shoving Adam to the ground. Adam left his skates on the ground where they had fallen and pushed himself up to his feet.
"What is your problem?" Adam said angrily.
"My problem is you," McGill told him. "You skated with us ever since we started playing hockey and then bailed on us. I don't like traitors."
"It wasn't my idea. The league is the one who drew district lines."
"But you chose to skate with the Ducks."
"That doesn't mean we can't still be friends," Adam told McGill.
"Yes it does," McGill said lunging at Adam. The two boys went to the ground fighting. McGill being both bigger and stronger than Adam clearly had the advantage. Murphy watched the fight for a few moments and then split when he spotted two approaching figures. He recognized them and while one of them did not scare him he wanted nothing to do with the other person. Too busy fighting each other neither McGill or Adam noticed Murphy's retreat or the approaching people.