Chapter 7: Prank War

The Varsity Barbarians triumphed over the Eden Hall Varsity Warriors at a score of ten to five on Friday night. Amidst the celebration, Billy Banks, a new member of the team, couldn't find it in himself to join in. His heart was heavy, burdened by a sense of disconnection and a deep concern for his friends on J.V., who had lost their game against the Warriors.

He felt bad that his friends on J.V. lost their game against the Warriors. What made it worse was Alec Kentinsworth's influence over the Varsity, his demands that Billy not cheer his friends on when they scored or insisting that Billy sit with Varsity at lunch, claiming he was too good for hanging around those "white trash losers." But even though Alec said that, Billy didn't feel accepted by Varsity. They let him in out of pure obligation, but he wasn't truly accepted by anyone – none of them treated him like an equal; the only ones who were his real friends on the team were Spencer Vargas and Tommy Phillips – Tommy wasn't stuck up like the other guys, and Spencer was an underclassman like him, at the bottom of the food chain even though his dad was the J.V. coach.

Tommy and Spencer, though supportive, were not enough to deter the Varsity from their bullying. Their influence was limited, and even when they spoke up, Alec and his friends dismissed them. The power dynamics were explicit – as long as Alec's parents held their positions, he and his twin sister Donna would continue to mistreat and harass anyone they deemed beneath them.

After a grueling practice on Monday afternoon, Billy found solace in the fact that he could return to his dormitory, which he shared with Gordy. Despite the changes in Billy's social status, their friendship remained strong. The memory of what happened when Gordy returned to their dormitory on Saturday morning was a testament to their bond.

He glanced up from his book as Gordy came in, still wearing his pads and the sweaty undershirt leftover from practice. Billy looked at him in concern.

"What happened, man? Where are your clothes?"

"Ask Varsity!" Gordy said angrily. "They threw our stuff in the shower!"

Billy felt his jaw drop, and his heart sank, as well, as he said, "Dude, I – I didn't know they were gonna do that! I swear! If I knew, I would've said something. Believe me!" He needed Gordy to know that he'd never do that, that just because he'd been good enough for Varsity, he was still a Duck, and he didn't easily forget the things that mattered.

"I know, man," Gordy said, going through their drawers for a fresh change of clothes. "But that doesn't make it hurt any less. This whole thing sucks. Ever since we've gotten into this snob fest of a high school, Varsity's been determined to make our lives miserable!"

"Well, I'm sorry about what happened," Billy said. "You can borrow something of mine if you want."

"And dress like a cake-eater? Yeah, no thanks, man."

"Just offering, dude." Billy returned to the book he needed to read for English class. "So, what are you gonna do about it?"

"What makes you think we're gonna prank those guys back?"

"Come on, man. I know you guys too well."

Gordy smirked at him. "But if I tell you what we're gonna do, then that defeats the whole purpose. We gotta make it so it looks like you don't know. Because imagine what it would look like if you were in on the prank, huh?"

"Good point. Just don't do anything too bad."

"They made the first move. We're just generously returning the favor."

"Oh, thank you, Mr. Germaine, my good sir!" Billy put on a fake British accent, smirking in Gordy's direction, only for Gordy to throw a pillow at his head. He laughed fiercely, tossing the pillow back at his best friend.

He was glad that he didn't need to move in with someone on the Varsity. That would've made it even worse if he had to move onto the floors the upperclassmen lived on. Then he really would've been alone. He was convinced that if he had to dorm with those pretentious jerks, he might as well die from loneliness. While he got to see Gordy every morning and night and had all of his classes with Sofi, part of him couldn't help feeling alone despite being friends with Spencer and Tommy.

He missed his friends.

But his friends didn't have to know that ever since he got recruited to Varsity, he cried himself to sleep. Even Gordy wasn't aware. He just got really good at hiding how hurt he was.

Just the thought of that alone was nearly enough to make him cry during the day sometimes. From the moment he got to this unfriendly, preppy school, he'd prayed to God that his high school experience wouldn't be like his dad's had been. But it appeared the Banks family followed a pattern where the boys just automatically made Varsity – his uncle, Luke, had played on Varsity for the Warriors at Eden Hall, and his father had been a third-line center Varsity player at Eden Hall during his freshman year.

Sighing, he entered the Varsity locker room and grabbed his clothes and Old Spice shampoo, Irish Spring soap, and deodorant. He walked off toward the showers after stripping himself of his sweaty practice gear, and he stepped under the hot spray, closing his eyes before squirting out some shampoo, massaging it into his scalp. He hoped the spray of the shower was enough to disguise the tears that he felt pressing behind his eyes.


The Minnetonka Bugle, September 18th, 2023

J.V. ON THE ROCKS – SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED

Junior Varsity Hockey Team Displays Disappointing Start to The Season

By: Milton Ryerson, Sports Reporter

Hockey season has just begun, and the Junior Varsity Barbarians are already off to a rocky start.

Coach Hal Vargas was searching for some new blood to join the Junior Varsity team following the promotions of several of his star players, including his son, Spencer (sophomore). It was hopeful that our boys would find a group of winners when the District Five Mighty Ducks got accepted to Minnetonka Prep on an academic scholarship. But this is already proving to be futile.

The Junior Varsity hockey team faced an embarrassing, yet very tight, loss against the Eden Hall Junior Varsity Warriors at their first away game of the season on Friday night. The starter was Evan Morrow, the Ducks' former captain whom everyone had been hoping would lead the charge to a glorious victory, only for his wingers Adib Samitar and Henry Conway to let down hard in the final period, taking more falls than staying upright, and when the time came for the team to tighten up on defense, sophomore James Moreno let the puck slip right underneath his glove, causing the game to end 6 to 5.

During the post-game press conference, Morrow had this to say:

"Maybe if our girls were allowed to play with us, we could've had a shot. Women are stronger than men."

It's important to note that Morrow is dating Sofi Hanson-Bhatt, who'd been his right forward/winger when they'd been on the District Five Mighty Ducks. Is Morrow suggesting this because he is undermining his own masculinity? If that's the case, then it appears Morrow is more than happy to join Teddi Conway's crusade to push for a female hockey team, and he thinks women are more valuable than men. Is this the kind of leadership our Junior Varsity hockey team needs? If so, then our boys are in serious trouble if the man hoping to be their captain undermines the team's strength and emasculates them.

"I . . . I didn't say that!" Evan spluttered Tuesday morning at breakfast. He nearly choked on his chocolate milk. "That's out of context! Sure, I was pissed that we lost. But I never said I was weaker than girls! Are you kidding me?"

"Now you know how I feel," Teddi said dryly as she ate her dried fruit oatmeal. "And he called you the 'former captain!' There's no mention that I was the captain! You were my alternate! That's misinformation!"

Evan groaned, burying his face into his hands. "This is bullshit! How are they getting away with printing this crap?" He felt Sofi patting his shoulder gently.

It was the first time he'd seen the school paper since it got printed. After seeing what Milton Ryerson printed about Teddi, Evan was downright reluctant to see the sports column that was printed for that week's paper. He'd actually successfully avoided reading it all day on Monday, but when Sofi ended up thrusting the paper in front of him that morning at breakfast, he barely had to glance at the article to know that it was really bad.

As if the loss weren't embarrassing enough. Now, Milton Ryerson was publishing gossip about him and the rest of the J.V. hockey team in the paper.

"I don't know, Ev," said Andrew Mizrahi, shaking his head. "But here's my advice from someone who has been through this rodeo before you: don't speak to Milton. Or his editor. Because that dude is nothing but trouble."

"Thank you very much for the advice, Andrew," spat Evan, hitting Andrew with a piece of his bagel. "I wish you warned me before I talked to that conniving little worm!"

"He's not gonna think it's so funny when I take his pen and shove it up his ass!" spat Gabriel Turner; he was a total hothead.

"Then that'll make us no better than the Varsity," said Justin Maywood reasonably.

"But that'll be the only way that punk will ever learn!"

"Or, it'll lead to us getting into trouble. You're invaluable to us, Turner. It's bad enough we lost this first game. We've got a shot against the Cardinals this weekend; we can't screw this up," said Evan.

"I don't think the school has much confidence in us, Morrow." Gabriel narrowed his eyes at Evan bitterly.

"Then we better haul ass Friday night and make them change their minds," Evan said coldly. "Are you guys with me?"

"We are, man," said Peter Petronski.

"You know we are," Hector Morales said, nodding.

"Good," Evan said shortly, biting into his bagel just as they heard roaring laughter from everyone in the cafeteria. He looked up from his breakfast to see the entire Varsity team – including Billy, Spencer, and Tommy – entering the mess hall with bright orange hair. He couldn't help laughing when he saw the prank that Nick, Logan, Teddi, and Maya had pulled off.

Varsity hadn't shown up to dinner the other night. And it had been peaceful without them harassing the dorkier cliques.

Now, everyone in the school knew why.

It had been Maya's idea. Well, it had been Evan's first to borrow from the movie Big Fat Liar. But Maya had taken it a step further in buying orange hair dye from a Halloween store in the area and sneaking it in, slipping it into the Varsity guys' shampoo. Now, their hair was the color of carrots, practically glowing underneath the fluorescent lighting of the lunch room, and everyone else in the room laughed, too. Maya had suggested the orange since it would "match so beautifully with the school's uniforms" and that it would really bring forth "a little stylish flare" to the otherwise dull clothes they were forced to wear every day.

Evan was glad that she'd been right. It really brought out the orange in the uniforms.

"Hey!" laughed Maya, pointing at the Varsity team. "Nice hair! It looks good on you all! It really goes with your eyes."

"You little bitch!" snarled Alec Kentisnworth, his entire face turning bright red as he stalked up to the J.V. table, glowering at them. It was pretty comical, seeing him standing there with his hair vibrant orange; it practically glowed underneath the harsh lighting. "You did this?" He pointed to his hair to indicate the change in color.

"Consider it a little 'thank you' for doing our laundry after practice," Nick said, smirking and crossing his arms over his chest.

Alec glared even harder, his lips curled back over his teeth. "Why you little . . ." But he couldn't seem to gather his wits to say anything else because he stalked away from them, infuriated. He led Varsity through the lunch line so they could grab their food. As he did so, Evan couldn't help laughing along with his friends.

"Maya, you were totally right. The color is perfect!" he said, grinning.

"I enjoy being a girl," laughed Maya, high-fiving Lauren.


As he followed Varsity through the lunch line, Billy Banks had to fight his smile, which threatened to creep up onto his face. While part of him was amused that J.V. had included him in the prank, he had a feeling that it wouldn't be enough to keep Alec off his ass. He had a feeling that even though J.V. had done this as a coverup to try and protect him, he knew their attempts would be in vain; he didn't need anyone to tell him that. Even though he was on Varsity, they still associated him with the J.V. team putting the orange dye into their shampoo, despite his hair being just as orange as theirs.

He grabbed a bowl of oatmeal with bananas and pecans, a bottle of chocolate milk, and an apple before going to the Varsity table near the Varsity cheer table. As he took his seat by Tommy, he felt Alec's glare on him.

"Were you aware of this?" Alec gestured to his bright orange hair.

Billy shook his head. "They put the dye in my shampoo, too." He pointed to his own hair.

Alec narrowed his eyes suspiciously before reaching across the table, grabbing Billy's right wrist, and squeezing it tightly. Alec's grip was like iron as his fingers wrapped around Billy's wrist, and he twisted it around. Billy bit on his tongue until he tasted blood; he didn't want Alec to know that he was hurting him, but Tommy was quick to intercept.

"Alec, c'mon, lay off the kid. He had nothing to do with it."

Alec's eyes held their glare, but he did as Tommy demanded otherwise. Still, he said, "Yeah, you're right, Phillips. But he's still one of them." He gestured with his eyes toward the J.V. table. "You're too good for them, Banksy. You know it. Chicks might have no place playing hockey, but you got your talent from somewhere. And you shouldn't waste it on those bunch of losers."

Billy nodded, albeit reluctantly. He was just willing to agree to get Alec off his back. Because, to be honest, Alec's grip had hurt. He didn't realize the older boy could hurt him so much by grabbing him so tightly, and it made Billy want nothing more than to avoid any kind of trouble with these guys.

Gulping, he ate his breakfast as Alec said, "We've gotta get them back somehow."

Spencer glared at Alec. "Yeah, because pranking them first proved to work out so well. Lay off them! And you better leave my kid brother out of this, too!"

"It's hardly my fault your kid brother is a tranny, Vargas," snorted Alec, to which Spencer reached across the table and grabbed the senior by the collar of his shirt.

"Watch your fucking mouth!" Spencer hissed, spitting right in Alec's face before releasing him. "If you do anything else to them, they'll retaliate. But if you wanna try and go for it again, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out, Kentinsworth. Just because your mommy and daddy are the headmaster and headmistress of this place, it doesn't give you the right to be a pain in the ass. So knock it off!"

Alec smirked at Spencer, shrugging. "It's a free country." Sitting down, he said, "Well, we still have our little tradition we need to adhere to."

"What tradition?" asked Billy.

Alec's smile widened into something that looked to be genuine. "Every year at Minnetonka Prep, the Varsity team treats the J.V. team to a little dinner party. I'd already made the reservations to the place for Wednesday night."

Spencer glanced at him in apprehension. "You still wanna go through with that? Even after what they did? I thought that would be the last thing you'd wanna do."

"Look, Vargas, tradition is tradition. We did it for you last year when you first joined, remember? This year, it's at the Oceanaire in Downtown Minneapolis. They could even bring their girls if they want to," said Alec reasonably, smiling.

"And this is for real?" Billy asked, feeling confused. Why would Alec want to take the J.V. team out to dinner even after they pulled the hair dye prank? It made very little sense to him at all, especially since Alec made it clear how much he hated the J.V. team, especially Evan, Nick, Sam, and Finley.

"Look, Banksy, I don't like the little shits. But we have to respect tradition. It's been this way since my parents went to school here."

"Is this some way to get them back for the hair dye?"

"No, it's not, man, really," Tommy said, which surprised Billy; Tommy was the last person he expected to go along with Alec, considering he made it clear he was nothing like Alec, Stone, or the other snobs on the Varsity hockey team. "Varsity did this for me when I was recruited to the hockey team. Really. It's cool. Nothing stops them from messing with tradition."

"Even after what they did?" Billy was many things. But he wasn't stupid. He felt that there was a deeper meaning behind all this, that this was some sick, demented plan to get back at the J.V. team. But Alec's smile remained friendly, and he displayed little defensiveness when explaining the tradition. Maybe Alec was being genuine. But Billy would keep his guard up because he just didn't have a good feeling about this at all.

Alec's smile remained relaxed. "Really. Yes."

Billy sighed with relief. "Okay," he said, returning to his breakfast. But the knot in his stomach remained as he kept eating. He just hoped that Alec would keep to his word, especially since he knew how expensive the Oceanaire was, having eaten there a couple of times in the past with his parents.

The knot stayed in his stomach the whole day. And it wouldn't leave, even after he finished hockey practice and went back to his dormitory. He still couldn't shake the fact that he didn't have a good feeling.


A/N:

I just wanted to leave a note saying that at some point, I'll be going back and editing and reposting chapters from the very first story of this series; I'd want to take some time to fix any inconsistencies and mistakes from the first story and redo the chapters even better, though I won't be deleting the story and reposting it; I'll be going through select chapters that specifically have details of the hockey games the kids play and making changes, because there were a lot of mistakes I overlooked particularly with the positions the kids play on the team, for example, Sam shoots from the left, Logan shoots from the right, and I had their positions mixed up when I wrote the story the first time, so you'll be seeing some updated chapters to Old Ducks, New Tricks relatively soon.