Note: Hi all. Here's another update. Sorry for the wait but I've been
lacking inspiration with this story. I think I'm getting overwhelmed but
that's my problem not yours.
Crazy4nc128- I'm glad you enjoy it. It is complicated but then so is life. Thanks for reviewing.
C-chan96- Well, seeing as you've been reading my other story I have been updating I guess I don't need to explain things to you too much. I'm glad you like the fact that I put Charlie and Connie together. There is more of them in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading.
Banksiesbabe99 - here's the update you've been waiting for. Unfortunately Adam and Charlie don't make up yet in fact Charlie's busy making more problems but you'll have to read to find out about that.
Anne918- I'm glad you liked how I wrote the last chapter. I thought the Jesse/Adam conversation may have been a little too corny but I'm glad to hear you didn't think so. The intertwining subplots are starting to overwhelm me I think but I'm not abandoning the story no matter how long it takes me to write. Hope you like this chapter.
Jess- I'm glad you finally found the story (and then I go and take forever to update it -sorry). I'm glad to hear you like it. I don' plan on taking this story much past the Mrs. Conway's and Bombay's wedding but who knows what I might do with Adam if I make another sequel to this story. Thanks for the review and I hope you like the update.
Alex's POV:
"Okay everyone," I told my team as Scooter blew his whistle. "That's it for today. Don't forget that our first game is Monday."
The players scattered after that. I think we were ready. Scooter and I had checked out the team that we were to play on Monday. I had to admit, they were pretty good but I still think we had a chance. At the very least, it should be a close game.
"Hey Charlie, did you want to catch a movie or something tonight?" I asked him as we skated to the side of the court to take our skates off.
"Are you sure you have the time," he replied sarcastically taking me by surprise. I wasn't even sure where the attitude was coming from. I had thought my brother and I were getting along well. Evidently I had ben wrong.
"What's bothering you?" I asked him not really answering his question. I had a feeling he really didn't want an answer to the question he had just asked.
"Nothing," he said shrugging his shoulders. "Why should anything be bothering me? It just seems like everybody had been ignoring me lately and now that you guys have gotten bored with each other's company you expect me to drop everything and spend some time with you. Well forget it. I'm not playing that game," Charlie said picking up his bag.
"What are you talking about?" I asked not completely following Charlie's little tirade.
"Just forget it," Charlie said turning away and heading for the gate to the court. I saw Connie, who had come to today's practice, hurry after him.
I just shook my head and sat down next to my bag. I knew that pursuing this conversation right now wasn't probably the greatest idea as we would both probably end up saying things we would regret later.
"Got any plans for dinner?" Scott asked me as I was putting my skates into my bag.
"Not really," I told him zipping my bag and standing up.
"Well, Riley asked me to join him and his parents for dinner. Julie doesn't want anything to do with Riley and I really am not in the mood to deal with him alone so you want to come along?" Scooter asked.
"Not the most flattering dinner invitation I've ever had Scott," I told him with a smile.
"Sorry, this is one invitation I don't know how to make sound flattering. I mean come on, dinner with Riley and his parents. He's my best friend and I still don't really want to go."
"You got a point there," I told him with a laugh. "Okay, I'll go but just because I'm your friend."
"Great," Scott said with a smile. "Just do me a favor. No punching Riley in front of his parents. If you get the urge to hit him, wait until we get back to campus," he told me referring to the time that I had slugged Riley during one of the varsity practices the year before. That had been the incident that had almost gotten me kicked off the team by Coach Wilson until Scott had intervened on my behalf.
"I'll try," I told him.
"I guess that will have to be good enough," Scott said as we left the court and headed toward the dorms. It wasn't exactly how I had been planning on spending my Friday night but at least I had something to do.
"What's going on between you and Charlie?" Scott asked me as we walked.
"I'm not sure. All I did was ask him he wanted to do something tonight and he went off on me."
"Maybe he's just having a bad day," Scott told me trying to console me.
"I don't think its that," I told him. "I just hope what ever it is it gets resolved before next weekend so that it doesn't ruin the wedding."
"Well, you have a whole week," Scott said encouragingly. "That should be enough time to fix any problem."
"I hope so," I said not convinced at all.
Connie's POV:
I was shocked by Charlie's outburst at Alex as much as Alex seemed to be taking by surprise by it. I hadn't seen that coming. It was Charlie who had given Alex the benefit of the doubt at first and become her friend even before they found out that they were brother and sister. Now Charlie seemed to be mad at Alex and Adam too for that matter. All of the Ducks had noticed that during the course of the day. Charlie and Adam hadn't said two words too each other. In fact, Adam hadn't even eaten lunch with us. As far as I could tell, Adam hadn't even shown up in the cafeteria at lunch time.
"Charlie wait up," I called as I hurried after him lugging my hockey gear. The gear made it awkward to run and I had to do that if I had any chance of catching up to Charlie who still had his skates on.
At first I didn't think he was going to stop at all but then Charlie put on the breaks and leaned up against a nearby tree. I kept on jogging just in case Charlie changed his mind and decided not to wait for me.
"Charlie what's wrong?" I asked him coming to a stop and trying to catch my breath.
"Who said anything is wrong?" he said answering my question with a question and trying to deny what was as plan to day for me. I just looked at him with a look that clearly said I wasn't falling for it. "Oh alright," he finally said with a sigh. "I guess I'm just sick of feeling like I'm being used," Charlie told me sitting down on the ground beside the tree.
"Who do you think is using you?" I asked sitting down next to him. I was still completely lost. I had no idea what he was talking about.
"Adam and Alex and who knows who else," Charlie said.
"You're making absolutely no sense at all," I told him simply. "Besides, I thought you and Adam had worked your differences out over Christmas vacation and he's your best friend. And you and Alex seemed to hit it off from the beginning. I mean she's the one who gave you a chance at making the roller hockey team or have you forgotten that Scooter wanted to cut you on day one."
Charlie didn't say anything right away. He looked kind of thoughtful and I didn't want to spoil the mood so I sat there quietly waiting for him to say something.
"Well, some best friend Adam turned out to be. As soon as he made up with Shane and Alex he completely dumped me," Charlie told me. "And Alex has been completely monopolizing my mother."
"I think, you're just feeling jealous," I told him. Part of me was waiting for him to go off and leave. Instead he just looked over at me.
"I'm not jealous," he told me.
"If you say so," I said not really wanting to get into an argument with him.
"I'm not," Charlie said again although this time he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince me of the fact. I didn't say anything. We had just gotten together and I didn't want to mess that up. All the arguments I had gotten into with Guy over the years had done nothing to help our relationship. I wasn't about to begin my relationship with Charlie with an argument over this.
"How about we go out to eat and then catch a movie," I suggested instead hoping to get his mind off the current situation. I knew that right now what Charlie needed most was time and space to figure out exactly what it was he was feeling. I had gotten him thinking and that was probably the most help I could give him at this point.
"Sure," Charlie said as he started unlacing his skates and switching his sneakers. He put his skates away and then stood up and held a hand out to me. I took his hand and let him help me up. The two of us headed back toward the dorms.
"I'll meet you back down here in a little bit," I told him as we reached the steps. I wanted to take a quick shower and change clothes before we went out tonight.
"Okay," Charlie told me and then headed up the stairs. He already seemed to be in a better mood.
I headed down the hallway to my room. Julie wasn't in the room when I walked in. I dropped my bag on the floor near the wall and tossed the stick on the bed. I quickly grabbed a outfit out of my closet and headed for the bathroom to shower and change.
When I came out of the bathroom, Julie was lying on her bed reading the book we were reading for English class.
"Where are you going?" Julie asked looking up from her book as I came into the room.
"Dinner and a movie with Charlie," I told her. I could feel my face growing hot and hoped Julie didn't notice.
"Have fun," she said cheerfully going back to her book.
"You and Scooter have any plans?" I asked as I grabbed my brush and brushed out my hair.
"No, not tonight. He's going to dinner with Riley and his parents."
"And he didn't ask you to go with him?"
"Oh he asked," Julie told me. "I refused. Sorry but I would rather spend my Friday night with a good book rather than Riley no matter who else is with me," Julie said. "I think he convinced Alex to go with him."
"And you're okay with that?"
"Yeah why shouldn't I be," Julie answered easily. "He and Alex are just friends. I mean besides you, all my friends here are guys and Scooter doesn't get upset when I spend time with them. Besides, Adam asked me to join him, Shane, Guy and Jesse for dinner at the pizza place tonight. Shane's picking us up at six thirty."
"Well, have fun with the guys," I told her with a smile.
"You too," I told her grabbing my purse and heading out the door. Charlie was already waiting for me as I walked down the hallway toward the steps. He took my hand as I got closer and the two of us headed out of the dorm toward the bus stop.
Adam's POV:
"Come on Adam," I heard Jesse yell banging on the bathroom door. "We're going to be late and the only girl that's going to be there is Julie."
I smiled as I finished fixing my hair. Just because he didn't have any hair to worry about doesn't mean he has to get on my case. I took one last look in the mirror and opened the bathroom door.
"I'm done. Are you happy now?" I told him coming out of the bathroom.
"Whoever said girls take a long time to get ready never had you for a roommate," Jesse told me. I picked up my pillow and threw it at him.
"Okay, I deserved that," Jesse said with a laugh.
"Are you two coming?" Guy asked opening the door and sticking his head inside.
"Yeah, we're coming," I told him picking my pillow back up off the floor and tossing it on my bed.
"It's not in the right place," Jesse told me as we walked out into the hallway.
"Yeah, but his hair is perfect so it doesn't matter," Guy commented.
"What is this going to be - pick on Adam night," I said as we headed down the steps. Jesse and Guy just laughed.
"About time you guys showed up," Julie said from her spot against the wall at the bottom of the steps. "Seems like I've been waiting forever."
"Don't say a thing," I said before either Jesse or Guy could open their mouths.
"Did I miss something?" Julie asked as the four of us headed out of the dorm.
"Yes, but please don't ask what it is," I told her. Shane was already waiting outside along the curb . I got into the front seat as the other three piled into the backseat.
The ride into town was kind of quiet. My friends hadn't really spent much time with Shane yet and I'm not sure they knew what to say and I knew that Shane was nervous about tonight. It had taken me forever to convince him to even do this.
The five of us walked into the pizza parlor and found a table in the back away from most of the other people in the pizza place. After we had made our order there was silence around the table again. I wanted to say something to start the conversation seeing as I was friends with everyone here but not being good at conversations period I wasn't sure what to say. Thankfully, Shane finally broke the silence.
"So, the first roller hockey game of the season is Monday, are you two ready?" he asked Guy and Julie.
"Yeah I think so," Julie said.
"It's going to be a close game though," Guy said.
"I talked the coach into letting me skip practice to come to the game this one time," Jesse said. "So I'll be there to cheer you on."
"Great, the more people cheering the better," Julie told him. "Are you coming Shane?" Julie asked.
"Yeah, I'll be there. Alex might strangle me if I don't show up," he said.
"After today's practice, Alex might be strangling someone else," Guy commented. "I don't know what's going on between the two of them but Charlie and Alex didn't exactly seem to be getting along that well after practice this afternoon."
"Charlie's not exactly being the friendliest person here lately period," I commented without even thinking it. As soon as I said it I realized I was going to have to explain things to Julie, Guy and Shane.
Luckily the waitress showed up with our order at that point. I was hoping my comment would be forgotten but I wasn't that lucky.
"What's going on between the two of you anyway?" Julie asked as soon as the waitress had left, proving me right.
With a sigh, I told them about what had happened between me and Charlie the night before. In fact, we ended up discussing Charlie's weird behavior for awhile. Unfortunately none of us was able to come up with an idea on how to fix things but in the end I have to admit it felt good to talk about it with my friends.
Crazy4nc128- I'm glad you enjoy it. It is complicated but then so is life. Thanks for reviewing.
C-chan96- Well, seeing as you've been reading my other story I have been updating I guess I don't need to explain things to you too much. I'm glad you like the fact that I put Charlie and Connie together. There is more of them in this chapter so I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading.
Banksiesbabe99 - here's the update you've been waiting for. Unfortunately Adam and Charlie don't make up yet in fact Charlie's busy making more problems but you'll have to read to find out about that.
Anne918- I'm glad you liked how I wrote the last chapter. I thought the Jesse/Adam conversation may have been a little too corny but I'm glad to hear you didn't think so. The intertwining subplots are starting to overwhelm me I think but I'm not abandoning the story no matter how long it takes me to write. Hope you like this chapter.
Jess- I'm glad you finally found the story (and then I go and take forever to update it -sorry). I'm glad to hear you like it. I don' plan on taking this story much past the Mrs. Conway's and Bombay's wedding but who knows what I might do with Adam if I make another sequel to this story. Thanks for the review and I hope you like the update.
Alex's POV:
"Okay everyone," I told my team as Scooter blew his whistle. "That's it for today. Don't forget that our first game is Monday."
The players scattered after that. I think we were ready. Scooter and I had checked out the team that we were to play on Monday. I had to admit, they were pretty good but I still think we had a chance. At the very least, it should be a close game.
"Hey Charlie, did you want to catch a movie or something tonight?" I asked him as we skated to the side of the court to take our skates off.
"Are you sure you have the time," he replied sarcastically taking me by surprise. I wasn't even sure where the attitude was coming from. I had thought my brother and I were getting along well. Evidently I had ben wrong.
"What's bothering you?" I asked him not really answering his question. I had a feeling he really didn't want an answer to the question he had just asked.
"Nothing," he said shrugging his shoulders. "Why should anything be bothering me? It just seems like everybody had been ignoring me lately and now that you guys have gotten bored with each other's company you expect me to drop everything and spend some time with you. Well forget it. I'm not playing that game," Charlie said picking up his bag.
"What are you talking about?" I asked not completely following Charlie's little tirade.
"Just forget it," Charlie said turning away and heading for the gate to the court. I saw Connie, who had come to today's practice, hurry after him.
I just shook my head and sat down next to my bag. I knew that pursuing this conversation right now wasn't probably the greatest idea as we would both probably end up saying things we would regret later.
"Got any plans for dinner?" Scott asked me as I was putting my skates into my bag.
"Not really," I told him zipping my bag and standing up.
"Well, Riley asked me to join him and his parents for dinner. Julie doesn't want anything to do with Riley and I really am not in the mood to deal with him alone so you want to come along?" Scooter asked.
"Not the most flattering dinner invitation I've ever had Scott," I told him with a smile.
"Sorry, this is one invitation I don't know how to make sound flattering. I mean come on, dinner with Riley and his parents. He's my best friend and I still don't really want to go."
"You got a point there," I told him with a laugh. "Okay, I'll go but just because I'm your friend."
"Great," Scott said with a smile. "Just do me a favor. No punching Riley in front of his parents. If you get the urge to hit him, wait until we get back to campus," he told me referring to the time that I had slugged Riley during one of the varsity practices the year before. That had been the incident that had almost gotten me kicked off the team by Coach Wilson until Scott had intervened on my behalf.
"I'll try," I told him.
"I guess that will have to be good enough," Scott said as we left the court and headed toward the dorms. It wasn't exactly how I had been planning on spending my Friday night but at least I had something to do.
"What's going on between you and Charlie?" Scott asked me as we walked.
"I'm not sure. All I did was ask him he wanted to do something tonight and he went off on me."
"Maybe he's just having a bad day," Scott told me trying to console me.
"I don't think its that," I told him. "I just hope what ever it is it gets resolved before next weekend so that it doesn't ruin the wedding."
"Well, you have a whole week," Scott said encouragingly. "That should be enough time to fix any problem."
"I hope so," I said not convinced at all.
Connie's POV:
I was shocked by Charlie's outburst at Alex as much as Alex seemed to be taking by surprise by it. I hadn't seen that coming. It was Charlie who had given Alex the benefit of the doubt at first and become her friend even before they found out that they were brother and sister. Now Charlie seemed to be mad at Alex and Adam too for that matter. All of the Ducks had noticed that during the course of the day. Charlie and Adam hadn't said two words too each other. In fact, Adam hadn't even eaten lunch with us. As far as I could tell, Adam hadn't even shown up in the cafeteria at lunch time.
"Charlie wait up," I called as I hurried after him lugging my hockey gear. The gear made it awkward to run and I had to do that if I had any chance of catching up to Charlie who still had his skates on.
At first I didn't think he was going to stop at all but then Charlie put on the breaks and leaned up against a nearby tree. I kept on jogging just in case Charlie changed his mind and decided not to wait for me.
"Charlie what's wrong?" I asked him coming to a stop and trying to catch my breath.
"Who said anything is wrong?" he said answering my question with a question and trying to deny what was as plan to day for me. I just looked at him with a look that clearly said I wasn't falling for it. "Oh alright," he finally said with a sigh. "I guess I'm just sick of feeling like I'm being used," Charlie told me sitting down on the ground beside the tree.
"Who do you think is using you?" I asked sitting down next to him. I was still completely lost. I had no idea what he was talking about.
"Adam and Alex and who knows who else," Charlie said.
"You're making absolutely no sense at all," I told him simply. "Besides, I thought you and Adam had worked your differences out over Christmas vacation and he's your best friend. And you and Alex seemed to hit it off from the beginning. I mean she's the one who gave you a chance at making the roller hockey team or have you forgotten that Scooter wanted to cut you on day one."
Charlie didn't say anything right away. He looked kind of thoughtful and I didn't want to spoil the mood so I sat there quietly waiting for him to say something.
"Well, some best friend Adam turned out to be. As soon as he made up with Shane and Alex he completely dumped me," Charlie told me. "And Alex has been completely monopolizing my mother."
"I think, you're just feeling jealous," I told him. Part of me was waiting for him to go off and leave. Instead he just looked over at me.
"I'm not jealous," he told me.
"If you say so," I said not really wanting to get into an argument with him.
"I'm not," Charlie said again although this time he sounded more like he was trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince me of the fact. I didn't say anything. We had just gotten together and I didn't want to mess that up. All the arguments I had gotten into with Guy over the years had done nothing to help our relationship. I wasn't about to begin my relationship with Charlie with an argument over this.
"How about we go out to eat and then catch a movie," I suggested instead hoping to get his mind off the current situation. I knew that right now what Charlie needed most was time and space to figure out exactly what it was he was feeling. I had gotten him thinking and that was probably the most help I could give him at this point.
"Sure," Charlie said as he started unlacing his skates and switching his sneakers. He put his skates away and then stood up and held a hand out to me. I took his hand and let him help me up. The two of us headed back toward the dorms.
"I'll meet you back down here in a little bit," I told him as we reached the steps. I wanted to take a quick shower and change clothes before we went out tonight.
"Okay," Charlie told me and then headed up the stairs. He already seemed to be in a better mood.
I headed down the hallway to my room. Julie wasn't in the room when I walked in. I dropped my bag on the floor near the wall and tossed the stick on the bed. I quickly grabbed a outfit out of my closet and headed for the bathroom to shower and change.
When I came out of the bathroom, Julie was lying on her bed reading the book we were reading for English class.
"Where are you going?" Julie asked looking up from her book as I came into the room.
"Dinner and a movie with Charlie," I told her. I could feel my face growing hot and hoped Julie didn't notice.
"Have fun," she said cheerfully going back to her book.
"You and Scooter have any plans?" I asked as I grabbed my brush and brushed out my hair.
"No, not tonight. He's going to dinner with Riley and his parents."
"And he didn't ask you to go with him?"
"Oh he asked," Julie told me. "I refused. Sorry but I would rather spend my Friday night with a good book rather than Riley no matter who else is with me," Julie said. "I think he convinced Alex to go with him."
"And you're okay with that?"
"Yeah why shouldn't I be," Julie answered easily. "He and Alex are just friends. I mean besides you, all my friends here are guys and Scooter doesn't get upset when I spend time with them. Besides, Adam asked me to join him, Shane, Guy and Jesse for dinner at the pizza place tonight. Shane's picking us up at six thirty."
"Well, have fun with the guys," I told her with a smile.
"You too," I told her grabbing my purse and heading out the door. Charlie was already waiting for me as I walked down the hallway toward the steps. He took my hand as I got closer and the two of us headed out of the dorm toward the bus stop.
Adam's POV:
"Come on Adam," I heard Jesse yell banging on the bathroom door. "We're going to be late and the only girl that's going to be there is Julie."
I smiled as I finished fixing my hair. Just because he didn't have any hair to worry about doesn't mean he has to get on my case. I took one last look in the mirror and opened the bathroom door.
"I'm done. Are you happy now?" I told him coming out of the bathroom.
"Whoever said girls take a long time to get ready never had you for a roommate," Jesse told me. I picked up my pillow and threw it at him.
"Okay, I deserved that," Jesse said with a laugh.
"Are you two coming?" Guy asked opening the door and sticking his head inside.
"Yeah, we're coming," I told him picking my pillow back up off the floor and tossing it on my bed.
"It's not in the right place," Jesse told me as we walked out into the hallway.
"Yeah, but his hair is perfect so it doesn't matter," Guy commented.
"What is this going to be - pick on Adam night," I said as we headed down the steps. Jesse and Guy just laughed.
"About time you guys showed up," Julie said from her spot against the wall at the bottom of the steps. "Seems like I've been waiting forever."
"Don't say a thing," I said before either Jesse or Guy could open their mouths.
"Did I miss something?" Julie asked as the four of us headed out of the dorm.
"Yes, but please don't ask what it is," I told her. Shane was already waiting outside along the curb . I got into the front seat as the other three piled into the backseat.
The ride into town was kind of quiet. My friends hadn't really spent much time with Shane yet and I'm not sure they knew what to say and I knew that Shane was nervous about tonight. It had taken me forever to convince him to even do this.
The five of us walked into the pizza parlor and found a table in the back away from most of the other people in the pizza place. After we had made our order there was silence around the table again. I wanted to say something to start the conversation seeing as I was friends with everyone here but not being good at conversations period I wasn't sure what to say. Thankfully, Shane finally broke the silence.
"So, the first roller hockey game of the season is Monday, are you two ready?" he asked Guy and Julie.
"Yeah I think so," Julie said.
"It's going to be a close game though," Guy said.
"I talked the coach into letting me skip practice to come to the game this one time," Jesse said. "So I'll be there to cheer you on."
"Great, the more people cheering the better," Julie told him. "Are you coming Shane?" Julie asked.
"Yeah, I'll be there. Alex might strangle me if I don't show up," he said.
"After today's practice, Alex might be strangling someone else," Guy commented. "I don't know what's going on between the two of them but Charlie and Alex didn't exactly seem to be getting along that well after practice this afternoon."
"Charlie's not exactly being the friendliest person here lately period," I commented without even thinking it. As soon as I said it I realized I was going to have to explain things to Julie, Guy and Shane.
Luckily the waitress showed up with our order at that point. I was hoping my comment would be forgotten but I wasn't that lucky.
"What's going on between the two of you anyway?" Julie asked as soon as the waitress had left, proving me right.
With a sigh, I told them about what had happened between me and Charlie the night before. In fact, we ended up discussing Charlie's weird behavior for awhile. Unfortunately none of us was able to come up with an idea on how to fix things but in the end I have to admit it felt good to talk about it with my friends.