Wow, 20 reviews...I'm so HONORED!!!!! *wipes away MORE tears of joy* I love
you guys to DEATH!
S-c-h-i-z-o-A-u-t-h-o-r-e-s-s- Thank you! I'm glad you like!
Chelsea- No prob, my computer does that all the time. ^_^ And thank you, I thought so too. Charlie is cool. I'm glad everyone seems to have enjoyed the flashback. That's good news. ^_^
Skeet11- Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!
Natasha Hyatt- Thank you! *grins*
Lelu- It's okay, I'm thinking about bringing Bombay in later. Charlie just needs to feel nice and abandoned right now. ^_^ Lol, just kidding. Thanks! I'm glad you think so.
Disclaimer- I still don't own the Mighty Ducks...it's a cryin' shame...
-Chapter 4-
Charlie sat on his bed, staring blankly at the wall. There was nothing to do. The Ducks were probably still playing hockey. He COULD get off his lazy butt and join them but he wasn't even in the mood. It almost didn't seem worth it.
He felt empty when he realized the thought that had just crossed his mind. Not in the mood for hockey...that didn't feel right. Without hockey...he didn't even want to think about it...
He let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed a pillow. He propped his head on it without ever taking his gaze from his wall. He had found this lovely little stain on his wall. It was from one time when the Ducks came over and they had a food fight...not that brilliant, but it seemed like a great idea at the time. Now his mother refused to allow food or drinks in his room.
Yeah, so it was really stupid to throw spoiled applesauce up against the wall...how were THEY supposed to know it didn't come off?
That led to another thought...applesauce could spoil?
Letting another sigh out, he closed his eyes and tried to think of anything to occupy his thoughts...ANYTHING to prevent thinking of him.
What a creep. Thinking he could just waltz back into his life on a white horse and everything would be okay. Yeah, right...
"Waltzing on a white horse? That would be quite a trick..." Charlie muttered sarcastically to himself as a grin spread across his face.
He did it again! He allowed himself to think of his father...no, he wasn't his father...he didn't deserve the title of father...
His gaze fell on the phone again. He STILL couldn't believe Bombay was busy. But he couldn't blame him, the Ducks were obviously not top-priority to the Ex-Hockey Coach. It wasn't his fault. Charlie knew he had been expecting too much from him by calling. Besides, he could just bug him about it later...
Charlie took in a breath and looked down at himself, noticing he was still in his hockey stuff.
He stood up and grabbed a clean shirt and some jeans from his closet. He slipped off his hockey stuff and put on the fresh clothes.
Smiling and feeling a little better, he gathered up the reeking hockey clothes and put his blades back on. He would drop this stuff back at the school and maybe check up to see if the others were still at the basketball court. Moping all day wouldn't help. He had to forget about this guy, his dad.
Jamming hockey pads and a sweaty jersey in his backpack, Charlie grabbed his ice skates and took off down the stairs.
Bad idea.
But it took him a few seconds to realize that.
He stood up from the jumbled mess he had created on the way down.
"I'm going to have to stop doing that..." Charlie muttered to himself as he massaged his head and picked his backpack back on and picked up the skates, relieved he didn't now have ice skates sticking out of his stomach or something gross like that. "So THAT'S why we were helmets..."
Grinning to himself, he opened the door and stepped out into the warm air. It was humid. He looked at his watch to notice it was about 5. Had he really been in his room THAT long?
Shrugging it off, it off, he began speed skating down the sidewalk.
He stopped only when he saw a car driving by. It was a black Cadillac. It took him a minute to realize why this stopped him. His father used to drive one that looked like that.
"Okay, now I'm going crazy. I can't freeze up anytime I see a car that looks like his or a man that resembles him. I have to get over this." He said angrily to himself as the grin faded and the depressed mood returned.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the school. He walked up to the door that leads to the gym. He pulled on the doors and discovered sourly that it was locked.
"Of COURSE it's locked...it's a SATURDAY! The only people here today were Coach and some Custodians...I feel like such moron." He muttered grimly to himself as he turned for the court, hoping the Ducks could by some chance still be there.
"Charlie?" he heard a voice call.
He whipped around, praying it wasn't his "father".
It was Coach Orion.
Charlie let out his breath that he had involuntarily been holding.
"It's just you." Charlie said quietly to himself.
"Charlie, is there something wrong?" Orion asked the boy.
"No." Charlie replied.
"Do you need in?" Coach Orion asked motioning to the door.
Charlie nodded a yes so Orion opened up the door.
"I don't usually do stuff like this but I'll make an exception." Orion said as he walked through the door with Charlie to the locker room.
"Thanks Coach. I really appreciate it." Charlie said as he unpacked his stuff.
"Why now though? Why didn't you change here before you left?" Orion asked, hoping it could lead to what happened with the man before. He didn't trust him.
"I got...distracted..." Charlie muttered as he put the now-empty backpack on his back.
Orion nodded and they walked out of the room, locking it behind them.
Just as Charlie was about to leave, Orion called him back. "Conway! What did that man say to you?"
Charlie hesitated for a second. What could it hurt? If Bombay wasn't there to accept his frustrations, could he really handle them? Sure there was the Ducks but he needed so talk about it to someone else first. He needed to know if he had been in the right or wrong keeping it from his friends.
"It could take awhile..." the teen replied.
"I have awhile. What a coincidence." Orion said, sitting down on a bench.
Charlie smiled at him. He was relieved they had overcome any rough edges that had been there at the beginning of the year. "But, don't you have a family at home?" Charlie asked.
"Yes, but I have a feeling they won't mind. Now spill." Orion said with a small smile.
"Okay. That's a good enough answer for me." Charlie said, returning the smile.
They sat there for about one and a half hours as Charlie explained the situation. Orion gave him advice and told him he would keep and eye out on him.
"Thanks coach. I really appreciate this." Charlie said.
"No problem. It seems even you kids have issues. But I have one question, why did you open up to me? Why not Bombay?" Orion asked seriously.
Charlie shrugged. "Bombay wouldn't pick up his phone. He was busy so I had to talk to his secretary. Since when did he have a secretary?" Charlie said, laughing. His mood was good again. In fact, he was in such a good mood, he figured he would go through with telling his friends about his dad.
Orion laughed with him, but he had been kind of hoping that Charlie would say that he considered him first thing. Sure the kid seemed to trust him now, but all of the Ducks seemed to favor Bombay. Not that he blamed them at all, it was just that sometimes he wished his players would come to him first, not as a last resort.
"Well, I should probably go. Thank you for sharing that with me Charlie." Orion said. "Now get outta here!" he said with a grin and he lightly tapped Charlie in the back with a hockey stick to shoo him away.
"See ya later Coach!" Charlie said grinning as he put his skates back on. He had taken them off sometime in between arriving there and then. He felt much better after talking to Coach Orion. He felt completely ready for talking to the other Ducks.
"Bye Charlie!" Coach Orion called after Charlie.
Charlie skated out to find the other Ducks. He jumped over some benches trying to get back to the court, deciding it was worth a shot.
Unfortunately, it was already seven o' clock and no one was there.
Charlie's face fell when he saw the empty court. He mentally kicked himself. How could he have been stupid enough think they would still be here? Even they had better things to do on a Saturday.
Adding to the trauma of Charlie's day, he heard thunder.
Letting out a sigh of frustration, he bit his lip as rain began pouring down on him. This was NOT his day...
He walked into the court surrounded by a wire fence anyway. It was raining hard and he heard thunder but instead of turning around, he slung his now soaking wet backpack on the ground. It was empty anyway. There was nothing of importance in it.
He grabbed the wire fence and kicked it as hard as he could with his roller blades.
Repeatedly.
As soon as he got his violence fix out of the way, he continued hanging onto the wire fence and put his head up against it. He took in a deep breath before turning away from the fence and the street to stare at the brick building that served as the other boundary for the court.
He sat down on the wet ground. Dirt had been tracked in so he really was sitting in a muddy puddle of water but for some reason, this didn't bother him. It didn't bother him at all that his mother would have a hissy fit when he came home in muddy jeans and dirty, wet clothes. He just added it to his list of miseries. How was it POSSIBLE to have such a horrible day? And on a SATURDAY!
The distressed boy turned his face to the sky and watched as raindrops fell around him and on his face.
It got to the point where he couldn't tell if the drops of water falling down his face were rain or tears. He pulled his knees to his chest and laid his head on top of them. When he noticed his breaths were coming in irregular intervals he figured he was crying. But he didn't even care anymore.
"What is my problem today?" he asked himself without moving from his current position.
He looked up at the storming clouds again as he muttered bitterly to himself, "I guess this is punishment for never watching to the weather channel. Either that or someone up there doesn't like me..."
Finally recovering from his mental breakdown, Charlie stood up and wiped his face with a sleeve.
Then he realized his sleeve had been in that lovely muddy puddle.
He just took a deep breath, grabbed his soaking wet backpack and decided he wasn't going to even say anything. He was just going to go home, and go to sleep.
He and another thought hit him.
He was wearing roller blades, not shoes.
"Peachy...this is all just peachy..." he mumbled to himself as he slowly took off, deciding his day couldn't get any worse so why bother?
He was skating around in circles, watching people scramble for cover.
'Why bother?' he thought himself. '...You're already wet anyway.'
Inside his mind he was debating where to go. Home, or the dorms? If he went home, his mom would blow a fuse at his appearance but then fuss over him for the rest of the night while he tried to explain WHY he was dirty. Then he would tell her about his dad's appearance and ask questions. However, if he went to the dorms, they would ask what happened to him then they would hang out. He would tell them about his dad and they would comfort him in his time of need.
"I'll head to the dorms...when given the pros and cons, it is the better choice in the end." Charlie said quietly to himself as he turned back towards the dorms.
S-c-h-i-z-o-A-u-t-h-o-r-e-s-s- Thank you! I'm glad you like!
Chelsea- No prob, my computer does that all the time. ^_^ And thank you, I thought so too. Charlie is cool. I'm glad everyone seems to have enjoyed the flashback. That's good news. ^_^
Skeet11- Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!
Natasha Hyatt- Thank you! *grins*
Lelu- It's okay, I'm thinking about bringing Bombay in later. Charlie just needs to feel nice and abandoned right now. ^_^ Lol, just kidding. Thanks! I'm glad you think so.
Disclaimer- I still don't own the Mighty Ducks...it's a cryin' shame...
-Chapter 4-
Charlie sat on his bed, staring blankly at the wall. There was nothing to do. The Ducks were probably still playing hockey. He COULD get off his lazy butt and join them but he wasn't even in the mood. It almost didn't seem worth it.
He felt empty when he realized the thought that had just crossed his mind. Not in the mood for hockey...that didn't feel right. Without hockey...he didn't even want to think about it...
He let out an exasperated sigh and grabbed a pillow. He propped his head on it without ever taking his gaze from his wall. He had found this lovely little stain on his wall. It was from one time when the Ducks came over and they had a food fight...not that brilliant, but it seemed like a great idea at the time. Now his mother refused to allow food or drinks in his room.
Yeah, so it was really stupid to throw spoiled applesauce up against the wall...how were THEY supposed to know it didn't come off?
That led to another thought...applesauce could spoil?
Letting another sigh out, he closed his eyes and tried to think of anything to occupy his thoughts...ANYTHING to prevent thinking of him.
What a creep. Thinking he could just waltz back into his life on a white horse and everything would be okay. Yeah, right...
"Waltzing on a white horse? That would be quite a trick..." Charlie muttered sarcastically to himself as a grin spread across his face.
He did it again! He allowed himself to think of his father...no, he wasn't his father...he didn't deserve the title of father...
His gaze fell on the phone again. He STILL couldn't believe Bombay was busy. But he couldn't blame him, the Ducks were obviously not top-priority to the Ex-Hockey Coach. It wasn't his fault. Charlie knew he had been expecting too much from him by calling. Besides, he could just bug him about it later...
Charlie took in a breath and looked down at himself, noticing he was still in his hockey stuff.
He stood up and grabbed a clean shirt and some jeans from his closet. He slipped off his hockey stuff and put on the fresh clothes.
Smiling and feeling a little better, he gathered up the reeking hockey clothes and put his blades back on. He would drop this stuff back at the school and maybe check up to see if the others were still at the basketball court. Moping all day wouldn't help. He had to forget about this guy, his dad.
Jamming hockey pads and a sweaty jersey in his backpack, Charlie grabbed his ice skates and took off down the stairs.
Bad idea.
But it took him a few seconds to realize that.
He stood up from the jumbled mess he had created on the way down.
"I'm going to have to stop doing that..." Charlie muttered to himself as he massaged his head and picked his backpack back on and picked up the skates, relieved he didn't now have ice skates sticking out of his stomach or something gross like that. "So THAT'S why we were helmets..."
Grinning to himself, he opened the door and stepped out into the warm air. It was humid. He looked at his watch to notice it was about 5. Had he really been in his room THAT long?
Shrugging it off, it off, he began speed skating down the sidewalk.
He stopped only when he saw a car driving by. It was a black Cadillac. It took him a minute to realize why this stopped him. His father used to drive one that looked like that.
"Okay, now I'm going crazy. I can't freeze up anytime I see a car that looks like his or a man that resembles him. I have to get over this." He said angrily to himself as the grin faded and the depressed mood returned.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the school. He walked up to the door that leads to the gym. He pulled on the doors and discovered sourly that it was locked.
"Of COURSE it's locked...it's a SATURDAY! The only people here today were Coach and some Custodians...I feel like such moron." He muttered grimly to himself as he turned for the court, hoping the Ducks could by some chance still be there.
"Charlie?" he heard a voice call.
He whipped around, praying it wasn't his "father".
It was Coach Orion.
Charlie let out his breath that he had involuntarily been holding.
"It's just you." Charlie said quietly to himself.
"Charlie, is there something wrong?" Orion asked the boy.
"No." Charlie replied.
"Do you need in?" Coach Orion asked motioning to the door.
Charlie nodded a yes so Orion opened up the door.
"I don't usually do stuff like this but I'll make an exception." Orion said as he walked through the door with Charlie to the locker room.
"Thanks Coach. I really appreciate it." Charlie said as he unpacked his stuff.
"Why now though? Why didn't you change here before you left?" Orion asked, hoping it could lead to what happened with the man before. He didn't trust him.
"I got...distracted..." Charlie muttered as he put the now-empty backpack on his back.
Orion nodded and they walked out of the room, locking it behind them.
Just as Charlie was about to leave, Orion called him back. "Conway! What did that man say to you?"
Charlie hesitated for a second. What could it hurt? If Bombay wasn't there to accept his frustrations, could he really handle them? Sure there was the Ducks but he needed so talk about it to someone else first. He needed to know if he had been in the right or wrong keeping it from his friends.
"It could take awhile..." the teen replied.
"I have awhile. What a coincidence." Orion said, sitting down on a bench.
Charlie smiled at him. He was relieved they had overcome any rough edges that had been there at the beginning of the year. "But, don't you have a family at home?" Charlie asked.
"Yes, but I have a feeling they won't mind. Now spill." Orion said with a small smile.
"Okay. That's a good enough answer for me." Charlie said, returning the smile.
They sat there for about one and a half hours as Charlie explained the situation. Orion gave him advice and told him he would keep and eye out on him.
"Thanks coach. I really appreciate this." Charlie said.
"No problem. It seems even you kids have issues. But I have one question, why did you open up to me? Why not Bombay?" Orion asked seriously.
Charlie shrugged. "Bombay wouldn't pick up his phone. He was busy so I had to talk to his secretary. Since when did he have a secretary?" Charlie said, laughing. His mood was good again. In fact, he was in such a good mood, he figured he would go through with telling his friends about his dad.
Orion laughed with him, but he had been kind of hoping that Charlie would say that he considered him first thing. Sure the kid seemed to trust him now, but all of the Ducks seemed to favor Bombay. Not that he blamed them at all, it was just that sometimes he wished his players would come to him first, not as a last resort.
"Well, I should probably go. Thank you for sharing that with me Charlie." Orion said. "Now get outta here!" he said with a grin and he lightly tapped Charlie in the back with a hockey stick to shoo him away.
"See ya later Coach!" Charlie said grinning as he put his skates back on. He had taken them off sometime in between arriving there and then. He felt much better after talking to Coach Orion. He felt completely ready for talking to the other Ducks.
"Bye Charlie!" Coach Orion called after Charlie.
Charlie skated out to find the other Ducks. He jumped over some benches trying to get back to the court, deciding it was worth a shot.
Unfortunately, it was already seven o' clock and no one was there.
Charlie's face fell when he saw the empty court. He mentally kicked himself. How could he have been stupid enough think they would still be here? Even they had better things to do on a Saturday.
Adding to the trauma of Charlie's day, he heard thunder.
Letting out a sigh of frustration, he bit his lip as rain began pouring down on him. This was NOT his day...
He walked into the court surrounded by a wire fence anyway. It was raining hard and he heard thunder but instead of turning around, he slung his now soaking wet backpack on the ground. It was empty anyway. There was nothing of importance in it.
He grabbed the wire fence and kicked it as hard as he could with his roller blades.
Repeatedly.
As soon as he got his violence fix out of the way, he continued hanging onto the wire fence and put his head up against it. He took in a deep breath before turning away from the fence and the street to stare at the brick building that served as the other boundary for the court.
He sat down on the wet ground. Dirt had been tracked in so he really was sitting in a muddy puddle of water but for some reason, this didn't bother him. It didn't bother him at all that his mother would have a hissy fit when he came home in muddy jeans and dirty, wet clothes. He just added it to his list of miseries. How was it POSSIBLE to have such a horrible day? And on a SATURDAY!
The distressed boy turned his face to the sky and watched as raindrops fell around him and on his face.
It got to the point where he couldn't tell if the drops of water falling down his face were rain or tears. He pulled his knees to his chest and laid his head on top of them. When he noticed his breaths were coming in irregular intervals he figured he was crying. But he didn't even care anymore.
"What is my problem today?" he asked himself without moving from his current position.
He looked up at the storming clouds again as he muttered bitterly to himself, "I guess this is punishment for never watching to the weather channel. Either that or someone up there doesn't like me..."
Finally recovering from his mental breakdown, Charlie stood up and wiped his face with a sleeve.
Then he realized his sleeve had been in that lovely muddy puddle.
He just took a deep breath, grabbed his soaking wet backpack and decided he wasn't going to even say anything. He was just going to go home, and go to sleep.
He and another thought hit him.
He was wearing roller blades, not shoes.
"Peachy...this is all just peachy..." he mumbled to himself as he slowly took off, deciding his day couldn't get any worse so why bother?
He was skating around in circles, watching people scramble for cover.
'Why bother?' he thought himself. '...You're already wet anyway.'
Inside his mind he was debating where to go. Home, or the dorms? If he went home, his mom would blow a fuse at his appearance but then fuss over him for the rest of the night while he tried to explain WHY he was dirty. Then he would tell her about his dad's appearance and ask questions. However, if he went to the dorms, they would ask what happened to him then they would hang out. He would tell them about his dad and they would comfort him in his time of need.
"I'll head to the dorms...when given the pros and cons, it is the better choice in the end." Charlie said quietly to himself as he turned back towards the dorms.
