Tricks to Sticks

part four

The week went by fast. Taylor finished her math packet that Tuesday in her free period. She and Charlie started writing their essays Wednesday and handed them in Thursday. He had also introduced her to a few of the other Ducks such as Averman, Kenny, Adam (properly), Fulton, and Guy.

When Friday evening slowly rolled around, Taylor was slowly making her way down to the arena, wearing a pair of mid-washed baggy jeans, along with her favorite Pantera band t-shirt and her black converse.

"I was starting to think you wouldn't show," Charlie joked, seeing as he was already at their meeting spot.

"Shut it," Taylor said as they began their walk to the little diner.

When they arrived, they were greeted by a woman, who looked to be in her late thirties, "Hey, there Charlie. You must be Taylor," she greeted.

"Taylor, this is my mom, Casey," he introduced.

"Hey," Taylor replied.

"What would you guys like to drink?" Casey asked.

"Chocolate shake," Charlie said.

"I'll have a vanilla," Taylor followed up with a smile. First impressions are always important.

"So, Pantera, huh?" Charlie said as they sat down in a booth in the corner.

"Yeah, wait, you know who they are?" Taylor asked a bit surprised, she'd never met one with quite the same taste in music as her.

"Yeah, I love Pantera," he exclaimed, "Thanks," he said as his mom came with their shakes.

"Which song is your favorite?" Taylor asked intrigued.

The evening had gone by slowly with them talking about hockey, Utah, and so on. And as the evening came to an end, it was finally time to end their little date with a walk back to Eden Hall.

"So," Taylor started, "you still haven't told me, how you knew to do the lutz and the flip jump," she said, as she lightly shivered.

Charlie noticed and took his green Ducks jersey off.

"Thanks," Taylor said as she put on the warm jersey, "it was getting a little chilly, considering it's still early September."

"Yeah," he chuckled, "anyway, I've had two figure skaters on my team so far, a girl named Tammy Duncan from sixth grade, and now Kenny. They've basically taught me everything I know about figure skating."

"I still can't believe I've met Ken Wu. Do you know how good he actually is?" Taylor asked smiling.

"Well, I know he was in the Olympics, so yes," Charlie chuckled.

"I actually went to your guys' last game against Iceland," Taylor admitted as it slowly got dark.

"You did?" he asked.

"Mhm," Taylor hummed, "why didn't you play?" she asked.

"Well, Banksie had gotten hurt during our first game against them, and once Bombay found out, he had to bench him. I then scouted Russ - you haven't met him yet, but you will - and right before his first game, Adam's wrist had healed," he paused for a second to let his explanation sink in a little before continuing, "But with Russ, we had a full roster. So, for Adam to play, someone had to sit out."

"And you took one for the team?" Taylor concluded.

"Yup, I became Bombay's assistant, that's at least what I liked to call it," Charlie said with a smirk as they walked through the gates to Eden Hall.

But as Taylor wanted to take a left towards the dormitories, Charlie grabbed her hand and pulled her to the right, towards the arena.

"Charlie, my room is that way?" Taylor stated extremely confused, as he opened the doors into the arena.