General POV/

It had been a week since the party and Portman and Ashley hadn't spoken the whole time. Ashley attempeted to approach Portman but he refused to talk to her, still sour at being left at the party. Quite a few of the kids from Eden who had gone got in trouble with the administrators. Luckily Portman was long gone when that happened but he still figured Ashley could have gotten him in serious shit.

It was now the JV vs. Varsity game and the Ducks were all seated on their bench getting a last minute pep talk from Orion. Portman had seated himself as far away from Ashley as possible, even sacrificing his usual seat next to Fulton. Ashley kept sending him hopeful glances but he didn't look up.

"Still avoiding you huh?" Fulton asked. Fulton knew the answer but felt it would be the 'friendly' thing to do to ask.

"Yah," Ashley scoffed. She turned away, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

Portman had, of course, told Fulton all about how Ashley ditched him and Fulton could sort of understand why he was so fumed, but at the same time he thought maybe Portman should have gotten over it by now. Fulton had tried to ask Ashley about it but she always changed the subject. Eventually he gave up.

"ALRIGHT! Let's do it!" Orion shouted. The game began.

Within the first three minutes the Ducks had scored. There were loud cheers from the audience which helped to boost their spirits. Again, a few minutes passed and another goal was scored. By the end of the third it was 6-0 and Orion proudly ushered his team off the ice.

"Good job you guys," He said, nodding his head. The entire team knew how much he liked shut-outs.

"Hey coach? When are we gonna find out who gets to go to the tournament in Detroit?" Adam asked. It was nearly time for the chosen players to pack onto a bus and head down but Orion hadn't mentioned anything since the day everyone found out.

"I'll see everybody at practice tomorrow," he said, not answering Adam's question but smiling at the team.

Everybody then headed off to the changing rooms.

Portman pulled his wrist pad off before he even got to the door, he rubbed it slowly, wincing slightly.

"You ok Portman?" Orion asked, walking past.

"Yeah, just sore,"

"It should be, you've been playing really hard these past few weeks," Coach smiled at him and then left.

Portman returned the smile but he was already facing the other way. He'd been taking extra care to step up his game to boost his chances at this tournie. This could be a very good sign. He was snapped out of his daydream when Ashley stepped in front of him.

Portman made to move away like he'd been doing since the party but Ashley grabbed his arm.

"Would you please just listen to me!" She said.

Portman didn't anwer but stayed where he was.

"Look," Ashley started, "I'm sorry ok,"

"Yeah, sorry for-?"

"For leaving the party but-"

"Oh please, you probably got drunk and forget you even brought me along!"

"No! I swear, I didn't drink at all!" Ashley said quickly, Portman was starting to walk away again.

"Yeah, then why didn't you tell me you wanted to leave? Need I remind you it was your idea to go in the first place?"

"I know! I'm sorry, but-"

"No, listen-"

"Would you fucking shut up for one fucking second!" Ashley shouted. She looked around, hoping the jantor had his ear phones in as he cleaned the benches.

Portman was taken aback. He stood stunned for a moment.

"I left because Michelle told me you'd left," She said, trying to hide her frustration, "I've been trying to tell you all week!"

Portman just stared at her.

"I thought maybe somthing was wrong, so I left to try and find you,"

"Futlon was in our room all night, he wouldn't have mentioned it if you'd come up there," Portman said, finally finding his words.

Ashley opened her mouth but shut it again without speaking. She looked at her feet, then the wall and then her fingernails all in rapid succession.

"So..?" Portman prompted.

Ashley sighed, "Alright, I didn't leave to come find you... and ok, I drank a little, but I was scared! When Michelle told me you weren't there I freaked and ran away,"

"Why didn't you check around the house for me?"

"Well, I didn't have a reason not to believe Michelle!"

"Exept that she's a lying slut," Portman corrected.

"I'm sorry, next time I'll do a background check before I go to someone elses party," Ashley said, some of her usual sarcastic humor finding its way into the converstation.

Portman smiled slightly, feeling suddenly very guilty about ignoring her all this week. All she had been trying to do the whole time was explain but he'd figured she was just making excuses.

"Okay, so friends?" Ashley said, extending her hand.

Portman's smile turned into a grin as he extended his hand also. They shook.

"Friends."

Okay, a bit shorter then my other chapters but it will pick up! REVIEW! muahah!
And thank you to my three reviewers so far.. it is much appreciated! X's and O's.