First Day Disaster

Adam found a seat in Biology next to Steve. He saw some of the Ducks file into the classroom. They all shot him looks but didn't come over to talk to him. Soon the teacher came in. Her name was Mrs. Flannigan. Jeffrey had told him about her. She was big on tests and quizzes. You had to be a genius to get an A in her class. Today just kept getting better and better. The rest of his classes weren't too bad except his history teacher was weird.

He went back to his dorm to get his hockey bag. The floor was like a zoo. Everyone was trying to get their gear for the first practice of the school year. Soccer balls and footballs were coming from every direction it seemed. This dorm building was going to be interesting to say the least.

He walked with a few of the All Stars to the hockey rink and then into the locker room. When he got out of the locker room he noticed that Varsity was still practicing and the Ducks were all standing in front of the entrance to the ice. The All Stars were standing off to the side.

As Varsity passed them a guy, who was obviously the captain since he wore a C on his jersey, stopped in front of Micah. "So who's the player you wanted me to meet?"

Micah turned to face Adam with a big grin on his face. "Rick this is Adam Banks. Adam this is my brother Rick captain of the Varsity team."

"Micah told me you are a great player. I'll talk to Coach Wilson but I can't guarantee anything." Rick said and walked away.

"Should we go out on the ice?" Ian asked as they watched the Ducks do so. Adam watched enviously as they played Cowboy Roundup. He missed playing that.

"I don't think so. Let the Ducks look like idiots." Micah replied. "Here comes Coach."

"What's going on here?" She asked coming up to them.

"Some kind of Duck game." Jason Larson answered.

"Cowboy Roundup." Adam responded softly. Everyone turned to look at him. He looked down. He knew they thought it was stupid.

"Well get on the ice." Coach Donavon instructed. "Show them why you are the National Champions. " Micah led them onto the ice. "For the Ducks I'm Coach Donavon. Some of you will be on the team I'm going to coach. I coached the Minnesota All Stars."

"And I am Coach Orion. You can call me Coach, or Coach Orion."

"I prefer to be called Coach. " Coach Donavon said with a smile. "Do five laps and then we'll climb the ladder and a little scrimmaging." She blew her whistle.

They did laps and climbed the ladder. Both teams had two goalies so they took turns inside the net. Both teams didn't play together. It was from the start Ducks vs. the All Stars. The coaches didn't even try to make them play together. But the scrimmage felt great to Adam. He hadn't scrimmaged with the Ducks in two years. Neither team seemed to really have an advantage. Adam was tired and was glad when Orion blew the whistle ending practice. He followed the others into the locker room to change. Even the locker room was split down the middle.

The locker he had chosen was sort of the one that separated the groups. It was ironic. He sat at his locker too tired to move. He saw everyone on both teams were sitting on the floor or benches exhausted.

Orion and Donavon entered the locker room. Everyone sat up.

"This list contains the teams, positions and captains." Orion said. "This list contains the teams, positions and captains." Orion said. "Team A J will practice in the morning and Team B will practice in the afternoon after Varsity." Coach Orion stuck the list on the bulletin board. "I will be coaching Team A and Coach Donavon will be coaching Team B." He and Donavon left the locker room.

The teams all scrambled to see what the teams were. Adam was one of the last people up there. The teams truly were divided. This was what the teams looked like:

JV Team A Sharks Captain: Adam Banks

Blake Anderson Second line left Defense

Les Averman Second line right wing

Adam Banks First line center

Charlie Conway First line right wing

Guy Germaine Second line center

Greg Goldberg Back up Goalie

Jesse Hall First line left wing

Harris Miller goalie

Connie Moreau First line right defense

Patrick Newman Second line left wing

Christopher Ryder Second line right defense

Wilson Valentine First line left defense

JV Team B Ducks Captain: Micah Riley

Olivia Bink First line left wing

Steve Chase second line right defense

Nick Farmer back up goalie

Ian Fernandez second line right wing

Julie Gaffney Goalie

Jason Larson First line right wing

Luis Mendoza second line left wing

Fulton Reed First line left defense

Micah Riley First line center

Dwayne Robertson first line right defense

Russ Tyler second line center

Ken Wu second line left defense

Adam backed up in shock. He was on Team A and captain. He wasn't' sure what to think. He had never been Captain before. On the Ducks it had always been Charlie. And on the All Stars it was Micah. Could he be captain? It wasn't what he expected.

"Why are we called the Sharks?" Charlie demanded. "I thought your team was called the All Stars."

"Actually," Christopher answered, "Jason, Adam and I were on a team called the Sharks before the All Stars."

"And I have to be a Duck?" Micah asked incredulously. "At least the Sharks is an intimidating name."

"Ducks are better then the Sharks, punk." Jesse said getting in his face.

"Hey!" Adam said getting between the two. One was his best friend and the other was his former best friend.

"Whose side are you on?" Both asked him.

Adam looked from one to the other. His eyes filled with tears. "The All Stars. They didn't drop me." He said and ran out of the locker room.