A/N: So, I figure 15 chapters per movie, if I'm lucky. Actually, I dunno
how many the second part of my little series will take. I would like to
get your input now. If I continue the story after the events in D3, like
maybe their sophomore and senior years and stuff, they would have to be
more angsty, and I wanted to know if y'all would read those too. I'd have
to put them in a different story so that those who don't like angst so much
would have the chance to avoid them.
However, the next couple of chapters (or maybe only this one) will focus on Maurae and her summer holidays slash eighth grade school year. I know I may have years and crap mixed up, and I don't care. This storyline and timeline works well for me.
"Eagles May Fly, But Not Together"
Hockey conditioning camp was a favorite event of Maurae's since she'd started playing hockey at the age of six. It was her chance to show a 99% male population that girls could play hockey, and they could play it well.
She was in her usual cabin, alone, as usual. She offloaded her bags, locked the door behind her and pocketed the keys. Then she trotted over to the mess, humming under her breath. She may have been aching inside still at having the team so far away, but she could hide it well, as she always had.
Inside the mess hall, she ignored the fact that she was, again, the only girl and looked around for the rest of the Eagles. Terrance and George had been her closest friends on the team, and it was easy for her to find them, sitting at the champions table near the front of the room. She crossed to them.
"Hey, guys," she said. "Long time, no see."
"Oh, look. The reigning champion returns," Ryan cut in sarcastically, looking up.
"Hello to you too, Ryan. It's been a while."
"Yes it has, miss High-And-Mighty."
"Dunno what crawled up your butt and died, but whatever it was, keep it to yourself," she said, sitting down between Terrance and George. But even they wouldn't meet her eyes. "What's bitten you guys?"
"Has it totally escaped your notice, Barbie? You're the only girl here. You always have been, and you always will be."
"So?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Girls aren't supposed to play hockey. Don't you think you've grown past the point where you can do everything the boys can do?"
Maurae got slowly to her feet, fully aware that she was the center of attention of the entire room of boys anywhere from two years younger than her to four and five years older. "And I suppose it wasn't a girl on TV, scoring the third goal in the Team USA- Team Iceland shoot out in the final playoff game," she said coldly. "I suppose it wasn't a girl who won the game for the USA. I suppose, then, that I'm not a girl, and Julie's not a girl, and Connie's not a girl." Silence greeted her words and Ryan wouldn't meet her eyes. "You don't want to play with me, fine. Don't play with me. But I won't stop playing. Nothing you say or do will stop me from playing."
"You'll get hurt," Cameron, another of her Eagles teammates spoke up hesitantly.
She laughed shortly. "I've gotten hurt before. I was slammed headfirst into the boards during games, I bruised my ribs, sprained my wrists. It changes nothing. I played for the national team, and we won."
"What if the Eagles don't want a girl player?" asked James, the oldest boy on the team.
"And when did I ever ask whether or not the Eagles wanted me? The Ducks want me. Team USA wanted me. I'm part of a team, and a team sticks together. So, are the Eagles a team? No, not if they're trying to justify the fact that it embarrassed them that I played for Team USA instead of a boy." She paused and glared straight at the crowded table. "You can go to hell, boys. Because I'm not going anywhere." And then she turned on her heel and walked out, closing the door behind her so it wouldn't slam.
As she walked, she thought about nothing so much as calling her mom...no. She wouldn't call her mom. She started to smile and ran back to her cabin, rifling through her bag for the address book from Ken. She grabbed the pre- paid cell phone that Mr. and Mrs. Banks had given her upon her leaving their house only a few weeks before. She locked the cabin behind her and trotted down to the "park" where she sat on a bench and grinned. She dialed Charlie's number.
("Hello, Casey Conway.")
"Mrs. Conway, is Charlie home?"
("Is this Maurae?")
"Yes, ma'am."
("Charlie said you might call. He says to call him on Jesse's phone, and if that doesn't work, call Adam.")
"Thank you."
("Anytime.")
She hung up and dialed Jesse's phone. ("Hello, Hall Residence, Terry speaking.")
"Terry, is Jess there?"
("You just missed him.")
"Thanks." She hung up again. "If you three are not at Adam's house, I'll kill you when I see you next. I swear I will." She dialed and mentally crossed her fingers.
("Hello, this is Adam.")
"Adam. My favorite friend."
("Ro!")
"You noticed. Are Charlie and Jesse with you?"
("They're on their way over here. How's camp?")
"Dismal. If camp were one of our games, it would have to be the first Iceland game."
("Ouch. That bad, huh?")
"Trying to tell me I need to get over my phase of trying to be like the boys. Ads, did I ever try to be like you or the other guys?"
("No. Not that I remember. You were always you. It was great. You were great. We miss you.")
"I miss you, too. I would so rather go back to the Captain Blood stage of our relationship that stay here. But here I must stay. You know what, the Eagles and the Ducks may fly, but the difference between them is that the Eagles don't fly together."
("You'll always have a place to fly, Ro.")
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear, Ads. Thanks."
("Hold on. The doorbell just rang.") She waited. (Who do you want first?")
"Well, I called Charlie first, so how about him?" She waited for Adam to put Charlie on the phone.
("Well, hello, lover. You didn't last very long.")
"Shut up. I'm not calling about that. I belong here, no matter what they say. I was born and raised here. Nothing I can do about them unfortunately. I just thought it would be nice to actually use the gift Adam's parents gave me."
("And such a good use you put it to. I thought you'd have called Dwayne.") Maurae blushed. ("You're blushing, aren't you? You are!")
"I was going to call him as soon as I'd talked to you three. But Adam was the only one that answered."
("Good. Talk to Jesse, then call your lover-boy.")
"He is NOT my lover-boy, Conway. Dwayne and I are...still sorting out our relationship. Put Jess on the phone."
("S'up?")
"What do you think? How's everything, since we all left?"
("Well, Portman and Fulton are tearing up the neighborhood, the terror of all the alley cats, and windows. Dean's off next week, though. Apparently, his parents actually like him, and they want him to come home for a while before school starts.")
"Well, we'd hope that his parents like him. After all, yours like you." She laughed. "I kind of miss this. It isn't the same over the phone. I like to see your face when I'm making fun of you."
("Right. So, we'll talk to you later, so you can call Dwayne.") They said goodbye and she hung up.
"No, not yet." She closed the address book and leaned back on the bench. "My temper may be under control, but that doesn't mean I won't erupt again."
"Maurae?" She looked up.
"Yes, Ryan?"
"Um, I'm sorry, about the things I said. I-"
"No you aren't. You meant them. You still mean them. Don't waste your time or mine apologizing if you don't mean it." He looked at her for a minute.
"How did you know?"
"I have two brothers. They've apologized to me and not meant it enough times so that I know what it sounds like. Honestly, Ryan, I don't fault you your opinions. Gunnar and Olaf thought that girls had no place on the ice. We taught them otherwise. Of course, I'd have thought you already knew that, but what can I do? If six years hasn't taught you that girls can play the game, then nothing I say should make a difference." She got up and walked past him back to her cabin.
Flopping down on the bed, she sighed. 'Counting the days...yeah, I want to get out of here, for the first time in my life. I can't wait until school starts.'
************************************************************
Eighth grade was little better than seventh, save that more people wanted to talk to her. Since the year before, she'd gotten more famous. Not many middle schoolers actually knew someone who'd been on national television.
Maurae stuck to her usual crowd and friends and about two months into the school year, it started to die down, a fact for which she was grateful. She still missed everybody, but it was more of an empty hurt than an ache or a pain anymore. Her parents had agreed to try out the whole scholarship thing for high school, knowing how happy she'd been with the Team USA.
She turned fourteen a month before school let out. She didn't go to conditioning camp that summer, and she quit the Eagles. They lost ten games that season, and Maurae saw every one of them. She was scheduled to fly out in August, right in the middle of the league season.
School was starting again, and she was going to be in high school.
It was time to fly again.
However, the next couple of chapters (or maybe only this one) will focus on Maurae and her summer holidays slash eighth grade school year. I know I may have years and crap mixed up, and I don't care. This storyline and timeline works well for me.
"Eagles May Fly, But Not Together"
Hockey conditioning camp was a favorite event of Maurae's since she'd started playing hockey at the age of six. It was her chance to show a 99% male population that girls could play hockey, and they could play it well.
She was in her usual cabin, alone, as usual. She offloaded her bags, locked the door behind her and pocketed the keys. Then she trotted over to the mess, humming under her breath. She may have been aching inside still at having the team so far away, but she could hide it well, as she always had.
Inside the mess hall, she ignored the fact that she was, again, the only girl and looked around for the rest of the Eagles. Terrance and George had been her closest friends on the team, and it was easy for her to find them, sitting at the champions table near the front of the room. She crossed to them.
"Hey, guys," she said. "Long time, no see."
"Oh, look. The reigning champion returns," Ryan cut in sarcastically, looking up.
"Hello to you too, Ryan. It's been a while."
"Yes it has, miss High-And-Mighty."
"Dunno what crawled up your butt and died, but whatever it was, keep it to yourself," she said, sitting down between Terrance and George. But even they wouldn't meet her eyes. "What's bitten you guys?"
"Has it totally escaped your notice, Barbie? You're the only girl here. You always have been, and you always will be."
"So?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Girls aren't supposed to play hockey. Don't you think you've grown past the point where you can do everything the boys can do?"
Maurae got slowly to her feet, fully aware that she was the center of attention of the entire room of boys anywhere from two years younger than her to four and five years older. "And I suppose it wasn't a girl on TV, scoring the third goal in the Team USA- Team Iceland shoot out in the final playoff game," she said coldly. "I suppose it wasn't a girl who won the game for the USA. I suppose, then, that I'm not a girl, and Julie's not a girl, and Connie's not a girl." Silence greeted her words and Ryan wouldn't meet her eyes. "You don't want to play with me, fine. Don't play with me. But I won't stop playing. Nothing you say or do will stop me from playing."
"You'll get hurt," Cameron, another of her Eagles teammates spoke up hesitantly.
She laughed shortly. "I've gotten hurt before. I was slammed headfirst into the boards during games, I bruised my ribs, sprained my wrists. It changes nothing. I played for the national team, and we won."
"What if the Eagles don't want a girl player?" asked James, the oldest boy on the team.
"And when did I ever ask whether or not the Eagles wanted me? The Ducks want me. Team USA wanted me. I'm part of a team, and a team sticks together. So, are the Eagles a team? No, not if they're trying to justify the fact that it embarrassed them that I played for Team USA instead of a boy." She paused and glared straight at the crowded table. "You can go to hell, boys. Because I'm not going anywhere." And then she turned on her heel and walked out, closing the door behind her so it wouldn't slam.
As she walked, she thought about nothing so much as calling her mom...no. She wouldn't call her mom. She started to smile and ran back to her cabin, rifling through her bag for the address book from Ken. She grabbed the pre- paid cell phone that Mr. and Mrs. Banks had given her upon her leaving their house only a few weeks before. She locked the cabin behind her and trotted down to the "park" where she sat on a bench and grinned. She dialed Charlie's number.
("Hello, Casey Conway.")
"Mrs. Conway, is Charlie home?"
("Is this Maurae?")
"Yes, ma'am."
("Charlie said you might call. He says to call him on Jesse's phone, and if that doesn't work, call Adam.")
"Thank you."
("Anytime.")
She hung up and dialed Jesse's phone. ("Hello, Hall Residence, Terry speaking.")
"Terry, is Jess there?"
("You just missed him.")
"Thanks." She hung up again. "If you three are not at Adam's house, I'll kill you when I see you next. I swear I will." She dialed and mentally crossed her fingers.
("Hello, this is Adam.")
"Adam. My favorite friend."
("Ro!")
"You noticed. Are Charlie and Jesse with you?"
("They're on their way over here. How's camp?")
"Dismal. If camp were one of our games, it would have to be the first Iceland game."
("Ouch. That bad, huh?")
"Trying to tell me I need to get over my phase of trying to be like the boys. Ads, did I ever try to be like you or the other guys?"
("No. Not that I remember. You were always you. It was great. You were great. We miss you.")
"I miss you, too. I would so rather go back to the Captain Blood stage of our relationship that stay here. But here I must stay. You know what, the Eagles and the Ducks may fly, but the difference between them is that the Eagles don't fly together."
("You'll always have a place to fly, Ro.")
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear, Ads. Thanks."
("Hold on. The doorbell just rang.") She waited. (Who do you want first?")
"Well, I called Charlie first, so how about him?" She waited for Adam to put Charlie on the phone.
("Well, hello, lover. You didn't last very long.")
"Shut up. I'm not calling about that. I belong here, no matter what they say. I was born and raised here. Nothing I can do about them unfortunately. I just thought it would be nice to actually use the gift Adam's parents gave me."
("And such a good use you put it to. I thought you'd have called Dwayne.") Maurae blushed. ("You're blushing, aren't you? You are!")
"I was going to call him as soon as I'd talked to you three. But Adam was the only one that answered."
("Good. Talk to Jesse, then call your lover-boy.")
"He is NOT my lover-boy, Conway. Dwayne and I are...still sorting out our relationship. Put Jess on the phone."
("S'up?")
"What do you think? How's everything, since we all left?"
("Well, Portman and Fulton are tearing up the neighborhood, the terror of all the alley cats, and windows. Dean's off next week, though. Apparently, his parents actually like him, and they want him to come home for a while before school starts.")
"Well, we'd hope that his parents like him. After all, yours like you." She laughed. "I kind of miss this. It isn't the same over the phone. I like to see your face when I'm making fun of you."
("Right. So, we'll talk to you later, so you can call Dwayne.") They said goodbye and she hung up.
"No, not yet." She closed the address book and leaned back on the bench. "My temper may be under control, but that doesn't mean I won't erupt again."
"Maurae?" She looked up.
"Yes, Ryan?"
"Um, I'm sorry, about the things I said. I-"
"No you aren't. You meant them. You still mean them. Don't waste your time or mine apologizing if you don't mean it." He looked at her for a minute.
"How did you know?"
"I have two brothers. They've apologized to me and not meant it enough times so that I know what it sounds like. Honestly, Ryan, I don't fault you your opinions. Gunnar and Olaf thought that girls had no place on the ice. We taught them otherwise. Of course, I'd have thought you already knew that, but what can I do? If six years hasn't taught you that girls can play the game, then nothing I say should make a difference." She got up and walked past him back to her cabin.
Flopping down on the bed, she sighed. 'Counting the days...yeah, I want to get out of here, for the first time in my life. I can't wait until school starts.'
************************************************************
Eighth grade was little better than seventh, save that more people wanted to talk to her. Since the year before, she'd gotten more famous. Not many middle schoolers actually knew someone who'd been on national television.
Maurae stuck to her usual crowd and friends and about two months into the school year, it started to die down, a fact for which she was grateful. She still missed everybody, but it was more of an empty hurt than an ache or a pain anymore. Her parents had agreed to try out the whole scholarship thing for high school, knowing how happy she'd been with the Team USA.
She turned fourteen a month before school let out. She didn't go to conditioning camp that summer, and she quit the Eagles. They lost ten games that season, and Maurae saw every one of them. She was scheduled to fly out in August, right in the middle of the league season.
School was starting again, and she was going to be in high school.
It was time to fly again.