Note: I finally noticed that for minor characters, such as Orion's daughter and Charlie's stepdad, I unconsciously use the names used in other fanfics. I don't do this intentionally but I think that it adds a nice continuity to the fanfic world. I apologize to anyone whose names I stole!
Charlie Conway welcomed the idea of returning to school after vacation. The end of the summer meant that he could finally get away from home. Charlie always felt a pang of guilt when this thought entered his mind—he loved his mom and it was horrible of him to ever wish to be away. It was his heinous stepfather Charlie could not stand—Ray spent the whole summer goading him, subtly trying to curry favor from Charlie's mom.
"Honey, wouldn't it be a great idea to send Charlie to Freeman's Point this summer?" Ray had mentioned one day over the morning paper. Charlie remembered looking up sharply from his bowl of Lucky Charms. Freeman's Point was a summer camp for "troubled adolescents looking to find maturity, courage and strength"—but everyone knew that it was really a place where parents shipped off their kids to perform hard labor under the watchful eyes of malicious counselors. More like Nazis, Charlie thought. His mom looked ever-so-slightly interested in the prospect, smiling and nodding naively at Ray's enthusiasm. The only reason his mom ended up deciding against it was because she wanted to spend some 'quality time' with Charlie. Casey Conway Jenkins was a different person now, Charlie thought, and he had no allies at home anymore.
Charlie sauntered through the hallways of Eden Hall on the morning of his first day of school, full of cock-sure confidence and self-assurance. He was an upperclassman now, albeit just a junior, and Charlie had this inexplicable feeling that he owned this school. This year was going to be great.
Charlie smiled as he spotted his best friend, Adam Banks, walking up to him with his slightly uncoordinated gait. Eden Hall did not enforce a uniform policy, but Adam Banks still dressed in pressed khakis, a crisp button-down shirt and tie. Charlie had to laugh at how someone as skillful, dominating and beautiful to watch on the ice could be so awkward off of it. Maybe with the new year Adam would learn how to have a little more confidence in himself. In the newspapers, sports reporters who covered prep hockey sometimes referred to Adam as a piranha—ruthless and relentless. He could spot a weakness in his opponent's game and pick it apart like a general forcing an enemy into surrender. As soon as Adam stepped off the ice, however, he tended to defer to others and keep to himself. Nonetheless, they were the best of friends and Charlie was glad to see him.
They slapped hands in greeting. "Hey, my man, how's my favorite captain?"
Charlie smiled. "Hey, I'm good. And what are you talking about? Who says that I'm going to be captain this year?"
Adam pounded him on the shoulder in jest. "Don't be cheeky, Conway, like you don't know that Wilson is going to choose you as captain. Who else is he going to pick? All the seniors this year are Riley/Cole flunkies who can't think for themselves and most of the team this year is going to be made up of Ducks."
Charlie could not deny that he shared Adam's feelings. Charlie had been the Ducks' captain since the beginning and he had no intention of things changing. And why should they change, Charlie thought to himself as he and Adam walked down the hall, looking out for signs of the other Ducks. Life was just dandy the way it was and Charlie would take that, thank you very much.
"What's your homeroom this year?" Adam's voice snapped Charlie out of his thoughts. "I have Jimenez with Tamsin, Julie and Portman I think."
"I've got Williamson over at Greensburg Hall." Charlie thought for a moment. "Wait, doesn't Jimenez get all the honors kids? What is Portman doing in your homeroom?"
Adam shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe administration made a mistake. Anyway, I should get to class. See you later, Conway."
Charlie laughed. "Banks, it hasn't even been the first bell yet. Once a cake-eater, always a cake-eater, right?"
"Man, shut up," Adam could not help but smile as he entered his classroom, probably to discuss with Jimenez the Latin classics he read over the summer.
Charlie was caught by surprise as he felt a weight suddenly on his back. Charlie turned his head and Linda, his girlfriend, laughed playfully and kissed him on the cheek as he gave her an impromptu and carefree piggy-back ride down the hall. "Hey I missed you this summer. When did you get back from Florida?"
"I only got back this morning at 3:00am. I'm rooming with Connie. Did you know that she and Guy broke up over the summer?"
Charlie was taken aback as he let Linda off of his back. "Wait, what? How did this happen?" Connie Moreau and Guy Germaine had been together for as long as Charlie could remember. Back when Charlie was still sticking gum in the girls' hair back in preschool, Connie and Guy practically had their wedding vows written.
Linda shrugged. "I don't know. Connie was kind of hazy on the details. I suppose you could ask when you see them at your hockey practice today, right?"
Charlie was distracted from Linda's words. "Yeah, sure." The news disconcerted him more than it should have. Connie and Guy were the most stable of constants in Charlie's life and their breakup threw him for a loop.
Charlie dropped Linda off at her homeroom and stopped at the doorway of Mr. Williamson's room and took in the scene. Les Averman, Greg Goldberg, Fulton Reed, Luis Mendoza and Ken Wu were already there, huddled together, probably catching up on their summer activities. Charlie heard snippets of their conversation as he approached. "...got together with the homies and played some Final Fantasy...helped my parents pick out some new meats for the deli...so sad to say goodbye to Mindy" and he smiled. There were some things he could count on to stay the same.