Disclaimer: The Ducks aren't mine.
It was moving day at Eden Hall. Classes were scheduled to start in two days, and the dorms were frantic with hysterical parents and students already dreaming of another summer lost. I share my dorm room with Julie Gaffney, my fellow duck, and also with Emilyn Claire Sutton who Averman affectionately and to her disgust calls Éclair. Emilyn, though a bit of what the boys would call a "cake-eater", has taken to the Ducks in the past two years she has roomed with Julie and I and we all consider her a good friend. I am especially grateful for her presence, as Julie is not extremely adept at handling non-hockey emergencies.
"Have you seen him yet this school year?" Emilyn gushed as I unpacked and Julie scoffed, "He's gorgeous." Emilyn is currently, and has been since the end of last year, nursing a serious crush on Julie and my teammate and cake-eater extraordinaire, Adam Banks.
"He looks the same as when you saw him at Connie's last week" Julie reasoned. "It's not like he's been hiding all summer."
"Well he was gorgeous then, and he's gorgeous now" Emilyn maintained sounding slightly hurt.
"A week's a long time not to see someone you care about" I assumed my role as the peacemaker and bridge-builder between Emilyn and Julie. "Besides, it's not like she's lying. Adam's looking good" I added with a suggestive raise of my eyebrows.
"Which once again is nothing new" Julie countered but smiled in agreement.
"What am I going to do?" Emilyn, always one for dramatics, flopped on her bed with an exaggerated sigh.
"You're going to finally get it through his thick as a hockey puck skull that you're interested" I said sternly.
"For all of our sanity" Julie added emphatically. Emilyn answered with a second sigh, after which she promptly buried her face in a pillow, my pillow I might add. While Julie and I unpacked, a task she had completed hours earlier, Emilyn reminded us of her presence with frequent sighing and groans.
"Cover anything you don't want me to see because I'm coming in" a familiar voice boomed about a half an hour later, and our door opened revealing Duck Captain, Charlie Conway.
"Well Charlie, I sure covered a lot in the time you left me before barging in here" Julie feigned annoyance but knowing better than to take her seriously, Charlie instead ignored her protest.
"Anyway, as much as I love to visit you girls, I've come for a reason" Charlie continued.
"I'm not practicing" I blurted quickly, "My off-season is really going to be an off-season this year, Conway. I'll see you at the rink for conditioning but not any sooner."
"Calm down, Moreau. I'm not talking about practice. I'm talking about a welcome back to Hell party" he smirked apparently finding himself clever for the Hell comment. "Now, since you've never been one to turn down a party I'm assuming that you're in Connie. Julie, Emilyn, what about you two?" Emilyn sat up immediately agreeing- she may as well have had a flashing sign above her head that read Adam Banks. Julie also agreed and Charlie said, "Great, well we're going to be at the usual spot in the woods. I've got to go, though. Banksie and I have a date with his older brother before tonight" Charlie explained then left as quickly as he had come.
I should explain that in our last couple years at school, us Ducks have joined in and come to take extremely seriously, the party reputation of Eden Hall. Charlie and Adam have become a bit legendary in their own right, but everyone on campus knows that the Ducks like to party.
"You know," I turned to my friends as the door shut behind Charlie, "this is the first party of the year, we may as well go all out to get ready."
"Oh no," Julie said immediately, "I know what that means. You're severely dysfunctional, do you know that? I will not help you get ready for another Connie and Guy fiasco."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Julie" I said innocently. "How many times in our lives has Guy seen me dressed up? It's nothing new, and this has nothing to do with him. How do you know I'm not thinking of the other guys we could attract? Besides, he's not interested right now."
"He's always interested, just like you're always interested."
"Yes, but not right now" I reiterated.
"I'll never understand this" Emilyn who has never been around when Guy and I are, well the Guy and I that we are destined to be, sighed. "You love him."
"Yes, I do" I agreed.
"But you're not with him."
"Very good, Emmy. You're learning so fast" I cooed jokingly.
"Don't try, it's too complicated," Julie interrupted, "very Dawson's Creek. Just know that if Connie Moreau is talking about 'going all out' in conjunction with a place that Guy will be, whether she admits it or even realizes it, there will be trouble." I thought about what she said as we realized what time it was, and began getting ready. It was true, there was no denying it, and maybe it was time to start stirring up trouble again. It could be just the thing to ensure a great junior year. Besides, Adam wasn't the only one looking better and better these days.
"Anyway," I broke away from my thoughts to change the subject, "perhaps a little alcohol induced confidence is just what Em needs to help her deal with the Adam situation."
"Yeah like that has worked before" Emilyn rolled her eyes.
"Well, you never know. I have a feeling its going to be a lucky night" I informed her, not entirely sure I wasn't talking about myself.