Sophomore Year Duck Style
Here we go again, I though glumly as everyone sat quietly in the locker room. Tension was thick; you could cut it with a hockey stick. Everyone knew what was coming.
It was the J.V.-Varsity showdown.
Both teams had been training hard for the past few weeks since school started. Coach had worked us hard with drills and clearing the trash. We had learned new drills as well to surprise varsity. But it seemed no matter how hard we were training varsity was training ten times harder. Because they more to lose then us, if they lost again everyone would know they were a joke, which they except Scooter of course. And also they had hate as motivation while our motivation was to stay alive.
Adam sat next to seeing as Connie was whispering things into Guy's ear making him blush. Adam was wrapping up his weak wrist tightly to make sure it wouldn't get hurt during the game. Last thing we need is our star player getting hurt. He was having a little trouble though considering he was right handed and he was wrapping with his left hand.
"Here, let me help." I offered taking the tape away before he could object like I knew he would. I grabbed his right hand and held it firmly. He grumbled quietly while I wrapped the tape around his wrist. Once done I looked up at him and asked.
"Good enough?" he nodded while smiling slightly.
"Thanks Su." I nodded and resumed my seat just as Coach barged in. He looked pumped and a little nervous but mainly pumped. He high five the Bash Brothers as he walked in, odd, he usually won't touch those two for fear of being pushed into the Bash Brothers famous crushing hug which we all had to go through daily. Like Averman who just had his this morning.
"Is everyone ready?" Coach hollered and we all responded back.
"YES!" He smiled and nodded.
"Now I know you're all nervous but whatever happens out there, you are all winners. It doesn't matter if we win or lose because last year we showed them that they can't keep us down. Varsity's a good team but you guys are better. Not because you guys can play really well but because you guys are a team. You can play together; you know each others strengths and weaknesses. And more then that you're each others best friends. I am proud to be your Coach, now who's ready to whoop some varsity butt?"
"WE ARE!" We all screamed back banging our sticks on the lockers as the Bash Brothers cheered loudly. Coach motioned everyone to the door as we filed out in a singly line. I was at the back with Russ chatting with him when Coach called out.
"Granger!" I turned and walked over to him as everyone left.
"Yeah Coach?" I asked as his eyes traveled to my shoulder.
"Your shoulder, it's doing well?" I nodded smiling.
"Yeah, a little pain but that's what to be expected." He nodded and clapped me on the back.
"Varsity will be gunning for you as well as Banks; if they're too rough on you tell me and I'll keep you off the ice, all right?" I nodded; he smiled and gave me a light push to the door.
"Let's do this." I laughed heading up to the arena where all the Ducks stood waiting to take to the ice. Coach went to our bench as Charlie stood on the ice giving us encouraging nods as we passed. He smiled at me as I passed and headed onto the ice. I stretched and did a few warm up laps before hurrying over to our bench where everyone was assembled.
"Remember what I taught you guys, quack on the count of three. One…two…three Quack."
"Quack, quack, quack, quack, quack." The whole arena joined in as I caught sight of Mrs. Conway sitting with the Banks and my parents.
"Go Ducks!" We yelled enthusiastically. I sat down next to Dwayne as Charlie, Adam, the Bash Brothers and Russ took to the ice. Adam had the face off against Reily, the whistle sounded and Adam passed the puck to Portman before being shoved to the ground. I winced as varsity stole the puck from Portman and deceased towards our net. Where Fulton and Russ stood waiting.
Varsity left no mercy as the repeatedly shot the puck at Julie who along with Fulton and Russ was trying to bloke it. But luckily we were clearing the trash, or at least trying to. Russ finally managed to get the puck and passed it to Charlie who went tearing down towards Scooter. The crowd cheered as Charlie shot the puck forward, sadly Scooter blocked it.
At least we were doing well on defense, I thought positively as the game continued on. Varsity was like vultures around the net and we all fought our hardest to make sure they wouldn't score. Blue collared hockey as Coach always said. I was positioned behind the net grabbing the puck if it ever wandered back here. My eyes widened as I saw Julie trip landing off to the side of the net just as Cole shot the puck forward.
Without thinking I dived down and skidded in front of the net blocking the puck. I ignored the cheers from our fans as Dwayne quickly got the puck in for once didn't hog it as he sent it to Luis. I scrambled up and Julie shot me a grateful smile as I followed after Luis. I trailed closely behind him as skated past him as he got crushed into the boards be Reily. I got the puck and swept past their defense with Portman and Fulton on my sides. I faked to the right then to the left and saw an opening in the net; faking right again I shot it forward and waited for the buzzer.
It went off with a bang and the crowd cheered loudly almost causing me to go deaf. I felt arms around me as the bash Brothers threw me into their crushing hug like I had dreaded they'd do.
"Go Su!" They hollered hugging me tightly as Dwayne, Luis and Goldberg hurried over to hug me.
"That was sick babe!" Portman said slapping me on the back almost making me fall over.
"Thanks Portman." I said smiling making my way over to the bench as Connie, Guy and Averman headed out. I sat down next to Adam who was smiling at me.
"What?" I asked blushing, dang it why does he have that effect over me? He shook his head and laughed.
"Nothing." I looked at him for a long time before turning my attention back to the game. Our little lead was short lived because now varsity was pissed off and they shot harder at Julie finding a flaw in her armor. They scored and we all groaned. The game continued on with no more scoring in the second period, all of us were bruised and bashed as we wearily made our way to the locker room.
"They're definitely not taking any prisoners." Averman muttered as I gently sat down ignoring the pain from my shoulder. Cole had flipped me causing me to land on my shoulders, luckily it didn't dislocate like last time. But it was hurting and sore. I grabbed some ice and stuck it there, for I had taken my jersey and pads off while we were resting.
Adam was looking at my shoulder with intense eyes.
"Su are you hurt?" He asked and everyone turned towards me waiting for an answer. I smiled weakly but shook my head.
"No guys, I'm fine. It's just sore." No one looked convinced as we turned towards Coach who just entered.
"You guys are doing well."
"They're killing us, Coach." Russ complained and Coach nodded.
"I know that, but you guys can't give in. I don't care if we tie or even lose, but I do care if varsity thinks they can own you. Keep your heads up and fly straight, you're Ducks after all. Ready?" he asked as we all murmured yes. I sighed throwing my pads and jersey back on. Coach gently patted my shoulder affectionately as I passed him.
The third quarter started with pain, I thought as Reily slammed me into the boards. I slid to the ice in a heap as Reily sneered and hurried on. I pushed myself off from the ice and skated after Charlie who had the puck. He shot it and it went in! Yes! I hugged him tightly nearly causing both of us to fall over. The Ducks surrounded us as we cheered. 2-1, as long as we kept varsity at bay for the next few minutes the game is ours.
That's exactly what we did even though varsity fought us like crazy. Constantly shooting at Julie who was trying her hardest to bloke. Luckily Goldberg helped her. I swear he can bloke goals better as a defensemen then he ever did as a goalie. With barley a minute left varsity did they unthinkable, they scored. I banged my head against the railing off our bench as I saw that the score was now 2-2. We all huddled together trying to come up with a plan.
"All right Ducks, less then a minute on the clock. I want Conway, Banks, Goldberg, Granger and Wu. All right?" We all nodded and headed to the ice. Charlie was taking the face off with Adam and I on his sides. Reily threw Charlie to the ground just as Cole did to Adam. I managed to get past my goon and quickly headed after our puck. Goldberg passed it to me and I passed it to Kenny before being flipped by someone. I landed hard on the ice, pain splitting through my shoulder. It wasn't dislocated just really sore.
I sat up quickly and dots started appearing in my eyes as I shook my head to clear my vision. I watched wearily as Kenny skated past varsity's defense doing a figure skating move before letting the puck fly forward. It went in! The buzzer sounded loud ever from the other side of the rink. I got up slowly ignoring the pain in my shoulder as Julie hugged me tightly.
"SU! We won!" She yelled and all the pain disappeared. We won! I screamed as we giggled and laughed together with Connie quickly coming over to join our little female Duck huddle.
"We won!" We chanted loudly skating maidenly over to the guys who were all hugging. I was swept into a hug by Dwayne who spun me around while he cheered. The stadium cheered loudly and I saw my parents clapped politely. No matter what those two will never love hockey like I do. Mr. Banks looked ecstatic clapping loudly cheering for his son.
"Su we won!" Adam yelled shaking me as I laughed.
"Yes Adam I know. I was there!" I smiled and he returned it leaning down to kiss me softly on the lips.
"Must you two do that every time?" Charlie asked teasingly as Adam rolled his eyes.
"Hey I saw Linda kissing you a second ago." Charlie laughed and hugged the two of us so we were in a three way hug which quickly got more people. The Ducks joined and soon we were all hugging! Even Coach was in on it. The audience was quacking as varsity left dejected, just like last year. I smiled broadly holding on tightly to Adam. We had won, I was with Adam, everything was perfect.
--
We all laughed as we barged into my empty home. My parents had promised if we had won we could have a little party here while they went out to dinner with the Banks at the country club. Everyone had dropped their hockey gear off at their rooms and we had skated over.
"Ok guys head into the living room and I'll order pizza." I said as they all quickly ran into my living room. They loved my big screen TV and extensive movie collection. I headed into the kitchen and grabbed the phone from off the counter and called our local pizzeria.
"Yes I would like six pizzas, one pepperoni, on pepperoni and sausage, one plain cheese, one supreme, one ham and onion and one with pineapple." I told him my directions and he told me it would be there in 45 minutes. I hung up and wandered into the living room where the Ducks had made themselves quite comfortable. They were fighting over what movie to watch Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery or Batman and Robin. Adam pulled me down next to him on the floor leaning against the couch where Charlie, Luis and Kenny sat. Everyone was spread through the room lounging comfortably.
"Dudes we have to watch Austin Powers!" Portman yelled with Fulton shaking his head eagerly. Julie rolled her eyes.
"You just want to see hot chicks." He glared at her.
"Yeah and you just want to see a guy in a bat costume, which had nipples on it." I rolled my eyes and snuggled into Adam's side as he chuckled quietly rubbing my back. The fight went on for a long time before we decided not to watch any of those two and picked For Richer or Poorer instead. Everyone loves Tim Allen; I mean how can you not? He's Tim the Tool Man Taylor, for crying out loud. Just as the movie started the doorbell went off. I sighed and got out of Adam's arms and headed to the door grabbing my wallet on the way. I opened it and saw a college aged man standing there holding six boxes of pizzas.
"Delivery for Su Granger?" I smiled and nodded.
"That's me, how much do I owe you?" I asked taking the pizzas from him. I turned back to the living room knowing my voice would each into their.
"Yo Portman help me!" A minute later he appeared at my side taking the pizzas greedily. I turned back to the man and waited for him to tell me how much I owed him.
"That'll be $36. 25." I nodded and gave him a forty.
"Keep the change." I said shutting the door behind me; I walked back into the living room plopping down next to Adam who had two plates in his hand. He handed me one plate which had two pepperonis and sausages on it, my favorite. I smiled up at him and pecked his cheek before taking a bite as we watched the movie.
Well we didn't really watch, more liked talk while it played in the background. That was the problem for us; we talk way too much to each other. My eyes widened as I realized I had to check the pool.
"I've got to check the pool; I'll be back in a second." Everyone nodded not really paying attention as I walked out of the living room towards the side door leading me into our backyard where our pool glowed in the darkness. I flicked the pool lights on to see if anything had gotten into it, it was being cleared out this weekend for winter and I was sad, I always enjoyed a good swim. Nothing seemed to be in it such as bugs and leaves so I turned and was surprised to see Luis standing there smiling mischievously.
"Hey Luis, anything I can help you with?" I asked and he nodded smirking.
"Oh yeah, you can." Before I could react he lunged at me knocking both of us into the pool. I coughed water up as I emerged and he laughed loudly.
"Luis I'm going to kill you!" I laughed/yelled as we started a fierce splash war. The Ducks must of heard us because they came out and upon seeing us immediately jumped into the pool, all still in their clothes. We all laughed and splashed each other as Guy, Connie, Julie and Portman played a game of chicken. We stayed in for about half an hour before all getting out because of the cold. We all shivered as we walked into my house and I got everyone towels.
No one stayed much longer then that for they had to get home. The out of state Ducks would be heading back to the dorms while the Minnesota Ducks were heading home, it was Friday after all.
"See you guys later!" I called out as they skated away into the night quacking loudly, my poor neighbors. I walked back in to see Adam cleaning up after them, they were messy.
"You don't have to help with that." I said drying my hair with a towel; I had changed into sweats and a sweatshirt. Adam smiled and shook his head.
"It's the least I could do." I nodded and we cleaned in silence till the living room looked spotless.
"Thanks." I said walking him to the door as he nodded and smiled.
"Anything for you, I should probably go before our parents get back." I nodded and hugged him tightly as he kissed my forehead.
"Night Su." He called out as he walked across my lawn to his.
"Night!" I hollered back heading inside for bed.
--
I yawned as I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to see my parents sitting together eating.
"Good morning." I said taking my seat; I raised an eyebrow as a piece of paper rested in front of me. I picked it up and rolled my eyes when I saw what it read. Debutante Ball. I turned to Mom who was watching my hopefully.
"Mom what is this?" I asked she smiled.
"Why it's an invitation to a Debutante Ball, the country club gave it to us last night; it seems you have come of age. Oh Su it will be so much fun, I was a Debutante and it was great. It's not easy because you have to go to classes and learn how to be proper, but you'll just have so much fun!" I sighed, I loved my Mom dearly. But it seemed as of late she was acting more disgusted with hockey and my love for it. Sure she went to the games but she always commentated on how barbaric she thought it was. I knew when she had me she thought I would be some kind of girly girl. But I'm not, I love hockey.
And here she was pushing being a Debutante down my throat.
"Mom you know I'm not interested in those kind of things." I said and she looked very disappointed.
"But Susie, this would mean so much to me. Besides you don't have long to think about it, it's coming up in the next month or two." I quirked an eyebrow, same time as playoffs, I can't do this with playoffs going on. I looked into my Mom's hazel eyes the same color I had and sighed.
"My birthdays in two weeks, I'll think about it after my Birthday all right?" She nodded happily and went back to eating as I looked down at the paper. What have I gotten myself into?
(Please R and R! I do not own the Mighty Ducks.)
