Disclaimer - I do not own anything even remotely related to The Mighty Ducks. I only wish I had thought of them first…
Italics indicate character thought.
Penmen Specialist: They go to Pennington State University in Michigan. It's completely fictional. A list of real and not real that they could play against would be great. As for the 'not sure about the love part' are you just not sure it fits or you don't like the way it's being written. I'd appreciate your input.
Everyone else: THANKS! Your comments are flattering and I'm enjoying writing, so I'll be updating frequently!
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"Oh man," Charlie whispered to himself when she walked into class. Beau was dressed in jeans, boots, and a soft looking pink sweater t-shirt combo type thing. Her hair was down, curling around her shoulders and she looked…perfect. And then she looked up at him and smiled shyly. It was like a fist to the gut…again. That keeps happening around her. "Oh man."
She climbed the stairs up to wear he was sitting near the middle. As she got closer she smiled shyly again and Charlie couldn't help but grin at her and motion to the seat beside him, raising his eyebrows in question.
Oh man. Beau just could not get over his grin. He is just too much. Try not to embarrass yourself today. She slid into the isle, willing herself not to trip and end up on the floor. As she got close and he was looking up at her, she dropped her bag to the floor and touched the front of her shirt. "No buttons."
Charlie rewarded her with another grin. "Smart girl. You should be embarrassment free today then." He stuck his pen over his ear and turned to face her as she sat. "So how was the rest of your skate the other day?"
"It was really good actually. Between the shirt incident and being homesick it was good to work it all out with a good sweat."
He frowned. "Homesick?"
Beau nodded thoughtfully. "Well, I've been here for like four days, so it's still a little strange getting used to a new state, new school, new people…"
"Four days? Did you transfer?"
She laughed. "Yeah. Transferred from high school. I'm a freshman." She grinned when his jaw dropped. "I just moved out here from North Carolina."
A freshman. Well who'da thought. "Wow. So it has been a big few days then. Welcome to Pennington State. Why on earth did you come to Minnesota?"
Now Beau tilted her head up proudly, her smile beaming. "Well, I actually…"
She was cut off when the teacher moved to the front of the classroom and clapped his hands. "Well, my dears, playtime is over." He was exactly what you would expect of an Entomology professor. Short, skinny, balding, and so poorly dressed. But his personality and his teaching style spoke for themselves. He was massively dynamic. "Today kids, the gloves come off." Beau and Charlie looked at each other and smiled as the professor continued. "This is Entomology class. The study of insects. We are one of the only cultures in the world that does not consider insects a truly valuable source of protein."
Charlie leaned over, not looking at Beau, and whispered, "I don't think I like where this is going."
"So, if you are going to study insects," he paused for dramatic effect. "You should eat them first!"
As groans and laughs erupted around the room, Professor Kenny walked behind his desk and pulled out several Tupperware platters. "What we have here are your favorite foods, spiced up. We have chocolate! Covering grasshoppers. Hushpuppies! Filled with mealworms. And rice crispy squares! Seasoned with gnats."
Beau looked over at Charlie to find him a little pale. "You going to be okay with this?"
He gulped, noticing her complete lack of concern with what was happening. "Uh. Yeah. Sure."
As he started to pass things around, the professor doled out a caveat. "You don't have to try anything. But you'll have to live with the fact that you are a complete and utter wuss. If you can live with that, then so can I."
Charlie and Beau had sat close enough to the back that they got to see how many people took the food, and more importantly, how very many of them didn't. When the first tray got to them, Beau grabbed a chocolate covered grasshopper without even a second's thought. She looked Charlie straight in the eyes. She opened her mouth and popped it in, chewed slowly, and swallowed. No blink, no grimace.
Charlie just watched her. Why on earth was that sexy? Okay. Do it, Conway. Be a man. Charlie kept looking at her as he picked up his own "treat." Maybe if I don't look at it, it won't taste like what it is. Think chocolate covered nuts. Right. He opened his mouth and popped it in. He took one bite and felt the bile rising up in his throat. Oh, God. Don't do this.
Beau watched as his face drained of all color. His mouth froze and his eyes widened and his throat worked. She saw the resolve in his eyes. He was determined not to spit the grasshopper out. He coughed a little and stared directly at her. With one last bitter chew he swallowed, his eyes still locked on hers. Man, she thought. I must be losing it. Why on earth was that sexy?
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"So." Beau shifted from foot to foot, squinting her eyes in the bright September sun. "That was an interesting class."
Charlie rolled his eyes as he shoved his hands farther in his pockets. "Yeah. Interesting." He looked down at the ground then rose his eyes up to meet hers. "So, look. Beau. I was thinking that maybe now that I've seen your bra, and you've seen me make a complete ass of myself…"
He was cut off as the wind was knocked out of him as he was hit from behind. Jesse Hall wrapped his arm around Charlie's neck and squeezed a little. "Hey there Conway. You gonna introduce us to the girl?"
Jeez. When you have friends like these… Charlie signed heavily. "The girl," he drawled sarcastically, "is Beau." He elbowed Jesse off of him. "Beau, these are my 'friends' Jesse Hall and Lester Averman."
"Nice to meet you guys." Beau stuck out her hand in greeting before looking at her watch. She glanced up quickly. "Crap. I've got to run. I've got my English lecture across campus in like five minutes." She smiled apologetically at them all. "Jesse, Lester…"
"Averman," he interrupted.
She nodded. "Jesse, Averman. Nice to meet you. Charlie," she cocked her head. "I guess I'll see you bright and early Friday morning."
Without waiting for an answer she took off.
Jesse and Averman looked at each other before shoving Charlie again. "Dude. Nice."