!IMPORTANT!- I am thinking about changing the title of this to 'Shattered Glass.' Do you think I should? I think it has more symbolism and stuff like that...The title I have now used to relate, but now I'm noticing it doesn't really make as much sense to me as it used to. I may just be neurotic that way...But anyway, what do you think? Should I change it? Meh, I will and if you don't think it's good then I might change it back. ^_^ I'm feeling the need for change...dun dun dun...

Bansiesbabe99- Gee, thanks. ^_^ I'm glad you liked it so much! I know, I can imagine Portman using all the big words and shocking everyone too. ^_^ Thanks bunches! I always love hearin' from you!

Sophie- *gasp* You don't know what a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup is? Poor Sophie! You've been DEPRIVED! *huggles Sophie and pats head* I must tell you then. It's a little piece of chocolate a little smaller then the palm of the hand that has peanut butter in it (hence the name), and it's kind of shaped like a cup. Sorta. It's really good! ^_^ Ooo there you go wit that learning stuff again! Lol. I don't really learn anything in IPC (Integrated Physics and Chemistry) It's SUCH a blowoff class...but we're required to take it. Oh well. Works for me! ^_^ Meep! *hides under fluffy pink blanket found randomly sitting on the floor* Don't hurt me! I'll update! I'll update! *peeks out from under blanket and sees that Sophie isn't going to inflict any permanent damage* Okies...back to the review...yes, yes. Poor little Charlie wallowing in angsty thoughts about his lack of social skills. *hugs Charlie* Heh...*giggles* you know me to well. Of COURSE I wanna hug Charlie! What girl in her right mind doesn't? *sees pillow*...*eyes widen*...meep...*gets whacked in head with pillow* EEEEEEK!!!! Hey! It's not MY fault he isn't telling! *has a realization* Oh yeah...I am...ermm...heh, anyway. Ooo, Sophie IS violent. Well I'm glad you're on my side! *grins* We ARE the authors! MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! We hold their lives in the palm of our hands! Errmmm...more like the tip of our fingers but that is beside the point. ^_^ YES! You caught my sarcasm! Yay Sophie! ^_^ I was wondering if anyone was going to catch the sarcastic undertones of "...doing a shockingly good impression of a concerned parent." I was afraid people would pass that over and think for a moment that George was a decent human being...bah! That is crazy talk. ^_^ *grins* Yeah, that might have happened around the time Charlie's little happy bubble was busted. Are you suggesting I had anything to do with that? Lol...eep, that is a tad freaky. o.O Lol. I don't wanna be George and you don't wanna be Reily. Lol, lovely choice of words there. "Beat some sense into him." *giggles* I'm so proud of the longness! I really am! And random = GOOD! ^_^ It was so nice to wake up and read your review. It always gives me the warm fuzzies. ^_^ Love ya bunches and thanks for reviewing!

DodgerMcClure.aka.Drama-Queen- Lol, that's so true. They are all ignorant. And poor little Charlie will have no hockey. Poor wittle Charlie. Thanks for reviewing! ^_~

Rachel- Thanks! ^_~

Adriana- Really? I gave you an anticipation overload? SWEET! ^_^ Lol...quote to your little heart's desire. I do it all the time. ^_^ It's like, "I don't care that you wrote it and already know what it says...I MUST QUOTE YOU ANYWAY!" ^_^ I'm glad that you liked that line though. ^_^ I was debating whether or not to let Charlie be sarcastic. Unfortunately, I chose not to. ^_^ Would've traumatized the nurse. ^_^ *ponders the riddle* Umm...a wooden boat? Lol. I dunno. ^_^Maybe a raft...hmm...Lol, don't worry. I don't fear paper. Except when I get paper cuts...but then I tend to rip it up and cry. Lol. Not so much fear. But yeah, people who fear paper have major issues. ^_^ *waits dramatically for the last thing to be said...*...heh...I will keep that in mind. *grins*

Liz- I'm glad you liked those parts. See ya on IM! ^_^ Thanks for reviewing!

Kate Da Queen Of All Things- Yes, I have noticed. Lol. ^_^ It's SO hard to find time on the comp...lol...Yeah, being a beta for someone can be hard. I'm beta-ing (is that a word?...o.O) for my friend Liz and yeah...I have my times when I kinda forget to edit it. ^_^ Heh. Aw, how can you make me wait like this? I wanna read it...*breaks down into hysterical sobs* Oh well...it better be good, missy! Lol. I kinda just write whatever comes out...o.O...yeah, I'm so professional. ^_^ And yes, I know I'm just SO much help with your new name. I just try SO hard for you! ^_^ Man, I haven't played floor hockey since like the second grade at the Christian Private School I went too...lol. It was fun though. I was always too scared to be goalie. ^_^ I was like NOOO! I would end up whacking people with the little plastic hockey sticks and stuff. It was fun. ^_^ A roll of tape, eh? ^_^ Sounds like a party to me. I have zero eye-hand-coordination too, so no worries. ^_^ Lol. It just does not work with me. O.o...Heh, of COURSE I understand you Kate! I always do. Lol. ^_^ 50 gallons, eh? I do that all the time. Parents don't like that very much. ^_^ And yes, Charlie is just a walk, talking thesaurus with his oh-so-technical terms. ^_^ Lol, yes. George is stupid. Don't worry, all things will make sense with time...lol. Love ya Kate! ^_~ Thanks for reviewing! Wow, I just noticed that you are technically my 200th review! Woot for Kate! Thank you so much, love you bunches!

Disclaimer- I do NOT own The Mighty Ducks...

-Chapter 23-

Charlie stood on the front porch of his house. His dad was walking behind him and he suddenly got the chills.

George Conway then opened the door and walked in. Charlie was still in the process of convincing himself that his dad hadn't meant any harm the day before.

The boy slowly trudged inside the large house and closed the door behind him. He wasn't sure what was happening to him anymore. It seemed as if in a month's time his life had been completely thrown off balance.

He looked at the calendar. Sunday. Could it be the week had gone by that fast?

Wait...

Sunday?

Wasn't there something he had to do on Sunday?

Then it hit him like a ton of bricks. He was supposed to meet up with Halley, Brice, and the rest of the demon-JV-people!

He looked down at his clothes. His dad had given him a navy blue, long sleeve shirt and jeans to change into.

Charlie ran to find his father. "Hey, I gotta go somewhere! See ya later!" Charlie eventually yelled as he ran out the door, not giving his father the chance to protest.

He then tried to remember where they were meeting...oh yeah, the mall. He just hoped he could FIND them...

The teenage boy arrived at the mall in record time, skidding to a stop after seeing Halley, in all her redheaded glory, waving at him.

Charlie took off after them. Once he had reached them, he stopped to catch his breath.

"Hey Conway, didn't think you were gonna make it." Brice said, choosing not to bring up the hospital.

Charlie silently thanked him for not saying anything. He wasn't ready to talk about it. Especially since he was convincing himself it had been nothing.

Charlie just smiled and followed them inside. He was relieved that he had found them. It almost seemed as if the other JV members were beginning to accept his presence, no matter how begrudgingly. It was still progress.

After Halley had proceeded to drag them mercilessly throughout several stores, some of the guys began complaining.

"Halley, maybe you shouldn't spend so much money! If you put half the money you wasted on this junk into hockey lessons you'd be the next Wayne Gretzky!" one complained.

She turned to scowl at him. The girl then stalked into another store just out of spite.

Charlie turned a questioning glance at the guy. "What was that all about?" Charlie asked.

The guy just grinned. "It's the truth."

"Why would she need hockey lessons?" Charlie asked.

Brice glared because he knew what they would say before they said it.

"She's a horrible player. She's only on it because her daddy is good friend of our coach. Not to mention she was dating Evan at the time, so he convinced Coach to let her on." One guy said with a chuckle.

Charlie raised his eyebrows and looked to Brice for conformation. Halley had said everyone would be spreading lies about her but he wasn't sure if this was one of them.

By the way Brice was avoiding his gaze, Charlie figured it was true. This just seemed like typical Cake-Eater behavior. Making it in because 'Daddy' was friends with the coach. He was living in a twisted little world...he hated to say it but he really missed Eden Hall.

Soon enough, Halley came bounding out. She hadn't bought anything. She just stormed past them and grabbed Charlie and Brice by the wrist.

"Come on, we're leaving!" she fumed.

Before they could retaliate, they were being dragged away. The rest of the team followed in suite.

They walked for a long time before stopping in a more dingy section of town. Gone were the fancy houses. It reminded Charlie of where he had grown up.

"What are we doing here?" Charlie asked, looking around.

"Exploring. Our parents would blow a heart valve if they knew we were here. We're just being rebels. Is it making you uncomfortable?" Andy Drake asked.

Charlie shook his head feverishly. "No, not at all...just...curious." he said.

They stopped and took in their surroundings. They stopped to look in an alley. Charlie didn't have the slightest clue of what exactly they were doing but he dared not ask again. He was tired of looking stupid.

"Hey, Cake-Eater! I think you in the wrong hood, cuz we don't want none of you butt-kissin' preppies here! So unless you get your sorry vanilla booties outta here we gonna hafta use yo eyeballs as hockey pucks!" Charlie heard a voice snap bitterly from behind him.

As the others verbally responded to the voice, Charlie couldn't but think how...familiar it sounded...

He whipped around and his eyes widened with shock.

"JESSE?!?!" Charlie screeched as he saw the group of teenagers who had spoken to them.

"CHARLIE?! Charlie is that you?!" Jesse exclaimed with wide eyes, not believing his eyes.

They both stood and stared at each other before giving each other "macho hugs."

"I can't believe it's you! I can't believe you live here!" Charlie said once he found his voice again.

"I can't believe it's you eithah! Why aren't you in Minnesota?" Jesse asked with confusion.

"Charlie!" a voice called from around Jesse as Charlie was about to reply.

Then he saw Terry step out from the group, grinning.

"Terry?! Hey man, you've gotten a lot bigger since well, last time I saw you!" Charlie exclaimed.

"You too!" Terry said, grinning.

"Fair enough. But to answer your question, Jess, I just moved here with my dad." Charlie explained.

"Really? Didn't ya mom leave ya dad or somthin'?" Jesse asked with confusion.

"Yeah, but then he showed up about a month ago and my mom mysteriously died. He then took it upon himself to drag me here. I harbor deep resentment towards the man. How'd you end up here?" he asked. No one had really heard much from Jesse once he moved right after the Junior Goodwill Games.

"You know me and Terry moved about three years ago after the Junior Goodwill Games, but then I guess we never stayed in contact." Jesse said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!" one of Charlie's 'fellow Cake- Eaters' shouted.

Charlie turned enthusiastically to the group. "This is my friend Jesse Hall and his brother Terry." Charlie said simply.

"How do you know THEM?!" one said with disgust.

Charlie furrowed his eyebrows. "We grew up together in Minnesota. We were on the same hockey team up until three years ago when he moved."

"You were on a team with...a black guy?" one said, as if this was the most insane thing he had ever heard.

Charlie's eye narrowed slightly. "Yeah, so?" he snapped.

"Well, it's just that most well groomed people don't voluntarily associate with...them. They only cause trouble." Evan said, as if being in their presence was a burden.

Halley could see the anger brimming behind Charlie's eyes. She had been raised with the idea that she and her friends were elite and weren't to associate with 'lesser beings' as well, but it seemed pretty harsh actually hearing it vocalized. It was usually an unspoken law of life to them.

Just as Charlie was about to lash out at Evan and Jesse's friends were about to beat them all up, Jesse started laughing.

Charlie's anger melted into confusion. "What's so funny?"

Jesse's laughter soon subsided and he was merely chuckling. "It's just...the thought of YOU being 'well-groomed' cracks me up! Charlie the CAKE-EATER!" he managed to choke out before laughing again.

Charlie had to hide a smile with a mock-glare. "Shuttup man! It ISN'T funny!" he said, jokingly hitting Jesse in the shoulder.

"YES IT IS!" Jesse said, laughing harder. Terry was cracking up as well.

"How is that funny?" Halley asked, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion.

"Because well, I am far from well-groomed." Charlie said, still struggling to hold back a smile. It WAS a pretty funny concept...

"What do you mean?" Brice asked.

"And as much as I would LOVE to stand here and rehash my entire life's story to you all, I think my time would be better spent catching up with Jesse and Terry; I'll see you guys later." Charlie said.

"You mean you would rather spend time with THEM then US?!" Evan asked with horror.

"I know this is a tough concept for you to grasp Steele, but him being my friend, yes. I would. Not to mention that just a few days ago you were whistling a different tune and refused to associate with me. Once you guys GROW UP and get over yourselves, be sure to call me." Charlie snapped simply before turning to strike up conversation with Jesse, confirming if it was OKAY for him to hang out with them for a while. Of course, Jesse said it was okay. Some of his friends were wary at first because it wasn't everyday a 'snobby Cake-Eater', as they saw it, was friends with Jesse.

Halley frowned. She followed the team as they walked away, muttering obscenities under their breath.

"So you grew up with Jesse?" a big voice boomed at Charlie. The guy was HUGE! He looked about six foot nine and had the build of an ox.

Charlie could only nod.

"How did a preppy Cake-Eater like you befriend our Jesse?" an African American girl snapped at him.

Charlie was taken aback by the harsh tone.

Before he could stutter a reply, Jesse saved him. "Believe it or not, Charlie is far from the realm of 'Cake-Eater.' What he was doing with those preppy snots, I don't know. Charlie, why WERE you with them?" Jesse asked, as if thinking of it for the first time.

Charlie let out a sigh. "You know how I was telling you about my dad? Yeah, it turns out he's loaded. And no, he can't let me be normal! He just HAS to go and stick me BACK in prepsville. I mean come ON! You'd THINK that once I escaped Eden Hall he would gimme a break. But I've decided I must've done something REALLY bad to deserve this torture. I mean, I don't even have the DUCKS to help ease the sting of being amongst such a vast amount of snobs on a daily basis." Charlie said bitterly.

"Man, that bites. So why you hanging out with them outside of school?" Jesse asked.

"I was going stir crazy. Desperate times call for desperate measures." Charlie said with contempt.

Jesse nodded. "So how have the Ducks been?" he asked as they started walking again.

Charlie let out a depressed sigh. "Well, they were great when I left, but I've only talked to them twice since. My dad has some psycho issue with long-distance phone calls. Or maybe he just hates me. Probably more along the lines of the latter, but oh well. The Ducks and I were going to Eden Hall and playing hockey for a different coach. Naturally, I was angry at the world and made sure EVERYBODY was aware of my discomfort. But it, of course, turns out that the new coach WASN'T, in fact, Satan incarnate. It was a shocking revelation. And then enter the Antichrist who is more commonly known as my father. I swear, the man's mental! Anyway, how have you and Terry been?" Charlie asked, desperate to change the subject.

"We been good. Right Terry?" Jesse said, but started talking again before his younger brother could answer. "Hey Spaz, thanks for sticking up for us. It must be hard sustaining sanity around those preppy snobs." Jesse said, his voice fading from gratefulness to spite.

"No prob, Jess. They seriously need to grow up. If no one else is going to bust their happy little bubble and introduce them to the real world, then I guess I might as well. You and Terry are my friends and your friends are my friends. At least, I hope so considering most of them are a great deal larger than I am." Charlie said with humor, sending a wary glace at the six- foot-nine monster standing in the group.

Jesse laughed while the six-foot-nine teenager cracked something that slightly resembled a smile.

"True dat, man." Jesse said with a laugh while slapping Charlie on the shoulder.

Charlie involuntarily flinched but no one seemed to notice.

Jesse then invited Charlie to hang out at his house with them for a while. Charlie immediately agreed and spent the rest of his day reacquainting himself with Jesse's family and learning more about Jesse and his new friends then he could EVER want to know.

At about seven, Charlie finally realized he should get home.

"Hey guys, I had a great time and it was nice seeing you again. But I should probably get going." Charlie said, standing up. Only one other person had left before him.

"It was good seein' you again too, Charlie. Come by anytime." Jesse said, waving.

"Yeah, Charlie. Don't be a stranger." Mrs. Hall called from the kitchen.

Charlie smiled and nodded. "I won't be. See you later! And again, thanks for letting me hang out here. I think I may have nurtured any brain cells that had fried from excessive exposure to extreme volumes of preppiness back into health." Charlie said with a smile.

"That's what we're here for; the healin' of those who are mentally damaged by today's high society." Jesse said with a laugh before they exchanged more goodbyes and Charlie departed.

Charlie Conway stepped out into the chilling air and let out a breath. He knew that the moment he stepped through his front door he would be wishing more than ever that he hadn't...