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Charlie's POV:
"Come on Charlie, you need to put a good word in for me," Portman said to me as we headed toward the table where the rest of the Ducks had gathered for lunch. I noticed that Russ and Jesse were sitting at opposite ends of the table. I hadn't even ventured to find out what was going on between the two of them.
"Not a chance," I told Portman as I put my tray down on the table between Jesse and Guy. Portman took the empty seat across from me.
"Why not?" he asked. "You seem to be pretty chummy with her. You almost missed curfew last night when you were out with her."
Alex and I had ended up going to the ice cream parlor last night to talk. We started talking about stuff. I told her about my family life and how my mom and Coach Bombay were planning on getting married. We talked about our pee wee hockey teams a little bit and both decided to let the be the past and start over letting the Hawk/Duck rivalry be a thing of the past. I was all for it but I warned her that I wasn't sure how the other Ducks would take it. I knew Julie, Ken, Luis Russ and obviously Portman, wouldn't have a problem with her because of that because all they knew of the rivalry was what we had told them. I had a feeling her and Russ weren't going to get along anyway. After that she started telling me about her mom and how she had been sick with cancer last semester which was why she hadn't played hockey. She told me how her mom had died shortly before Christmas and I could certainly empathize with her what with losing Hans last fall. He had been a father figure for me. We had lost track of time and just barely made it back in time for the eleven o'clock curfew last night.
"You've got a voice. Introduce yourself," I told him purposely not answering his question.
"She might think I'm too forward," Portman said. I couldn't help it. I laughed at that comment. That had never stopped him before. Between him and Luis I wasn't sure who had alienated more of the girls here at Eden Hall.
"Besides," Averman said from a couple seats down the table, "I think Charlie has a crush on her himself."
"I do not," I shot back at him. "We're just friends. Just like I'm friends with Connie and Julie."
"Yeah, you better be just friends with Connie," Guy said from beside me. I was guessing he and Connie had made up from the afternoon before. I could tell he was joking. At least I was hoping he was joking.
"Then what's the problem. Its not like I'm trying to get you to set me up. I just want you to introduce me to her," Portman said not giving up.
"Look, Portman I'm not going to do it so you might as well drop it."
"At least give me a reason."
"Fine you want a reason. I don't think you're her type," I told him.
"Are you saying I'm not good enough for her?" Portman asked.
"I didn't say that," I said quickly not wanting him to jump across the table and start pounding me. However, personally that is exactly what I thought. "I just don't think you're her type. I don't think the two of you would get along."
"Fine. I'll show you. I'll get her without your help," Portman said and then started eating his lunch. I could tell he wasn't happy with me but what could I do. He had been the one that kept pressing the subject.
"How's basketball going?" I asked Jesse trying to change the subject.
"Fine. I think we're ready for our opening game on Tuesday night." Jesse told me.
"Good, because if I'm going to give up my Tuesday night to watch basketball then I expect you guys to win," I told him.
"You got it," Jesse told me with a grin.
As I looked up I noticed that Portman was now staring at a point behind me. I turned around to find out what he was staring at but I should've known without having to look. At one of the small tables along the side of the cafeteria Alex and Shane Larson sat talking together.
***flashback***
Adam and McGill had taken the face-off. McGill had gotten control of the puck and sent it back to the Hawk's number 99, Strickler. Adam had tried to get the puck away from him but hadn't been able to. When Strickler tried passing it to one of his teammates I was able to get a hold of the puck. I had immediately passed the puck off to Banks who headed down ice with it.
I had started following him down ice but Banks being the better skater had pulled away from me. At first I had thought he had been able to break away from the rest of the Hawks to but the McGill had come up from the opposite side of the ice as me. I had watched helplessly as McGill had caught Adam from behind and used his stick to knock Adam down to the ice. As Adam went down he still managed to get the shot off and the puck went into the net giving us our first goal ever against the Hawks. Against his old team.
We had celebrated at first but then Adam hadn't gotten up from the ice. He lay face first on the ice next to the net where he had fallen after McGill had shoved him down. Larson had been one of the first one who had realized something was wrong and he knelt down beside his former teammate. I was close enough to hear him when he turned and looked up at McGill who was standing near by.
"What did you do?" Larson had asked him.
"My job," McGill had replied easily and with no remorse for what he had done.
Larson had not left Adam's side until one of the referees had made him as the paramedics came in to attend to Adam. The referee had led him over to his team's box as my teammates and I had stood watching the paramedics concerned for our teammate.
***end flashback***
I don't think any of us had told Adam about the concern Larson had shown for him after his injury. I know I never had. And to tell you the truth I'm not sure why I never did. Maybe I should have. Maybe if I had Adam and Larson would have still be friends.
Looking at the two of them the conversation I had with Alex the night before came back to me. I had told her that I would put the Hawk/Duck rivalry in the past and start new. Now was my chance to show her I had meant it and maybe put a stop to any trouble that would start between my friends and Larson.
"I'll be back," I told my friends and got up and headed across the cafeteria to where the two were sitting. "Hi Alex," I said as I approached the table.
"Hi Charlie," she said looking up at me. Across from her Shane suddenly became very interested in the food on his plate. I didn't know whether or not to take that as a good sign or a bad sign. 'What have I got to lose' I thought to myself. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before I opened my mouth.
"Hey Shane, I know we've had are problems in the past but I was hoping that maybe we could put all that junk behind us and start over," I said. I held out my right hand to him although part of me didn't think he would take it. Part of me was waiting for him to stand up and punch me or something.
Instead he looked up at me with a smile on his face. "I'd like that," he said taking my hand and shaking it.
Maybe we wouldn't be friends but at least we wouldn't be enemies. I looked over at Alex to see that she was smiling. I smiled back at her.
"I got to get back to my lunch," I told them. "See ya this afternoon," I told Alex.
"Okay," she said. As I walked away I could hear her and Shane go back to their conversation as I walked away.
"What was that about?" Guy asked as I sat back down in my seat between him and Jesse.
"Just setting things right," I told him taking a bite of my food.
"You've got to be kidding," Jess said from the other side of me. "All the crap that he did to you and all of us and you're going to go over, shake his hand and end it a that."
"Yeah," I told him why not.
"I don't trust him," Jesse said. "He's a Hawk."
"I'm with him," Goldberg said and Guy, Connie, Averman quickly agreed with him.
"So was Adam," Fulton said which I took to mean he was on my side. Julie, Luis, Dwayne, Russ, Ken and Portman looked completely loss.
"I'm I missing something again?" Dwayne asked.
"You're not alone this time," I heard Russ tell him.
"Look guys," I said. "I'm not asking you all to go over and forgive Shane Larson like I did. If you guys want to hold a grudge then go ahead but just do me one favor. Don't start any trouble."
"Fine," Jesse said beside me and as I looked around the table I saw the rest of the original Ducks nodding in agreement.
"Thank-you," I said and went back to my lunch. Around me the Ducks started talking about a movie that had recently come out.
Julie's POV:
I wasn't complete sure what had gone on at lunch other than the fact that Portman had a crush on Alex. I figured from what was being said that Shane Larson had skated on the team Adam had originally skated with back when the original Ducks were pee wees and that they didn't like him. Personally I didn't think he was that bad of a guy. I had met him briefly the other afternoon when I was with Scooter. Scooter Alex and him had been talking when I met with Scooter in the common room of Scooter's dorm building.
I decided to forget about it. Charlie had asked them not to start any trouble so I didn't think anything would come of it. It really had nothing to do with me anyway. I left the cafeteria after lunch and headed for my biology class. Once Adam came back to school I would have someone to walk with to the class as he was the only one of my friends in the same science class as me. In fact, because I was friends with him the teacher had paired me up as my lab partner which meant that for lab today I was by myself. I really did hope Adam would be back soon and not only so I had a lab partner. I also missed having him around.
My afternoon classes passed quickly. Before I knew it the final bell rang and I headed out of my history class. Averman and Goldberg were talking amongst themselves and Connie and Guy were too busy whispering to each other to notice me walking behind them. As I followed them down the steps fo the academic building I felt a hand come to rest on my shoulder. I looked behind me and found myself looking into the soft brown eyes of Scooter.
"Hey Julie," he said softly.
"Hi Scooter. What are you doing here?" I asked him. I knew Scooter's last class met on the opposite side of the building so if we met up at all right after classes it was outside the main entrance to the building.
"My teacher let us out early. I figured I'd come over and surprise you," he told me.
"Well, that you did," I said with a smile.
"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out before try outs."
"Yeah sure," I said with a shrug. I didn't have anything else planned until then.
Scooter and I headed over to The Eden Hall Café, a student hang out here on campus where a lot of the kids who didn't have cars hung out. We ordered sodas and found a small table in the corner to talk. Even though I had told myself that I wasn't going to talk to Scooter about try outs there was one question that I really wanted to ask. After debating on whether or not I should ask it while listening to him tell me about his day I finally just decided to go ahead and ask him.
"Did you have Kilpatrick trip Charlie on purpose during that drill yesterday?" I asked him quietly.
"What kind of question is that?" Scooter asked the smile leaving his face.
"I saw the look between you Kilpatrick yesterday right after that incident. You were hoping that Charlie would lose his temper and give you a reason to cut him weren't you?"
"So what if I was," Scooter said surprising me. I had expected him to deny it or try changing the subject. I hadn't expected him to admit to it.
"Its not fair," I told him. "Yes, maybe Charlie does have a temper but he deserves a fair chance."
"He shouldn't be on the team. At least not this year. He's too headstrong."
"You're just afraid that he won't listen to you. That he's a better leader than you are," I told him. I knew I was probably hurting my chances of making the team but at this point I really didn't care.
"He'll disrupt everything. I'd just have to end up breaking up fights between him and who knows who else. I saw how he reacted to Orion at the beginning of the season. I'm only a few years older than he is. I know I'm going to get no respect from him."
"If he doesn't respect you it would be because you didn't earn it. Right now I have no respect for you myself," I told him as I stood up and started walking away.
"Julie wait," Scooter called after me his tone more pleading than anything else now. I didn't stop though. I was mad. Mad at Scooter for what he had said and mad at myself for even bringing the subject up.
I retreated to my dorm room and was glad to find that Connie was not in it. She was probably out with Guy. Right then I just wanted to be alone. I went over to my desk and pulled out my journal. I didn't right in it everyday just when I was upset, like now. It helped me to think things through by writing everything down.
When my thoughts had come to a stop I happened to glance over at Connie's alarm clock. When I saw what time it was I closed my journal and stuffed it in the desk drawer quickly. If I didn't hurry I was going to be late for try outs.
I quickly grabbed my stuff and hurried toward the roller hockey court. I could see that most of the kids had already gathered. My friends were already there and I could see them gathered around in circle along with Alex, and Scooter. Coach Bombay stood near by smiling. I wondered what was going on as I came through the gate and headed toward them. As I got closer I could tell that someone was standing in the middle of the group.
"There she is," Averman said seeing me approaching the group. Russ stepped off to the side a little bit and I could see who was in the middle of the circle. It was Adam. I rushed over to the group and gave him a hug. I hadn't seen him since the holiday break and I was surprised to see him there today.
"Hi, Julie," he said quietly as he returned my hug.
"I missed you Adam," I told him. "What are you doing here today though. I thought you weren't coming back to Monday."
"I had to get out of the apartment," Adam said. "I managed to talk Gordon into letting me come watch try outs today."
"Well I'm glad you're here," I told him.
"You better get ready," Adam told me. I looked around to see that other than my friends everyone else was out skating around. Alex and Scooter were now quietly talking to Coach Bombay off to the side.
"You're right," I said. After my fight with Scooter this afternoon being late was last thing I needed.
I quickly put my skates and pads on and was ready just as Scooter blew his whistle to begin try outs. As I skated over to the center of the court to join everyone else I tried to make eye contact with him to see if he was still mad at me. As soon as our eyes met though he quickly looked away. I wasn't sure how to take that.
Connie's POV:
"Okay this is how the last day of try outs is going to work," Scooter began after we had all gathered around him in the center of the court. "We're going to divide you into two teams and play a scrimmage. We'll switch the players periodically and try to get everyone into most of the positions at least once. Coach Bombay will be switching players for one team and I'll do it for the other team. Alex is going to be out on the court with you all. She'll switch positions and switching teams from time to time. This scrimmage isn't about who can score the most points. We just want to see how different combinations work together and who works well with each other. Any questions?"
After the last couple of days I expected Russ to say something smart but for once he held his tongue which surprised me. I ended up on Scooter's team with Charlie and Averman. Guy, Russ and Julie were on the other team. From the look on Charlie's face I had a feeling he would have rather been with the other team.
"What's up?" I asked Charlie softly as the first group set up for the face off.
"I have a feeling I won't be playing much," Charlie whispered back looking directly at Scooter.
"You're just being paranoid. He isn't out to get you." I told him.
"Yes he is," Charlie said. "Alex told me he wanted to cut me day one because of my temper."
"Then prove him wrong." I told him. "Show him you can play without going off on anyone," I told him trying to encourage him. He just nodded.
Julie was out in the first group playing offense. She was making a few mistakes here and there but overall she was doing pretty well. As Gordon switched players and pulled Julie I saw Adam come over and give her a few words of advice. I couldn't pay to much attention though because Scooter put me into the game.
Alex was playing offense for my team at the time. She passed the puck to me and I started to head up court with it but Russ quickly stole it away from me. Russ headed toward the other net with the puck and ended up scoring a goal. Alex had me take the next face off and I didn't fare much better. I loss my stick in the face off. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't done that in years. I let out a sigh of relief when Scooter pulled me out of the game a few minutes later.
Charlie was still on the sidelines. In fact he spent most of try outs there. It didn't look like Scooter was going to give him a chance which I didn't think was fair. Here I was making a fool of myself and Charlie had to stand on the sidelines and watch. The way I felt right now I would have gladly traded places with him.
It was nearing the end of try outs when I finally saw Julie take the court as a goalie. As she took her place Scooter finally sent Charlie into the game. Alex, who had been skating for our team immediately motioned for Ryan Lambert to take her spot on our team and switched to the other team. I couldn't help but wonder what she was up to.
It wasn't long before Charlie got a hold of the puck and headed toward the goal with it. Alex picked him up and was trying to get the puck from him. And then she tripped him. Even I could see that. But Scooter, who had been calling all the penalties the whole time, didn't call it. Can he really be that blind? Somehow I didn't think so. I expected Charlie to go off - if not on Alex then on Scooter but he surprised me. Charlie just got to his feet and went back to playing the game.
'Way to go Charlie' I thought to myself.
I was so happy when try outs came to an end. The whole day had just been humiliating for me. As I was heading over to my stuff though I skated past Charlie who was talking to Alex.
"You tripped me on purpose didn't you?" Charlie asked calmly.
"Yeah I did," Alex admitted. "I wanted to see what you would do. You did good Charlie. Even when Scott didn't call the penalty you kept your cool."
"Thanks," Charlie said and then followed me over to our friends.
"So Connie what happened? Did the stick have butter on it or something?" Rus said as I sat down and started taking my skates off.
"Very funny," I told him sarcastically. "So I was having a bad day."
"Don't sweat it. I have those a lot," Averman said from behind me.
"Thanks - I think," I said in reply.
"So how does pizza for dinner sound to all of you?" Gordon asked coming over to our group. Needless to say everyone was enthusiastic about the idea.
"You going to invite Scooter," I asked Julie who was sitting beside me.
"No," she said simply.
"Did something happen between you two?" I asked her.
"You could say that," she said softly. "I tell you about it later," she said which I knew meant she would tell me when we were alone in our room tonight.
"Okay," I said as the two of us grabbed our stuff and joined the others by the gate.
"I think that's all of us now," Russ said looking eager to be going.
"Alex is coming with us," Adam said. I cast a glance at Guy and Averman. The two of them looked as happy about that as I felt. I still didn't really trust her. In my book she was still a Hawk.
Alex was just picking her skate bag up off the ground and walking toward us when we all heard Scooter call after her. "Alex are you going to talk to me."
"Later, when I'm not so mad at you," we heard her call back over her shoulder.
"What are you mad at me for?" Scooter asked. To me he looked like he really didn't know why she would be mad at him. By this time we weren't the only ones watching what was going on.
"What am I mad at you for?" Alex said turning around to face him. "A few things but I'll tell you the number one thing I'm mad at you for. You didn't call the penalty when I tripped Conway. We both know you should've and we both know why you didn't."
"This is ridiculous," Scooter told her.
"No, you're being ridiculous," Alex told him. "I'll talk to you tomorrow," Alex said and then turned around and walked the rest of the distance to our group.
"Okay, lets go," Gordon said obviously not wanting to get involved in what had just happened. I think he was determined to let Alex and Scooter figure things out on there own if they could.
"What was that about?" Guy asked me quietly as we headed for Coach Bombay's van.
"I'm not sure," I told him. I knew I was definitely missing pieces of the puzzle this time. Maybe I could get Julie to shed some light on it later.
By the time we got to the pizza place the little scene between Alex and Scooter had been forgotten. We were all laughing and joking over the pizza. And although I had been determined not to like Alex, by the end of the afternoon it was a little harder to do. The more time I spent with her the more I started to see her for who she was and not just a Hawk.
Charlie's POV:
"Come on Charlie, you need to put a good word in for me," Portman said to me as we headed toward the table where the rest of the Ducks had gathered for lunch. I noticed that Russ and Jesse were sitting at opposite ends of the table. I hadn't even ventured to find out what was going on between the two of them.
"Not a chance," I told Portman as I put my tray down on the table between Jesse and Guy. Portman took the empty seat across from me.
"Why not?" he asked. "You seem to be pretty chummy with her. You almost missed curfew last night when you were out with her."
Alex and I had ended up going to the ice cream parlor last night to talk. We started talking about stuff. I told her about my family life and how my mom and Coach Bombay were planning on getting married. We talked about our pee wee hockey teams a little bit and both decided to let the be the past and start over letting the Hawk/Duck rivalry be a thing of the past. I was all for it but I warned her that I wasn't sure how the other Ducks would take it. I knew Julie, Ken, Luis Russ and obviously Portman, wouldn't have a problem with her because of that because all they knew of the rivalry was what we had told them. I had a feeling her and Russ weren't going to get along anyway. After that she started telling me about her mom and how she had been sick with cancer last semester which was why she hadn't played hockey. She told me how her mom had died shortly before Christmas and I could certainly empathize with her what with losing Hans last fall. He had been a father figure for me. We had lost track of time and just barely made it back in time for the eleven o'clock curfew last night.
"You've got a voice. Introduce yourself," I told him purposely not answering his question.
"She might think I'm too forward," Portman said. I couldn't help it. I laughed at that comment. That had never stopped him before. Between him and Luis I wasn't sure who had alienated more of the girls here at Eden Hall.
"Besides," Averman said from a couple seats down the table, "I think Charlie has a crush on her himself."
"I do not," I shot back at him. "We're just friends. Just like I'm friends with Connie and Julie."
"Yeah, you better be just friends with Connie," Guy said from beside me. I was guessing he and Connie had made up from the afternoon before. I could tell he was joking. At least I was hoping he was joking.
"Then what's the problem. Its not like I'm trying to get you to set me up. I just want you to introduce me to her," Portman said not giving up.
"Look, Portman I'm not going to do it so you might as well drop it."
"At least give me a reason."
"Fine you want a reason. I don't think you're her type," I told him.
"Are you saying I'm not good enough for her?" Portman asked.
"I didn't say that," I said quickly not wanting him to jump across the table and start pounding me. However, personally that is exactly what I thought. "I just don't think you're her type. I don't think the two of you would get along."
"Fine. I'll show you. I'll get her without your help," Portman said and then started eating his lunch. I could tell he wasn't happy with me but what could I do. He had been the one that kept pressing the subject.
"How's basketball going?" I asked Jesse trying to change the subject.
"Fine. I think we're ready for our opening game on Tuesday night." Jesse told me.
"Good, because if I'm going to give up my Tuesday night to watch basketball then I expect you guys to win," I told him.
"You got it," Jesse told me with a grin.
As I looked up I noticed that Portman was now staring at a point behind me. I turned around to find out what he was staring at but I should've known without having to look. At one of the small tables along the side of the cafeteria Alex and Shane Larson sat talking together.
***flashback***
Adam and McGill had taken the face-off. McGill had gotten control of the puck and sent it back to the Hawk's number 99, Strickler. Adam had tried to get the puck away from him but hadn't been able to. When Strickler tried passing it to one of his teammates I was able to get a hold of the puck. I had immediately passed the puck off to Banks who headed down ice with it.
I had started following him down ice but Banks being the better skater had pulled away from me. At first I had thought he had been able to break away from the rest of the Hawks to but the McGill had come up from the opposite side of the ice as me. I had watched helplessly as McGill had caught Adam from behind and used his stick to knock Adam down to the ice. As Adam went down he still managed to get the shot off and the puck went into the net giving us our first goal ever against the Hawks. Against his old team.
We had celebrated at first but then Adam hadn't gotten up from the ice. He lay face first on the ice next to the net where he had fallen after McGill had shoved him down. Larson had been one of the first one who had realized something was wrong and he knelt down beside his former teammate. I was close enough to hear him when he turned and looked up at McGill who was standing near by.
"What did you do?" Larson had asked him.
"My job," McGill had replied easily and with no remorse for what he had done.
Larson had not left Adam's side until one of the referees had made him as the paramedics came in to attend to Adam. The referee had led him over to his team's box as my teammates and I had stood watching the paramedics concerned for our teammate.
***end flashback***
I don't think any of us had told Adam about the concern Larson had shown for him after his injury. I know I never had. And to tell you the truth I'm not sure why I never did. Maybe I should have. Maybe if I had Adam and Larson would have still be friends.
Looking at the two of them the conversation I had with Alex the night before came back to me. I had told her that I would put the Hawk/Duck rivalry in the past and start new. Now was my chance to show her I had meant it and maybe put a stop to any trouble that would start between my friends and Larson.
"I'll be back," I told my friends and got up and headed across the cafeteria to where the two were sitting. "Hi Alex," I said as I approached the table.
"Hi Charlie," she said looking up at me. Across from her Shane suddenly became very interested in the food on his plate. I didn't know whether or not to take that as a good sign or a bad sign. 'What have I got to lose' I thought to myself. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly before I opened my mouth.
"Hey Shane, I know we've had are problems in the past but I was hoping that maybe we could put all that junk behind us and start over," I said. I held out my right hand to him although part of me didn't think he would take it. Part of me was waiting for him to stand up and punch me or something.
Instead he looked up at me with a smile on his face. "I'd like that," he said taking my hand and shaking it.
Maybe we wouldn't be friends but at least we wouldn't be enemies. I looked over at Alex to see that she was smiling. I smiled back at her.
"I got to get back to my lunch," I told them. "See ya this afternoon," I told Alex.
"Okay," she said. As I walked away I could hear her and Shane go back to their conversation as I walked away.
"What was that about?" Guy asked as I sat back down in my seat between him and Jesse.
"Just setting things right," I told him taking a bite of my food.
"You've got to be kidding," Jess said from the other side of me. "All the crap that he did to you and all of us and you're going to go over, shake his hand and end it a that."
"Yeah," I told him why not.
"I don't trust him," Jesse said. "He's a Hawk."
"I'm with him," Goldberg said and Guy, Connie, Averman quickly agreed with him.
"So was Adam," Fulton said which I took to mean he was on my side. Julie, Luis, Dwayne, Russ, Ken and Portman looked completely loss.
"I'm I missing something again?" Dwayne asked.
"You're not alone this time," I heard Russ tell him.
"Look guys," I said. "I'm not asking you all to go over and forgive Shane Larson like I did. If you guys want to hold a grudge then go ahead but just do me one favor. Don't start any trouble."
"Fine," Jesse said beside me and as I looked around the table I saw the rest of the original Ducks nodding in agreement.
"Thank-you," I said and went back to my lunch. Around me the Ducks started talking about a movie that had recently come out.
Julie's POV:
I wasn't complete sure what had gone on at lunch other than the fact that Portman had a crush on Alex. I figured from what was being said that Shane Larson had skated on the team Adam had originally skated with back when the original Ducks were pee wees and that they didn't like him. Personally I didn't think he was that bad of a guy. I had met him briefly the other afternoon when I was with Scooter. Scooter Alex and him had been talking when I met with Scooter in the common room of Scooter's dorm building.
I decided to forget about it. Charlie had asked them not to start any trouble so I didn't think anything would come of it. It really had nothing to do with me anyway. I left the cafeteria after lunch and headed for my biology class. Once Adam came back to school I would have someone to walk with to the class as he was the only one of my friends in the same science class as me. In fact, because I was friends with him the teacher had paired me up as my lab partner which meant that for lab today I was by myself. I really did hope Adam would be back soon and not only so I had a lab partner. I also missed having him around.
My afternoon classes passed quickly. Before I knew it the final bell rang and I headed out of my history class. Averman and Goldberg were talking amongst themselves and Connie and Guy were too busy whispering to each other to notice me walking behind them. As I followed them down the steps fo the academic building I felt a hand come to rest on my shoulder. I looked behind me and found myself looking into the soft brown eyes of Scooter.
"Hey Julie," he said softly.
"Hi Scooter. What are you doing here?" I asked him. I knew Scooter's last class met on the opposite side of the building so if we met up at all right after classes it was outside the main entrance to the building.
"My teacher let us out early. I figured I'd come over and surprise you," he told me.
"Well, that you did," I said with a smile.
"I was wondering if you wanted to hang out before try outs."
"Yeah sure," I said with a shrug. I didn't have anything else planned until then.
Scooter and I headed over to The Eden Hall Café, a student hang out here on campus where a lot of the kids who didn't have cars hung out. We ordered sodas and found a small table in the corner to talk. Even though I had told myself that I wasn't going to talk to Scooter about try outs there was one question that I really wanted to ask. After debating on whether or not I should ask it while listening to him tell me about his day I finally just decided to go ahead and ask him.
"Did you have Kilpatrick trip Charlie on purpose during that drill yesterday?" I asked him quietly.
"What kind of question is that?" Scooter asked the smile leaving his face.
"I saw the look between you Kilpatrick yesterday right after that incident. You were hoping that Charlie would lose his temper and give you a reason to cut him weren't you?"
"So what if I was," Scooter said surprising me. I had expected him to deny it or try changing the subject. I hadn't expected him to admit to it.
"Its not fair," I told him. "Yes, maybe Charlie does have a temper but he deserves a fair chance."
"He shouldn't be on the team. At least not this year. He's too headstrong."
"You're just afraid that he won't listen to you. That he's a better leader than you are," I told him. I knew I was probably hurting my chances of making the team but at this point I really didn't care.
"He'll disrupt everything. I'd just have to end up breaking up fights between him and who knows who else. I saw how he reacted to Orion at the beginning of the season. I'm only a few years older than he is. I know I'm going to get no respect from him."
"If he doesn't respect you it would be because you didn't earn it. Right now I have no respect for you myself," I told him as I stood up and started walking away.
"Julie wait," Scooter called after me his tone more pleading than anything else now. I didn't stop though. I was mad. Mad at Scooter for what he had said and mad at myself for even bringing the subject up.
I retreated to my dorm room and was glad to find that Connie was not in it. She was probably out with Guy. Right then I just wanted to be alone. I went over to my desk and pulled out my journal. I didn't right in it everyday just when I was upset, like now. It helped me to think things through by writing everything down.
When my thoughts had come to a stop I happened to glance over at Connie's alarm clock. When I saw what time it was I closed my journal and stuffed it in the desk drawer quickly. If I didn't hurry I was going to be late for try outs.
I quickly grabbed my stuff and hurried toward the roller hockey court. I could see that most of the kids had already gathered. My friends were already there and I could see them gathered around in circle along with Alex, and Scooter. Coach Bombay stood near by smiling. I wondered what was going on as I came through the gate and headed toward them. As I got closer I could tell that someone was standing in the middle of the group.
"There she is," Averman said seeing me approaching the group. Russ stepped off to the side a little bit and I could see who was in the middle of the circle. It was Adam. I rushed over to the group and gave him a hug. I hadn't seen him since the holiday break and I was surprised to see him there today.
"Hi, Julie," he said quietly as he returned my hug.
"I missed you Adam," I told him. "What are you doing here today though. I thought you weren't coming back to Monday."
"I had to get out of the apartment," Adam said. "I managed to talk Gordon into letting me come watch try outs today."
"Well I'm glad you're here," I told him.
"You better get ready," Adam told me. I looked around to see that other than my friends everyone else was out skating around. Alex and Scooter were now quietly talking to Coach Bombay off to the side.
"You're right," I said. After my fight with Scooter this afternoon being late was last thing I needed.
I quickly put my skates and pads on and was ready just as Scooter blew his whistle to begin try outs. As I skated over to the center of the court to join everyone else I tried to make eye contact with him to see if he was still mad at me. As soon as our eyes met though he quickly looked away. I wasn't sure how to take that.
Connie's POV:
"Okay this is how the last day of try outs is going to work," Scooter began after we had all gathered around him in the center of the court. "We're going to divide you into two teams and play a scrimmage. We'll switch the players periodically and try to get everyone into most of the positions at least once. Coach Bombay will be switching players for one team and I'll do it for the other team. Alex is going to be out on the court with you all. She'll switch positions and switching teams from time to time. This scrimmage isn't about who can score the most points. We just want to see how different combinations work together and who works well with each other. Any questions?"
After the last couple of days I expected Russ to say something smart but for once he held his tongue which surprised me. I ended up on Scooter's team with Charlie and Averman. Guy, Russ and Julie were on the other team. From the look on Charlie's face I had a feeling he would have rather been with the other team.
"What's up?" I asked Charlie softly as the first group set up for the face off.
"I have a feeling I won't be playing much," Charlie whispered back looking directly at Scooter.
"You're just being paranoid. He isn't out to get you." I told him.
"Yes he is," Charlie said. "Alex told me he wanted to cut me day one because of my temper."
"Then prove him wrong." I told him. "Show him you can play without going off on anyone," I told him trying to encourage him. He just nodded.
Julie was out in the first group playing offense. She was making a few mistakes here and there but overall she was doing pretty well. As Gordon switched players and pulled Julie I saw Adam come over and give her a few words of advice. I couldn't pay to much attention though because Scooter put me into the game.
Alex was playing offense for my team at the time. She passed the puck to me and I started to head up court with it but Russ quickly stole it away from me. Russ headed toward the other net with the puck and ended up scoring a goal. Alex had me take the next face off and I didn't fare much better. I loss my stick in the face off. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't done that in years. I let out a sigh of relief when Scooter pulled me out of the game a few minutes later.
Charlie was still on the sidelines. In fact he spent most of try outs there. It didn't look like Scooter was going to give him a chance which I didn't think was fair. Here I was making a fool of myself and Charlie had to stand on the sidelines and watch. The way I felt right now I would have gladly traded places with him.
It was nearing the end of try outs when I finally saw Julie take the court as a goalie. As she took her place Scooter finally sent Charlie into the game. Alex, who had been skating for our team immediately motioned for Ryan Lambert to take her spot on our team and switched to the other team. I couldn't help but wonder what she was up to.
It wasn't long before Charlie got a hold of the puck and headed toward the goal with it. Alex picked him up and was trying to get the puck from him. And then she tripped him. Even I could see that. But Scooter, who had been calling all the penalties the whole time, didn't call it. Can he really be that blind? Somehow I didn't think so. I expected Charlie to go off - if not on Alex then on Scooter but he surprised me. Charlie just got to his feet and went back to playing the game.
'Way to go Charlie' I thought to myself.
I was so happy when try outs came to an end. The whole day had just been humiliating for me. As I was heading over to my stuff though I skated past Charlie who was talking to Alex.
"You tripped me on purpose didn't you?" Charlie asked calmly.
"Yeah I did," Alex admitted. "I wanted to see what you would do. You did good Charlie. Even when Scott didn't call the penalty you kept your cool."
"Thanks," Charlie said and then followed me over to our friends.
"So Connie what happened? Did the stick have butter on it or something?" Rus said as I sat down and started taking my skates off.
"Very funny," I told him sarcastically. "So I was having a bad day."
"Don't sweat it. I have those a lot," Averman said from behind me.
"Thanks - I think," I said in reply.
"So how does pizza for dinner sound to all of you?" Gordon asked coming over to our group. Needless to say everyone was enthusiastic about the idea.
"You going to invite Scooter," I asked Julie who was sitting beside me.
"No," she said simply.
"Did something happen between you two?" I asked her.
"You could say that," she said softly. "I tell you about it later," she said which I knew meant she would tell me when we were alone in our room tonight.
"Okay," I said as the two of us grabbed our stuff and joined the others by the gate.
"I think that's all of us now," Russ said looking eager to be going.
"Alex is coming with us," Adam said. I cast a glance at Guy and Averman. The two of them looked as happy about that as I felt. I still didn't really trust her. In my book she was still a Hawk.
Alex was just picking her skate bag up off the ground and walking toward us when we all heard Scooter call after her. "Alex are you going to talk to me."
"Later, when I'm not so mad at you," we heard her call back over her shoulder.
"What are you mad at me for?" Scooter asked. To me he looked like he really didn't know why she would be mad at him. By this time we weren't the only ones watching what was going on.
"What am I mad at you for?" Alex said turning around to face him. "A few things but I'll tell you the number one thing I'm mad at you for. You didn't call the penalty when I tripped Conway. We both know you should've and we both know why you didn't."
"This is ridiculous," Scooter told her.
"No, you're being ridiculous," Alex told him. "I'll talk to you tomorrow," Alex said and then turned around and walked the rest of the distance to our group.
"Okay, lets go," Gordon said obviously not wanting to get involved in what had just happened. I think he was determined to let Alex and Scooter figure things out on there own if they could.
"What was that about?" Guy asked me quietly as we headed for Coach Bombay's van.
"I'm not sure," I told him. I knew I was definitely missing pieces of the puzzle this time. Maybe I could get Julie to shed some light on it later.
By the time we got to the pizza place the little scene between Alex and Scooter had been forgotten. We were all laughing and joking over the pizza. And although I had been determined not to like Alex, by the end of the afternoon it was a little harder to do. The more time I spent with her the more I started to see her for who she was and not just a Hawk.