"The Ties That Bind"
Maurae woke up groggily the next morning, glad they didn't have a morning practice, as they were no doubt going to start having soon. It was bad enough that the first day of school was a Monday. She rubbed her eyes and slid out from under the blankets, her feet landing in her slippers.
Carrie came out of the bathroom cheerfully, brushing her hair. "Good morning!"
"Uh," Maurae replied. She swallowed and tried again, running her fingers through the hair she'd left loose the night before. "Morning. Don't talk to me until I wash my face."
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Carrie retorted, setting her brush down on the night table. She grinned and shook her head as Maurae passed, muttering , "Not captain. Charlie's captain. Crazy, weirdo." Carrie couldn't help laughing at her roommate. It was certainly going to be an interesting year, and maybe she'd finally found someone she could be friends with.
Only ten minutes later, Maurae came out of the bathroom, in a much better mood. She'd brushed and braided her hair, washed her face and brushed her teeth, even though she was going to eat in a few minutes. She slipped her sleep camisole off, making Carrie look away, blushing beet red. Maurae ignored her roommate's reaction and slipped her tank top on and traded her sleep shorts for jean shorts. Tying a sweatshirt around her waist, she slipped on sandals and was ready to go eat. Carrie, managing to control her flaming face, followed her down to the mess and through the line, and over to the table the Ducks had claimed the day before as their own.
Charlie lifted an eyebrow at Carrie. "Hasn't anyone told you that being awake in the morning can get you killed?" Carrie grinned at him. "You're sick." Then he buried himself in his toast and plastic eggs. Maurae made a face at her own eggs and snatched his toast.
"You eat plastic, Charlie," she said, shoving her eggs at him in recompense. He made a face but ate her eggs as she ate his toast and hers. Blearily, Russ and Ken plopped down, shoveling breakfast into their mouths. Maurae pulled out her schedule and flattened it onto the table. "Who has biology first?" Hands went up around the table. "Madigan?" Nods. Apparently, their schedules were almost identical, to get them used to other students slowly. The only classes Maurae had without a teammate in them were 2-D art for seventh period and choir fourth period. Oh, and debate. They got up when the warning rang and headed for Madigan's biology class.
Sitting there, waiting for class to start, Maurae yawned and wished she had stayed in bed just a while longer. She could deal without breakfast.
"Sit down and pay attention," a strict female voice snapped. The class went silent. "Now, this is Honors Biology. I keep a strict schedule that I expect you all to respect. Every Monday, you'll have a practice quiz, every Wednesday, you'll have a real quiz, every Friday, you'll have an exam. And any time I feel like it, you'll have a surprise quiz or exam. Any questions?" The class was too busy staring at her slack-jawed to ask any questions. "Good. Now, go to the library, get your textbooks and be back here in fifteen minutes." The stampede was astounding. Maurae simply waited in her seat. "Did you not hear me, Miss..."
"Grabeklis, Maurae," she supplied. "And yes, ma'am, I did. But I already got all my textbooks in the library yesterday."
"Thinking ahead. Good job. You play center forward for the new JV team, don't you?"
"Yes, I do. I switch off with my friend Adam."
"I don't suppose I can ask you your impressions of the school yet, can I?" the older woman asked with a small smile. Maurae shook her head.
"I don't have any to offer you, ma'am," she replied with a shrug. "I haven't even met my new coach yet."
"You'll like him. Ted Orion is a good man, and an excellent hockey player. You know that he played for the Minnesota Northstars before they left, don't you?"
"We'd heard that, yes. It was a little hard for us, hearing that our old coach was leaving, but Bombay would never leave us if he had a problem with his replacement." Maurae shrugged. "I'm excited to meet him, to tell you the truth."
Madigan nodded and the conversation went silent. Maurae pulled out a reading book and a few minutes later, students started trickling back into the room. She put it away when everyone had returned and the teacher had reverted to her strict self. Paying attention was necessary to pass the class, she soon discovered, as she took notes so furiously, her hand started to cramp two pages into class. She ignored it and wished suddenly that she was ambidextrous.
When Madigan let them out, Maurae stuffed the binder back into her messenger bag and shook her hand furiously as she followed her friends from the room. It was still tingling when she walked into her math class with Ken, Russ, and Julie. They were the only Ducks to have Honors Geometry with Nelson. Adam and Les had pre-calculus and the rest had algebra. Maurae sat down and looked at the teacher, hoping desperately that he wasn't like Madigan and expected them to be able to handle quizzes every day.
"Welcome to my class," he said, his voice firm. "I expect you to respect me and I shall respect you. Do your homework and study, and we will only have a weekly quiz. Start slacking off, and I will have to up that to daily quizzes." The class groaned. Nelson's eyes twinkled at them as he smiled. "So all you have to do is not slack off. Have we a deal?"
The entire class nodded as one, some more emphatically than others. Again, Maurae's hand started to hurt while she took notes. After that class was the first of their forty-five minute breaks. The second came between sixth and seventh periods. She went to her locker and traded notebooks and textbooks for the ones she would need in her next classes and then found a bench where she could read in the sunshine. The others found her there about a half-hour into their break.
"Hey, Ro."
"Guys. Connie."
Maurae groaned as she entered her debate class. Public speaking was an evil, a necessary evil, but an evil nonetheless. Frowning thoughtfully, she sat down near the front and set her bag on the floor, glancing around at the rest of the class. She recognized nobody, but the dark girl three rows back looked vaguely familiar. Maybe she'd seen the girl on the brief tour of campus the day before.
Shrugging, Maurae faced forward again, praying they didn't have to start an actual debate the first day. Seeing the message written on the board in front, she closed her eyes, already weary of the stupid school. The bell rang and the rest of the seats filled. Unfortunately, none of the other Ducks were in this particular class with her, so she didn't even have Averman's bad jokes to pass the time.
"Today's debate will be a brief one," the teacher explained, getting attention. "Organized sports." The dark girl's hand shot up at the same time as Maurae's, seeming to shock the teacher to no end. "Yes, you, miss...?"
"Shayne."
"Shayne. Will you be for or against?"
"Against. Vehemently against. Completely against." She got up and went to the front. Maurae stared at her, face growing more aghast at each word. "Sports are demeaning. It's just the start of how society weeds out those they find unworthy. Only the perfect people can play, no one else is wanted. I mean, if you aren't up to a certain standard, you're disappointed while kids no better than you get picked. Just because you're a few inches too short, or a few pounds too heavy. It's injustice is what it is, and sports should be banned from educational institutions. They're just the start to how corrupt our society really is. I mean, sports are filled with only perfect people, so then go a step farther, and religion weeds out the people it doesn't want. If you do a certain thing, you'll go to hell. If you do another certain thing, you could be stuck in jail, when really all you were doing was standing up for yourself." Maurae couldn't take it anymore.
"You're wrong," she said clearly. Standing up, she walked forward. "Organized sports make people feel good about their own abilities. They teach discipline and strength that you'll need later in life. And sports have nothing to do with religion."
Shayne sneered elegantly. "You must be a jock."
"You say that like it's a bad thing. Yes, I am. I play hockey. I'm part of a team. I know what sports are like. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about."
"Are you saying that I'm ignorant?"
"Or just plain stupid. Either one." Maurae shrugged delicately, part of her amazed at herself. She never knew just how passionate she was about the hockey part of her life. Shayne's eyes blazed.
"Nobody calls me stupid."
"I believe I just did." The whole room waited in tense anticipation of what would happen next. And what did happen shocked Maurae completely. Shayne leapt off the small platform and tackled her. Rolling on the floor, people screeching above them, a part of her mind wondered where her sanity had gone as she hit Shayne back. Suddenly, hands lifted her bodily off the other girl, restraining them both. Maurae stopped fighting immediately.
"I am astounded!" the teacher thundered. "Miss Kimble, Miss Grabeklis, you ought to be ashamed!" The man was literally shaking in anger. "I want you both to go to the dean's office, right now." They left, throwing glances at each other.
"Wait, Grabeklis?" Shayne asked through a cut lip once they were out in the hall. "Maurae?" Maurae's eyes had grown too, though one was already darkening.
"Shayne Kimble? What in heaven's name are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Last I heard, you were still in Colorado."
"I was offered a scholarship, with the rest of my team. My hockey team," she added with a painfully raised eyebrow. Shayne grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry about the...eye."
"Yeah, well, I'm sorry I called you stupid."
"Not that you hit me?"
"You did hit me first. And you did insult my friends." Shayne waved a careless hand.
"Aw, you'll get over it." Maurae shot her a sideways glare. "Man, whoever thought we'd be going to the same school? It's been what, three years?"
"Or so," Maurae replied, gingerly touching her eye. Shayne snorted. "This is going to be pretty tomorrow," she added ruefully. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Going to school. Apparently, Mom and Dad weren't too pleased with my...um, lack of success at my last school. Mom called Aunt Mo. Your mom suggested this school. I think my parents are glad to get me out of the house for a while."
"I can't imagine why," Maurae retorted dryly. Shayne shot her a look, but the other girl's face was bland. "Shayne, what did you do to your hair, and for Pete's sake, why?"
"Don't like my new colors?"
"No wonder I didn't recognize you. You've gone almost completely...Goth, for lack of a better term."
"How about you, then?" Shayne replied. "The goody-goody I remember would never have picked a fight at all, let alone in the middle of a classroom." Maurae winced. "You never would have had the nerve. And your hair's different too."
"Changes happen, I guess. I'm different." She shrugged casually as they entered the office. "Being part of the team...it was an experience I won't soon forget." The assistant only raised an eyebrow when they walked in, indicating they should sit on the plastic chairs. Obeying silently, Shayne felt her lip and tried a smile.
"Nice hit, by the way," she muttered. The dean's office door flew open and Dean Buckley stood there looking ready to breathe fire.
"Miss Grabeklis, I had thought that after our talk this morning with the rest of your team that I would have no further trouble from you. And here, you've been in a fight? And with your own cousin!"
"In all fairness, sir, I didn't realize she was my cousin until after I split her lip," Maurae said sweetly. The dean looked incredulous. "The last time I saw her was a couple years ago, and we've both changed since then."
"Get in here, both of you, and we'll discuss your punishments." They hurried to move and flinched when he slammed the door behind them, walking forward to sit behind his massive desk. "I am disappointed that any students in this school would start a fistfight. Especially on their first day. I think detention for a week after school should change your attitudes." Maurae looked ready to protest, but the dean's glare shut her up. She sighed and nodded. "Now, get to the nurse's office for ice, both of you."
Shayne winced as she put the ice pack on her lip, then sighed. "You know, I honestly didn't expect my next encounter with you to end in pain. None of our others ever did." Maurae didn't bother to comment; ignoring silly comments had become second nature to her since befriending the Ducks.
"Holy Shit, what happened to you?" Maurae pulled the ice away from her face and looked up at her best friend.
"I got in a fight." He stared at her dumbly.
"You...got into a...a fight," he repeated blankly. "You?"
"Well, it was mostly her fault," Maurae retorted, waving a hand in Shayne's direction.
"Don't blame it on me. I was just debating my point."
"Belaboring the point, insulting me and my friends, and pretty much calling everyone an idiot. Besides, the point was organized sports, not corruption in society. You went off on the world's biggest tangent. And you hit me first." Adam was going back and forth throughout this exchange.
"Okay, then," he spoke up, cutting off their next volley. "Ro, I'll see you at lunch, right?"
"Of course. Bye." He left. Shayne turned to her with a big smirk on her face.
"Who's the pansy?"
"Take it back, or I'll hit you again," Maurae growled. "That's my best friend you just insulted." Shayne nodded, the smirk still on her face.
"Sure, I take it back. I'm just glad you're not dating him. Only think of how embarrassed I would be to be related to you then."
"You girls can go to class now," the nurse snapped. She practically shoved them out the door, muttering about hot-headed teenagers. Shayne walked off without saying anything, leaving Maurae shaking her head after her cousin. She, in turn, walked in the other direction, ignoring the people streaming past, keeping her head down.
"What the hell happened to you?" She looked up, startled. Charlie was staring at her, eyes huge. He reached out and touched the edge of the bruise. Maurae jerked back.
"Nothing. I'm fine." He raised an eyebrow, but she was looking past him, watching a scene unfold. Luis, intent on the blonde cheerleader in front of him, didn't realize that Riley and Cole were following him. She winced in sympathy as Cole shoved Luis hard into the lockers. The Latino looked ready for murder, but the Varsity boys were moving on.
However, when Cole snatched Ken's lunch, Maurae bristled angrily. She walked forward and, in passing, jammed a sharp elbow into the bigger boy's gut. He grunted and turned. Maurae dug in her pocket and pulled out her lunch money for the day. "Here," she said. She slipped a five into Ken's hand as he walked by. He smiled at her gratefully and kissed her cheek. She was just starting to get used to this new mode of thanks from her friends. "Let it go," she muttered, tightening her grip on him as he glared after the two bigger boys.
Finally, he sighed and relaxed, looking at her. "What would we do without you, Ro?" he asked with a cheeky smile. "You're a born peacemaker." She grinned and shook her head. "Where'd you get the pretty shiner?"
"My cousin. Long story. I'll tell it to you sometime, but not now. Now it's time for another class." She shrugged her bag higher up on her shoulder and walked away.
Suffering through the looks from her friends, she nearly shouted in relief when the lunch bell rang. Then she remembered that she'd given her money to Ken. Slightly less exuberantly, she followed the crowds to the giant cafeteria and found the table already crowded with her friends.
The banter was usual for them all, but Maurae quickly got bored with the questions about her eye. She glanced around and saw Shayne eating alone, glaring at her food while she stabbed it with a fork. Quietly excusing herself, she went over. "What did that macaroni salad ever do to you?"
"Don't you ever get tired of bothering people?" Shayne retorted, looking up.
"Sometimes. But you're so easy to bother, I keep coming back," Maurae quipped, smirking. "Do you want to join us?"
Shayne actually looked offended. "You may be my cousin and all, so I won't speak out against your sport anymore. But I'm sort of a fan of anarchy, I guess you could say. So unless you want me to blacken the other eye, I suggest you don't try to suck me into your world again. I grew up in it, remember?" Maurae sighed and shook her head.
"You do what you want. I was trying to be friendly. At least I came to this school with friends. You've got no one, unless you count me, and I wasn't under the impression that you did." Maurae turned and walked off, shrugging. She didn't go back to the table, however. Once they got past her black eye, someone would notice that she wasn't eating and then Ken would realize she'd given him all her money, and he would either get mad or insist she share with him, or both. She didn't want the fuss.
Opening her locker, she rustled around for her next class textbook. "Here," a voice said, shoving half a sandwich into her face. "You didn't eat."
"Worried about my health, Captain Duck?" Charlie grinned his lopsided smile and shrugged somewhat shyly.
"I saw you go off and talk to that Goth girl. I also saw you give Ken your lunch money earlier."
"The girl was my cousin, and Ken's lunch was stolen by Cole, or whatever his name is. Besides, I'm not that hungry."
"Liar. Go ahead, eat it. I already ate my fill." She ate the sandwich rather than argue with him. "Did you really get into a fistfight with your cousin?" Ruefully, Maurae nodded.
"Except I didn't know she was my cousin at the time," she replied. "I didn't recognize her."
"Come on, I'll walk you to class," he said, refraining from questioning her further, for which she was glad. "So, excited about practice this afternoon?" he asked casually as they walked down the hall.
"I don't know. Rumors are flying all over this team about what he's going to be like. I'm a little excited, I guess. A bit nervous, definitely. But mostly, I just want to get out on the ice again. Practicing alone just isn't the same as practicing with a team. I don't know how bad I've gotten since the Games." She sighed. "I miss it." Her voice was small. Charlie smiled and flung an arm around her shoulders like he had so many times before. She slowly relaxed. "I missed this a whole lot more, though."
"Missed what? Being manhandled?"
"Hey, Fulton," Charlie and Maurae chorused, turning just slightly.
"Saying manhandled is just one way of saying that I was part of something bigger," Maurae explained. "I missed having you guys around me all the time, making noise and talking to me and...I just missed being part of a team." Her face reddened slightly.
Ignoring her obvious embarrassment at her speech, Fulton slung his arm over her shoulders as well, grinning. "I hear Miss Perfect here got herself a week's worth of detentions on the first day," he commented instead. She flushed crimson and chuckled. "And I heard she got into a fist fight."
"I did and I did. Shocking, I know." Both boys were laughing at her. "But sometimes perfection can be so dull." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and laughed. "I'm getting a reputation as a regular bad girl." Charlie snorted.
"As if," he replied. "You are a good girl at heart, Ro, and you always will be. Reputation or no. And we have to defend your reputation, too. It's our job as your teammates."
"Thanks, Spazway," she smiled and kissed his cheek, only a few centimeters higher than her own. Fulton made a face.
"What about me?" he teased, ducking his head a little so she could reach it. She obediently kissed him too.
"But don't tell anybody, else they'll all be wanting kisses," she whispered conspiratorially, making them all three laugh.
"Yeah, and I don't want to share with the others," Charlie teased back. "It's bad enough having to share with Fulton." Maurae giggled, feeling much better than she had since Adam and his dad had picked her up at the airport.
Speaking of Adam, who appeared right then, grabbing her ribs from behind, making her jump and screech. "Adam, don't DO that!" she said. The three boys were laughing hard, and she smiled fondly at all of them. This would be the moment that Portman would lift her bodily into the air, just to prove he could. Her smile turned wistful. As much as she hated to admit it to herself (and she'd never admit it to anyone else), she missed the other Bash Brother. These three were her best friends in the world, as odd as it sounded for her to have three best friends who were guys, and she didn't even know how much she had missed them.
Her shoulders relaxed for the first time in days and she grinned, a slow, cat-like grin that made Adam stop laughing and back up slowly. He put his arms up, palms out to ward her off. "Oh, no you don't. Guys, a little help?" But Maurae pounced, laughing, and clung to his shoulders.
Fortunately for Adam, the bell rang right then to signal the end of lunch. She slid off his back and instead linked her arm with his, letting Charlie move to her right side. "Feel better?" Adam whispered into her ear as they walked into their fifth period class together. She nodded and released his arm.
"I feel like me again, if that's what you mean. I don't know what I was thinking, saying I didn't feel like a part of the team anymore." She shook her head at him. "I can't wait until practice this afternoon. The new coach will have to be something else, and not all the rumors can be false."
"Hopefully," Adam shot back.
Maurae woke up groggily the next morning, glad they didn't have a morning practice, as they were no doubt going to start having soon. It was bad enough that the first day of school was a Monday. She rubbed her eyes and slid out from under the blankets, her feet landing in her slippers.
Carrie came out of the bathroom cheerfully, brushing her hair. "Good morning!"
"Uh," Maurae replied. She swallowed and tried again, running her fingers through the hair she'd left loose the night before. "Morning. Don't talk to me until I wash my face."
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Carrie retorted, setting her brush down on the night table. She grinned and shook her head as Maurae passed, muttering , "Not captain. Charlie's captain. Crazy, weirdo." Carrie couldn't help laughing at her roommate. It was certainly going to be an interesting year, and maybe she'd finally found someone she could be friends with.
Only ten minutes later, Maurae came out of the bathroom, in a much better mood. She'd brushed and braided her hair, washed her face and brushed her teeth, even though she was going to eat in a few minutes. She slipped her sleep camisole off, making Carrie look away, blushing beet red. Maurae ignored her roommate's reaction and slipped her tank top on and traded her sleep shorts for jean shorts. Tying a sweatshirt around her waist, she slipped on sandals and was ready to go eat. Carrie, managing to control her flaming face, followed her down to the mess and through the line, and over to the table the Ducks had claimed the day before as their own.
Charlie lifted an eyebrow at Carrie. "Hasn't anyone told you that being awake in the morning can get you killed?" Carrie grinned at him. "You're sick." Then he buried himself in his toast and plastic eggs. Maurae made a face at her own eggs and snatched his toast.
"You eat plastic, Charlie," she said, shoving her eggs at him in recompense. He made a face but ate her eggs as she ate his toast and hers. Blearily, Russ and Ken plopped down, shoveling breakfast into their mouths. Maurae pulled out her schedule and flattened it onto the table. "Who has biology first?" Hands went up around the table. "Madigan?" Nods. Apparently, their schedules were almost identical, to get them used to other students slowly. The only classes Maurae had without a teammate in them were 2-D art for seventh period and choir fourth period. Oh, and debate. They got up when the warning rang and headed for Madigan's biology class.
Sitting there, waiting for class to start, Maurae yawned and wished she had stayed in bed just a while longer. She could deal without breakfast.
"Sit down and pay attention," a strict female voice snapped. The class went silent. "Now, this is Honors Biology. I keep a strict schedule that I expect you all to respect. Every Monday, you'll have a practice quiz, every Wednesday, you'll have a real quiz, every Friday, you'll have an exam. And any time I feel like it, you'll have a surprise quiz or exam. Any questions?" The class was too busy staring at her slack-jawed to ask any questions. "Good. Now, go to the library, get your textbooks and be back here in fifteen minutes." The stampede was astounding. Maurae simply waited in her seat. "Did you not hear me, Miss..."
"Grabeklis, Maurae," she supplied. "And yes, ma'am, I did. But I already got all my textbooks in the library yesterday."
"Thinking ahead. Good job. You play center forward for the new JV team, don't you?"
"Yes, I do. I switch off with my friend Adam."
"I don't suppose I can ask you your impressions of the school yet, can I?" the older woman asked with a small smile. Maurae shook her head.
"I don't have any to offer you, ma'am," she replied with a shrug. "I haven't even met my new coach yet."
"You'll like him. Ted Orion is a good man, and an excellent hockey player. You know that he played for the Minnesota Northstars before they left, don't you?"
"We'd heard that, yes. It was a little hard for us, hearing that our old coach was leaving, but Bombay would never leave us if he had a problem with his replacement." Maurae shrugged. "I'm excited to meet him, to tell you the truth."
Madigan nodded and the conversation went silent. Maurae pulled out a reading book and a few minutes later, students started trickling back into the room. She put it away when everyone had returned and the teacher had reverted to her strict self. Paying attention was necessary to pass the class, she soon discovered, as she took notes so furiously, her hand started to cramp two pages into class. She ignored it and wished suddenly that she was ambidextrous.
When Madigan let them out, Maurae stuffed the binder back into her messenger bag and shook her hand furiously as she followed her friends from the room. It was still tingling when she walked into her math class with Ken, Russ, and Julie. They were the only Ducks to have Honors Geometry with Nelson. Adam and Les had pre-calculus and the rest had algebra. Maurae sat down and looked at the teacher, hoping desperately that he wasn't like Madigan and expected them to be able to handle quizzes every day.
"Welcome to my class," he said, his voice firm. "I expect you to respect me and I shall respect you. Do your homework and study, and we will only have a weekly quiz. Start slacking off, and I will have to up that to daily quizzes." The class groaned. Nelson's eyes twinkled at them as he smiled. "So all you have to do is not slack off. Have we a deal?"
The entire class nodded as one, some more emphatically than others. Again, Maurae's hand started to hurt while she took notes. After that class was the first of their forty-five minute breaks. The second came between sixth and seventh periods. She went to her locker and traded notebooks and textbooks for the ones she would need in her next classes and then found a bench where she could read in the sunshine. The others found her there about a half-hour into their break.
"Hey, Ro."
"Guys. Connie."
Maurae groaned as she entered her debate class. Public speaking was an evil, a necessary evil, but an evil nonetheless. Frowning thoughtfully, she sat down near the front and set her bag on the floor, glancing around at the rest of the class. She recognized nobody, but the dark girl three rows back looked vaguely familiar. Maybe she'd seen the girl on the brief tour of campus the day before.
Shrugging, Maurae faced forward again, praying they didn't have to start an actual debate the first day. Seeing the message written on the board in front, she closed her eyes, already weary of the stupid school. The bell rang and the rest of the seats filled. Unfortunately, none of the other Ducks were in this particular class with her, so she didn't even have Averman's bad jokes to pass the time.
"Today's debate will be a brief one," the teacher explained, getting attention. "Organized sports." The dark girl's hand shot up at the same time as Maurae's, seeming to shock the teacher to no end. "Yes, you, miss...?"
"Shayne."
"Shayne. Will you be for or against?"
"Against. Vehemently against. Completely against." She got up and went to the front. Maurae stared at her, face growing more aghast at each word. "Sports are demeaning. It's just the start of how society weeds out those they find unworthy. Only the perfect people can play, no one else is wanted. I mean, if you aren't up to a certain standard, you're disappointed while kids no better than you get picked. Just because you're a few inches too short, or a few pounds too heavy. It's injustice is what it is, and sports should be banned from educational institutions. They're just the start to how corrupt our society really is. I mean, sports are filled with only perfect people, so then go a step farther, and religion weeds out the people it doesn't want. If you do a certain thing, you'll go to hell. If you do another certain thing, you could be stuck in jail, when really all you were doing was standing up for yourself." Maurae couldn't take it anymore.
"You're wrong," she said clearly. Standing up, she walked forward. "Organized sports make people feel good about their own abilities. They teach discipline and strength that you'll need later in life. And sports have nothing to do with religion."
Shayne sneered elegantly. "You must be a jock."
"You say that like it's a bad thing. Yes, I am. I play hockey. I'm part of a team. I know what sports are like. You obviously have no idea what you're talking about."
"Are you saying that I'm ignorant?"
"Or just plain stupid. Either one." Maurae shrugged delicately, part of her amazed at herself. She never knew just how passionate she was about the hockey part of her life. Shayne's eyes blazed.
"Nobody calls me stupid."
"I believe I just did." The whole room waited in tense anticipation of what would happen next. And what did happen shocked Maurae completely. Shayne leapt off the small platform and tackled her. Rolling on the floor, people screeching above them, a part of her mind wondered where her sanity had gone as she hit Shayne back. Suddenly, hands lifted her bodily off the other girl, restraining them both. Maurae stopped fighting immediately.
"I am astounded!" the teacher thundered. "Miss Kimble, Miss Grabeklis, you ought to be ashamed!" The man was literally shaking in anger. "I want you both to go to the dean's office, right now." They left, throwing glances at each other.
"Wait, Grabeklis?" Shayne asked through a cut lip once they were out in the hall. "Maurae?" Maurae's eyes had grown too, though one was already darkening.
"Shayne Kimble? What in heaven's name are you doing here?"
"I could ask you the same thing. Last I heard, you were still in Colorado."
"I was offered a scholarship, with the rest of my team. My hockey team," she added with a painfully raised eyebrow. Shayne grinned sheepishly.
"Sorry about the...eye."
"Yeah, well, I'm sorry I called you stupid."
"Not that you hit me?"
"You did hit me first. And you did insult my friends." Shayne waved a careless hand.
"Aw, you'll get over it." Maurae shot her a sideways glare. "Man, whoever thought we'd be going to the same school? It's been what, three years?"
"Or so," Maurae replied, gingerly touching her eye. Shayne snorted. "This is going to be pretty tomorrow," she added ruefully. "So, what are you doing here?"
"Going to school. Apparently, Mom and Dad weren't too pleased with my...um, lack of success at my last school. Mom called Aunt Mo. Your mom suggested this school. I think my parents are glad to get me out of the house for a while."
"I can't imagine why," Maurae retorted dryly. Shayne shot her a look, but the other girl's face was bland. "Shayne, what did you do to your hair, and for Pete's sake, why?"
"Don't like my new colors?"
"No wonder I didn't recognize you. You've gone almost completely...Goth, for lack of a better term."
"How about you, then?" Shayne replied. "The goody-goody I remember would never have picked a fight at all, let alone in the middle of a classroom." Maurae winced. "You never would have had the nerve. And your hair's different too."
"Changes happen, I guess. I'm different." She shrugged casually as they entered the office. "Being part of the team...it was an experience I won't soon forget." The assistant only raised an eyebrow when they walked in, indicating they should sit on the plastic chairs. Obeying silently, Shayne felt her lip and tried a smile.
"Nice hit, by the way," she muttered. The dean's office door flew open and Dean Buckley stood there looking ready to breathe fire.
"Miss Grabeklis, I had thought that after our talk this morning with the rest of your team that I would have no further trouble from you. And here, you've been in a fight? And with your own cousin!"
"In all fairness, sir, I didn't realize she was my cousin until after I split her lip," Maurae said sweetly. The dean looked incredulous. "The last time I saw her was a couple years ago, and we've both changed since then."
"Get in here, both of you, and we'll discuss your punishments." They hurried to move and flinched when he slammed the door behind them, walking forward to sit behind his massive desk. "I am disappointed that any students in this school would start a fistfight. Especially on their first day. I think detention for a week after school should change your attitudes." Maurae looked ready to protest, but the dean's glare shut her up. She sighed and nodded. "Now, get to the nurse's office for ice, both of you."
Shayne winced as she put the ice pack on her lip, then sighed. "You know, I honestly didn't expect my next encounter with you to end in pain. None of our others ever did." Maurae didn't bother to comment; ignoring silly comments had become second nature to her since befriending the Ducks.
"Holy Shit, what happened to you?" Maurae pulled the ice away from her face and looked up at her best friend.
"I got in a fight." He stared at her dumbly.
"You...got into a...a fight," he repeated blankly. "You?"
"Well, it was mostly her fault," Maurae retorted, waving a hand in Shayne's direction.
"Don't blame it on me. I was just debating my point."
"Belaboring the point, insulting me and my friends, and pretty much calling everyone an idiot. Besides, the point was organized sports, not corruption in society. You went off on the world's biggest tangent. And you hit me first." Adam was going back and forth throughout this exchange.
"Okay, then," he spoke up, cutting off their next volley. "Ro, I'll see you at lunch, right?"
"Of course. Bye." He left. Shayne turned to her with a big smirk on her face.
"Who's the pansy?"
"Take it back, or I'll hit you again," Maurae growled. "That's my best friend you just insulted." Shayne nodded, the smirk still on her face.
"Sure, I take it back. I'm just glad you're not dating him. Only think of how embarrassed I would be to be related to you then."
"You girls can go to class now," the nurse snapped. She practically shoved them out the door, muttering about hot-headed teenagers. Shayne walked off without saying anything, leaving Maurae shaking her head after her cousin. She, in turn, walked in the other direction, ignoring the people streaming past, keeping her head down.
"What the hell happened to you?" She looked up, startled. Charlie was staring at her, eyes huge. He reached out and touched the edge of the bruise. Maurae jerked back.
"Nothing. I'm fine." He raised an eyebrow, but she was looking past him, watching a scene unfold. Luis, intent on the blonde cheerleader in front of him, didn't realize that Riley and Cole were following him. She winced in sympathy as Cole shoved Luis hard into the lockers. The Latino looked ready for murder, but the Varsity boys were moving on.
However, when Cole snatched Ken's lunch, Maurae bristled angrily. She walked forward and, in passing, jammed a sharp elbow into the bigger boy's gut. He grunted and turned. Maurae dug in her pocket and pulled out her lunch money for the day. "Here," she said. She slipped a five into Ken's hand as he walked by. He smiled at her gratefully and kissed her cheek. She was just starting to get used to this new mode of thanks from her friends. "Let it go," she muttered, tightening her grip on him as he glared after the two bigger boys.
Finally, he sighed and relaxed, looking at her. "What would we do without you, Ro?" he asked with a cheeky smile. "You're a born peacemaker." She grinned and shook her head. "Where'd you get the pretty shiner?"
"My cousin. Long story. I'll tell it to you sometime, but not now. Now it's time for another class." She shrugged her bag higher up on her shoulder and walked away.
Suffering through the looks from her friends, she nearly shouted in relief when the lunch bell rang. Then she remembered that she'd given her money to Ken. Slightly less exuberantly, she followed the crowds to the giant cafeteria and found the table already crowded with her friends.
The banter was usual for them all, but Maurae quickly got bored with the questions about her eye. She glanced around and saw Shayne eating alone, glaring at her food while she stabbed it with a fork. Quietly excusing herself, she went over. "What did that macaroni salad ever do to you?"
"Don't you ever get tired of bothering people?" Shayne retorted, looking up.
"Sometimes. But you're so easy to bother, I keep coming back," Maurae quipped, smirking. "Do you want to join us?"
Shayne actually looked offended. "You may be my cousin and all, so I won't speak out against your sport anymore. But I'm sort of a fan of anarchy, I guess you could say. So unless you want me to blacken the other eye, I suggest you don't try to suck me into your world again. I grew up in it, remember?" Maurae sighed and shook her head.
"You do what you want. I was trying to be friendly. At least I came to this school with friends. You've got no one, unless you count me, and I wasn't under the impression that you did." Maurae turned and walked off, shrugging. She didn't go back to the table, however. Once they got past her black eye, someone would notice that she wasn't eating and then Ken would realize she'd given him all her money, and he would either get mad or insist she share with him, or both. She didn't want the fuss.
Opening her locker, she rustled around for her next class textbook. "Here," a voice said, shoving half a sandwich into her face. "You didn't eat."
"Worried about my health, Captain Duck?" Charlie grinned his lopsided smile and shrugged somewhat shyly.
"I saw you go off and talk to that Goth girl. I also saw you give Ken your lunch money earlier."
"The girl was my cousin, and Ken's lunch was stolen by Cole, or whatever his name is. Besides, I'm not that hungry."
"Liar. Go ahead, eat it. I already ate my fill." She ate the sandwich rather than argue with him. "Did you really get into a fistfight with your cousin?" Ruefully, Maurae nodded.
"Except I didn't know she was my cousin at the time," she replied. "I didn't recognize her."
"Come on, I'll walk you to class," he said, refraining from questioning her further, for which she was glad. "So, excited about practice this afternoon?" he asked casually as they walked down the hall.
"I don't know. Rumors are flying all over this team about what he's going to be like. I'm a little excited, I guess. A bit nervous, definitely. But mostly, I just want to get out on the ice again. Practicing alone just isn't the same as practicing with a team. I don't know how bad I've gotten since the Games." She sighed. "I miss it." Her voice was small. Charlie smiled and flung an arm around her shoulders like he had so many times before. She slowly relaxed. "I missed this a whole lot more, though."
"Missed what? Being manhandled?"
"Hey, Fulton," Charlie and Maurae chorused, turning just slightly.
"Saying manhandled is just one way of saying that I was part of something bigger," Maurae explained. "I missed having you guys around me all the time, making noise and talking to me and...I just missed being part of a team." Her face reddened slightly.
Ignoring her obvious embarrassment at her speech, Fulton slung his arm over her shoulders as well, grinning. "I hear Miss Perfect here got herself a week's worth of detentions on the first day," he commented instead. She flushed crimson and chuckled. "And I heard she got into a fist fight."
"I did and I did. Shocking, I know." Both boys were laughing at her. "But sometimes perfection can be so dull." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and laughed. "I'm getting a reputation as a regular bad girl." Charlie snorted.
"As if," he replied. "You are a good girl at heart, Ro, and you always will be. Reputation or no. And we have to defend your reputation, too. It's our job as your teammates."
"Thanks, Spazway," she smiled and kissed his cheek, only a few centimeters higher than her own. Fulton made a face.
"What about me?" he teased, ducking his head a little so she could reach it. She obediently kissed him too.
"But don't tell anybody, else they'll all be wanting kisses," she whispered conspiratorially, making them all three laugh.
"Yeah, and I don't want to share with the others," Charlie teased back. "It's bad enough having to share with Fulton." Maurae giggled, feeling much better than she had since Adam and his dad had picked her up at the airport.
Speaking of Adam, who appeared right then, grabbing her ribs from behind, making her jump and screech. "Adam, don't DO that!" she said. The three boys were laughing hard, and she smiled fondly at all of them. This would be the moment that Portman would lift her bodily into the air, just to prove he could. Her smile turned wistful. As much as she hated to admit it to herself (and she'd never admit it to anyone else), she missed the other Bash Brother. These three were her best friends in the world, as odd as it sounded for her to have three best friends who were guys, and she didn't even know how much she had missed them.
Her shoulders relaxed for the first time in days and she grinned, a slow, cat-like grin that made Adam stop laughing and back up slowly. He put his arms up, palms out to ward her off. "Oh, no you don't. Guys, a little help?" But Maurae pounced, laughing, and clung to his shoulders.
Fortunately for Adam, the bell rang right then to signal the end of lunch. She slid off his back and instead linked her arm with his, letting Charlie move to her right side. "Feel better?" Adam whispered into her ear as they walked into their fifth period class together. She nodded and released his arm.
"I feel like me again, if that's what you mean. I don't know what I was thinking, saying I didn't feel like a part of the team anymore." She shook her head at him. "I can't wait until practice this afternoon. The new coach will have to be something else, and not all the rumors can be false."
"Hopefully," Adam shot back.