Forever and Always | Adam Banks

Hi, We're the Ducks

The first day of high school made kids feel one of two things: excited or scared. Ellie Sparks was feeling both of those emotions. She was excited to be starting school with her teammates, who were her closest friends and boyfriend. However, they were attending a school that most of them knew nothing about via athletic scholarship. That meant keeping up their grade point average, which wasn't an issue for Ellie but it certainly kept the pressure on. Also, they would be getting a new hockey coach. Coach Bombay had left them for a job with the Goodwill Games.

Ellie stared at her first day of school outfit in the mirror. Her mom wanted her to wear a dress, but she and a few of the other Ducks were skating to school so that was a quick veto. She had opted for a skirt (something she coordinated with Connie) that wouldn't fly up while they skated, a black tanktop and a jean jacket. This was the best compromise she and her mom were able to get to, as Ellie would've much prefered to be in jeans.

Once Ellie was completely ready, she yelled goodbye to her mom and made her way out the window. She hopped on the tree and headed toward Adam's. His window was already open from when they talked earlier this morning, so she just went in. "They're going to make fun of you either way," Ellie laughs at her boyfriend who was adjusting his tie in his mirror. She knew their friends were going to say something about Adam's outfit whether or wore the tie or not, especially Charlie.

"It's the first day of school. I just want to look nice," Adam responds, turning his attention away from himself and to his girlfriend. He truly was the luckiest guy in the world. "And you look gorgeous."

"Thank you. You look very handsome. Keep the tie; I like it," Ellie tells him, fixing his tie while she was speaking. With her hands resting on his chest, Ellie leans up, seeing as her 5'5 frame was quite the difference from Adam's 6'0 one, and gives her boyfriend a kiss. "Now, let's go! We're going to be late."

"Averman, where are you taking us?" Guy asks, as they skated toward Eden Hall. He had mentioned something about a shortcut, but it's Averman, so who knows if it's even right.

"Okay, everyone follow me." The group was putting a lot of faith into Averman in getting them to school. They didn't have time to question it, as they were already running late.

"Nice tie, Banks. Cake-eater." Charlie couldn't help but poke fun at his friend's outfit. The preppy boy had gone all out in comparison to the other guys in the group. Ellie looked at Adam, giving him an I told you so look, but she still thought he looked handsome.

"Come on, Charlie. I think he looks good," Ellie stands up for her boyfriend. Did she laugh at Charlie's comment? Absolutely, but she was the one who ultimately decided that he should wear the tie.

In a not surprising turn of events, Charlie had to chase after Goldberg because he still struggles with skating. Ellie rolled her eyes as the group continued on without those two. Goldberg was going to be fine despite his overreactions. Charlie was coming to his rescue.

Soon enough, the two had somehow managed to catch up to them by jumping off a bridge. Makes no sense, but at least they weren't dead. "Goldberg, don't you ever do that to me again!" Charlie almost had a damn heart attack trying to catch up to Goldberg.

They had finally made it to the school, not a clue about how late they actually were. Charlie opened the door for them, ushering them into the auditorium. "Let's sneak in the back. Alright, let's go." Ellie knew Charlie's idea was a horrible one, but they couldn't walk in through the main doors. They would probably get in trouble, and no one wanted that on their first day.

The plan was made worse thanks to Goldberg, who got tripped up in the curtains and caused it to fall on top of them. So much for sneaking through the back. Now they were the center of attention. All the students in the audience were laughing at them and Dean Buckley looked mortified. In this moment, Ellie wanted to crawl into a hole and die. This was not the first impression she wanted to make. She should've just let her mom drive her, like she offered.

"Hi... We're the Ducks." Oh, Charlie Conway. That probably didn't help their cause with the dean, who looked like he was embarrased that we were even attending his school. Ellie let out a sigh, knowing it was going to be a long year.

When the assembly was over, Dean Buckley had invited the team to his office. They were gathered around his ant display. It was an odd thing to display in an office, but it was also pretty cool.

"You can learn a lot from ants," Dean Buckley says when he notices what the students were looking at. "These Brazilian fire ants can teach you a lot about successful societal structure. You see there's one queen in there. The rest are dedicated worker ants. Everybody pulls their weight. Nobody complains. There's harmony and growth. Same here at Eden Hall. Only you are the workers, the backbone."

"And you're the queen?" Russ asks jokingly. He got a few snickers from fellow teammates, but Ellie stood there silently. However, she certainly contained her laughter better than the other people in the room. She wanted to make a better impression on Dean Buckley this time around, not wanting to get in any trouble during her time at Eden Hall.

The first day of school was certainly something none of the Ducks had pictured. Their teachers were crazy and already assinging homework. It was a prestigous school, one of the best in Minnesota. The faculty and board members expected a lot out of the students that were attending. Dean Buckley told them this was going to happen, but it seemed none of the Ducks thought he was being serious.

"Hey look," Ellie points Charlie out to Adam. They were in between classes and the two were at the top of a staircase, Charlie in the hallway just below them. "I think Charlie has a crush on that girl."

"It's about time," Adam chuckles, throwing his arm around his girlfriend. "Quit staring at him. Let's get to math."

Ellie glanced back at her captain one more time. This was the first time Charlie had ever shown interest in a girl. For some reason, it intrigued Ellie. The girl was pretty, so she was definitely curious to see how this was going to play out for Charlie. She was rooting for Charlie, wanting him to be as happy as she and Adam were.

Author's Note:

Yay for entering D3! Love this movie and am looking forward to getting more Ellie and Adam scenes since Adam is hardly in this movie *eye rolls* I have some ideas brewing so I hope you enjoy them!