Chapter Eleven: Of phone calls and water fights

A/N: Okay, here's the correct version of the story with the few notes at the end... sorry 'bout earlier..

Connie turned her head slightly in both directions, making sure she had braided her long brown hair properly.

During breakfast, Adam had mentioned that there was a hockey rink about ten blocks from the apartment. Since they had still not decided what to do that day, he suggested that they go there instead. Connie had quickly agreed.

A short debate about who should use the bathroom first soon followed, and in which Connie had won – she insisted that Adam go first, reasoning she'd probably hog the bathroom for at least an hour.

Taking one last look at the mirror, she then grabbed her backpack and dashed towards the living room.

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting. Let me just grab my stick, and we could…" Connie paused, seeing Adam quickly cutting off his phone call and looking at her, quite surprised. "…get going. Is there something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong," Adam mumbled, his eyes shifting from her to the phone he was holding.

"Well, who were you calling?"

"No one," his answer came quickly.

She made no reply, but instead raised an eyebrow at Adam who was gazing on the floor boards, as if suddenly finding it very interesting.

With a defeated sigh, he set down the phone and looked guiltily at her. "I was trying to call Charlie's house," he admitted. "I just remembered that I haven't even given him the number here yet." he explained to her. "I know they'll want to check up on you."

Connie just shook her head. "I know you mean well, Adam, but –"

"You have to talk to them sooner or later, Cons." Adam said quietly.

"I know, it's just…" she let out a frustrated sigh, "I can't, not now. I – I need some time off… to think." Connie looked at him pleadingly. "I'll deal with them after they get back from their vacation. But until then, I just want to forget about everything… everyone… Please?"

Adam remained quiet, obviously deep in thought.

She studied his expression, and for a moment, it looked like he was going to protest. But after a second or two, he finally conceded, albeit hesitantly.

"Fine, you win," he replied, holding up his hands in defeat as Connie grinned at him.

"You're can be impossibly stubborn sometimes, you know that?" Adam whined lightheartedly as he made a move towards the closet to retrieve their hockey sticks.

"So I've been told." She answered, rolling her eyes. "And you can be a real pushover sometimes."

"Hey, that's not fair," he countered indignantly, emerging from the closet with their sticks. Adam handed out hers. "I only agreed because you were giving me the look!"

Connie looked at him in bewilderment. "What look? I wasn't giving you any look!"

"Oh come on, how many times have I seen you give any of the Ducks that look." He grabbed his backpack on top of the table.

"But-"

"You better stay out of trouble, Moreau," Adam chastised her playfully as he ushered her out of the apartment. "or eleven pairs of arms will be lunging for my neck if they as much as see a single scratch on you."

"But I wasn't-"

"And don't give me any more of those looks!"

Connie watched, dumbfounded, as Adam marched towards the elevator and pressed the down button. It took a moment before realization hit her. "But that wasn't even my puppy dog eyes yet!" She called out with a huge grin on her face, running after him.

"Hey Guy, a little help here!" Charlie called over the cheerful shouts of his friends. He waved his hands frantically at Guy, who was currently busy sulking underneath one of the coconut trees. "The Bash Brothers are creaming us! Come on, we-"

The rest of his words got cut off as he got caught with a face full of water.

"Nice try, Spazway, but I don't think any reinforcement is coming!" Portman launched another water attack on their captain, before laughing triumphantly. "Yeah, Bash Brothers rule!"

Fulton and their not-so-little-anymore bash brother Ken let out a hoot and continued an all-out offensive on Charlie and his teammates.

On the other side of the vicious water fight, Charlie, Luis and Dwayne were trying their best not to swallow as much water as the other team was splashing their way.

"Stop screaming like a girl, Dwayne, and just hit 'em!" Luis was yelling.

"W-wait, guys, s-stop," Dwayne sputtered, holding out his arms in front of his face. "I'm drowning!" He yelled dramatically, coughing out water.

The water fight suddenly ceased, and he gratefully took the moment wipe his face. When he finally looked up, he found all five looking at him curiously.

He stared back at them blankly. "What?"

"Dude, you can't drown just standing on three feet of water," Fulton exclaimed, looking at him as if he'd grown another head.

"Oh."

And before any of them could either attack, Dean and Ken were already sending waves towards the three.

"Arrgh!" Dwayne exclaimed as he got another mouthful of water.

Guy watched them from his place silently, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"How long are you exactly going to mope around there, Guy?" Julie questioned, coming up from behind him.

He turned his head slightly to find the Cat Lady standing beside him, gazing towards their other friends. "I just don't feel right about it, you know." He admitted, keeping his eyes towards Charlie and the others. "I'm worried about her, Jules. We haven't heard a single word from the two of them. What if-" Guy stopped short, and instead turned his head to face her. "Aren't you worried about her? I mean, you're her best friend."

"Her female best friend," she corrected him. "If you haven't noticed, there's still Charlie and, of course, Adam."

"Oooh, talking about the Connie-meister, huh?"

Julie and Guy both turned to see Averman, who was jogging towards them.

Julie raised an eyebrow. "What happened to Goldie and Russ? I thought you were going to 'score some babes'." She smirked.

"Ditched them. I figured I'd just wait for Luis, you know, 'cause he's more of the ladies' man around here." He motioned towards the direction of Goldberg and Russ, who were standing by the shore fifteen feet away from them.

"Don't worry, Charlie," Russ was shouting over, "Goldie's got your back! Just one cannonball from him and it's a guaranteed wipe out!"

Goldberg, who was standing proudly beside him moments ago sharply turned around and glared at him. "Hey, I resent that!"

"Well, if the shoe fits…" but Russ didn't finish his sentence and instead scampered towards Charlie's side of the fight. Goldberg was hot on his tail.

"See? They were really cramming my style," explained Averman as the three of them watched the other two join the fight.

"Listen, Guy," Julie began, going back to the topic about her best friend, "I can understand why you're worried, and I'm sure the rest feels the same way too. But knowing Connie, I think she just needs to blow off some steam for a few days. I'd be upset too, especially with the team, if I were in her position." She told him in all honesty.

Averman was nodding fervently in agreement.

"So you're not worried about her?"

"Hey, if being with Adam Banks is not safe enough, then I don't know what is."

Guy gave her a little smile. "You're not just saying that because of that thing you had for him four years ago, are you?"

There was an unexpected thwack on his head.

"Hey, ouch, that hurt," he exclaimed, his hand automatically feeling up his head. Guy looked at her accusingly.

"I'm sorry, my hand must've slipped," Julie answered coolly, crossing her arms in front of her.

Beside her, Averman was trying hard not to laugh at him. "Don't let Portman hear you, or his fist might 'slip' too," He warned him.

"Well, I just wish I know what she's been doing all this time." Guy reverted back into his morose self. "I hate it that we left her back there."

"I wouldn't worry if I were you, Guy. Cat Lady here is probably right." Averman assured him. "For all we know, the two of them are having a blast themselves." He started a litany of all the possible things Adam and Connie might be doing. "Playing hockey; staying over at Adam's place; eating out together; going to the movies…"

Guy's face fell. His earlier apprehensions turning from bad to worse as he listened further.

"…having trips to the park; having late night walks; picnic by the – Oomph!"

Averman doubled over and gasped for air. He painfully looked up to see Julie standing over him, eyes as wide as saucers, and lips pursed so tight that it was barely a visible line.

"Your elbow slipped too?" He asked with a groan.

"You're not helping!" She angrily hissed at him. Julie composed herself and turned Guy, who looked stricken. "Don't mind Les. You know how his brain detaches from his mouth sometimes."

Guy managed a slight nod, but he didn't even look half-convinced.

"Well' I'd better get over there before one of them actually drowns on that waist-high water."

Right beside him, Averman watched her go and wondered aloud, "Seriously, have she been taking enforcer lessons from Dean?"

Haha, poor Dwayne... ;P

Anyways,I've got something to tell you guys...The good news is that i've already finished a couple of chapters ahead of this this one...the bad news is that i'm not gonna be able to update them for the nextthree weeks,starting this friday.. :-(My brotherand I are willbe having a trip out of our country, and sad to say I can't bring my story with me...so, that's that...

Moving on to the shout outs...

hockey-girl90 - thanks! i'm really glad you're liking my story... i hope you keep on reading..;-)

Banksiesbabe99 - yeah, loved that bit too.. to think that was a last minute addition to that part.. :P

Emily Henson- 50 dollars... hmmn.. let me thi - wait, no.. i can't.. my sister would kill me.. shealready thinks i havedamaged my morals whenI wrote adam into this story...darn it..

White Artemis - wow,I actually have a person who's literally cheering for me! thanks:P