ACCEPTANCE -DEAN PORTMAN

[CHAPTER TWO]

"Please welcome to the podium, the head coach and leader of the Mighty Ducks, Gordon Bombay." Introduced the headmaster of Eden Hall.

Coach Bombay walked up with pride written on his face as the Ducks followed closely behind him.

Eden Hall flew the Ducks that weren't from Minnesota to Eden Hall, something that Eurydice was very very thankful for.

She stood with her teammates, Dean right behind her, they hadn't had the chance to relish in their reunion yet as they were almost immediately dragged to the crowded stage after they had reached the school campus.

All Eurydice could think about was to embrace Dean, she hadn't seen him in person for months and she could only hope that he had missed her as much as she missed him.

Coach Bombay started to walk over to the podium and begin his speech, "It's a great honor to be here today to introduce you to a truly great group of kids. Sure, they can be a little rambunctious-"

The Ducks and the crowd burst out laughing, they did have a lot of fun together, on and off the ice.

Eurydice couldn't wait for them to liven up the next chapter of her life like they did with Coach Bombay, they had improved each other's lives and they were ready to continue to be there for each other.

"They've run me ragged and played more than their fair share of pranks. I still haven't forgotten about those eggs. But I hung in there, and they hung in there for me. We became the Quack Attack, the Flying "V''and the Bash Brothers. I've never had a better time. These kids are winners, each and every one of them. But more than that, these are good people. I hope that they enrich and enliven your school and your lives the way they have mine." Bombay continued with his speech as a crestfallen expression fell on his face.

His speech was starting to sound more of a send off than a congratulations.

Eurydice stared at her coach a little longer, she noticed that his eyes had a gloom to them that was only seen when he felt guilt.

She remembered the look from when he apologised to the team but this time, there was no hope.

Not a single drop of hope.

Coach Bombay perked up again from a second of silence, "Now I hand you over to the capable hands of my old biology teacher and the current headmaster of Eden Hall, Dean Buckley."

Bombay wordlessly joined back with the Ducks, when they started to praise him on his speech, Bombay seemed to have shrugged them off, there was no smile.

He couldn't even face Charlie.

Eurydice's was snapped out of her daze by the voice of the headmaster, "Gordon Bombay has a lot to be proud of. We are happy to welcome the Ducks to our great educational institution. So, today it gives me great pleasure to award you these full athletic scholarships to the Eden Hall Academy."

Eurydice felt a surge of happiness once more when the headmaster handed them their certificates for the scholarship.

She had really made it with hockey, who knows maybe she could play professionally if all goes well.

As the team left the stage and the crowd cleared out, Eurydice noticed that Charlie was pulled aside by Bombay.

The two of them had always seemed closer.

Eurydice decided to stop thinking about Bombay's odd behaviour earlier and simply focus on the happy occasion, after all this was technically a celebration of her and her friends's hard work.

Eurydice felt a pair of hands suddenly covering her eyes, shocking her for a moment.

"What the hell?" She exclaimed as her sight was soon turned into darkness.