"Happy Warriors"
"Please welcome to the podium, the head coach and leader of the Mighty Ducks, Gordon Bombay." Maurae shifted her feet, still smiling hugely even though her cheeks ached, standing next to Adam, as Gordon walked up, flashing them all an amused grin. Maurae stood with the rest of the Ducks on the front steps of Eden Hall Academy, staring out at the crowds. She wore her Ducks jersey over her blouse and skirt. Her hair had been straightened by Connie earlier that morning. She was even wearing a bit of the makeup the two girls had given her before leaving Minnesota the year before.
'Has it really only been a year?' she asked herself. She hadn't expected the awkwardness that had greeted her at the airport. She'd thought of nothing but her teammates for months...ever since they'd parted.
"Thank you," he said as the applause died down a bit. "It's a great honor to be here today to introduce you to a truly great group of kids. Sure, they can be a little rambunctious: they've run me ragged and played more than their fair share of pranks. I still haven't forgotten about those eggs." He paused for laughter. "But I hung in there, and they hung in there for me, and we became the Quack Attack, the Flying V, and the Bash Brothers. I've never had a better time." He paused then to look them over and Maurae's grin became forced, more like a grimace.
"Get it over with already," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Adam winked at her, making her want to elbow him.
"These kids are winners, each and every one of them. But more than that, these are good people. I hope that they enrich and enliven your school and your lives the way they have mine. Now I hand you over to the capable hands of my old biology teacher and the current headmaster of Eden Hall, Dean Buckley. Dean?"
"Gordon Bombay has a lot to be proud of," the old man said upon reaching the microphone. Maurae visibly sagged, wishing it were over. She needed to get back to her room before one of the others caught her and wanted to talk. She'd managed to avoid talking to any of them for the two days she'd been in town, and she wanted to keep it that way. "We are happy to welcome the Ducks to our great educational institution. So today it gives me great pleasure to award you these full athletic scholarships to the Eden Hall Academy. We hope that the Ducks will be happy Warriors, and lead us on to glory and divisional championships."
"Finally," Maurae muttered, ducking out of reach of the dean's arm and slipping past her teammates. She faded back into the foliage and turned and fled. She and the rest of the out-of-state Ducks had been given their dorm rooms now, at the beginning of the summer. That way, they wouldn't have to worry about the hassle of moving in when the in-state attendees did. They could just show up whenever they felt like it at the end of the summer.
"Running away?" asked Adam's amused voice. She turned to find her friend standing on the path behind her, arms crossed across his chest.
"No. I have a plane to catch, is all," she replied.
"Liar. You've been acting weird since Dad and I picked you up at the airport. What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she insisted.
"You're acting like we've never met," he pressed. "You're acting skittish around all of us. I know something's up with you. Why're you so awkward?" She sighed. She should've known that Adam would see it. She had been avoiding him in particular because she'd known that he would be the one to end up prying it out of her.
"Look, Ads," she said gently. "We've been apart for a year. Things have changed. Our lives are different. I quit playing for the Eagles last year. I was sick of the way they treated me. I kept up with practicing and everything, but...I don't know. I just feel like maybe that hockey was the only reason I had any of you. Without it, I had no one."
"This may sound cliché to you, Ro," he said, uncrossing his arms. "But you're one of us now, no matter how extremely your life changes. Remember the final game in the tournament? Ducks fly together." She sighed.
"Just give me a while, okay. I'll be fine. I'll be back to normal by the end of summer. I hope." He came forward and slung an arm over her shoulders. She managed not to flinch away.
"Good. You're a part of our lives now, no matter how hard you try not to be. But come on. Your plane leaves in three hours, and you've still got goodbyes to say."
She leaned against the wall and sighed. She was off to a great start. Five minutes in the new school and she was already avoiding those people who could make her at least feel like she belonged. Maurae flopped face- down on the dorm room bed and tried to remind herself that she wanted to be here. Someone knocked on the open door and she lifted her head. A tall, willowy redhead stood in the doorway, balancing a box on each arm. "Is this...are you Maura Gra-bek-lis?" Maurae smiled and sat up.
"Maurae. And yes, I am. Are you Carrie?"
The redhead laughed. "No, I'm Andrea, Carrie's older sister. Carrie's on her way up with some more of her stuff. I'm warning you now, she's not in a very good mood. She petitioned for a single room and somehow ended up with a roommate."
"We should get along just fine, then," Maurae replied. "Can I help you with that?" Andrea set down the boxes.
"No, thanks. Don't let her mouth fool you. Carrie's really a nice person at heart. Give her a while to warm up to you, and you should be fine. Ah, speak of the vixen." Carrie Martin turned out to be every bit as pretty as her sister; she was shorter and stockier, but her hair was the same burnished copper and her eyes were the same blue-gray. Carrie's eyes, however, were narrowed with prejudiced dislike.
"If you're my roommate, I'm just going to warn you that I don't like you. I hate roommates and I like privacy. If you aren't my roommate, I'm going to say that it's wonderful to meet you, and I can't wait to get acquainted. So, which is it? Are you my roommate or aren't you?" Maurae stifled a smile and stood.
"Can I help you with any of that?" she replied instead.
"Thanks. Here, this goes in the bathroom. Andi, could you shove that big box under the bed? Thanks." Maurae obeyed. "So, are you my roommate or not?"
"I'm Maurae," she acquiesced. "It's nice to meet you, Carrie."
"No way you can be my roommate. Roommates are supposed to be people you can hate."
Maurae snorted. "I'll tell that to Adam. Or to Connie and Julie," she replied. "So, you don't hate me. That's a good start, I suppose."
"But...but...I can't room with you! You're pretty, and you're nice! I like you already!" Carrie continued to protest.
"I'd normally take those things as complements, but the way you're carrying on, I'm tempted to be insulted."
"Who's insulted?" asked a familiar voice. Maurae turned and waved.
"Come on in, Fulton. Fulton Reed, Carrie and Andrea Martin, my roommate and her sister. Though I think Carrie's taken exception to me for some reason."
"Does it have to do something with insults? Sorry, that's all I heard." He smiled.
"No. We were just bantering. So, what are you doing here? I thought you guys weren't moving in until tomorrow."
"Charlie called me. We need to talk. Something big's happened." Maurae raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "And since I was closest to the school at the time, I volunteered to fetch you."
"Carrie, do you need any more help here?" Carrie, who was eyeing Fulton like she wanted to rip out his throat, blinked at her.
"What? No, I think Andi and I can handle it from here. Thanks, though. Um, are you going to be back for dinner? Maybe we could, uh, get acquainted or something?" Andrea snorted softly at her younger sister's attempt to ask her roommate out. Maurae smiled ruefully.
"Sorry, Carrie. I'm spending tonight with Adam and his family. They've been hosting me for the last week, and they're taking us out to dinner. Um, how about lunch tomorrow? I should be back by then; I have to help the others move in."
Carrie swallowed hard and disliked Fulton Reed and this unknown Adam more and more. "Sure. Sounds good. It was...nice... to meet you, Fulton."
"Nice to meet you both. Carrie, Andrea." He nodded and turned to Maurae, pulling her shoes on. "You're never going to believe this. Charlie knew part of it at the beginning of the summer; Bombay told him. But the other part we only found out last week, when Jess came over to the barbeque. Remember?" Maurae grabbed her keys and wallet and pocketed them, waving to the two girls. Then she followed her friend down the hall.
"Fulton, don't tell me. I think I already know what you're going to say about Jess. But I can wait to be proven right." She threaded her arm through his and, grinning, let him lead her out of the building. Carrie brought her head back in the door and looked at her sister mournfully.
"Howcome all the really decent girls are either straight, or hooked up, or both?" she asked rhetorically. Andrea smiled sympathetically and bent to helping Carrie unpack.
Maurae waved to Charlie as he walked up the front steps of his apartment complex. He grinned and waved back. Then she settled back into the backseat next to Adam. "So, you want to talk about it?" he asked, looking over at her. She shot him a glare. "I'm serious, Ro. It's been all summer, and you're still as distant as you were before. You put up a good front for the others, but they don't know you as well as I do. So tell me, what's wrong with you?" She sighed.
"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" she asked, knowing perfectly well the answer. "Adam, I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. Lots of things and nothing. I'm a walking contradiction anymore. And you're right, I do fake it for the others." She sighed again and leaned on the shoulder he offered. He rested his chin on top of her head. "I just...my convoluted logic has informed me that I need to distance myself emotionally. I lost so many of the friends I had in middle school when I went to play in the Games. I don't want that to happen again. I don't want to lose any of you when we're apart." He snorted.
"I think you should first step back and have a little faith. Just because some seriously off people did it to you in middle school doesn't mean we're going to do that. Besides, what would I do without you to help me tie my ties?"
"Buy a clip-on?" she suggested, slipping her arms around him. "Seriously, Ads..."
"Seriously, Ro, I'm just like you. I wouldn't be able to deal with anything without you guys. I know I wouldn't."
"On a totally different subject, how do I tell Dwayne that I'm not exactly... interested anymore?" Adam stiffened. "I mean, I know we were never actually a couple or anything, but I don't want to hurt his feelings too much."
"I have no idea. I'm sure you'll think of something. You usually do," he replied, nudging her up. He unbuckled his seatbelt. "Come on; we've got to get up early tomorrow to move in, and I don't want to have to haul you out of bed." She stuck her tongue out at him, but smiled anyway. There was a reason she and Adam were best friends.
"Please welcome to the podium, the head coach and leader of the Mighty Ducks, Gordon Bombay." Maurae shifted her feet, still smiling hugely even though her cheeks ached, standing next to Adam, as Gordon walked up, flashing them all an amused grin. Maurae stood with the rest of the Ducks on the front steps of Eden Hall Academy, staring out at the crowds. She wore her Ducks jersey over her blouse and skirt. Her hair had been straightened by Connie earlier that morning. She was even wearing a bit of the makeup the two girls had given her before leaving Minnesota the year before.
'Has it really only been a year?' she asked herself. She hadn't expected the awkwardness that had greeted her at the airport. She'd thought of nothing but her teammates for months...ever since they'd parted.
"Thank you," he said as the applause died down a bit. "It's a great honor to be here today to introduce you to a truly great group of kids. Sure, they can be a little rambunctious: they've run me ragged and played more than their fair share of pranks. I still haven't forgotten about those eggs." He paused for laughter. "But I hung in there, and they hung in there for me, and we became the Quack Attack, the Flying V, and the Bash Brothers. I've never had a better time." He paused then to look them over and Maurae's grin became forced, more like a grimace.
"Get it over with already," she muttered out of the corner of her mouth. Adam winked at her, making her want to elbow him.
"These kids are winners, each and every one of them. But more than that, these are good people. I hope that they enrich and enliven your school and your lives the way they have mine. Now I hand you over to the capable hands of my old biology teacher and the current headmaster of Eden Hall, Dean Buckley. Dean?"
"Gordon Bombay has a lot to be proud of," the old man said upon reaching the microphone. Maurae visibly sagged, wishing it were over. She needed to get back to her room before one of the others caught her and wanted to talk. She'd managed to avoid talking to any of them for the two days she'd been in town, and she wanted to keep it that way. "We are happy to welcome the Ducks to our great educational institution. So today it gives me great pleasure to award you these full athletic scholarships to the Eden Hall Academy. We hope that the Ducks will be happy Warriors, and lead us on to glory and divisional championships."
"Finally," Maurae muttered, ducking out of reach of the dean's arm and slipping past her teammates. She faded back into the foliage and turned and fled. She and the rest of the out-of-state Ducks had been given their dorm rooms now, at the beginning of the summer. That way, they wouldn't have to worry about the hassle of moving in when the in-state attendees did. They could just show up whenever they felt like it at the end of the summer.
"Running away?" asked Adam's amused voice. She turned to find her friend standing on the path behind her, arms crossed across his chest.
"No. I have a plane to catch, is all," she replied.
"Liar. You've been acting weird since Dad and I picked you up at the airport. What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she insisted.
"You're acting like we've never met," he pressed. "You're acting skittish around all of us. I know something's up with you. Why're you so awkward?" She sighed. She should've known that Adam would see it. She had been avoiding him in particular because she'd known that he would be the one to end up prying it out of her.
"Look, Ads," she said gently. "We've been apart for a year. Things have changed. Our lives are different. I quit playing for the Eagles last year. I was sick of the way they treated me. I kept up with practicing and everything, but...I don't know. I just feel like maybe that hockey was the only reason I had any of you. Without it, I had no one."
"This may sound cliché to you, Ro," he said, uncrossing his arms. "But you're one of us now, no matter how extremely your life changes. Remember the final game in the tournament? Ducks fly together." She sighed.
"Just give me a while, okay. I'll be fine. I'll be back to normal by the end of summer. I hope." He came forward and slung an arm over her shoulders. She managed not to flinch away.
"Good. You're a part of our lives now, no matter how hard you try not to be. But come on. Your plane leaves in three hours, and you've still got goodbyes to say."
She leaned against the wall and sighed. She was off to a great start. Five minutes in the new school and she was already avoiding those people who could make her at least feel like she belonged. Maurae flopped face- down on the dorm room bed and tried to remind herself that she wanted to be here. Someone knocked on the open door and she lifted her head. A tall, willowy redhead stood in the doorway, balancing a box on each arm. "Is this...are you Maura Gra-bek-lis?" Maurae smiled and sat up.
"Maurae. And yes, I am. Are you Carrie?"
The redhead laughed. "No, I'm Andrea, Carrie's older sister. Carrie's on her way up with some more of her stuff. I'm warning you now, she's not in a very good mood. She petitioned for a single room and somehow ended up with a roommate."
"We should get along just fine, then," Maurae replied. "Can I help you with that?" Andrea set down the boxes.
"No, thanks. Don't let her mouth fool you. Carrie's really a nice person at heart. Give her a while to warm up to you, and you should be fine. Ah, speak of the vixen." Carrie Martin turned out to be every bit as pretty as her sister; she was shorter and stockier, but her hair was the same burnished copper and her eyes were the same blue-gray. Carrie's eyes, however, were narrowed with prejudiced dislike.
"If you're my roommate, I'm just going to warn you that I don't like you. I hate roommates and I like privacy. If you aren't my roommate, I'm going to say that it's wonderful to meet you, and I can't wait to get acquainted. So, which is it? Are you my roommate or aren't you?" Maurae stifled a smile and stood.
"Can I help you with any of that?" she replied instead.
"Thanks. Here, this goes in the bathroom. Andi, could you shove that big box under the bed? Thanks." Maurae obeyed. "So, are you my roommate or not?"
"I'm Maurae," she acquiesced. "It's nice to meet you, Carrie."
"No way you can be my roommate. Roommates are supposed to be people you can hate."
Maurae snorted. "I'll tell that to Adam. Or to Connie and Julie," she replied. "So, you don't hate me. That's a good start, I suppose."
"But...but...I can't room with you! You're pretty, and you're nice! I like you already!" Carrie continued to protest.
"I'd normally take those things as complements, but the way you're carrying on, I'm tempted to be insulted."
"Who's insulted?" asked a familiar voice. Maurae turned and waved.
"Come on in, Fulton. Fulton Reed, Carrie and Andrea Martin, my roommate and her sister. Though I think Carrie's taken exception to me for some reason."
"Does it have to do something with insults? Sorry, that's all I heard." He smiled.
"No. We were just bantering. So, what are you doing here? I thought you guys weren't moving in until tomorrow."
"Charlie called me. We need to talk. Something big's happened." Maurae raised an eyebrow, but nodded. "And since I was closest to the school at the time, I volunteered to fetch you."
"Carrie, do you need any more help here?" Carrie, who was eyeing Fulton like she wanted to rip out his throat, blinked at her.
"What? No, I think Andi and I can handle it from here. Thanks, though. Um, are you going to be back for dinner? Maybe we could, uh, get acquainted or something?" Andrea snorted softly at her younger sister's attempt to ask her roommate out. Maurae smiled ruefully.
"Sorry, Carrie. I'm spending tonight with Adam and his family. They've been hosting me for the last week, and they're taking us out to dinner. Um, how about lunch tomorrow? I should be back by then; I have to help the others move in."
Carrie swallowed hard and disliked Fulton Reed and this unknown Adam more and more. "Sure. Sounds good. It was...nice... to meet you, Fulton."
"Nice to meet you both. Carrie, Andrea." He nodded and turned to Maurae, pulling her shoes on. "You're never going to believe this. Charlie knew part of it at the beginning of the summer; Bombay told him. But the other part we only found out last week, when Jess came over to the barbeque. Remember?" Maurae grabbed her keys and wallet and pocketed them, waving to the two girls. Then she followed her friend down the hall.
"Fulton, don't tell me. I think I already know what you're going to say about Jess. But I can wait to be proven right." She threaded her arm through his and, grinning, let him lead her out of the building. Carrie brought her head back in the door and looked at her sister mournfully.
"Howcome all the really decent girls are either straight, or hooked up, or both?" she asked rhetorically. Andrea smiled sympathetically and bent to helping Carrie unpack.
Maurae waved to Charlie as he walked up the front steps of his apartment complex. He grinned and waved back. Then she settled back into the backseat next to Adam. "So, you want to talk about it?" he asked, looking over at her. She shot him a glare. "I'm serious, Ro. It's been all summer, and you're still as distant as you were before. You put up a good front for the others, but they don't know you as well as I do. So tell me, what's wrong with you?" She sighed.
"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" she asked, knowing perfectly well the answer. "Adam, I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. Lots of things and nothing. I'm a walking contradiction anymore. And you're right, I do fake it for the others." She sighed again and leaned on the shoulder he offered. He rested his chin on top of her head. "I just...my convoluted logic has informed me that I need to distance myself emotionally. I lost so many of the friends I had in middle school when I went to play in the Games. I don't want that to happen again. I don't want to lose any of you when we're apart." He snorted.
"I think you should first step back and have a little faith. Just because some seriously off people did it to you in middle school doesn't mean we're going to do that. Besides, what would I do without you to help me tie my ties?"
"Buy a clip-on?" she suggested, slipping her arms around him. "Seriously, Ads..."
"Seriously, Ro, I'm just like you. I wouldn't be able to deal with anything without you guys. I know I wouldn't."
"On a totally different subject, how do I tell Dwayne that I'm not exactly... interested anymore?" Adam stiffened. "I mean, I know we were never actually a couple or anything, but I don't want to hurt his feelings too much."
"I have no idea. I'm sure you'll think of something. You usually do," he replied, nudging her up. He unbuckled his seatbelt. "Come on; we've got to get up early tomorrow to move in, and I don't want to have to haul you out of bed." She stuck her tongue out at him, but smiled anyway. There was a reason she and Adam were best friends.