Disclaimer: I don't own any of the ducks, disney does - those lucky ducks.
Shoutouts: Thank you to all who reveiwed my story! THANK YOU!
For some weird reason he couldn't put his finger on, Portman went to the hockey rink that morning, since it was too cold and too dark to go outside to the pond. He brought his book, Taming of the Shrew, with him. He pulled it out of his sack and began to read, right there in the middle of the ice.
"Fie, fie on all tired jades, on all mad masters, and all foul ways," he read aloud. "What in the hell is THAT supposed to mean?"
He stared blankly at the page, trying to figure out what half of the words meant, but he couldn't. "God," he said, "I'm so damn dumb!" With that, he threw the book across the rink where it hit one of the boards and lay limply on the ice. "Great, the spine is bent," he said, knowing that the library would make him pay a fine for it. He was still very upset at what had happened last night.
"Yeah, I don't even know what it means," a voice rang out behind him.
Adam skated up to him very fast with a strange smile on his face, it didn't fit him. "Hey Banks," Dean said, moving to go get his book.
"Don't bother asking Julie about it, she's just as dumb as you are," Adam said, racing ahead to get his book.
"Julie's not dumb," was the first thing that came to his head and the first thing out of his mouth. Damn, he was supposed to be mad at her. "I mean, Averman is dumber," he added.
Adam let out a false laugh, that kid was acting really creepy today. He had seemed so welcoming at the airport. He bent down and grabbed the book. "What would you know about Julie, huh Portman?" he asked.
"Well, I, uh," was all that came out. She's really pretty, wait, no, she's a hockey player; hockey players aren't 'pretty'. Hockey players are tough.
"I saw her go in to your dorm room last night, what was that all about?" Adam asked, skating around the rink a couple of times, circling him.
"She had to talk to…" he thought about it, did he really want to get Fulton in trouble? What, trouble? Cake-Eater couldn't land a punch on anyone if he tried. "She had to talk to someone, she was just asking around," he finished. It was a good excuse.
"Tell Fulton to stay away from Julie," Adam said, looming over him. He had grown a good three inches since the last time he had seen old Banksie. Portman had the strangest urge to haul off and slug him one in the face. He wasn't anybody's messenger.
"Yeah, whatever, can I have my book back?" Portman said gruffly.
Adam started skating backwards slowly, showing no signs of giving him anything except a threat, "Portman, stay away from Julie, she's mine," he said icily.
"I thought you two broke up," he said automatically. He couldn't even begin to picture them going out in the first place.
He sneered at Portman, the big oaf, he didn't know anything - he shouldn't know anything. Julie was his whether the baby brothers liked it or not. "That's just what she thinks," he said coldly. He reached the door, "Have a nice day, Portman," he spat and threw the book hard at Portman's head.
Portman caught it and Adam turned harshly to get off of the ice. The last thing he heard Portman say was, "Damn! It's all wet!" That brute certainly had a mouth on him.
There was no way that Portman could tell anyone but Fulton about his conversation with Adam. It was spooky; this definitely wasn't the Cake-Eater he had left behind last summer. Julie was right; he didn't know the team, any of them anymore.
He burst through his door that afternoon to find…Goldberg sitting on his bed eating a sandwich? Fulton was sitting on his bed, reading his own copy of Taming of the Shrew. "What the heck does 'bondmaid' mean?" he said without looking up.
Goldie shrugged, "How would I know?"
Thank God Goldberg hadn't changed. "Hey, what are you doing on my bed?" Portman asked harshly, seeing the crumbs that had surrounded Goldie.
He looked down at his food and then back at Dean, "I'm helping my good buddy Fulton here study for the next English class."
Fulton gave out a short laugh, "Every question I ask him, he says the exact same thing," he made his voice high, "'how would I know?'"
That made a smile come to Portman's face, he sounded more like Connie when she was screaming at Guy for doing something stupid. He rolled over to his desk and opened up the bottom drawer. He then pulled out a cordless vacuum and tossed it Goldberg. "Clean your mess up," he ordered.
"You actually own one of these things?" he said, giving the inanimate object a disgusted look.
Dean gave out a hollow laugh, "Yeah, my dad gave it to me for my birthday two months ago, he said, 'put it to good use in your room, now go get me a beer.'" He rolled his eyes as the mini vacuum began suctioning up half of Goldie's lunch.
After a while Goldberg got up and headed for the door, "Well, it's been nice talking with you all, but I gotta go," he said.
"You're only leaving because you finished your sandwich," Fulton called after him with a sigh.
"And what a tasty sandwich it was, I feel smarter already," he called back.
The whole conversation with Adam didn't really feel all that important then to Portman so he just set it in the back of his mind and ignored it the rest of the day. They spent the rest of the daylight hours using the dictionary to get through the book. When they reached Act four, Scene Four, Dean threw his book against the wall again. He had given up trying to look up 'affied' and he stormed off to change his clothes so he could sleep.
"Maybe I'll go for the sympathy angle," he told Fulton after turning out the light. "I'll tell her that I 'accidentally' dropped my book and ran over it with one of my back wheels and it ripped it in half, making it totally impossible to read," he sighed.
Fulton chortled, "Can you 'accidentally' run over mine eleven times?"
Shoutouts: Thank you to all who reveiwed my story! THANK YOU!
For some weird reason he couldn't put his finger on, Portman went to the hockey rink that morning, since it was too cold and too dark to go outside to the pond. He brought his book, Taming of the Shrew, with him. He pulled it out of his sack and began to read, right there in the middle of the ice.
"Fie, fie on all tired jades, on all mad masters, and all foul ways," he read aloud. "What in the hell is THAT supposed to mean?"
He stared blankly at the page, trying to figure out what half of the words meant, but he couldn't. "God," he said, "I'm so damn dumb!" With that, he threw the book across the rink where it hit one of the boards and lay limply on the ice. "Great, the spine is bent," he said, knowing that the library would make him pay a fine for it. He was still very upset at what had happened last night.
"Yeah, I don't even know what it means," a voice rang out behind him.
Adam skated up to him very fast with a strange smile on his face, it didn't fit him. "Hey Banks," Dean said, moving to go get his book.
"Don't bother asking Julie about it, she's just as dumb as you are," Adam said, racing ahead to get his book.
"Julie's not dumb," was the first thing that came to his head and the first thing out of his mouth. Damn, he was supposed to be mad at her. "I mean, Averman is dumber," he added.
Adam let out a false laugh, that kid was acting really creepy today. He had seemed so welcoming at the airport. He bent down and grabbed the book. "What would you know about Julie, huh Portman?" he asked.
"Well, I, uh," was all that came out. She's really pretty, wait, no, she's a hockey player; hockey players aren't 'pretty'. Hockey players are tough.
"I saw her go in to your dorm room last night, what was that all about?" Adam asked, skating around the rink a couple of times, circling him.
"She had to talk to…" he thought about it, did he really want to get Fulton in trouble? What, trouble? Cake-Eater couldn't land a punch on anyone if he tried. "She had to talk to someone, she was just asking around," he finished. It was a good excuse.
"Tell Fulton to stay away from Julie," Adam said, looming over him. He had grown a good three inches since the last time he had seen old Banksie. Portman had the strangest urge to haul off and slug him one in the face. He wasn't anybody's messenger.
"Yeah, whatever, can I have my book back?" Portman said gruffly.
Adam started skating backwards slowly, showing no signs of giving him anything except a threat, "Portman, stay away from Julie, she's mine," he said icily.
"I thought you two broke up," he said automatically. He couldn't even begin to picture them going out in the first place.
He sneered at Portman, the big oaf, he didn't know anything - he shouldn't know anything. Julie was his whether the baby brothers liked it or not. "That's just what she thinks," he said coldly. He reached the door, "Have a nice day, Portman," he spat and threw the book hard at Portman's head.
Portman caught it and Adam turned harshly to get off of the ice. The last thing he heard Portman say was, "Damn! It's all wet!" That brute certainly had a mouth on him.
There was no way that Portman could tell anyone but Fulton about his conversation with Adam. It was spooky; this definitely wasn't the Cake-Eater he had left behind last summer. Julie was right; he didn't know the team, any of them anymore.
He burst through his door that afternoon to find…Goldberg sitting on his bed eating a sandwich? Fulton was sitting on his bed, reading his own copy of Taming of the Shrew. "What the heck does 'bondmaid' mean?" he said without looking up.
Goldie shrugged, "How would I know?"
Thank God Goldberg hadn't changed. "Hey, what are you doing on my bed?" Portman asked harshly, seeing the crumbs that had surrounded Goldie.
He looked down at his food and then back at Dean, "I'm helping my good buddy Fulton here study for the next English class."
Fulton gave out a short laugh, "Every question I ask him, he says the exact same thing," he made his voice high, "'how would I know?'"
That made a smile come to Portman's face, he sounded more like Connie when she was screaming at Guy for doing something stupid. He rolled over to his desk and opened up the bottom drawer. He then pulled out a cordless vacuum and tossed it Goldberg. "Clean your mess up," he ordered.
"You actually own one of these things?" he said, giving the inanimate object a disgusted look.
Dean gave out a hollow laugh, "Yeah, my dad gave it to me for my birthday two months ago, he said, 'put it to good use in your room, now go get me a beer.'" He rolled his eyes as the mini vacuum began suctioning up half of Goldie's lunch.
After a while Goldberg got up and headed for the door, "Well, it's been nice talking with you all, but I gotta go," he said.
"You're only leaving because you finished your sandwich," Fulton called after him with a sigh.
"And what a tasty sandwich it was, I feel smarter already," he called back.
The whole conversation with Adam didn't really feel all that important then to Portman so he just set it in the back of his mind and ignored it the rest of the day. They spent the rest of the daylight hours using the dictionary to get through the book. When they reached Act four, Scene Four, Dean threw his book against the wall again. He had given up trying to look up 'affied' and he stormed off to change his clothes so he could sleep.
"Maybe I'll go for the sympathy angle," he told Fulton after turning out the light. "I'll tell her that I 'accidentally' dropped my book and ran over it with one of my back wheels and it ripped it in half, making it totally impossible to read," he sighed.
Fulton chortled, "Can you 'accidentally' run over mine eleven times?"