I know I said a day or so, I'm sorry. However, now I'm back for the rest of summer.
DCTangerine- I'm really glad you liked the Spanish. I really feel like that's left out of a lot of Luis stories.
GageLuisSodabemine- Hope you enjoy the ducks reactions.
XXxSarahxXx- Sorry the update took so long. I'm glad you like me bringing Jesse back.
Hope everyone enjoys this chapter and please review.
Chapter 4 Breakfast With Ducks
Beep, beep, beep, beep.
"Ugh." I tried to flip my pillow over my head to shut out the alarm, but ended up hitting myself in the head with my cast instead. "Ow," I moaned. I was about to get up and kill the alarm clock, when Jesse turned it off. Since that problem was solved, I rolled over, trying to go back to sleep. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. When I finally looked up, I saw Jesse coming out of the bathroom, fully dressed and ready to go.
"I take it you aren't a morning person?" he asked.
"I like to think I'm in between. It's just that I had to catch a five a.m. flight yesterday and haven't caught up on my sleep yet."
"Didn't you sleep on the plane?"
"I don't consider that sleep," I said as I walked into the bathroom. Before I closed the door, Jesse handed me a plastic Wal-Mart bag. What the heck?
"You should cover your cast before you shower," he explained. "The inside will get all moldy if you let water get in it."
"Thanks." After my shower and getting dressed, I felt a lot more ready for the day. I slipped on my sling.
"What's your first class?" I asked Jesse.
"Um," he dug a piece of paper out of his pocket. "European History with Ms. Welch."
"That ain't bad. I'm in there. I heard she's easy, especially after having Mr. Barber last year."
"Who's Mr. Barber?"
"Let's just say messing up in his history class is like a stuffed troll being squashed by a giant textbook."
"Okay," Jesse said slowly, not really grasping my analogy. I grabbed my backpack.
"Let's go eat." I glanced at the clock. It was 7:32. We'd probably be the last ones down there.
We made our way down to the cafeteria. Gotta love the first day, assorted cereals for breakfast. We started to make our way to the Duck table when Jesse put up his arm to stop me. The ducks, plus Julie's boyfriend Scooter, were already eating. They were talking about our new team member.
"He can't be that bad," Julie told Russ.
"He is. You should have heard what Luis told us last night," stated Ken.
"If Robinson thinks he'll be a 'positive influence,' he must be bad, no question to it," announced Averman.
"Why can't ya'll just give the guy a chance? You know, 'I never met a man I didn't like' is very good advice right now," said Dwayne.
"No way. The only Duck that can get along with preppy, butt-kissing, stuck-up snobs is Banksie. There's nothing to it. We aren't gonna like him," Russ explained.
"Hey!" exclaimed Adam. "Just because I was born with money doesn't mean I like other people born with money. The guy is here on scholarship just like us, so he may not be a preppy."
"That's why the first thing he did was go suck up to Coach," remarked Portman.
"I don't get why this is such a big deal," stated Scooter. "You won't be able to change him, so you need to accept him however he is."
"No we don't," Russ responded.
"Well, maybe you should think about how he feels. I'm sure he hasn't joined the team with the sole purpose of driving you mad. You need to give him a chance," Adam explained.
"Only a person who's been a new Duck would say something like that," Averman said.
"But he's right," said Julie. "You have no idea how rough it can be joining a new team."
"When I joined, it was made clear that I was alright. This new guy has made it clear that he's a preppy."
"Just because we asked you to join, do not think we liked you either, Russ," announced Portman.
"Real funny…"
"Guys, stop it. We promised Orion we'd give the guy a chance. The real question is where is he?" asked Charlie.
"True. He and Luis should be down here. There's no way they could skip breakfast." Typical Goldberg reasoning.
"Maybe he's overheard you all talking, so he doesn't want to eat with us," said Connie.
Russ scoffed. "No, he probably thinks he's too good to eat with us."
"But that doesn't explain where Luis is this morning," answered Guy.
"Maybe somebody should go check on them?" asked Dwayne.
"Yeah, maybe the snob turned off Luis's alarm," Fulton replied.
"I still think you all should just try to give the guy a chance. A new school, a new team, he doesn't need his teammates hating him."
"Did we ask you, Scooter?"
"Now Russ, I'm with Scooter on this one. You should give the new guy a chance. We gave you one." Jesse said as he moved toward the empty seat next to Russ.
"You just always have to disagree with me…Jesse!" Russ's jaw dropped to the floor. The whole table was now staring at Jesse.
"Well, everybody, sorry we're late. This is my new roommate, Jesse Hall," I said as if I were formally introducing a stranger. "Jesse, these are your new teammates. Well except for those two." I pointed to Adam and Scooter. Everyone stared at Jesse, shocked.
"You mean, you're the new person, Jesse?" asked Dwayne.
Jesse smiled. "Yep. I decided to give prep-ville a chance. I hope that you can find it in your hearts to give me a chance too." He batted his eyes like he was begging. He stuck his hand across the table. "You must be Scooter. I'm Jesse. I've heard a lot about you."
"The lost member of Team USA. I've heard a lot about you too," Scooter answered, shaking Jesse's hand. He turned to Julie. "I'll see you later. I've got to go talk to Steve." As he got up, he kissed Julie on the cheek. He left, ignoring the several whistles, catcalls, and smooching noises. I sat down in the empty seat.
"Wow, Jesse, so you're the new player?" Fulton repeated.
"Yup. Hope I'm not too much of a cake eater for you to put up with."
Everybody laughed.
"But what about all that stuff Luis said?" asked Ken.
"It was partly true. Jesse had Coach Orion tell me the same sort of stuff."
"And every single one of you believed every word. It was really great."
"Real funny Jesse. Now that you've nearly given us ulcers, why don't you share what you're really doing here," said Averman.
"Orion and Bombay bugged me all summer. They told me I would be the perfect replacement for our team superstar."
"Very funny, Jesse," Adam said as he rolled his eyes. "It's good to have you back."
"Well, so far, I'm glad to be back. Might want to ask again at the end of the day."
"Don't worry. Together we're turning this place around," explained Charlie.
"True, and this year should be even better with Riley and Cole gone," announced Connie.
A series of here, here's followed that statement, Adam being the most enthusiastic. Unfortunately, the celebration was short-lived.
"Why, if it isn't a bunch of goofy duckies. I really thought you all would take the hint and not show up this year." Ugh. Stupid Jeffrey Riley.
"It's wonderful to see you again, too," Charlie responded.
"Yeah, we thought maybe you would not show up and impersonate your brother. Guess we're both out of luck," said Russ.
"One day, you poor kids will realize that it was a mistake for you to come here. You will regret the way you've treated me."
"Ah. Wait! Oh my goodness! You're a Riley, aren't you. Of the Edina Rileys, right?" I felt my jaw drop. What was Jesse saying?
"Jesse, dude, are you all right?" Portman asked. Jesse and Riley ignored him.
Riley nodded his head. "Of course I am. What of it? Are you new here?"
"Yes I am. Do you mind if I shake your hand?" Jesse actually stood up and extended his hand to Riley.
"My name's Jesse." A buzz filled the air as Riley yanked his hand away from Jesse's. That's when I noticed the hand buzzer. Our whole table cracked up laughing. Riley slunk away from our table.
"Oh man Jesse. You had us scared for a second there," Russ said.
"Jesse, the jester, the j-man is back," Averman announced.
"What a great way to start the year," proclaimed Guy.
"Much better than last year, anyway," Connie agreed.
"Let's just hope they find a decent captain for varsity this year," said Ken. "Do you know who the new captain is yet, Adam?"
"Not for sure, yet. I have an idea, but I think there's a duck that knows more than me about this."
Isn't he the one playing on varsity? That's when I noticed Julie slinking down in her seat. "Jules, what do you know?" I asked.
"Well, I wasn't supposed to say anything, 'cause the team finds out this afternoon, but Scooter's going to be the new varsity captain. That's why he needed to go talk to Steven Brown. He's been planning something. Scooter's gonna to stop him. We're trying to avoid a repeat of last year."
"Good. I don't think we could handle that again." I have to agree with Charlie on that one. I love practical jokes, but I don't even want to think about another vicious, spiteful prank war like we had last year.
Adam brought me out of my daydreaming. "Hey, we need to get to class."
The rest of the table groaned. "Why must you remind us, Banksy?" whined Averman. We gradually made our way to our classes.