"Oh, but that's not all!"

Larson punched my arm hard and glared at me. "Banks shut up!"

I rubbed my arm and locked eyes with Charlie. "Ok, after his really crummy practice, with all of his gear on he runs after Riley and grabs onto his sleeve and makes him stop and goes with two little tears rolling down his cheeks, 'Coach'," Ryan punched my arm as I choked on my chuckles and yelped and glared at him. "He said, 'Coach, you can't put me back onto 3rd line! My dad . . . he's counting on me, I need to make him proud!" I threw my arms up into the air dramatically.

Ryan rolled his eyes and focused on Charlie and Fulton. "Oh come on! I was eight! Give me a break."

Charlie, by now was consumed with laughs and Fulton was shaking his head, trying his best not to laugh at the smaller boy beside him.

Ryan shook his head and pointed at me as our cokes were brought to us at the diner as were sat around a round table. "I don't even know why I started talking to him in kindergarten. I really don't."

"That's because you knew I was the shit!" I explained taking a gulp of my drink and grinning charismatically.

"Shithead!" Ryan punched my arm playfully making Fulton snort and cough after taking a drink.

Charlie grimaced and shifted away from Fulton. "Jesus! Ok no more stories from way back when! You just make coke come out of Fulton's nose!" He threw some napkins at Fulton who was still laughing.

Just as quickly as our laughs had erupted, they stopped and an awkward silence overcame us all as Fulton wipes his face off. My eyes looked from friend to friend each of their eyes telling a story of their own, just as mine did.

Charlie's told a story of constant teasing and ridicule over things he didn't have any control over. They told a story of countless nights of wondering why his family had no money to spare after buying the necessities of life, while mine had enough money to last about a lifetime or two.

Ryan's tale was one of following the crowd and being very withdrawn from the group; always getting in trouble, even if he wasn't the one who actually did anything. He was basically the decoy for either McGill or I; more often McGill. What he really needed were new friends, but stayed with us out of easiness and fear of the unknown. Some people are scared of the unknown because of the fact that if you were in pain and actually did something and you got more pain, it could be worse and at least the pain you're in now is familiar.

Fulton, his eyes were clouded over with mystery. He was the unknown. He didn't go out of his way to talk to people and people didn't go out of their way to talk to him. His eyes spoke of times when he was alone without anyone and everyday he would defend other people and all he would get was a nod and maybe a thanks, if he were lucky and if he wasn't, he would get a look of fear.

"Why did it take so long for us to be friends?"

I looked away from Fulton and glanced at Ryan who was swirling the straw in his coke around and looked extremely interested in the bubbles floating up from the bottom of his drink. He looked over at me and around the table meeting everyone's eyes.

Charlie shrugged and put a soft smile on his face. "I don't know."

Fulton shifted in his seat. "We were focusing too much on our differences rather than our similarities." He explained with a nod.

"I wish I could take it back." I whispered licking my lips and looking down at the table. "All of it."

Ryan nodded. "Me too."

Charlie shook his head. "Forget it. It was stupid stuff that a bunch of ten year olds did."

Fulton bit his lip and bashfully stared into his drink. "How long were you guys tied to that tree?"

Ryan looked up and his brow furrowed. "Tree?" He blinked. "Oh! The tree!" He exclaimed rather surprised after figuring out that Fulton was talking about the day at the lake while we were collecting all the Ducks for the Goodwill Games. "An hour at most. McGill's mother was coming down with our lunch and found us."

Fulton quietly laughed with Ryan. "Sorry about that." He chuckled softly.

"Hey, no prob. It was McGill's stupid idea to try and clothesline the rest of your team. We kind of deserved it. Although stealing our clothes was a different spin to that burn." Ryan shrugged with a smirk spread across his face. "But, it's not the only tree that I've been tied to."

My face dropped. Although Josie was stuck in my mind like a bad song, I hadn't gotten all fucked up about it because of the fun I was having. They hadn't distracted me from her, but something had kept me from feeling upset and depressed.

Ryan looked over me and slapped his forehead. "Jeez, sorry man. I forgot; you don't want to talk about it."

Charlie and Fulton looked from me to Larson curiously. "You don't want to talk about what?" Charlie asked frowning at me.

I sighed. "Josie."

"You know Josie?" Charlie asked Larson, seeming slightly shocked.

Ryan shrugged. "Kind of." He looked over at me. "You didn't tell them about McGill?"

I shook my head. "No. I didn't think it was necessary."

Fulton blinked. "You didn't think what was necessary?" He rubbed his forehead in frustration. "Could you guys be a little bit more descriptive? This is like trying to understand a secret code."

I sighed. I might as well tell them now, seeing that if I didn't they would be bugging me about it until they die or I die, whichever comes first. "The day of the game against the Knights, I took Josie to Hawk Creek and then McGill--"

"Wait!" Charlie stopped me. "Hawk Creek?"

I exchanged looks with Larson and bit my lip after Larson nodded, Okaying me to tell them. "It's a tiny creek near McGill's house and that's what we named it."

Fulton raised his eyebrows. "You named a creek after your hockey team?"

Ryan narrowed his eyes. "We were seven and in a bind and it was the first thing that came to mind."

Charlie raised his hands in mock surrender. "We aren't bad-mouthing the name!" He chuckled halfway through. "We were just wondering."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Anyways, he took Josie down to the creek and McGill saw people going down the bank towards it and was wondering who it was from his bedroom and we walked down to the creek and found them and McGill tried to beat Adam up, but Josie came up with an idea to tie me to a tree and go down there and surprise McGill."

"Wait." Fulton said frowning. "McGill tried to beat you up before the game?"

I shrugged. "It happens."

Fulton shook his head. "Almost getting beat up by a player on the opposing team a couple hours before a game, doesn't just happen Banks."

Charlie stared at me. "Ducks fly together. No more secrets okay?"

I nodded and rolled my eyes at Charlie's use of 'ducks fly together'. After hearing it since pee wees, it had basically turned into a cliché. "Ok, can we change the subject now onto something slightly lighter like the last game you saw?"

"Who did the Wilds play last night?" Fulton frowned. "Kenny was bringing me up to speed in English."

Charlie glanced over at him. "Oilers and we won 4-0. But I'm still upset with the Stars. I'm hoping they do better tonight."

"You're a Stars fan?" Ryan asked with wide eyes.

"Yeah, although, I'm a little pissed at them. They did---"

"Leave Minnesota after all." Ryan finished with a nod and a tiny smile. "Me too."

I shook my head and took a sip of my drink. Is it me, or is the smell of a new friendship lingering around us?

~*~

The courtyard was deathly silent as we rolled in at about 11:30pm; a half hour late for curfew on the weekends. We would have to be very sneaky to get into the building now. Thankfully, Fulton had a friend on the first floor and we would be able to get in through his window and into our beds for the random midnight bed checks.

I sat down beneath the window with Charlie and Fulton taking off our skates before we even attempted getting into the building.

"Ok, so next week, we do the same thing, but this time we'll bring some more Ducks;  mostly the out of state ones, so the Ducks like Averman and Goldberg can warm up to the idea of hanging out with a Hawk." Charlie whispered out of the blue. "But, I'll try to get Guy to come."

I laughed. "Too funny." I shook my head. "I told you that you shouldn't have made assumptions about him."

Charlie narrowed his eyes and me and pulled off his skate. "I'm glad we haven't grown out of the 'I told you so. . .' stage."

"I told you so!" I smiled and pushed on my shoe and tied the laces quickly.

Fulton brought a finger to his lips and frowned. "Can we be a little bit more inconspicuous here?" He hissed shoving his skates into his backpack. "I do not need a detention for being late for curfew."

I nodded and bit my lip so I wouldn't be temped to speak.

Charlie looked around us erratically with a look of worry on his face. "Do you guys hear something?"

Fulton shook his head. "Only you Charlie." He said peeking out of the bushes that gave us camouflage from the light that illuminated the pathways and the gardens in the night.

My ears perked at the sounds a pair of footsteps along a cement path not too far away. "I think I heard someone." I hushed my voice to as soft as I could.

Fulton immediately moved away from the front of the bushes as quietly as he could and looked from Charlie to me nervously. "Do you think it's a teacher?" He breathed, swallowing nervously and pulling his knees to his chest so he wouldn't take up as much space.

Charlie opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the person.

"Will you please leave? If I have a guy in my dorm, Julie will flip and the teacher on duty will have me under house arrest for a month! Not to mention I'm completely disregarding curfew here!" An extremely familiar voice hissed at a second person.

My eyes widened. "It's Josie!" I moved to get up but both Charlie and Fulton grabbed my shoulders and forced me onto the frozen ground. "But g-"

Fulton slapped a hand over my mouth and focused on eavesdropping on the conversation.

"Joslyn, please! I won't make a noise. You won't even notice me." The second voice replied.

My eyes widened. "It's Will!" I hissed at Charlie after peeling Fulton's hand off my face. I attempted to stand up but their hands were still firmly on my shoulders keeping me planted where I was.

"No!" She quietly yelped back at him, obviously getting annoyed and frustrated with him. Their voices seemed to stay the same volume so they must've stopped. "I don't even like you. Go away!"

"Joslyn; I told you the truth!"

"Will you stop calling me that?!"

"You have to trust me. I wanted to tell you but he was threatening me!"

"I don't care! I want you to leave me alone Will! I'm tired, I have school tomorrow and I don't want to talk about Adam anymore!"

My eyes widened and I tried my best to push Charlie and Fulton off me. I had to tell her the truth. I couldn't just let him drag my name through the mud! It wasn't fair. Fulton and Charlie grabbed onto me for dear life and waited until the footsteps were gone, one in the direction of the girl dorms, and the other towards the main exit.

I turned to them both. "Why did you do that?!" I spat at them angrily, my eyes narrowing at them. "You just let Will bad-mouth me and lie about in front of my girlfriend!"

Fulton raised his hand. "Technically she's your ex."

If looks could kill, Fulton would've been dead as a doornail.

"We were saving you from yourself!" Charlie replied getting up onto the balls of his feet and allowing Fulton to tap on the window above us. "Had you jumped out of the bushes; Josie wouldn't only not trust you even more for eavesdropping on her conversations; she would probably think you were her stalker; us included; and would've gotten a restraining order!"

I stared at him completely shocked. He was completely right. Thank God for Captain Duck!

The squeaking of one of the old windows being opened filled the air around us and a tired looking boy with black, tousled hair leaned out of the window, with his eyes half closed. "What?" He groaned, rubbing one of his eyes with the back of his hand and settling it on the window frame.

Fulton stood up and looked around. "Troy; let me in. I get one more detention and I'm suspended."

"Fult?" He grunted. "Yeah, yeah, get in and close the window." He said moving out of the way.

Fulton stepped onto a rock that was 'strategically' put under the window and pulled himself into the room with help from half asleep Troy and motioned for us to follow.

As I pulled myself onto the ledge and into the building I couldn't help but think one thing.

What the hell was she doing with Will?

~

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A/N: Hey there. Yeah, I was majorly blocked during this chapter. I was really PO-ed. Anyways, there isn't too much to say about this chapter. *throws hand dramatically over forehead* Alas! I, the person who can never shut up; has nothing to say to the general public!

Shout outs!

OreoLine00- Oh I so forgive you! And I'm so proud of you! If I ever tried to fix my computer by myself, it would implode. I swear to God! Well at least you read the last couple chapters! And enjoyed them! Yeah, I just noticed that. The last 2 were shorter. Hmmm… Thanks, I'll try and write more ok? It isn't you. It's me. Well, for me it isn't spring break, my excuse is too much homework, example, my French ISU. Ugh… I should get started on that. Have fun partying! Later!

Erica- Hey! Yeah of course I remember you! I'm glad you liked a chapter 13 and 14; however, I don't think your entire review went through for chapter 13! How crumby is that! I'm so glad you're caught up and I can't wait to hear more from you! Thanks so much!

Banks'-gurl-99- Hey there! Are you a new reviewer? Anyways, Hi there! Welcome! Oh, I couldn't figure out what to call the chapter so I just picked something out quickly. Sorry about the confusion there! Anyways, I hope you enjoy my chapters and hopefully I'll hear more from you later! Thanks for the review!

Rach- Hi! I was so excited to get your review! I love them so much! You make me laugh! And don't worry about Adam! He's ok! *clears throat* Adam- "I swear I won't hurt Averman. Mainly because Katie really likes him and she said that she would bring back Linda if I did hurt him. *shivers*." See! No worries. I love writing Ryan (he's like an OC, but not… so it's so cool!) so it's amazing that you love him! And baby Orion! Yay! I have seen teen pregnancy over and over in this fandom, but I've never seen Orion! So I was like, 'I'm so doing that!' And my famous subplots! Yeah, I'm planning on an Averman one (care to guess it?) and a Ryan one (which you probably wouldn't guess, it has nothing to do with the Ducks). The Averman one is going to be PURELY comedy. I hope you enjoy it. I'm thinking of introducing it in the next chapter… or the chapter after that. Later!

Emily- Hey there! I really hate writing fillers because it's like being in the middle of a 10min presentation, and then 8mins in, you run out of things to say. I sit there and panic like 'omigod! What now!!!' I usually sit there for like for a few minutes staring blankly at the screen. My mom looks at me funny. lol! Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I hope to talk to you soon!

SqUiDsLiLpYrO- Hey there! Yup, Orion has a new baby! Yeah Adam was really smart wasn't he?? I'm glad you won't melt any more TV dinners. I'm quite sure that it isn't a good idea. Oh and while we're on the subject… don't put any metal in the microwave while you're at it. Yes more Larson! I love writing him, so he's going to be a more consistant feature in my chapters. Good luck on the not burning food and Later!

Beaner- Hey there! I'm so glad you like Orion's subplot! I feel like I read ten billion Connie or Julie pregnancies that I thought I was going to puke! So I thought, lets be different! Baby usually = happy time, especially if the people are married etc. etc. etc. So Orion! Go Orion! Something new! I want to have Guy in there someplace, but I can't quite find the right place for him yet. Yup, I added a little bit of Josie in there! You guessed what was going to happen! *pouts* That wasn't fun! You already knew she was going to be with Will! Go more guessing for you! *points* We have telepathic communication and you read my thoughts! It's no fair! *laughs* Anyways, I hope you like this chapter and I can't wait to read your review! Later!

REVIEW

~Toodles

KatieGurl