the story of us [dean portman 2]

𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧. 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧

𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗘𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧: 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗖𝗛 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧

     TENSION filled the rink as Charlie and Coach Orion interacted. The team observed the pair cautiously as they stared each other down. Russ tried to break up the tension by apologizing but it didn’t seem to do much. Goldberg spoke up from the back of the group.

“Hey Bombay gave him that C.”

“And I respect that,” Orion said without moving his gaze from Charlie. “But that’s the past. This is my team now and I’ll be selecting the captain.”

Sophie looked over to Adam and raised an eyebrow at the statement. She loved Charlie and would never purposely do him wrong but being captain of a team has always been something she wanted.

“You gotta be kidding me, right? I mean, you’re the rookie here,” Charlie told the new coach with an amused expression taking over his face. “We all been together for four years.”

Several of their teammates voiced their agreements while Sophie tried not to have a reaction. While yes, the team had been together longer than Orion had been their coach, he was still their coach now. He was in charge of the team and Sophie was going to respect that and him.

She understood that Charlie was upset about Bombay leaving them and would always view him as the Ducks real coach but Orion was their coach now. And while yes, the way he had informed Charlie he was no longer captain was a bit harsh, he was just establishing that he wanted Charlie to work for the title and prove that he deserved it.

“Okay Charlie. Laps,” Coach Orion told the boy with an even voice. “Right now.”

“How many,” Charlie asked as he pulled the rope that was still around his shoulders off. “Coach Orion.”

“I don’t recall saying.”

Sophie observed the interaction from her spot next in between Kenny and Adam, her eyes following Charlie as he skates away from the team and begins his laps. Her gaze snapped back to their coach as he began speaking.

“Now you listen up, and you listen up good,” the man said as he skated a little bit closer to the team. “We’re here for one reason and one reason only. You know what that is?”

The man stopped in front of Averman as he looked at the boy.

“It starts with a ‘W.’” Coach Orion said as he kept his eyes on the boy.

“To win, Coach Orion, sir!”

“No.”

Russ laughed before pretending to clear his throat when Orion sent him a warning look. Orion turned around to skate down the clumped line the team was standing in as he observed them.

“To work,” the man stated. “High school hockey is very hard work. And it all begins with defense. I’ve seen your tapes. I know you can score goals. I just don’t know if you can stop them.”

Goldberg scoffed out a laugh, moving forward as he protested. Orion looked back at the goalie with a questioning look and Sophie raised her eyebrow at the boy. She had nothing against Goldberg she just thought that Julie was the better goalie and never got the chance to showcase it.

“Sorry, sir.”

Goldberg shrunk back as Orion went back to moving in front of the team to observe them.

“You’re not kids or little ducks anymore, so I’m not going to treat you that way. You’re going to learn to play two-way hockey: offense and defense. It’s gonna take one thing. It starts with a ‘W.’”

The man stopped in front of Averman again.

“To work, Coach Orion, sir!” The boy said with confidence as he straightened out his back to stand up taller.

Dwayne smacked the boy on the arm as Orion stared down at him.

“Wrong.”

Sophie looked between the two and raised her hand slightly as she spoke up.

“Will?”

The word came out as more of a question as she was nervous of being corrected by the man. The man stared at Averman a moment longer before turning to look at Sophie.

“It’s gonna take real will,” Orion began speaking making Sophie bite back a smile at the fact that she was correct. “If you want to play in my barn. Alright. Count off. Let’s climb the ladder.”

The team began to count off, Charlie continuing his laps. The team lined up to take shots at Goldberg, all of them scoring on him as they took their turns. Sophie took her turn and Goldberg missed stopping it by a long shot.

“I let you have that one Reed,” Goldberg called out as Sophie skated out of the way for the next person to go.

“Yeah, just like you’re letting everyone else have theirs,” Sophie rolled her eyes.

Goldberg paid her no mind as Kenny took his turn. Coach Orion called Goldberg over to him while Julie took the spot at the goal. As all the Ducks took their shot at Julie, she blocked every single one.