It only took an hour and a half to pack up, move everything back to my dads house, and unpack. I then took every one down stairs, where I found Jason and some of his friends.
"Wow, who is he?" Tammy asked pointing to one of my brothers friends.
"That's Adam Banks' brother, Alex." I said and Tammy turned to me in surprise. I shrugged and as I walked past Alex he jumped off the couch and put me in a headlock.
"Welcome back Squirt." He said messing up my hair. I pushed him away and fixed my hair.
"Oh yeah I've missed you to Alexander." I said sarcastically. He hated being called his full name. he put his hands up in defeat. I made my way to the pool table where Charlie and the Oreo line where playing team pool. Charlie smiled and pointed over at Alex.
"So you've got a thing for Banks' brother." Charlie said and I smacked him.
"I do not." I protested. "I've known him for like six years or more."
"Uh huh." Charlie said rubbing his arm where I had hit him. "I've missed you too Alexander."
He mimicked me well. I laughed and wrestled Charlie to the ground.
"Ooo, Squirt, has got herself a boyfriend." My brother's friend Rick Riley said with a laugh then his Alex on the arm. "Looks like your brothers has been replaced. Poor little Adam Banks. The king of the ice. What will he do with out his ice queen."
Jason smacked Rick in the back of the head. I smiled and threw a DVD case at him. I missed him by at least a foot. Jason laughed. "Well at least you aren't a softball player."
"Ooo, is this bash Amore day?" Fulton asked walking up behind me. "Why didn't I get the memo? I want to join."
"Ha ha, very funny guys." I said then turned towards the stairs as some one started to walk down them. It was Bombay.
"Time to beat it Ducks." He said and received groans form the team. "Yeah yeah, its heart breaking. But if I don't get you home soon I'll be getting grief from your parents."
The Ducks said their goodbyes and headed up the stairs.
"So see you at the game tomorrow." Bombay said to me. I smiled and waved goodbye. I turned to my brother and his friends.
"Nu huh. You have school tomorrow Squirt." Jason said knowing I was about ready to ask if I could hang out with them. I was about to protest when Alex did for me.
"Come on Jason, let her watch the end of this. I mean its almost over." Alex said and I smiled at him. Jason sighed.
"Fine but tomorrow morning I'm calling you when she's a bear to wake up." Jason said with a smile.
"I think I'll go to bed now." I said backing away from them. We used to spend the summer with the Banks family at cabin we owned. I had been woken up by Alex enough to know I didn't want to go through that again. I headed up stairs but decided not to go to my room. Instead I headed out side and sat down on the steps. I wasn't their for that long when the door behind me opened and some one sat down next to me. He hugged me close and sighed heavily.
"My brother told me about what happened." Alex said looking down at his other hand.
"God does he tell you everything?" I said bitterly.
"He still cares about you Amore." Alex said taking her arm away and nudged my elbow. "Your still his best friend."
"Yeah well he has a funny way of showing it." I said looking at Adam's dark window. I could still see the outline of him watching us. I looked away and down the street.
"Well good luck tomorrow." Alex said giving me another hug then stood up. "Make a goal for me."
"Ha. You wish Monster." I teased. He laughed and walked over to his house. He paused a the door to let a glaring Adam out before he went in. slowly Adam walked over to me but he didn't sit.
"So you a Duck again?" He asked.
"Yeah, I am." I replied and Adam shook his head.
"How could you betray me again." Adam asked sadly.
"Oh give me a break Adam." I said standing. "I was never an actual the Hawks team. I was just a joke to all of you."
"Its not like you actually gave us a reason to think otherwise." Adam snapped back. "But then again you were born and accident. A bustard child."
I slapped him hard across the face. He looked surprised but I turned around before he could talk so he couldn't see my tears.
The next day Bombay picked me up before the game. My parents and Jason couldn't make it till later. To my surprise Bombay lead me onto the ice where the Hawks were practicing. Another man that I didn't know joined us. I could see the Hawks glaring at me when they saw I was wearing a Ducks jersey. We walked up to the bench where Coach Reilly was.
"Excuse me. Coach Reilly?" The guy with us asked.
"Yeah." Reilly asked.
"One of your players is ineligible."
"Banks!" Reilly
called. My heart stopped. Out of all the players it had to be Adam.
"Over here. This is a joke right?"
"I'm afraid there is
no joke." The guy said. Phillip made his way over to Reilly and
when he spotted me with Bombay he looked very suspicious. I looked
over at Bombay who seemed to notice it as well. Adam skated to us and
I quickly looked down at the ice. Bombay nudged me and I quickly
looked up at him. by the look on his face I had missed something.
"I said aren't you the Banks' neighbor." Bombay said and I nodded. I could feel the glaring eyes of Phillip, Adam and Reilly on me.
"My son s a Hawk, not a Duck." Phillip informed us. "He knows where his loyalties lie."
I couldn't tell if that last comment was directed toward me or Bombay. Either way we both tensed up. I looked at Adams glaring face. Bowing my head I turned to leave.
"Amore!" Bombay called after me, but I ignored him. I didn't want to be there any longer. I entered the locker room saying nothing and ignored the others completely.
"Hey, you ok Slick?" Charlie asked and I shrugged as Bombay intered.
"Hey, why aren't you guys in uniform? We got warm-ups in half an hour." Bombay said and I looked around to see who he was talking too. Peter, Jesse and Terry sat together on one of the benches still in their street clothes. Bombay then turned to the rest of us. "Alright every one, listen up. I got some good news."
I shook my head and looked down a the ground. I couldn't believe he was doing this to me. Charlie gave me a questioned look so I just kept looking down.
"We're getting a new player." Bombay informed us. "Adam Banks."
There was a mixture of looks from the Ducks. Some looked at Bombay as if he was mad, some looked disgusted but most sent me sympathy looks. I threw my gloves down and walked out of the locker room. I walked out side and slid down the wall next to the door. I put my head in my hands and began to cry. I knew Adam would some how blame this whole thing on me.
"Mory?" I didn't look up. He was the last person I wanted to talk to at that moment. I felt some one sit down next to me but I knew it wasn't Adam.
"What's wrong Amore?" Alex asked from his spot next to me. I just shook my head. I wanted nothing to do with anything or any one that reminded me of Adam.
"Jason!" Alex called. I soon heard my brother running up to us.
"Amore? Amore, what's wrong?" Jason asked pulling me away from Alex and into his own arms.
"I know what this is about." Adam said with a sigh. Its because I'm joining the Ducks."
I heard my brother make a noise that sounded like he was tired of Adam and my drama. "Come on Amore. This is getting old. Both of you need to put this stupid thing behind you."
I pushed Jason away and stood up. "No Jason, I cant do that. He has made my life a living hell an some of the things he did…that he said, I'll never forgive him for."
I walked back into the arena, where I found all but Charlie and Fulton of he Ducks.
"Where are you all going?" I asked. "We've got a game."
"We aren't playing for some one who called us losers." Peter said walking past me. The others fallowed. Sighing I found Charlie and Fulton in the locker room. Without saying a word we made our way onto the ice where the game was forfeit. My first game as a Duck and it was a complete disaster.