Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: the jv-varsity showdown
Friday was coming sooner than expected. they found themselves on the rink early each morning, practicing as a team once again.
andrea felt much better to be back on the ice with her real team. coach orion called them around as they all took a knee in front of him.
andrea knelt with charlie on one side, connie and julie on the other. the two girls had had a field day when they found out andrea and charlie were dating, relentless teasing and i knew it!s ever since. it was good to have her girls back.
"i've been doing some research on varsity, and i won't lie, they're good." orion said. "the way they wiped your faces in the dirt last time was no fluke. if you want your pride back, you'd better be willing to work."
work, they had. all week, andreas feet ached from being on her skates for hours on end, though she had no regrets. it didn't feel like a task, it felt like a privilege to be back on the rink with the ducks.
"there's nothing glamorous about it. in the pros, we call it blue-collar hockey. now there's one thing varsity does very well. they're vultures around the net." orion explained. "they pick up every piece of loose trash. that's how they beat you. not with the first shot; the second and the third. they bang in the junk, so if you wanna win," he picked up a garbage can, overturning it onto the ice. "you're gonna have to pick up the trash."
if you'd asked andrea a month ago if she'd like to play hockey with stinky used garbage, she'd have wrinkled her nose and asked you if you were crazy.
then again, if you'd asked her a year ago if she'd ever date charlie conway, she'd give you the same response.
so there she was, tossing garbage at julie with her stick. by the time she'd slap-shotted too many plastic waterbottles to count, orion called them back over.
in front of him was a cardboard box. "you guys are not skating like warriors!" he yelled.
the team murmured anxiously, sharing confused looks. "you look like something else," he continued, opening up the box and pulling out a jersey. "you look like ducks."
andreas face lit up, the team cheering and standing as they raced to grab their jerseys. "quack! quack! quack!" the kids cheered.
Then, it was game time. the warriors skated around their half of the ice, as the ducks did the same adorned in their new white jerseys.
