Adam sighed and took a look around his room to see if there was anything he forgot to load into his gear bag. He had everything he could think of and had in fact he'd already checked and double checked his bag twice. Subconsciously the boy was stalling, the thought of starting his first day as a Duck was unnerving. Plus the fact that he'd all but been disowned by his father wasn't helping any. Seeing that he was all packed he zipped his bag, tossed it over his shoulder and ran down the stairs, and out the front door.
"Where do you think you're going little brother?" Nick had heard the front door close and had gotten up off the couch, to reach the porch just in time to stop his little brother was leaving the yard.
Adam stopped at the front gate and turned around, shielding his eyes from he sun with his hand.
"I have a game, I gotta get walking or I'm gonna be late."
The older Banks brother shook his head.
"No you're not, get in the car I'll drive you."
"No, it's okay Nick, Kory's here, hang out with her, I'll walk."
"Adam, I'm bigger then you, if I have to pick your ass up and toss you in the car, I'll do it. So go stuff your shit in the trunk, I'm going to get my girlfriend and my jacket and I'll be out in a second."
With a Cheshire cat grin Adam put his gear in the trunk of his brother's car and climbed into the back seat. It was never planned but in the back of his head, he'd known Nicholas was going to bail him out. When Nick came out in his Blake High jacket, with Kory on his arm Adam smiled again, his brother really was the coolest. Nick turned on the radio and Kory crinkled her nose at him, like he smelled like moldy cheese or something.
"What?" He looked at her confused.
"Oh nothing." Kory rolled her eyes.
Adam reached over the seat and tapped his brother on the shoulder.
"Nick, you're cool but you're not to bright are you?"
"What are you talking about Adam?"
"Does your girlfriend listen to the radio?"
"Oh right, thanks Adam." Nicholas laughed and turned the stereo back off. "Sorry sweetie."
Adam snorted and leaned back in his seat with a grin, his brother and Kory were going to make great parents one day. He just wished they could rub off on his parents. But then Philip and Regina were ideal parents, to Nick. That's where he learned it from.
"Thanks for the ride Nick, the game should be over around 5:00 if you're planning on coming back to get me." Adam got out and walked to the front of the car an leaned in Kory's door.
"No way little brother, we're staying for the game." Nick told him. "So get off the side so we can park."
As Adam turned to walk into the building he was so excited. How could he have thought Nicholas was going to let him start on a new team and not stay to watch? That was foolish, of course super brother was going to stay. It couldn't be any other way, Nick was perfect after all. It was hard for Adam not to be bitter about his brother's constant flaunting of his perfect ness.
As he walked down the back hall of the rink, Adam literally ran into Larson and McGill, crashing with full force into McGill's chest and falling down. It was just his luck that the Hawks would've had a game that same day, which had just gotten over.
"Traitor." Steven spat at him like venom, without so much as offering a helping hand to pull his former friend to his feet.
"Huh?" Adam was to stunned for words, and his tailbone hurt like hell to boot.
McGill muttered something about destroying 'Duck Scum' and surged off down the hall with a robot like stiffness.
"Did I miss something?"
"Don't worry about him, Adam." Larson held out his hand and hoisted up the other boy.
Adam dusted of his dark jeans and picked his gear bag back up.
"Okay, so what's all that traitor stuff about.?"
Larson chewed the inside of his cheek tentatively.
"Well, I don't really know how else to say this, but you've sorta been labeled a ,Benedict Arnold . Coach Reilly, doesn't want us to talk to you anymore."
"Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack, so I better get going before he sees me fraternizing with the enemy. Um… maybe I'll call you tonight."
Adam finished his walk to the locker room in a daze, he wasn't a traitor. He still wanted to be friends with the Hawks, especially Steven and John. So what if he was on different team, what should that matter? It wasn't like the Ducks were going to stand in the Hawks way of winning the championship, they'd be lucky in they even made the play offs. Then suddenly he wasn't hurt anymore, suddenly he was angry. If the Hawks were his really friends they wouldn't just drop him because Reilly told them to. Most of the team didn't even like the coach, he remembered all the conversations he'd had with the other two stooges about their distain for the pushy instructor. They were all twofaced and if that was the away they wanted to play, he'd do his best to keep them down. As long as he could still stand up on his skates, Adam Banks would make sure he Ducks made it to the Championship game, those Hawks were going down.
Frustrated he shoved the locker room door open and the mindless chatter he'd heard coming up the hall instantly ceased. All eyes were on him, some burning holes in his fair skin, others making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The tension was so thick you could practically see it as it pushed down on the ten year old boy's shoulders. He was just about ready to turn tail and run, proclaiming he was going to switch to tennis, when Bombay walked in and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey, I didn't think you'd show up." His new Coach certainly had a far more friendly voice then his former one had.
"Whatever, I just want to play hockey." Adam grumbled shifting his gaze to the dingy grayish-white piled floor.
"Ducks, you all know Adam Banks."
Adam forgot himself for a second and almost smiled as one of the Ducks, he wasn't sure but he thought his name was Charlie Conway, stepped forward to greet him.
"On behalf of the Ducks, I'd like to say well-"
Unfortunately that friendly gesture would be cut short by Jesse Hall. Adam was really starting to hate that guy and he barley knew him well enough to recognize him on the street.
"Cake-Eater." Jesse growled.
Adam's stomach knotted, after the run in with his two ex-best friends he wasn't in the mood for an argument, he knew he didn't mentally have the strength.
"Ohhh, Jesse dissin' the new guy, the Jester." The redheaded four eyed kid sitting beside Jesse on the bench started to ramble.
"Shut up Averman!" Jesse snapped and turned his attention back to Adam. "Putting on a Duck's jersey doesn't make a real Duck."
As the team began to push past Adam on their way out the door, a few took extra care to 'accidentally' elbow him in the arm on the way by. If the boy hadn't been kicking himself for his decision prior, he defiantly was after that.
"They're a good group once you get to know them." Bombay tried to ease the boy's mind.
But Adam only managed a half hearted,
"I'll bet."
"Well suit up, I'll see you on the ice."
Once he was finally alone Adam walked over to a bench and plopped down with a exasperated sigh. His jersey was hanging from one of the lockers and gingerly he fingered the fabric. Number 99, that was the number Bombay had, had on his Ducks jersey. A little adventure through a stack of order forms that had just been left on Mr. Ducksworth's desk the last time Phil brought his youngest son by there had given him that information. Just the forbidden 9, then 99, he couldn't escape it, he was a mini Bombay.
"I bet Bombay never chose hockey over his family, I bet Bombay never lost all his friends just to play. I bet Bombay's dad never made him pick between his father's love and the one thing that matters the most to him. I'm no Bombay fate, I'm me I'm Adam Banks!" he cried out into the other wise silent room. "I'm not Nick and I'm not Bombay!"
As tear continued to trickle down his flushed cheeks he dressed. Why was life playing with him like that? Why couldn't be just be him, was that such a hard thing to ask? One final thing crossed his mind as he left the locker room for the ice. Would the Ducks be so nasty to him if they knew all he gave up, just to play with them? It didn't matter though, they're respect wasn't that important to him. At least not that second it wasn't, there was a game to win.
"Where do you think you're going little brother?" Nick had heard the front door close and had gotten up off the couch, to reach the porch just in time to stop his little brother was leaving the yard.
Adam stopped at the front gate and turned around, shielding his eyes from he sun with his hand.
"I have a game, I gotta get walking or I'm gonna be late."
The older Banks brother shook his head.
"No you're not, get in the car I'll drive you."
"No, it's okay Nick, Kory's here, hang out with her, I'll walk."
"Adam, I'm bigger then you, if I have to pick your ass up and toss you in the car, I'll do it. So go stuff your shit in the trunk, I'm going to get my girlfriend and my jacket and I'll be out in a second."
With a Cheshire cat grin Adam put his gear in the trunk of his brother's car and climbed into the back seat. It was never planned but in the back of his head, he'd known Nicholas was going to bail him out. When Nick came out in his Blake High jacket, with Kory on his arm Adam smiled again, his brother really was the coolest. Nick turned on the radio and Kory crinkled her nose at him, like he smelled like moldy cheese or something.
"What?" He looked at her confused.
"Oh nothing." Kory rolled her eyes.
Adam reached over the seat and tapped his brother on the shoulder.
"Nick, you're cool but you're not to bright are you?"
"What are you talking about Adam?"
"Does your girlfriend listen to the radio?"
"Oh right, thanks Adam." Nicholas laughed and turned the stereo back off. "Sorry sweetie."
Adam snorted and leaned back in his seat with a grin, his brother and Kory were going to make great parents one day. He just wished they could rub off on his parents. But then Philip and Regina were ideal parents, to Nick. That's where he learned it from.
"Thanks for the ride Nick, the game should be over around 5:00 if you're planning on coming back to get me." Adam got out and walked to the front of the car an leaned in Kory's door.
"No way little brother, we're staying for the game." Nick told him. "So get off the side so we can park."
As Adam turned to walk into the building he was so excited. How could he have thought Nicholas was going to let him start on a new team and not stay to watch? That was foolish, of course super brother was going to stay. It couldn't be any other way, Nick was perfect after all. It was hard for Adam not to be bitter about his brother's constant flaunting of his perfect ness.
As he walked down the back hall of the rink, Adam literally ran into Larson and McGill, crashing with full force into McGill's chest and falling down. It was just his luck that the Hawks would've had a game that same day, which had just gotten over.
"Traitor." Steven spat at him like venom, without so much as offering a helping hand to pull his former friend to his feet.
"Huh?" Adam was to stunned for words, and his tailbone hurt like hell to boot.
McGill muttered something about destroying 'Duck Scum' and surged off down the hall with a robot like stiffness.
"Did I miss something?"
"Don't worry about him, Adam." Larson held out his hand and hoisted up the other boy.
Adam dusted of his dark jeans and picked his gear bag back up.
"Okay, so what's all that traitor stuff about.?"
Larson chewed the inside of his cheek tentatively.
"Well, I don't really know how else to say this, but you've sorta been labeled a ,Benedict Arnold . Coach Reilly, doesn't want us to talk to you anymore."
"Are you serious?"
"As a heart attack, so I better get going before he sees me fraternizing with the enemy. Um… maybe I'll call you tonight."
Adam finished his walk to the locker room in a daze, he wasn't a traitor. He still wanted to be friends with the Hawks, especially Steven and John. So what if he was on different team, what should that matter? It wasn't like the Ducks were going to stand in the Hawks way of winning the championship, they'd be lucky in they even made the play offs. Then suddenly he wasn't hurt anymore, suddenly he was angry. If the Hawks were his really friends they wouldn't just drop him because Reilly told them to. Most of the team didn't even like the coach, he remembered all the conversations he'd had with the other two stooges about their distain for the pushy instructor. They were all twofaced and if that was the away they wanted to play, he'd do his best to keep them down. As long as he could still stand up on his skates, Adam Banks would make sure he Ducks made it to the Championship game, those Hawks were going down.
Frustrated he shoved the locker room door open and the mindless chatter he'd heard coming up the hall instantly ceased. All eyes were on him, some burning holes in his fair skin, others making the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. The tension was so thick you could practically see it as it pushed down on the ten year old boy's shoulders. He was just about ready to turn tail and run, proclaiming he was going to switch to tennis, when Bombay walked in and patted him on the shoulder.
"Hey, I didn't think you'd show up." His new Coach certainly had a far more friendly voice then his former one had.
"Whatever, I just want to play hockey." Adam grumbled shifting his gaze to the dingy grayish-white piled floor.
"Ducks, you all know Adam Banks."
Adam forgot himself for a second and almost smiled as one of the Ducks, he wasn't sure but he thought his name was Charlie Conway, stepped forward to greet him.
"On behalf of the Ducks, I'd like to say well-"
Unfortunately that friendly gesture would be cut short by Jesse Hall. Adam was really starting to hate that guy and he barley knew him well enough to recognize him on the street.
"Cake-Eater." Jesse growled.
Adam's stomach knotted, after the run in with his two ex-best friends he wasn't in the mood for an argument, he knew he didn't mentally have the strength.
"Ohhh, Jesse dissin' the new guy, the Jester." The redheaded four eyed kid sitting beside Jesse on the bench started to ramble.
"Shut up Averman!" Jesse snapped and turned his attention back to Adam. "Putting on a Duck's jersey doesn't make a real Duck."
As the team began to push past Adam on their way out the door, a few took extra care to 'accidentally' elbow him in the arm on the way by. If the boy hadn't been kicking himself for his decision prior, he defiantly was after that.
"They're a good group once you get to know them." Bombay tried to ease the boy's mind.
But Adam only managed a half hearted,
"I'll bet."
"Well suit up, I'll see you on the ice."
Once he was finally alone Adam walked over to a bench and plopped down with a exasperated sigh. His jersey was hanging from one of the lockers and gingerly he fingered the fabric. Number 99, that was the number Bombay had, had on his Ducks jersey. A little adventure through a stack of order forms that had just been left on Mr. Ducksworth's desk the last time Phil brought his youngest son by there had given him that information. Just the forbidden 9, then 99, he couldn't escape it, he was a mini Bombay.
"I bet Bombay never chose hockey over his family, I bet Bombay never lost all his friends just to play. I bet Bombay's dad never made him pick between his father's love and the one thing that matters the most to him. I'm no Bombay fate, I'm me I'm Adam Banks!" he cried out into the other wise silent room. "I'm not Nick and I'm not Bombay!"
As tear continued to trickle down his flushed cheeks he dressed. Why was life playing with him like that? Why couldn't be just be him, was that such a hard thing to ask? One final thing crossed his mind as he left the locker room for the ice. Would the Ducks be so nasty to him if they knew all he gave up, just to play with them? It didn't matter though, they're respect wasn't that important to him. At least not that second it wasn't, there was a game to win.