Chapter 7 – Away Games and Pranks
The bus ride to Fergus Falls' Randolph Academy was rowdy, to say the least.
Coach Chase, Coach Vargas, and Coach Germaine got them all on their respective buses, but Varsity and Junior Varsity were forced to share one large bus while the girls got their own; supposedly, it was meant to help alleviate tension between the boys and the girls; everyone had gotten essentially the equivalent of tour buses – that was one of the greatest things about traveling for away games that forced them to stay overnight; they didn't go on yellow school buses, they got rockstar treatment with buses that had bathrooms attached to them for more comfortable travel means.
But there was already enough tension between everyone on Varsity – Coach Chase wasn't doing much to alleviate it, either. The primary sources of the problem were Izzah, Hart, Goldstein, and Finnegan. It amazed Evan how four rotten apples could influence so much.
As Evan sat on the bus next to Logan, trying to concentrate on his history homework, he heard snickers from Izzah and Hart – he turned to find them sticking peanuts up Henry's nose, as Henry was stretched out across the bus seat, sleeping after the long day of classes, and it wasn't helped by the fact that Sam was also asleep beside him – Henry and Sam were like cats; they could fall asleep just about anywhere.
Evan rolled his eyes. Even though Izzah, Hart, Goldstein, and Finnegan were seniors, their immaturity level never failed to astound Evan. Quite frankly, they deserved to get that horse shit stuffed in their lockers, and he was glad that he suggested that to Gordy, who probably pulled it with Henry's help. So, as a result, Henry getting peanuts shoved up his nostrils was their idea of a payback. And Goldstein kept hitting Percy and Jimmy Hall in the back of the head with chunks of tuna salad sandwiches, much to the annoyance of the J.V. second-line wingers, who looked close to losing their patience as they read their assignments for English class. Evan saw how their faces were burning hotly – Jesse Hall was known for being a complete hothead, according to Charlie Conway and Fulton Reed; he fought more Hawks than anyone else did back in their Peewee days, or he would've if the refs didn't constantly hold Jesse back since the refs were buddy-buddy with a lot of the rival coaches.
Evan was really considering telling Coach Vargas that maybe it was a horrible idea having J.V. and Varsity travel together like this because the four main bullies were making the trip hell on earth for them. So far, only Coach Vargas seemed aware because he kept coming toward the center of the bus, ordering the four Varsity players to quit it and to leave the J.V. players alone.
"Guys, that's enough," Coach Vargas snapped.
"You heard my dad," said Spencer, ever the captain and prefect. "If you guys don't stop, I'm reporting this to the deans."
"Oh, I'm shaking in my boots, Vargas!" snorted Izzah, rolling his eyes.
"You should be!" snarled Spencer. "I'm an alternate captain and a prefect! Do you really wanna test me?"
"Whatever." Hart chucked his bag of roasted peanuts away, but suddenly, everything came to a sharp halt when Henry shot up, awake as a rash started forming on his arms. He blew the peanuts out of his nostrils, eyes widening so large, Evan thought they'd pop out of his head as his he seemed to have trouble breathing; his breaths grew heavy, like someone was sitting on his chest.
"Conway, you all right?" Coach Vargas asked, turning to Henry, whose face was pale as he scratched at the spot.
"I don't know," Henry said, his voice noticeably nervous as he scratched at the rash. But one of his hands suddenly shot to his throat as he started to cough, his eyes tearing.
"Dammit!" Vargas snapped. He turned in Hart and Izzah's direction. "What the hell were you two thinking?"
"If we knew he was allergic, we wouldn't have done it!" Hart looked scared now, and Evan smacked his forehead before jumping from his seat and rushing to Henry's side.
"Dude, you didn't tell us you were allergic!" he snapped angrily – he was partially pissed at Henry for keeping his nut allergy a secret while also infuriated that Hart and Izzah had done this.
"Didn't think it was necessary," Henry coughed out, his body spasming as he choked harder.
Evan sighed hard. He couldn't believe Henry would hide something like this from them, something that could potentially lead to him dying, and he knew Teddi would absolutely commit bloody murder when she learned that Hart and Izzah pranked her brother by potentially putting him in danger.
"Do you have an EpiPen or something for it?" Spencer asked, coming over to get a closer look.
Henry nodded, pointing toward his backpack. Evan unzipped it and found the EpiPen, seizing it and handing it to Coach Vargas, who jammed it abruptly into Henry's thigh. They all watched, nervous, as Henry started to calm down, his breathing steadily going back to normal while Sam, who'd come to, rubbed his back, and Leo McKnight, the fourth-line defense, handed Henry a bottle of Gatorade, which Henry sipped slowly.
"Are you all right now?" demanded Spencer, patting Henry on the shoulder.
Henry nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," he whispered, his eyes filling as Coach Vargas nodded, looking relieved. Still, it didn't stop him from asking Henry if he needed to go to a doctor for observation, which Herny vehemently insisted against.
"I don't need a hospital," he said weakly.
"Are you sure?" Spencer asked.
Henry nodded. "Yes!" His cheeks were red with embarrassment.
"As long as you're sure," said Coach Vargas, and he turned to Hart and Izzah, glaring at them. "You two, switch seats with somebody else. I'm going to have a word with your coach and let him decide what to do with you two. And Henry, you know I will have to call your dad and let him know what happened." With that, he walked away, heading toward the front of the bus to talk to Coach Chase; though Evan doubted Coach Chase would do anything about it, he let a lot of bullying behavior slide by so many times over. Henry blushed deeply at the thought of Coach Vargas contacting his dad – he would no doubt be getting a phone call from his father later, demanding whether or not he was all right; knowing Charlie, he would consider pressing charges against Izzah and Hart – everyone knew how fiercely overprotective he was over Teddi and Henry.
Evan stayed there, knelt at Henry's feet as Hart and Izzah traded seats with Billy and Jace, who looked infuriated with Hart and Izzah for their thoughtlessness – perhaps, they may not have known about Henry's nut allergy, but their thoughtlessness led to harm of one of the junior players, and it was something that nobody could let slide, especially the boys who'd been on J.V. last year. Just because they weren't on J.V., that meant nothing – they still cared about what happened to their friends who were on the Junior Varsity team, and they weren't going to let this go, not when Henry was the little brother of Logan's girlfriend. Hart, Izzah, Goldstein, and Finnegan had ruffled one too many feathers lately, and Evan was going to make damn well sure that they paid the price.
They were about twenty minutes away from Fergus Falls. When they got to the hotel and checked in, Evan, Nick, Logan, and Spencer would need to discuss strategy – or maybe not Spencer; Spencer being a prefect meant that he would be watching them like a hawk, and he seemed to be reading Evan's mind, because he turned to Evan, looking at him sternly.
"I know what you're gonna do, Ev," Spencer whispered. "And I know I can't stop you, either. Just be careful about it."
"I will be, Spence," Evan whispered back. "But you're gonna have to do something on your end, man. Because this cannot keep happening."
"Don't worry. Between me and my dad, we'll get this fixed. Hopefully, we can restore some harmony back to the team, and we can get our heads screwed on right before the Patriots game tomorrow because we can't afford another loss. Not after what happened at our game against Eden Hall. We're only winning tomorrow if we work as a team."
"Tell that to Hart, Izzah, Goldstein, Finnegan, Sheen, Derrington, Nolan, and Walters, because you know who the problem is." Evan narrowed his eyes as he cast a glare at the real troublemakers, who were corralled toward the back of the bus now, with Hart and Izzah actually seeming genuinely scared that they almost killed Henry but not at all sorry for pranking Henry and J.V., either – Evan was convinced neither would genuinely apologize for their mistreatment of the other team members. He supposed that even though Alec Kentinsworth and his goons were gone, their poisonous, elitist attitude rubbed off on what remained of Varsity from last year, and until these guys graduated, Evan knew that Varsity would continue to be divided.
"You know they're poison," Evan continued. "For weeks, we've had to put up with their crap. And Coach Chase isn't doing jack about it. We need to purge Varsity of all this poison; we'll be better off without it."
"But you also know their parents, Evan. They'll try to get it to slide."
"Shit, you're right," Evan sighed. "So, what else can be done?"
"Honestly? I don't know," Spencer admitted sheepishly. "But like I said, Dad and I will do what we can."
Evan nodded back in appreciation. He was glad that at least, Spencer seemed to have his back. Even though Evan wasn't one of the captains, that wasn't going to stop him from insisting that things change and that the team sucked it up and worked together for the sake of defending their title.
The buses pulled up in front of the hotel at last, and they all climbed off, grabbing their luggage. Evan supposed Coach Vargas had informed Coach Germaine and Teddi about what Hart and Izzah had done to Henry, because Teddi barreled toward her brother and threw her arms around him, kissing his forehead and demanding repetitively whether or not he was all right, all the while glowering angrily in Hart and Izzah's direction – she wasn't going to let this go at all, not when her little brother could've died.
"Teddi, I'm okay," Henry whined, pushing her arms off of him.
"Quit smothering him, Tee," Logan said, smoothing his fingers through his girlfriend's hair.
Teddi rolled her eyes. "Can you blame me?" she demanded, hauling her suitcase into the hotel lobby. "Evan, you better come up with something to keep those guys in line. Because this can't keep going."
"Don't worry, Teddi, leave it all to the master." Evan patted her on the shoulder before going off toward Coach Chase to collect his room key.
"All right, ladies!" Coach Chase announced, but Coach Vargas elbowed him in the ribs to ease up on the macho talk around the girls. "And gentlemen," he added as an afterthought. "You're to wake up tomorrow at ten A.M. sharp for breakfast; J.V. plays first thing at eleven A.M., and Varsity goes after them at one o'clock, then the girls play at four. Hopefully, we'll be on the road tomorrow by five o'clock tomorrow night and on the road back to Minnetonka Prep in time for our game against the Hornets. So, make sure you get your sleep tonight; I don't want any exhausted players out on the ice tomorrow. Are we clear?"
"Yes, Coach Chase!" everyone chorused.
"All right, get on upstairs and go to bed."
Everyone nodded. They were all too exhausted to do much.
Everyone nodded. They were all too exhausted to do much else. Evan and Jace made their way up to their hotel room, dragging their bags behind them. When they got up to their room, both boys collapsed onto their beds collectively, sighing.
"What are we gonna do about those four?" Jace asked him after they changed into pajamas.
"I'm contemplating how we'll prank them back," Evan admitted, his mind conjuring up various ideas from the OG Ducks' playbook. But he knew he'd have to top his idea for Gordy's shit prank. "There needs to be retribution."
"And we'll get them," Jace agreed darkly. "Because ducks fly together."
Evan nodded. "Ducks fly together."
The following morning, at breakfast, Teddi's fury over Hart and Izzah nearly endangering her brother settled. But only a little bit. Her dad had called her brother last night after they checked in, demanding over and over again whether Henry was okay, if Henry wanted him to press charges, if Henry wanted him to have a word with the board members and the dean about Izzah and Hart's bullying behavior, all of which Henry protested against. Still, Teddi also knew nothing would stop her father from talking to Donald and Melissa Kentinsworth about how Izzah and Hart could've killed his son.
On top of all that, Teddi's mood was soured by the fact that she'd be missing watching the Wild play the Jets in one of their pre-season games that night. After witnessing the Wild miss the playoffs last season for the first time ever, Teddi wanted to see either her home team go all the way or she'd be happy if Anaheim or New Jersey saw it through, considering New Jersey just got a new goalie and a new coach (she thought the Maple Leefs were idiotic for letting their coach go because he didn't take them all the way through the playoffs – even Logan agreed that that was just dumb, and he was disappointed immensely in his home team's decision to let Shelden Keefe go like that). However, she was worried, partially because Luke Hughes was out with his shoulder injury. But she also had some hope since the Devils put the Sabres and the Senators on a rotisserie (Jace wasn't too thrilled, though, since he rooted for his father's former team). She kept glancing at her phone, scrolling through her X account for any and all predictions about the Wild's pre-season as well as predictions about New Jersey's pre-season game against the Islanders. Call her crazy, but she was insanely loyal to the Devils, the Wild, and the Ducks.
As she ate her bagel with cream cheese, she just hoped that Evan and Spencer were doing their part to put Hart, Izzah, and all the other troublemakers from Varsity in their place. She also had an earbud shoved in her ear as she watched Runnin' with the Devils host, Ace, recap the Devils' win against Ottawa; hearing that the Devils won nine to one boosted her spirits, but only slightly. She decided that if Minnesota, New Jersey, or Anaheim made it all the way through the playoffs, she'd throw a party in her dormitory and buy a massive cake.
She was so busy fantasizing about how she'd celebrate one of her teams making it through playoffs that she barely heard the roaring screams sounding throughout the room. When she heard the screams from across the hotel café, she knew retribution had been delivered.
"OH, MY – WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!"
"THOSE ARE WORMS!"
Teddi darted her head toward the screams, seeing Hart had gotten a mouthful of worms that had been slipped into his egg sandwich. She had to cover her mouth to hide her laughter, and as she looked around her table, she saw Tommy fighting to contain his own laughter. Maya was snorting, and Lauren was looking at Tommy in approval – if Tommy could laugh at his own teammates' expense after they messed around with her little brother, then he was good in Teddi's book, and she could tell that he'd won over Lauren, at this point.
"HOW DID WORMS GET IN THERE?" Hart was screaming as Coach Chase walked over to the Varsity table to see what was going on. Except Hart had thrown his worm-laden sandwich at the Varsity coach, whose face was now covered in scrambled egg, cheese, and worms.
"DON'T THROW IT AT COACH, YOU MORON!" Izzah shouted, smacking Hart over the head. "HOW DOES THAT HELP?"
"ENOUGH!" Coach Vargas barked, silencing everyone. "That's it!" He turned to his J.V. players. "Did any of you do this?"
"No, sir," said Jimmy Moreno.
"We knew nothing," insisted Johnny Tyler.
Coach Vargas sighed hard before turning to Teddi. "Conway? Did any of your girls do anything?"
"We had no clue about this," Teddi insisted.
"Then that rules out J.V. and the girls. All that's left is your own boys, Coach Chase. You're on your own with that one. They're your team. You sort them out," Coach Vargas said sternly, but Teddi knew internally that Coach Vargas was doing cartwheels and his heart was leaping – Teddi knew how Vargas felt about bullies.
"What do you mean I sort them out?" Coach Chase snarled. "This started with you and your boys from last year!"
"As a result of bullying that they faced from the Varsity," said Coach Vargas. "And it's still going on, from what I can tell, since these two caused Henry Conway to have an allergic reaction. You should've had them on a leash a long time ago. I suggest you crack the whip now unless you wanna face another complaint from Adam Banks and Alexandra Morrow."
Coach Chase went completely red in the face at this. He knew that there was no getting out of this. He was going to have to hold his senior Varsity players accountable, or else, he was looking at this whole prank war costing him his team and his job.
J.V. hung onto the edge of their seats. They were in the final period, and the second-line forwards were out on the ice, defended by Connor Underwood and Matty Maywood. So far, the combination of Sam, Percy, and Jimmy proved to be unstoppable. Gordy couldn't help being pleased with his suggestion to Coach Vargas that Sam, Percy, and Jimmy play in these final minutes – Sam's speed, combined with Percy and Jimmy's teamwork and communication, was effective. Sam was racing through the Patriots' zone, dodging the enforcers and skating up to the goalpost.
"Samitar skates up to the post and fakes it to Percy Hall, who passes it to his brother Jimmy; Jimmy shoots, and he scores! The Ducks stay in the lead at six to five! We've only got a few minutes left in the final period; if the Ducks win this final round, then Junior Varsity can count this as their second win of the season!"
"LINE CHANGE! GERMAINE, TURNER, CONWAY! CHANGE IT!" Vargas barked, and Gordy, Gabriel, and Henry leaped over the guardrail, skating off to take their place on the ice. Henry came face-to-face with the Patriots' captain, who sneered at him.
Throughout the game, the Ducks faced many cheap shots from the Patriots. It wasn't helped that the Patriots' J.V. coach was buddy-buddy with one of the umpires, which meant that the Patriots were getting away with cheating far more than usual. Still, Gordy knew that they couldn't let that stop them because they were close to bagging another win. He felt that if they won this and also defeated the Hornets on Sunday, next Friday was going to be a breeze since it was an exhibition between J.V. and Varsity – he just hoped the results would be the same as they were a year ago, even though he hated that he, Evan, Logan, Nick, Billy, and Spencer were on opposing sides.
The puck dropped, and Henry fought for it, only to get knocked down to the ice by both of the Patriots' enforcers, who ganged up on him – it wasn't helped that Henry was tiny in size compared to the other J.V. boys. Luckily, Underwood and Matty fiercely defended their zone, clearing the puck away and giving Gordy the room that he needed to chase after it. Gordy got to the puck first, as it had landed against the boards. He got it out of there, passing it off to Gabriel, who was closer to the net and had an opening.
"Here you go, Gabe!" Gordy shouted, watching as the puck landed near Gabriel's stick, and the first-line right winger took his shot with twenty seconds left on the clock. The puck sailed in smoothly.
"YES! GOOD JOB, DUCKS! WAY TO SHOW THEM!" Coach Vargas cheered, pumping his fist into the air as the boys collided on the ice, hugging and celebrating their second win.
"If we play like that against the Varsity next weekend, we can't lose," grinned Matty as they all went off to the visitors' locker room to shower and change. But before they could hit the showers, Coach Vargas silenced their jovial celebration by blowing his whistle and leaning his knee on the bench.
"Excellent job today, guys," he said to them, grinning. "I can't be prouder of you all. That's what teamwork looks like. I think the Varsity could take notes from you and the girls. So, keep it up like that, and I know we'll bring home a state championship trophy this year. That was the best you've ever done it. Now, hurry up and get washed up. Varsity's playing next, and you all need to get back to the hotel so you can work on packing your bags up. I wanna get us back home no later than eleven tonight because you've got another game tomorrow. Just make sure you get plenty of sleep on the bus ride home."
"Yes, Coach," Gordy said, smiling. "You've got it."
Coach Vargas nodded back at them in approval, his smile warm. But the J.V. team knew that while they were harmoniously oiled together, the same couldn't be said for the Varsity, who were up next on the ice.
It went just as Evan predicted it would. Luckily, this time, Varsity didn't go home with a loss. But they did win by the skin of their teeth – they needed to go into overtime, and they won the shootout. Still, knowing that they'd spent the whole game tied at one-to-one, he knew the others were far from pleased, and Coach Chase was furious.
Everyone was feeling the tension of what could've been a tie. It wasn't their best, but it was a victory, one that Evan was willing to take since the Patriots were a tough team. But he knew that the more senior members were unhappy with anything less than a top-tier win, having been spoiled last year by being on a team full of nothing but winners who only cared about winning; they were just furious that they couldn't control and harass Billy anymore because he had a lot of the previous J.V. members on the team with him, backing him up.
Evan watched as Hart, Izzah, Goldstein, Finnegan, Sheen, Derrington, and Walters stalked into the locker room, angrily throwing their sticks down and blaming anyone they could.
"Nice going out there, Banks. You could've cost us that one," sneered Hart, shoving Billy. Clearly, almost getting a mouthful of worms didn't teach him a lesson at all.
"Hart, shut the hell up!" snapped Spencer. "Quit blaming the others. Where were you, huh? You hung back and had your wingers do all the real work." He gestured to Peter Petronski and Andrew Mizrahi, who were clenching their jaws in fury at not having any help out there from their center. "You can't just blame them because you were lazily hanging back. That's not fair! Okay? I'm laying the law down." He turned to Jace, who stepped forward.
"He's right," Jace said. "We do everything as a team. We win together. We lose together. Not one person is to blame. So, Hart, Izzah, Goldstein, Finnegan, Sheen, Derrington, Walters – you all better fix your attitudes. Or else, J.V. will pummel us on Friday night, and you guys will know what it's like to lose to underclassmen for a second year in a row."
"Who do you think you're talking to, kid?" Izzah stepped forward and shoved Jace, who shoved him back just as fiercely.
"Guys, stop it!" Evan stepped in, holding Jace back, while Spencer and Billy stepped in the middle to break up the fight just as Coach Chase stormed in, clearly in a bad mood.
"ENOUGH!" he roared. "You guys went into shutout. We may have won this one, but it could've gotten away from us. You know that, right?"
"Yes, sir," everyone said together, feeling the chill settle into the room as they stared back at Coach Chase, wide-eyed and quiet.
"We've got another game on Sunday," Coach Chase said coldly. "Clean up your acts." He turned to Jace, Spencer, and Billy. "You guys! You're the captains. Tell me what happened out there!"
"Hart, Izzah, Goldstein, Finnegan, Sheen, Nolan, Derrington, and Walters suck; that's what happened!" yelled Jace.
"Oh, whatever! It's not our fault you let these white trash rejects onto the Varsity!" sneered Finnegan.
"Dude! Shut up!" snapped Nick.
"Yeah! We're sick of you guys putting us down all the time. We're here on scholarship! What's the big deal?" demanded Logan indignantly.
"Because our school shouldn't be handing out charity awards," sneered Walters. "You all don't belong in our school, let alone on our team! And they say when you are around trash long enough, you start stinking like it! That's clearly what's happening to us."
"Money doesn't equal talent, Walters," snapped Spencer. "Okay? That's enough!"
"Well, I don't care. Championship game or not, Nolan and I are not defending him out there," Walters snarled, glowering at Billy, who looked like he was close to jumping on him. Evan felt his whole face turning hot red as he glowered at the fourth-line defense.
"Then hit the showers!" snarled Coach Chase. "All of you! Quit acting like a bunch of babies, or else, I'm going to seriously consider replacing some of you. Because this isn't the kind of attitude a winning team should have."
"Or maybe you should stop obsessing about winning all the time. Because that's what created this problem in the first place," spat Billy, stalking off toward the showers. And his comment hung thickly in the air even after they left to head back to the hotel. They knew if this division continued, they could kiss any victory goodbye.
The following Monday, instead of being in practice after classes were over, Evan Morrow, the Conway siblings, and Spencer Vargas were seated in the deans' office with Headmaster and Headmistress Kentinsworth, Coach Vargas, Coach Chase, Harry Hart, Abraham Izzah, and their parents. Teddi knew that this was coming the moment Coach Vargas contacted her dad and told him about what happened to Henry on the bus ride to Fergus Falls. Her dad was the one who demanded a meeting – in fact, he even brought Gordon along just in case they needed a former lawyer's perspective.
It was the opposite of what Henry had wanted, but Teddi knew that this was the only way to resolve things. Pranking those jerks back was doing nothing but further pissing them off. And sure, this would make them angry, too. Still, at least they were bringing it to Donald and Melissa's attention – Donald and Melissa, surprisingly, lost some of their elitism after their daughter and son graduated; they started seeing how their attitudes bled into the rest of the student body and how it enabled the upperclassmen to spit on and bully others who were different from them. Evan hoped Donald and Melissa would take this seriously – after all, they'd given the Ducks their scholarships to attend this snob fest. The least they could do was take the Ducks' disputes against the upperclassmen members of the Varsity team seriously, Teddi reasoned as she sat on the sofa between her father and brother.
"I still think I should press charges," Charlie was saying, glowering at Hart and Izzah, who sat there with their fathers, who were both members of the hockey booster club.
"Dad! I told you that's not necessary!" Henry whined.
"They could have killed you," Charlie snapped.
"Dad –!"
"Henry Adam Conway, I will not take any more excuses." Charlie whipped his head toward Donald and Melissa, who watched him nervously. "Look, I agreed to let him come to school here with his sister to get a good education. I spend hundreds from inflated gas prices to come and see every home game at this snob fest. The least you can do is put forth better effort at protecting my kids!"
"Look, Mr. Conway," Headmaster Kentinsworth said, his voice surprisingly calm for someone being in the wrath of Charlie Conway's anger. "I think that's up to your son to decide. Henry, would you mind telling things from your point of view?"
There is no point of view! Evan thought angrily as Henry recounted what he remembered. He felt like she was in court. It took him back to the board meeting about the girls being given a chance to play hockey a year ago. Gordon just looked at him in sympathy – he knew that this was unfair.
"I fell asleep on the bus, and all of a sudden, I felt a rash form on my arms, and something stuffed up my nose, and then I couldn't breathe properly," Henry said.
"And nobody on J.V. or Varsity knew he was allergic," piped up Evan, though he glowered at Hart and Izzah to indicate he wasn't defending either of them – he still blamed them. "Henry never said anything. Why, though, I don't know."
"Because it's embarrassing," spat Henry, burying his face into his hands, and Teddi sighed in sympathy.
Charlie sighed. "Trust me, I know. Why do you think I have a separate cabinet for Teddi's stash of peanut butter candy? She and Gordon are the only ones in the house who can eat it. But that doesn't excuse what they did to my son."
"And I'm not saying there is an excuse, Mr. Conway," said Coach Chase.
"Oh, no, I personally have another problem with you. Why didn't you stop them before something like this happened? Huh?" Charlie demanded.
"Look, if I suspend them for every little thing they do wrong, I wouldn't have any players on my team."
"So, it's all about winning?"
"I didn't say that."
"But you indicated it." Charlie glowered at Coach Chase. He turned to Coach Vargas. But before he could say anything, Vargas, luckily, spoke up.
"Look, can't we all agree that the upperclassmen's behavior has been unacceptable since the beginning of the term?" Coach Vargas asked. "We can't have this continue. So, Deans, what are you planning on doing?"
"I don't think suspension is enough," Spencer said. "As a prefect and one of their captains, the team can't keep going the way it is, with them turning the other seniors against the juniors and the sophomores. Why do you think we lost our first game this season? Why do you think we went into overtime? If Billy's there, Colton Walters and Alex Nolan refuse to protect the goalpost. Harry hangs back and makes the wingers do all the hard work while staying on center ice and watching. Goldstein spends half his time criticizing Billy even though Billy is an alternate and the first-line goalie. Coach, this costs us a lot more than winning – the team is split apart. And I'm sorry to say, but you're not helping, either."
"Vargas –!" Coach Chase started, but Spencer shook his head.
"No. All we hear from you is 'Win, win, win' over, and over, and over," Spencer said. "You've created this mess. And until you clean it up and hold the seniors accountable, we're not gonna want to do well out there. Tommy and Quinn are with me on this, too."
"Can I make a suggestion, please?" The headmaster had his hand over his eyes, rubbing at the bridge of his nose before he lifted his head to gaze at them. "I agree that things need to be rectified. So, I'm going to mention this to the board members, but my suggestion is a week's suspension from school, a month's suspension from the Varsity team, and a month's worth of detention."
"I agree with that," said the headmistress. "Would that be satisfactory for you?" She turned to Charlie.
Charlie sighed. "I still think I should press charges."
"But what about the worms shoved in his breakfast?" demanded Chester Hart, gesturing to his son.
"Your son did the deed first," Alex spat. "Worms in an egg sandwich is a far less criminal offense than Henry having an allergic reaction to peanuts."
"And people eat worms and other kinds of bugs in plenty of other cultures," Evan snarked at Hart, glowering at him. "You'd know that if you cracked a book once in a while."
"Why you little –!" Hart was about to jump from his seat, but Alex got up and stood between her son and the pissed-off senior Varsity player.
"Hart, enough," Coach Vargas said, rubbing the back of his neck.
"All right," sighed the headmaster. "This matter will be brought up with the school board. Starting tomorrow, your suspension will begin."
"Are you kidding me?" Izzah snapped. "What about him?" He gestured toward Evan.
"There's no evidence that Evan slipped the worms into your food," Coach Vargas argued. "Until someone comes forward and says they did it, we shouldn't point any fingers. In the meantime, we need to focus on the offense that you two committed because the other seniors clearly follow your example. From what Spencer is saying, it's dividing the team, and if you guys actually wanna win some games, you two better fix your attitudes because if you were on my team, and if a fifth line existed, that's where you'd be. Trust me."
"Yeah, whatever, Dad!" snarked Izzah.
"Take this a little more seriously and fix the attitude, Mr. Izzah!" snapped the headmistress, glaring at him. "You'll have plenty of time to think about how you'll fix your attitude during your suspension."
Hart and Izzah rolled their eyes. Clearly, their punishment hadn't settled in yet. But Evan was looking forward to a few weeks of peace without them on the team's ass for every little thing. He could only hope that the other seniors would fix their attitudes and that Hart and Izzah's being gone would give them something to think about. He also hoped that this would be a wake-up call to Coach Chase. But somehow, Evan doubted things would get better.
Still, when he went to his and Jace's dormitory later that night, he was greeted by Jace's smirk.
"So, how did the meeting go?" he chorused.
"Well, two of the poisoned apples are gone," Evan commented. "But we still don't know who put the worms in Hart's food," he added as Nick and Koobler entered the room, wearing matching smirks.
"It worked, though, didn't it?" laughed Koobler.
"You guys?" Evan asked, laughing. He shouldn't have put it past Nick, though – that was totally something Nick would do.
"It was Koob's idea to give them some food for thought," Nick chuckled. "Pun intended."
Evan shook his head, grinning a little wider. "Thanks, guys. And that was a really good one. Probably the greatest one you ever pulled. But how'd you sneak out to get the worms?"
"Thank our resident Beautifier," Koobler said in reference to Logan. "Well, good luck at the J.V.-Varsity showdown. May the best team win."
Evan grinned, shaking Koob's hand before beckoning Koobler and Nick out of his and Jace's dormitory, still laughing at the cleverness behind what they'd done.
Since we're living in the year of 2024 and I'm following the current hockey season, I wanted to add in some real details, like the Wild having their pre-season game against the Jets (which I caught a glimpse of while at work last Saturday, and to my delight, they won, even though I know the pre-season games don't count). I also had to selfishly add in some details about the New Jersey Devils, since that's my team, New Jersey's my home, that's my pride, and I'm going to Ducks at the Devils for my birthday this year (a gift from my boyfriend). I chose Ducks at the Devils for my first hockey game since I support both teams, as well as the Wild and the Canucks.