A/N Heya to all you guys out there! I'm on holiday!!! Woohoo! I'm so majorly excited it's not even funny – mind you I am meant to be doing revision for my mocks so that kinda sucks but hey! You have to live with it or you kill yourself and I'm having far too much fun on ff.net to want to do that at the mo.
See, that's good – you guy's inspire me not to kill myself!!
I just had to have an appearance of Bombay in my story – the dude is so cool that it just wouldn't be right otherwise.
Mind you, there are limits. Did anyone else get slightly peed off at the fact that Emilio blahblahblah (can't be bothered to write his name) is still considered to be the main character in D3 even though the fire ants have a bigger part than him?!? He just appears at the beginning, says toodle peeps, then has that amazingly cool scene when he wakes Charlie up (BEST MOMENT OF FILM!!!) and then comes in again at the end.
Ok, so maybe I'm slightly biased with my love for Charlie but I really think that he was the main part in D3, along with Orion and maybe Fulton, so they should be the ones cited as the main parts!!
Ok, stressiness gone! Ha ha – I'm normal really… Hope you enjoy this chapter!
Charlie looked nervously around the dark and deserted corridor before picking up the phone in the lobby of the boy's dorms and placing it to his ear. He winced at the loudness of the dialing tone, glanced down at the coins in his palm, picked two and slotted them into the box on the wall. He took out a slip of paper from his pyjama bottoms and squinted at it, trying to make out the scrawled numbers in the gloom. Gingerly he tapped them into the phone and then waited for the operator to connect him, moving nervously from one foot to another.
The phone rang and rang and Charlie became agitated as it became clear that no one was going to answer. He replaced the handset and then quickly picked it back up and pressed the redial button.
He waited for what seemed an eternity, his whole being listening so intently to the monotonous tone that he almost fell over when it stopped and a voice replaced it.
"Yes?" it croaked in annoyance.
"Coach?"
There was a silence.
"Charlie?!" the voice held disbelief. "Jesus Christ, kid, it's 4.30 in the morning!"
Charlie winced and looked around the dark, deserted corridor, worried that someone had heard Bombay's exclamation.
"I know. I'm sorry, I just… I just really need to talk to you."
Charlie heard the man sigh, "Coach Reily?"
The boy nervously played with the metal cord that attached the handset of the phone to the box on the wall, "Partly."
There was a silence from the other end.
Charlie felt completely alone, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bothered you, not at this time anyway. I didn't really notice the time and…"
Bombay chuckled, "Charlie Conway, the boy who defines "sleeping in" didn't notice the time? Wow, something really must be up." The voice sobered, "Seriously, Charlie, it's no hassle you phoning, it's just nice to be fully awake when you do. Just let me put a tracksuit on and I'll come and collect you and we can talk. Are you at the dorms?"
"Yeah."
"Ok. I'll meet you outside in twenty minutes and we'll go for a ride."
"Thanks Coach."
"Bye, Charlie."
The dial tone returned as the Coach put down the phone. Charlie stood still for a minute, disjointedly thinking how nice it was to be referred to as "Charlie" rather than "Conway".
He replaced the receiver with a soft click and quietly made his way back to the room he shared with Adam.
Charlie had been sitting on the concrete steps outside for fifteen minutes, getting steadily colder in his jersey and jeans but refusing steadfastly to return to the building which was the root of all his current suffering, when Bombay's car pulled up next to him.
He got up stiffly and opened the door to Bombay's dark green Mercedes, swiftly sliding himself onto the front passenger leather seat. He looked at his old Coach and smiled lopsidedly at him.
"Hey, Coach."
"Hey, Charlie."
Bombay looked at him solemnly for a couple of seconds, before turning back to the wheel and pulling out into the lightening dawn. They drove in a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Bombay pulled into a lay-by, turned off the engine, unclipped his seatbelt and turned to the boy.
"So, what's up?"
"Life in general," Charlie said. Now that he was actually given the chance to share his thoughts and feelings with Bombay he found himself stalling. He had never been very good with sharing his weaknesses with others and he felt vaguely ashamed at his current predicament.
Bombay sighed, "Look, Charlie, there is obviously something seriously wrong otherwise you would not have phoned me up at this godforsaken hour."
Charlie bit his lip but remained silent, trying to find a way to explain all his feelings to his old Coach.
"Charlie, you're closer than a son to me. I want to help you in any way I can but you're not making this very easy for me. If you need space then I'll give you space but I don't think that is what you want at the moment."
Charlie looked at him, "Everything's gone wrong," he said quietly.
Bombay waited for him to expand on his statement.
Charlie looked out the window at the snow-covered pavement, "I thought Eden Hall would be great. I thought it was the only way the entire team could play together, the only way the Ducks could fly. Even when I found out you weren't going to be our coach and I was having all those problems with Coach Orion in the first year, I still had the Ducks, I still had hockey, I still had the decision to be what I wanted to be."
"So what's changed? Even with Reily, you've still got everything you had then."
Charlie looked at Bombay unhappily, "I thought I did, too, until yesterday."
Bombay looked at Charlie, "Explain."
Charlie looked down at his lap, "It got worse – what Reily was doing to us, I mean. He got really pissed off when I wouldn't tell him why I missed practice when I came to see you and he locked me in the ice rink for 5 hours."
Bombay looked at the boy, expecting to see the tell tale smile of a joke flitter across his face but was shocked to see the boy in deadly earnest.
"He locked you in the ice rink for 5 hours?!"
Charlie nodded.
"Why didn't you go and see the Dean? He's a decent guy when you get past all his pomposity. Reily can't pull a stunt like that without serious repercussions."
Charlie sighed, "I did, that was one of the problems. I went and told him what had happened but Reily had been there that morning and…" he took a deep breath. "Dean Buckley thought I was lying. He gave me two detentions and told me to apologise to Reily."
Bombay breathed in sharply through his teeth, "What happened?"
"I went to the practice and Reily was even angrier than usual: he heard that we had all tried to get him chucked out and he was pissed. He showed Fulton and Portman some new enforcer moves and then he told them to practice them on us. The guys had no choice: if they didn't hurt us then Reily would have…"
There was a heavy silence in the car.
Bombay looked at Charlie and a niggling suspicion played in the back of his mind, "Did he hurt you, Charlie?"
Charlie nodded, miserably, "Yeah." His voice broke, "God, it hurt, Coach, and I couldn't do anything about it and then Banks…"
He leaned his head back on the headrest and took in a deep shuddering breath.
"What did Adam do?" Bombay's voice was soft and understanding.
Charlie shut his eyes, "He and Julie moved to me, trying to help me, and when Reily told them to back off, Julie didn't but he did."
Bombay nodded sympathetically, "Look, Charlie, that may have seemed a big thing but he probably didn't mean it. He was probably just scared…"
Charlie turned away from him, angry tears glistening in his eyes, "That's what I wanted to think, believe me I did! And when he told me how sorry he was I told him that it was ok and that it was just a heat of the moment thing but he said that he thought he'd do it to me again if that asshole wanted him to!"
The boy looked at him, his voice disturbingly quiet, "Friends aren't meant to do that to each other, are they? I mean, if you can think of any way that he can do that to me and still be my friend, please tell me. It's just…" he trailed off, trying to find words to get across his situation. "If it was anyone but Reily…"
Bombay leant across the car and pulled Charlie into a deep hug. Charlie was stiff and unresponsive for a few seconds before he relaxed into it. Bombay pulled away and offered him a tissue from the glove compartment. Charlie took it and scrubbed angrily at his eyes with it. Nether of them said anything: Bombay because he didn't know what to say after what Charlie had just told him, and Charlie because he was emotionally exhausted.
A few minutes past before Bombay broke the silence.
"Maybe you could have a break from school? I could call your mom and…"
Charlie shook his head dejectedly, "I can't."
"Why not? It's not like you worry about your studies and it would do you good to get away from all of this for a bit."
"You don't understand! I said, I can't!" Charlie shoved the door open angrily and got out of the stuffy car, slamming the door behind him, revelling in the cold dawn air. After a moment, the driver's door opened and Charlie heard light footsteps make their way around the car until they were directly behind him.
"Why can't you?" the voice was soft but demanded an answer.
Charlie scuffed the ground with one battered trainer, "There's a clause in our scholarships which says that if the Captain of the team leaves the school willingly then the Coach has the power to take away the rest of the team's places at Eden hall."
A hand rested on his shoulder and gently propelled him around until he was face to face with his old Coach.
"Reily told you this?" Bombay's voice was thick with anger.
Charlie nodded and looked dismally at the ground, "He said that he'd heard about me and my "confrontational attitude" from you and Orion and that's why he kept me as Captain. So I wouldn't have any choice: so I'd have to stay at Eden Hall."
Bombay placed a hand under Charlie's chin and raised his head until he was eye to eye with the boy, "Firstly, I can tell you now that I certainly did not say anything unpleasant to Reily about you or any of the Ducks and I find it very hard to believe that Orion would either."
Charlie nodded, a faint smile flickering over his countenance, "I didn't think you would but Reily seemed to know everything about me."
Bombay looked at him gravely, "Don't ever think I would betray your trust, Charlie."
Charlie smiled again, slightly uncomfortable at the intensity of feeling showing in Bombay's eyes.
Bombay sighed, "But as for the scholarship clause… It sounds too spiteful to be false and it is definitely very possible to have such a condition. I wish I could tell you otherwise, Charlie, but it sounds as if the only way you can get out of Eden Hall is if all the Ducks want to leave, or if you're willing to put your happiness before theirs."
Charlie nodded miserably and shivered, "I know. That's the conclusion I came up with."
Bombay put an arm around the boy's shoulders and guided him back to the car, "I've got to get you back. I don't want you to anger your Coach any more than you have to."
They were silent on the way back
As Bombay pulled up to the dorms he gave Charlie a sorrowful look, "I'm sorry I haven't been of any help to you, Charlie. I'll keep looking for news of Reily's activities before he joined Eden Hall."
Bombay lent across and gave Charlie one last fatherly hug, "Stay safe, kid. Maybe if you're nice to Reily he might get bored of you and kick you out of school himself."
Charlie got out of the car and watched as his old Coach drove away, his mind racing. Though Bombay's last words had been meant as a joke, they had sparked a thought in Charlie's mind, a thought that was steadily growing into a plan.
He turned and made his way back into the building, not as reluctant as he had been before. He climbed steadily to the second floor and made his way to his room, where he sat on his bed, thoughtfully.
The terms of his scholarship said that the whole team could only be chucked out if the Captain left willingly. Well, what would happen if it was Reily who chucked him out of the team? What if Reily got so fed up with him that he made him leave?
Possibilities ran through Charlie's head. He knew he wasn't the sort of person who could play hockey rubbishly just to get chucked out: he had too much of an ego and he still had hopes of becoming a hockey player when he had finished his education. He also didn't want to be expelled: he didn't think his mom would like it and he was worried that it might restrict his choices later on in life. Ideally, he wanted Reily to get so pissed off with him that he was willing to let him go without dissolving all of the other's scholarships in the meanwhile.
That only left one possibility, then, and it was by far the most fun out of them all. Charlie grinned, the first proper, Duck-worthy grin he had had in a long time. The puck was down his end now and he wasn't going to relinquish it to Reily without a fight. The best type of fight: a prank fight!
Charlie flung himself backwards on his bed and had to smother a laugh. Charlie Conway, Captain Duck, was in his element once again, and no one, not even a psychopathic coach, was going to stop him!
A/N Ooo I'm going to have SO much fun writing the next couple of chapters!! Gonna have to have some serious thought time about what the pranks are going to be though!!
Go on – keep reviewing. If you do, I'll write you a lovely reply and I'll update!! Two things for the price of one – you can't pass that one up!
Sophie's Conscience: I'm sorry for what Sophie just said. I am terribly ashamed and I will be bashing her over the head with a piano leg shortly. It is wrong to ask for reviews *glares at Sophie who is cowering in corner* as well she knows!
Chelsea (fellow Charlie lover): How in the name of yankee doodle do you and Kate manage to write such long reviews?!? I try – honestly I try – but they just seem to lower my standing in the world of ff.net by showing people just how dumb I am! I don't think I actually have that much to talk about!
I love the fact that we seem to have multiple conversations going on – not only through this but also through The Man he Chose Not to be and soon (fingers crossed) Love and Hate…
My most violent chapter is soon to come too – even including the one where Reily feels the need to try out some of his enforcer moves on Charlie!! Ooo that's gonna be one angsty chapter! Can't wait!!
I also can't wait (see the linkage there?? My English teacher would be proud) for you to update!! Looking forward to it! Such a great idea to have Charlie swapping places, so that he's the one that's gonna be playing for varsity!!
Once again I am overly amazed at your power to love my story so much! If you ever become a critic you do realise that you will be inundated (that is a strange word) with flowers and you may be the one who causes world peace…
LOVE YOU with extra sugar on top – ohh I'm soooo romantic. I am actually really considering going and jumping into my pond for that one! Ahh well, too late – can't be bothered. Sorry to disappoint *evil grin*.
xoMEGSxo: I love you like a fat kid loves cake – no honestly, you're great! Ha – that rhymed, go me!! It's scary just how similar I think our views are on the Mighty Ducks! It's a good thing – I think.
I'm sorry, I don't think this reply is making any sense at all! I love the way that your reviews seem to be growing over time – makes me feel wanted and loved. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as the last!
Kate: I am finding it faintly amusing that we're reading each other's reviews for Chelsea's fic! I am feeling incredibly guilty for inducing your second review which was aimed at me. If Chelsea's anything like me, I would have been terribly excited to have got another review only to find that it wasn't a review as such, more of a convo between the CHARLIE ANGST LOVERS!!
I'm sorry Chelsea! Please forgive me for eavesdropping (or the substitute for reading) on Kate and your reviews. I feel bad *slap* *Ow*!
I am insanely jealous at your review writing skills and I must admit defeat – unless I cunningly just write out quotes from Shakespeare, therefore filling up space and making my review seem longer than yours! HA! I am as cunning as fox who went to the university of cunning (God bless Black Adder)! This war is not over yet – you shall see *evil laugh* *choke* - ever find that evilly laughing is not cracked up as it's made out?!
I hesitate to give you my msn address simply because I fear that the randomness of the resulting conversations will make my brain explode. But, ahh well, it's a risk I'm willing to take. It's i_love_this_wicked_world@hotmail.com. Yes, I know it's quite embarrassingly naïve but I was young and foolish and hadn't heard of coursework!
Sloane Miette: I loved the whole "it's a little bit completely unrealistic"!! Made me laugh! I'm sorry if it is but, hey, how boring would all these stories be if they were at all realistic? After all, there is a limit to the amount of times Banksie can commit suicide or the multiple pregnancies both Connie and Julie have inflicted on them!! That's why we have ff.net after all!
Sugar? You'll give me sugar? YAY!! *narrows eyes* How much are we talking here? I feel that I at least deserve a bag for this chapter but I'm willing to negotiate…
Anne: I'm glad you didn't find Adam too mean! Liking your story a lot! There is a plethora (try saying that out loud) of good stories out at the mo! Yours is up there with the ones I look out for!!
Kristine: You demanded so I gave, hee hee – I'm such a push over! Your reviews make me laugh – totally know the feeling of the 1.30 syndrome! Just one question – why in the name of mash potato did you connect to the internet after stumbling in? I would have been dead to the world in a matter of minutes! Well, I'm eternally grateful for the review! Hope this chapter lived up to your expectations…
Chelsea: You know, your reviews just seem to brighten up my day, though I have no clue about some of the things you're referring to! Ahh well, the price of being ignorant! I really think I should get around to renting out Newsies if Portman is looking as fit as you are leading me to believe!
I'm a mongrel? Ha ha – some of my friends would love you for calling me that! Well, they like to call themselves my friends but I ask you, would you call people who enjoy seeing other people call me names (like mongrel) your friends??
Ahh well, I'm stuck with them until I move onto college…
Thank you for the praise *blushes furiously*. I have this problem with blushing, actually – I blush far too easily! I should go to a doctor about it…
IceCube: Bit of malice? Moi? More angst? How could you expect such things from a writer who is renowned for her happiness and frequent appearances of bunnies and ice cream men?? HA – what a joke! Did you get my email by the way?? About how the ice is formed? Would heap embarrassing amounts of praise on you if you could help me…
Nellie: That has got to be the nicest thing that anyone said to me that day. You almost called in late?!?! I am so emotionally overcome that I might just have to go and have a little cry in the corner over there by myself *goes, cries, comes back*. Thank you! You're lovely! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter just as much as the last – it is actually a pleasure writing for you!
Krista: I am truly glad that I could make your day better! It makes my life just that little bit more complete knowing that I have some use in my otherwise totally useless life!! Hee hee! Did you get my reply? I put another review on the plot bunny! Did you get inspiration? Are you going to write some Charlie Angst?!? That would be totally swell if you did! Maybe you could become a member of our non-nonexistant angst group!? Love you!!! Ta ra!
Kshyne99: A NEW REVIEWER! *Does strange dance that everyone laughs at* *slaps everyone for laughing*. I really like reviews which are so filled with lovely words! Thank you soo much. I hope you continue reading!!
Jazza: ANOTHER NEW REVIEWER! You guys get me so hyped up! Thank you! You're great also!