Life's Full of Little Surprises
Disclaimer: I own absolutely none of the 'Mighty Duck' characters or the rights to the "Mighty Duck" franchise, that honor belongs to Disney. So I would appreciate that I wouldn't get sued over something I don't own.
Summary: Dani's life couldn't be going better. She has finally made it to the Olympics, doing the sport she loves the most. But... after arriving in Minneapolis, Minnesota things change. First she is constantly badgered by her brother, then she falls for one of his friends, and, of course, there is always a stalker!
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MsSuus- Thank you! I am happy that you like the surprises that happen throughout the chapters. And that you like the different languages that I use. Another thank you for the correction of translation error that I had. I will be the first to admit that I don't have the most reliable source of languages, other then what most people see on a semi-regular basis (meaning Spanish and Italian, etc.). Just the most reliable for where I am. So thanks again for correcting me!
PrincessH- Yes, the date should be happening within the next two chapters, so you don't have to wait a horribly long amount of time. I'm glad that you like what is happening.
mdgirl18- Adam and Dani will be getting together very soon. But it will be after Tammy and Fulton's first date. So long waiting will not be required.
Thank you to Lilmonkey1507, BrokenAngel1753, and M u M m I e I m I s S y O u!
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Adam sat in his room on his bed while Monica lied across his chair. "What are mom and dad doing?" He asked without turning towards his sister. What? He did have a book report for English to finish!
"Mom is trying to convince dad that he needs to patch things up with Jamie and go to the wedding. She wants him to go to Nevada on his next vacation. Well, that and looking through the living room window to watch the family across the street move in." Adam laughed. It was an unwritten tradition that whenever a new family moved in, all of the neighbors watched the process through their windows. "Why do we live in a neighborhood full of rich and exceedingly nosy people?" Adam shrugged. "Thank you Adam, that was quite informative." Monica replied sarcastically.
Adam laughed as he looked out the window towards the house that had belonged to the parents of a kid named Jimmy Jacobs, or J.J. as he was so often called. But J.J. was now on a plane to Europe and his parents were moving to Georgia for a better job that had arisen for them both. All Adam knew was that the Jacobs' were the snobbiest, richest, and most irritatingly closed-minded family in the history of the planet Earth. Hopefully this new family would be better.
Outside the house a tall man with brown hair and a slightly shorter women with red hair were directing the movers to were things were suppose to go. The Mustang convertible that sat in the front had it's top down, revealing a pair of black carpi clad legs wearing black flip flops with lime green straps. By the shape of the legs, Adam could tell that it was a girl that was lying in the car with her legs hanging over the side. "God, I hope they aren't Neo-Nazi's who hate every minority and every religion that is different to them." Adam said.
"Like Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs were?" Monica asked without looking up from her Nancy Drew. Adam nodded, "Let's hope that this is not a case of lightning strikes twice, this neighborhood doesn't need another family like that. Didn't they scare the Ducks once or twice?"
"Or a million." Adam replied flatly. He went back to the book that he had to read, Wuthering Heights, and it was really starting to get depressing. "I want to put this away! But I can't! I hate depressing books."
"Then put it away." Monica retorted, "You don't have English until Tuesday and Thursday, and that report isn't due until next week on Thursday!" Adam sighed and placed the book on his bedside table while looking out the window. The movers were getting back in their trucks and leaving. He looked and saw that the girl that had been lying in the car had jumped out with a basketball in hand.
The girl sat down and kicked off her flip flops, pulling a pair of socks and basketball shoes next to her. She had blond hair, from what Adam could tell, and her carpi's had chains hanging off of them. As she finished tying her shoes, she stood and pulled off her chains, placing them on the chair by the side door of the house, and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. Adam had no clue why he was watching her, he just felt it would be much more interesting then reading an increasingly depressing book. He noticed that a basketball basket had been placed high on the garage door. Was she going to shoot at that? She was tiny, probably shorter then Dani was. Not that he thought that something was wrong with Dani's height, or anything. Monica came to join him just in time to see the girl shoot at the basket from halfway down the driveway and score. "She's good."
"Yup, she sure is Monica." Adam replied, unable to think of anything else to say. He walked back to his bed and pulled out the sheet of paper his English teacher had given him that told them which books that they had to do reports on over the year. He looked for the book after Wuthering Heights, "Oh, jeez! Has he lost his ever loving mind?" Monica looked over at Adam, "Lord of the Flies!"
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"What the hell is the matter with you?" Scooter asked Adam during Gym the next day. This was the only class that Adam didn't have with a Duck, but he did have it with Scooter, so that was okay. Adam shook his head while he stretched out his arms. Gym was the only class that could have all four grades in it at the same time, but most seniors had taken it, so Scooter was the lone senior. The only reason he hadn't taken it yet was because the class had been too full when he would sign up for it.
"Woah, guys, Dean Buckley alert!" One of the girls said as she pointed towards the door, "Look like you're doing something productive!" Dean Buckley walked passed them with a short girl with blond hair and black pants with chains. Well, this was different. He disappeared with the girl into the teacher, Coach Willis', office.
After about 10 or 15 minutes, Dean Buckley left and Coach Willis came out of his office, "All righty, then. Today we will be starting out section on basketball. So, divide into teams of boys and girls." The girls groaned. "Oh, come on ladies, and pick one team member to face off for the ball." The boys immediately sent Scooter. He had been on the Varsity Basketball team since he was a freshmen, kind of like Adam had been for hockey, except he never went back to JV. "Girls?"
"Against Scooter?" Eliza Johnston, a very tall member of the volleyball team, asked. "Heck no!"
"I'll do it." A voice called from the direction of the girls changing room. The girl that had been wearing chains was know wearing a red and silver tank top and dark blue shorts.
"What are you, 4 foot?" A boy name Johnny Farly asked as he laughed.
"I'm five feet and one half inches, thank you very much!" She retorted snappily. Adam could tell that she hated being taken less serious because of her height.
"Yeah, John-Boy." Scooter remarked, "Let's get this game started." He took his position as the girl did the same. It was noticeable that the other girls thought that this was a joke and they would never win. "You ready, short stuff?"
"The name's Piper!" She scowled as Coach Willis threw the ball into the air. To everyone's surprise she jumped higher then Scooter and knocked the ball in her team's favor. Eliza caught the ball and began to run in the direction of the boys basket. She passed to other girls, as Piper made her way down the court to the basket. "I'm open!" Piper called once Eliza got the ball again. Eliza passed and Piper ran to the basket and jumped up, dunking the ball and slapping the rim. She turned to Scooter, "Come on, Short stuff. Get in the game." Scooter was in awe, as was Adam.
The game went pretty much the same way, and ended with the girls winning for the first time in living memory. Coach Willis was astounded and made a mental note to tell Coach's Jolene Ackles and Aidan Thompson, the girl's basketball coaches, about Piper. His whistle had literally fallen out of his mouth a few times as he watched her play.
"I can't believe we got the shit beaten out of by a pipsqueak!" Johnny Farly complained as he walked back to the boy's changing rooms at the end of the class period, "I mean, what the hell is that girl on?" He opened his locker harshly and pulled out his clothes.
"That's what you two get for insulting her height." Adam retorted towards Johnny and Scooter, "You don't have to be tall to play good basketball." He pulled out his shirt and pulled it over his head. Scooter sighed, he hated losing, especially in basketball. It was his favorite sport, followed by hockey.
The boys walked into the hall where all the girls, except Piper, were celebrating. Adam and Scooter passed, going were ever they wanted for their first break of the day. They walked outside and found the Ducks laughing and chattering. All of them, that is, except Dean, who had been progressively quite over the past several days. "Hey guys." Adam said as Scooter sat next to Julie and lied his head on the table that they were sitting at.
"What's the matter with him?" Charlie asked. Scooter groaned and banged his head on the table for a second. "Okay, now I really want to know."
"We started basketball in Gym today." Everyone shook their heads, confused, "And we got our asses royally kicked off and handed to us on a silver platter." Now everyone groaned.
"She was this tall!" Scooter moaned as he held up his hands and pulled his index finger and thumb about three millimeter's apart. "Tiny!" He placed his head back on the table.
"Okay!" Fulton said, not wanting to see Scooter cry, "Let's change the subject. Hey, Portman! We saw Bombay over the weekend and guess what, he has kids! A boy and a girl, and Russ made the poor girl get sick!"
"Man, can we forget about that!" Russ yelled indignantly. "I told y'all, I didn't mean to do that to the kid."
"You mean Crabtree actually approved the adoptions." Dean replied in a monotone voice. "That little bastard actually did something helpful and just in his fucking judicial career! It's a sign of the Apocalypse, we're all going to die." Everyone practically jumped back in fear of Dean's mood. He wasn't breaking anything, but he was internalizing, and that was bad for Dean because he would explode at one point and when he did, it would not be pretty.
But Julie understood a little at least, "No word?"
"Not one fucking syllable." Dean replied. He looked around, "Look, I met Myrka and Julian when Bombay came to my place to try and convince me to come here." Ken opened his mouth to speak, "Guys, it never came up! I guess that is just slipped my mind!"
Julie nodded and looked over to the person sitting at the only other occupied table, "Oh my God! PIPER!" She screamed. The girl looked over and her face filled with shock. Scooter looked up, groaned again, and banged his head against the table again. Everyone alternated between looking between the two girls, but Dean, who raised his eyebrows in only mild confusion.
"JULIE!" The girl cried as she and Julie hugged tightly, both squealing happily. Once they pulled away, "What are you doing here?"
"I have a hockey scholarship." Julie replied, "What are you doing here?"
"Mom, Dad, and I just moved to Edina." Julie furrowed her eyebrows, "My dad, Jules. Mom's boyfriend; the man who is more of a father the Richard has ever been and will ever be." She tapped Scooter on the shoulder, "Sorry that you lost, but there's a first time for everything."
"Wow, you put it so delicately. But you played a good game." He shook her hand and smiled, "Now, how the hell do you two know each other?" Julie raised a single eyebrow and tried to to laugh. Piper had kicked Scooter's ass in basketball; the girl's basketball coaches would be breaking down her door to beg her to play. "And how did you get so good at basketball?"
"My mom played, she taught me." Piper replied, "And she's my sister." Stunned silence from Scooter and all of the Ducks. "Did you never tell anyone about me?" She asked Julie.
"Never came up." Julie muttered, "Besides you never mentioned Louise to me before Dani told us about her." Scooter opened his mouth, "Don't argue with me, you know you'll lose." All of the Ducks either laughed or nodded, except Dean. A fact that Piper noticed and made her want to know more about the relationships between everyone in this group.
"That's true." Charlie replied, "No one ever wins against girls. At least not us." He added, pointing out all of the male Ducks and Scooter. "But, you never told any of us." Julie nodded in objection, "Okay, by raise of hands, who knew that Cat-lady had a sister?" Connie and Dean raised their hands, "Oh."
"Well, at least I got a tad bit of recognition, Julie Emmanuelle." Piper shot at Julie, jokingly.
"Maybe I just didn't want to tell anyone because you were the most annoying little sister on the face of the Earth, Piper Addison." Piper stuck out her tongue. "Do you remember what happened the last time you did that? That's what I thought." She finished as Piper's tongue quickly slipped back into her mouth.
"Bell." Dean pointed out as the sound of the school bell reached their ears to tell them that class or break was over.
"Fantastic." Piper groaned as she pulled out her schedule, "Does any know were I could find Mythology with Walton?" The looked back up at the people surrounding her, "What?"
"You're taking Mythology?" Scooter asked incredulously.
"Is that a problem?" Piper asked, "I just took it because I saw the subject on the class sign-up and I read the description. So sue me, I'm interested in Mythology."
"Yeah, Walton's suppose to be the hardest teacher in this school. And he doesn't make the subject that easy either." Scooter replied.
"Well, I must say I do enjoy a challenge." Piper retorted, "Now, can anyone tell me where it is or not?"
"Walton's class is right next to the ice rink." Connie piped up, "I'll take you there, I pass it everyday to go to Horticulture." Piper thanked her and everyone went their separate ways to their separate classes.
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Piper knew that Julie had hockey practice from 3:45 to 5:45, so she just sat and waited, getting all of her homework done in the process. "Piper!" A voice called from the end of the hall. Piper looked up and saw her sister with the Ducks, Scooter, and a man that wasn't familiar, the hockey Coach, obviously. "Coach, this is my sister, Piper. Pi, this is Coach Orion."
"Pleasure." Piper replied as she shook Orion's hand. "Jules, I was wondering if..."
"How about you stick to the twirling and the spinning and the jumping and the 'oh-my-God-I-will-never-do-that-in-my-freaking-life'-ing. I'll stick to hitting people." Another voice called out. Everyone looked towards the door that the voice had come behind, but it didn't belong to who came out.
"I think that that would be best." Dani said as she walked backwards through the door. "Oh, hey guys." She said as she turned and noticed everybody.
"Dani, I want you to meet my sister, Piper." Julie introduced. Piper shook Dani's hand and Dani smiled and nodded.
"Leah, Keoni, get out here!" Both Dean and Max spit out the water the was in their mouths, unable to keep it in, "Guys!" Through the door came a familiar girl with blue/black hair and a hockey jersey, followed by a very tan and muscular boy with black hair, who was wearing a jean jacket.
"What's up, brahs?" He asking as he slapped palms with Max and Dean. "Sweet set up you got here."
"Thanks Keoni." Dean said, "Now would you two kindly tell me what in holy hell you are doing here?" Dani, Leah, and Keoni raised their eyebrows, "Okay, stupid question. Here's another one, who long will you be here?"
"Well," Leah began, "because of the, um, unfortunate events that have taken place, we get out until Thursday. But we are going to be leaving here early Wednesday morning."
"And apparently, you two are going to kill me." Keoni added in a attempt to lighten the mood. "At least, according to Dani, you are." Dean and Max glanced at each other, confused. He sighed and pulled up the left arm of his jacket, showing off a tattoo of a tiger clawing it's way through a Yin/Yang symbol and growling, that was on his forearm.
"Stick or needle?" Dean asked.
"Needle." Keoni replied. "But," He added as he turned around and pulled down his jacket, "this one was stick." Across the base of his neck were symbols that no one really understood.
"You know what, Keoni?" Max said, "Dani's right, we are going to kill you." Keoni laughed.
"I thought you had one." Averman said to Dean.
Dani looked from Leah to Keoni and moved her arms like she was conducting an orchestra or band of some form. In unison all three called out, "SHARPIE!" Dean scowled at all three of them. Then Dani spoke alone, "Our mom's rule is that none of us are allowed to have a tattoo until we are 18 and then we can make our own decisions."
"Okay, look, I'm going to clear this up because the looks on your faces are about to make me weep." Dean said to the indignant looks in Fulton and Ken's faces. "Everyone, you all know Leah. This, however, is Keoni Carson. We've lived two blocks from each other since we were 5, after he moved to Chicago from Maui. Keoni, these are the Ducks."
"It's nice to meet you all." Then he turned his full attention to Julie, "I watched all the U.S games during the Junior Goodwill Games, and I found you're performance during the first game against Iceland rather inspiring."
"Hey! I got kicked out before her!" Dean protested.
"Yeah, but you didn't knock those two morons flat with a hit in the balls, she did." Dean reluctantly nodded in agreement.
"Okay, I know that it's a little late to ask," Piper said, "but what does needle or stick mean?"
"Oh, that." Dean replied, "Those are the two ways you can get a tattoo. You can use a electronic needle, which is what you see most of the time. Or you can go to a special person who was trained in the art of using the sticks."
"And what they do," Dani began, "is take a long stick with a sharp piece of metal that looks like teeth on the end of it, and they place it close to the skin and take another stick and bang the ink into your skin."
Everyone grimaced, "Actually, I found that the needle hurts more." Keoni replied. "Dani, your pants are ringing."
"Ha ha," Dani shot back, "I forgot to give Coach his cell phone back." She pulled the phone out of her side pocket and looked at the name on the screen, "Joey!" She exclaimed happily as she flipped open the phone, "Hello, Joey. My darling, my love." She smiled for a moment, but then scowled at the phone, "Josephine Cartier, don't speak to me that way. If you have forgotten, I was the one who set you up with my coach. You two would have never gone out if it wasn't for me." The smile returned, "That's what I thought." Dani looked up a flight of stairs, "Yo, Coach, Joey's on the phone."
"Eric?"
"Not now, Ted." He mumbled back as he grabbed his phone from Dani's hand and began to speak into it, "Hello. Hey." And he left the room.
"I'm good." Dani said as she patted her hair twice on each side, "And, no, I'm not going to tell you anything about her." She replied to the questioning look that had plastered itself on the face to Ted Orion. "I'm Cupid, but don't gossip." Dean shook his head as he though, "Most of the time."