Disclaimer : I don't own anything so there!

KATIE : Hey you! So you think this is a Connie/Charlie fic huh? No, no, no, you're wrong, I'm a heavy Connie/Adam fan lol. Can I sense a pang of jealousy that Guy isn't my main character? Do I need o make another promise to make another Connie/Guy story just for you lol. Anyways thanks for your support and review. CHEERS MI DEARS!

XSARAH : Hey! I take it you want it to be Connie? Lol. Anyways thanks for the support and review. CHEERS MI DEARS!

Y0URS-TRULY : That's kinda cheating, expecting either of them to be the main character lol. Anyways thanks for the support and review. CHEERS MI DEARS!

GOBLZ : Hey! Love your reasoning's about which character it should be lol. Right, however the whole getting close to Charlie thing, it could have been either really, as if you think about it, Connie wasn't SUPER close to Charlie, as she was more close to Guy. However, when I mentioned 'coming up against players twice her size in the JGG', I specifically had Julie in mind, as she did actually come up against them seen in the first game against Iceland, when she knocks Gunnar Stahl and the other guy to the floor. But however it could be either of them, as your reasoning's work for both character lol. Oh not another Connie/Guy super fan lol. Well either way, whether the main character is Connie or Guy, I promise I will write another Connie/Guy (sighs heavily) fic, even though I much prefer Adam/Connie myself lol. Anyways thanks for the support and review. CHEERS MI DEARS!

Chapter 3

After all my classes had finished, I headed straight back to my dorm, where I grabbed my hockey gear. We had practice 4 times a week, and 3 of them all happened to be straight after my classes finished, the other being at 6am in the morning. Though I got on with all my team, I sometimes couldn't help but wish I had been allowed to stay with the ducks.

The transition from them to my new team had been difficult, and I still found myself arguing with the coach at least every other practice. Without sounding big headed, or bragging, but had I probably not been one of his best players, I think he may have dropped me along time ago. Our personalities clashed worse than water and oil, though I wasn't the only one.

The practice was grueling, yet strangely, I didn't fall behind in the laps or any of the other stupid exercises he liked to give us. I probably would have done, had it been a duck practice, but out here with other girls, made it easier. I suppose playing with boys for 8 years, had paid off.

"Julie 'the cat', c'mon, get those legs working". He shouted over the ice, and I winced.

I hated it when he said 'the cat'. He said it almost as though he thought it funny, not understanding the meaning of the name. It bugged me more, because no-one had ever told him to use that name. Julie, or Gaffney was quite sufficient. Only 14 people including myself, have ever used that nickname.

"C'mon Moreau, you can do better than that". He yelled, causing me to scowl even harder.

I picked my speed up some more, not wanting to have to be told again. He continued shouting other orders to the other girls, and I heard a few mutterings come from some of them. I wasn't the only one, who disagreed with him on a regular basis.

I never thought I'd hear myself say it, but God did I miss Orion. I couldn't believe how lucky the guys had been, when he followed us all here. I think he had somehow found himself getting rather attached to us, though truth be told, we'd all got attached to him. I still often went to him for help, especially if it were hockey related, as I didn't feel happy going to Coach Ramsden with the problem.

I remember asking Orion once, why Ramsden treat us all the way he did, as though he was arch enemy number one. Orion's reply, 'You're all so busy hating him, you don't have time to hate each other. He's helping you become more of a team'. I had understood the logic, but not the reasoning. From the very first time we met, we'd all molded and become friends. Ok not as close as we had been with the ducks, but never in a million years could we be that close.

To end practice, he had us play a quick game. There was 14 players including 2 goalies, so it was pretty easy to separate us into teams. When we were in our teams, we had a minute with each other, deciding on any plans and strategy's and so on and so forth.

The game began, and basically, we just had a bit of fun, though we made Ramsden think we were deadly serious. He wasn't the kind of guy you could have 'just fun' with. To him, everything was a competition. Throughout the 15 minute game, he yelled at almost everyone, shouting if any of them missed a shot, or a pass, though my name had yet to be mentioned, it was only a matter of time.

"Julie 'the cat', keep your head in the game". The loud gruff voice yelled. "Nice shot Moreau". He yelled again.

He loved putting us up against each other, knowing how close we were. It was as though he was jealous of our closeness. Nearly every practice, he put us on separate teams, and watches how we work against each other. What he didn't realize was, neither of us, cared. It was a game to us. I never told the secret of her game, and she never told of mine. Though there had been many an opportunity to get one over on each other, we never had.

"DEFENSE TIGHTEN UP". Ramsden yelled, almost angrily. I could tell by the tone of his voice, it was near the last few minutes of the game. "GAFFNEY, DON'T TAKE YOUR EYES FROM THAT PUCK! HOLTON, PASS THE GOD DAMN PUCK"! He was getting a desperate now. I scowled, but ignored his words, blocking out his existence.

I looked up, and noticed the ducks watching the last few minutes of our practice, before their own. I saw Orion at the back the crowd, also watching. His expression seemed neutral, but I knew there was a hint unease there.

"MOREAU, WHERE'S THE DEFENSE"! I was guessing he too had seen the ducks and Orion, and was trying to show off in front of them.

What he did next completely shocked me. Never in the year I had been on this team, had he done something so, well ridiculous is one word for it. He took Holton out of the game, replacing her with himself. We all looked shocked at this, but non the less, positioned ourselves ready to start. The fact he had neither pads nor helmet on, never really crossed my mind to be honest. He added another 10 minutes to the game and skated centre ice.

When we started, he played quite dirty to be honest, tripping the opposing team, and in one or two cases, his own team. He was really ticking me off now, he wasn't doing any of this to teach us anything, he was doing this to show off. I watched astonished as he knocked Kelly Hawkes straight into the boards. He scored straight after, giving us a few seconds before we had to set up for the next face off. I helped pick Kelly up, before we crowded round.

"I swear to God, I'm gonna kill him". Kelly raged.

"No, no, look that's what he wants. He knows your gonna try going after him now. Look, just keep playing for a few minutes, put him off a"…

"C'mon Moreau, stop your mothers meeting". He shouted over to us, his face covered with a smirk.

"We all should just go after him". Gates fumed.

"No, see he's expecting that. Just play like you were before. I'll wipe that smirk off his face. Seems he has it in for me today anyway". I skated away, hearing my team mates agreement.

For the next few minutes, we played smart, pretty much giving him a bit of confidence that we weren't going to try anything. I however had a few moves up my sleeve. I nodded to Kelly, letting her know I was intending to start. They all knew to back me up, but they also knew I was going to take pleasure in getting my own back.

He stole the puck and began flying down the ice. I had been skating along the other wall, keeping up with him the best I could. When I was sure the timing was just about right, I shot sideways, heading straight for him. Luckily he was that busy showing off, he didn't see me coming toward him. When I was near enough, I fell onto my front, continuing to slide with the momentum left from my speed. I slid straight in front of him, dragging the puck with me, and tripping him up in the process.

He fell flat on his face, and I immediately scurried to my feet, hitting the puck hard to clear it. I turned around to see Ramsden just climbing to hit feet. He didn't look too happy, but I didn't exactly hang around to find out. I skated back into the game, keeping one eye on Ramsden, knowing he'd want pay back. I wasn't really concentrating on scoring or how we were playing, just on him. Gates hit the puck toward me, and it hit the side and stayed there. I went over to retrieve it, but I didn't look at the puck, my eyes remained on the Plexiglas, where I could clearly see Ramsden heading full tilt toward me. I knew exactly what he was going to do, and stayed there until the very last second, when I dove out of the way, causing him to hit the Plexiglas rather than me.

I heard some cheering and roaring, but picked myself up. I knew he'd be really pissed now. There was 5 minutes left, and I knew I'd have to skate my heart out, if I was to stay on top of our little situation with Ramsden. As expected, he was really pissed with me, and skated very close, trying to trip or check me at every opportunity. It took all my energy just to be ready for anything he threw my way. I had long ago, stopped paying attention to the puck, or what my team mates were doing for that matter. I was determined, he wasn't going to get his own back. He came at me another few times, but I either spun, dove or skated out of his way.

Finally Holton blew the whistle, and I allowed myself to skate slowly to a stop. I fell to the floor, exhausted and breathing hard. I couldn't help but notice Ramsden too, was very out of breath. Without letting himself catch a breath, he began barking orders at some of the team, what they needed to work on and such. Then he ordered us off the ice. Julie and Kelly grabbed my gloved hands and began pulling me up off the ice.

"MOREAU. A WORD"! Ramsden yelled, as he skated to the team bench.

I let out a huge sigh, noticing the ducks talking with the team, and Julie heading for a hug from Portman. I knew they were all hanging around to hear the argument we were bound to have. When I reached him, I stood silently, still breathing heavy might I add.

"That was dirty playing Moreau. I don't EVER want to see that kind of playing from you in practice. DO YOU UNDERSTAND". He yelled.

"I was playing dirty? And what were you doing, playing by the rules". I yelled back. "Can't stand a girl getting the better of you huh coach"?

"You didn't get the better of me Moreau. Now get out of here, before you earn yourself some laps". His voice was harsh.

"Whatever". I replied, and began skating off the ice.

"That's it, laps MOREAU". He yelled, the loudest he had all practice.

"Fine, how many, coach". I stated, not really expecting an answer.

"Until I tell you to stop". His voice boomed.

I immediately started my laps. My legs felt like two lead weights, but I was determined not to show him, how weak I was feeling at that given moment. I could feel him watching me, his eyes almost burning into me. He continued shouting comments every so often, things like 'get those legs working' or 'speed up'. I choose to ignore him. The muscles throughout my whole body were burning as if on fire. My lungs felt tight and raspy.

By the time I'd done 50 laps, the ducks were exiting their locker rooms, and I saw them stand just off the ice, watching in horror. Orion not far behind them. Ramsden called to Orion that the ducks could start their warm ups. I took this as a sign he was nearly finished with me.

"I think she's done enough". I heard Orion state clearly to Ramsden.

"She's fine". He replied harshly, obviously not liking the fact that Orion was worried about me.

My legs were beginning to feel numb, and I struggled to maintain the strength to keep going. I was aware that my skating was beginning to get extremely sloppy, yet I hadn't the energy to care. Suddenly, one of my legs gave way, and I collapsed to the ice.

"GET UP MOREAU". Ramsden shouted. I took a deep breath. "MOREAU, I SAID GET UP"!

I struggled to my feet, very aware the ducks were watching intently. I saw Charlie start to skate toward me, but backed off as soon as I'd clambered to my feet. I began my laps again, all my energy going in to keeping myself upright. I saw Orion head back to Ramsden, his whole demeanor had changed, I could tell by the way he stood, his shoulders tense that he was angry.

"RAMSDEN, THAT'S ENOUGH. You say she's your best player, yet you're running her into the ground". He shouted.

"She needs to learn some respect". Ramsden replied.

Respect? That was one thing he'd never gain from me. Respect worked both ways, and as far as I was concerned, the more he treat us the way he did, the less and less I respected him for it.

"And this is the way to go". He was talking in his superior voice now, of which he was, as he had been here a year longer than Ramsden. "You want to earn their respect, give a little yourself. MOREAU". He called me. I ground to a stop, and looked thankfully at him, still trying my hardest to catch my breath. "Practice is over". He called.

I swear I saw I'm wink at me, as I began skating away, hearing Ramsden argue more with Orion. I sluggishly made my way to the locker rooms, feeling as though any minute I could collapse. I was pleased to see Julie had waited for me, the only one who had might I add. She greeted me with a hug, before pushing me into a seat, and helping me get my skates off. I pulled my helmet off, revealing my hair wet through with sweat. Julie asked me nothing, probably already knowing what he'd put me through. There was a gentle knock at the door, then Orion popped his head around it.

"Connie, you ok"? His concern was genuine.

"Yeah. Thanks Coach". I continued breathing harsh, but my breathing was slowly settling.

"You're welcome". He winked then left.

So what do you think? PLEASE R&R!