Eden Hall Ducks - Adam Banks

Chapter 10 : Dinner On Us

Indiana followed Connie, Guy, and Julie up the stairs. The four politely thanked the man who opened the door for them as they set foot into the restaurant. The place was beautiful with stone pillars holding up the place, along with classical music playing softly throughout the restaurant. These kids had never been somewhere like this. Indiana spoke with the hostess who guided the group to a secluded, reserved room nearing the back of the restaurant. There, most of the junior varsity and varsity teams alike took their seats and intermingled. Indiana caught Adam's eyes, who quickly took the opportunity to wave her over, patting the seat next to him. Indiana pulled her teammates over to the surrounding chairs and sat next to her boyfriend who placed a gentle kiss on her cheek.

"I love this tradition!" Sparked Averman. "At my old school, we didn't have traditions like this." The boy drank his water quickly, almost spilling all over himself while in the midst of speaking to the varsity player next to him.

"Waiter, I've got too many forks. I only need one," explained Dwayne, who held up the variously sized forks he was given. Dwayne continued in confusion, "I don't-- Y'all, I just-- What's this little bitty one-- What's this little bitty--" Dwayne began to chuckle at the tiny size of one of the forks.

"Hey, you got to show me that triple deke, man. That's cool," stated Riley. Something about his tone when talking to Charlie made Indiana feel rather uneasy, as if they were being patronized.

"Yeah, sure. You know, it's easier than it looks," stated Charlie. Indiana laughed to herself silently. The move was rather easy, most high school players should be able to do it pretty successfully. However, she could see how that move was impressive in the peewee league.

"Oh, you're being modest," said Riley, inching closer to Charlie to speak. Indiana turned to her sister, giving her a look. The two had been listening into the conversation and didn't believe a single word.

"Hey, Julie, want this extra piece of prime rib?" Asked a voice from further away. Goldberg smirked at the girl who in return elbowed him in the shoulder. Goldberg grunted, grabbing his shoulder and acting hurt.

"Look, I'm just trying to help you," explained Goldberg.

"Save it Goldie, she doesn't need your help," laughed Indiana, who received a simple roll of the eyes from Goldberg.

"So Indiana, Julie. How was representing team USA at the Goodwill Games?" Scooter asked the two. Indiana smirked at the boy who shook his head in response.

"It was pretty fun, it's not everyday you get to go in cold in a shootout versus team Iceland's best player," Julie let out a soft laugh.

"She was amazing, read right through his moves. She totally deserved the win," stated Indiana, tapping her sister on the back proudly. The two shared a laugh before returning their attention to Scooter. "By the way, Julie, this is Scooter, the varsity team's goalie. Scooter, this is my sister, Julie." The two shared a smile before Julie continued the conversation.

"So what's it like playing for varsity?" she asked him. As Scooter went to reply, Indiana smirked and turned to Adam, wanting to allow Julie and Scooter time to speak.

"How's your food, Adam?" The girl asked in an attempt to make small talk.

"It's alright," the boy responded. Indiana furrowed her eyebrows at the tone of his response, sounding a mixture of sad and angered.

Indiana tried again, "It was fun being back on your line again in practice. Maybe we will be able to be on the same line in a game sometime soon."

The boy nodded slightly, "Yeah, maybe." Before Indiana could ask the boy what was wrong, their conversation was cut short due to the tapping of a knife on the side of a water glass. Rick Riley stood up with his glass to prepare a toast. Indiana watched the scene unfold in front of her in confusion-- all of the sudden, the two teams were getting along. It didn't make sense.