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CHAPTER THREE: the ducks
Andrea stood outside of the dressing room, bag hoisted over her shoulder as she stared at the big red door.
adam stood beside her, neither of them speaking for a moment.
he turned to look at her. "you ready?"
she paused, still staring at the door. "no." she said, before pushing the door open and walking through. adam would have smiled if it weren't for the nerves, but he followed after her.
as they entered the room, all talking ceased. the ducks stood up, staring at the two, who held their sticks in hand.
a silent few seconds went by, before the door opened again and coach bombay walked in, smiling at the sight of the two kids standing at the front. "hey, wasn't sure if you'd show up."
"yeah, whatever." adam said.
andrea nodded. "we just wanna play hockey."
coach bombay nodded, patting them each on the back. "good. ducks, you all know adam and andrea."
charlie conway grinned, and begin to walk forward. andrea really wasn't in the mood for him right now, but thankfully, he simply welcomed them to the team. or, tried to.
"on behalf of all the ducks, i'd like to say welcom-" he was interrupted when jesse placed a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"cake-eaters." jesse spat. andrea frowned; she didn't know what that meant, but by his tone and expression, she could tell it was meant as an insult.
the redhead boy, averman, chimed in. "ooh, the jess man, dissing the new guys! the jess-ster!"
"shut up, averman!" jesse demanded, before stepping closer to the two ex-hawks. "putting on a ducks jersey doesn't mean you're a real duck."
andrea raised an eyebrow. "if you're an example of a real duck, then good. that's the last thing we want to be."
jesse scoffed and pushed past them, presumably heading out to the bench, where he could wait for the game away from his new teammates.
the rest of the ducks filed out as well, without a word. even charlie left, but he did glance at her before leaving. he almost looked apologetic.
coach bombay sighed. "they're a good group once you get to know them." when adam mumbled something sarcastic under his breath, coach patted his shoulder again. "you two suit up, i'll see you on the ice."
in silence, andrea and adam began slowly dressing in their equipment. neither of the two felt like talking. but as they headed out to the rink, andrea nudged adam, giving him a tight lipped smile. at least they were doing this together.
the first half of the game was frustrating, as the ducks refused to pass to either of the two, so if they wanted the puck, they had to bring it from one end to the other all by themselves.
without their teammates help, adam and andrea managed to score one goal each. they ended up winning in the last few seconds, fulton bringing the final score to three-two.
with that, they made the playoffs.
Coach had surprised them a few days later, telling them all to bring their equipment and meet him at an address that andrea didn't recognize. surely it must have been a rink, though, if they needed their equipment.
adam's dad dropped him and andrea off, as the two met up with the rest of the ducks. coach led them inside, where it was, indeed, an ice rink.
but it wasn't one of the ice rinks where the peewee teams played. no, this was the rink for the north stars.
the ducks watched in awe as the north stars practiced on the ice. after a minute, the north stars practice came to an end, and the players filed off the ice, passing by the ducks.
two of the players stopped in front of the team, looking at coach bombay. "hey, gordo! gordon bombay, right?"
coach bombay grinned. "you remember me?"
"sure, from peewee!" he turned to his teammate next to him. "this guy used to rule in peewee."
the teammate nodded to bombay. "oh yeah? i heard you were a farmer."
"actually, i became a lawyer. but i'm coaching peewee now and this is my team, the ducks. ducks, this is basil mcrae and mike modano."
the team broke out in sarcastic comments, as they were all well aware of who the two hockey stars were. "no way, really?" andrea joked.
basil mcrae spoke again. "hey, ducks. listen to this guy. he knows what he's talking about. if you ever wanted a shot, gordo, i could get you a tryout in the minor league clubs."
"thanks." coach bombay said, a big smile on his face. the north star players bid them goodbye with a smile and walked off. bombay turned to the ducks. "alright, let's have some fun!"
that was how the ducks ended up in their skates, goofing around on the huge rink. as she skated, she felt someone rush past her. "race you!" he called.
"you're on, banks!" andrea retaliated, shooting off after him. adam was fast, but andrea was faster.
a couple of the ducks saw the two laughing and speeding around, reluctantly deciding to join them. soon enough, andrea forgot about the fact that she was supposed to hate them. she was too busy having fun.
at one point, she stood, laughing with connie about something she'd said, when out of nowhere andrea was shoved to the ground.
"ow!" she cried as she hit the ice. she looked up, frowning when she saw who had rammed into her.
charlie looked panicked. "i'm sorry, i didn't look where i was skating. are you hurt? here, let me-"
"oh, shut up conway." she said, pushing his hand away and standing by herself.
charlie's panic faded when he realized she wasn't hurt, replaced by a grin. "if i shut up, who'd be around to annoy you?"
"nobody. that's the point, dumb-wad."
"dumb-wad? that really hurt."
"if you don't skate away, something else is gonna hurt."
adam watched from across the rink as the two bickered. where andrea scowled, charlie was grinning.
it was clear that charlie didn't hate andrea; he wanted to be her friend. at least, adam hoped that's all it was.
The stadium was full as the ducks sat together in the stands, watching the north stars game. adam sat on andrea's left, connie on her right.
the two girls had quickly clicked, as andrea had never had another girl on her team before. it was nice, talking to someone who wasn't a prepubescent boy.
partway through the game, adam grabbed onto andrea's hand. she looked over, confused, before following his gaze. in the stands, larson and mcgill stood, pointing a finger gun at the two ex-hawks. adam sunk into his seat, trying to hide.
andrea squeezed his hand. "ignore them. they weren't real friends anyways." she told him.
adam smiled slightly and nodded, but she could tell her words did little to help.
the north stars won the game, and for the first time, andrea started to feel like a duck.
AUTHOR SPEAKS!
ugh i can't wait for part 2+3 it'll be so much better just stick with me i swear
