𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙢 / 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚

"fellas"

"Here you are."

I smiled and thanked the waiter who had just set down my plate of steak in front of me. Around the table sat the Varsity and JV hockey teams. Adam was to my right and Charlie was on my left.

"I love this tradition." Averman said to my teammate Daniel, who was sitting next to him, "At my old school we didn't have traditions like this."

I laughed and started to cut into the steak. Adam leaned over and plucked a piece of shrimp off of my plate. I swatted his fork away. "Get your own!"

He just smiled back and stuck the piece in his mouth.

"Hey, you gotta show me that triple deke, man. That's cool." Rick said to Charlie.

"Yeah sure. You know it's easier than it looks." Charlie responded.

"Oh, you're being modest." Rick shook his head and the two continued to talk about hockey. That was weird. Rick was never nice to the JV players and especially not Charlie. Maybe he had a change of heart.

"Hey, what do you know about this dinner? Are we being treated too since we're Freshmen or is it only JV?" I turned and asked Adam, who was busy salting his potatoes.

"I'm not really sure." He replied and set the salt shaker down. "I don't really know anything about this dinner to be honest. But I brought some cash just in case."

"I probably should've done that."

I was interrupted by the clinking of a glass. Rick stood up and everyone quieted. "On behalf of the Eden Hall Warrior State champion hockey team, I'd like to welcome the future state champs, the Eden Hall Freshmen. Here, here."

"Here, here!" Everyone turned and clinked their glasses together.

"We're just glad you loaned us Banksie and Ella so that we'd have a chance to beat you guys in the annual Freshmen- Varsity showdown." Rick smiled at Adam and me and I gave him a small one back. "Now, nobody move. We've got one last surprise. Fellas?"

All the Varsity players got up and I looked at them, wondering what was going on.

"Banksie, Ella."

Adam sighed and reluctantly got up. I followed.

Once we got through the doors of the room we had been eating in, we kept walking. All the way to the front entrance and outside.

"Woah, woah, woah." I stopped the team. "Why are we out here?"

"Because, we decided to change up the tradition this year." Rick smiled. "Since the JV is on scholarship, we figured they'd have a few extra bucks to treat the Varsity to dinner."

"You're making them pay?" I asked, completely shocked.

"Yeah. Make sure to tell them thank you, next time you see them!" Rick waved his hand and the other Varsity players followed him the the parking lot.

That left Adam and I alone.

"We have to go back in there, right? They can't pay for all that!" I looked at Adam, desperately trying to figure out what to do.

"Why should we? They're not our friends anymore Ella. They've made that perfectly clear." Adam shoved his hands in his pockets and stared at the sidewalk.

"What are you talking about?"

"They froze our stuff! For no reason, other then that we're Varsity players. I mean come on, do friends do that to each other?"

I could see the hurt on Adam's face and I felt horrible. He thought all of the Ducks had turned against him. "I get that you're mad but please Adam, this is not the way to fix things." I pleaded with him but he just shook his head.

"Sorry Ella but I'm out of here." He turned around and began to walk towards the parking lot. "You coming with me?"

I thought for a moment before shaking my head. He sighed and continued walking, leaving me outside of the restaurant.

I took a deep breath and went back inside. I made my way to the room where we had previously been eating. Charlie, Averman and Russ were there, picking up dishes.

I stood in the doorway for a moment before Charlie noticed me.

"You think you're real special, huh?" he asked and stopped cleaning.

"What?"

"Just because you're on Varsity, you think you can push us around." Charlie motioned his hands toward Russ and Averman, who were now standing next to him.

"Charlie I-"

"Well you can't. This is big time. You go and tell your lousy team that this isn't over. We'll get you back for this."

"I didn't know anything about this I swear! I came back to help-"

"We don't need your help!" Russ interrupted me and glared.

"Get lost, preppy." Charlie said.

I slowly started to step backwards before turning and running out of the restaurant.

When I got outside, everyone was gone. I guess that meant I'd have to walk home. I began to make my way down the street, not sure what to do.

Varsity hated me. Adam hated me. And now the Ducks hated me.

I just wanted to go home and never come back to Eden Hall.

_

sorry all of these chapters are so short, i'll try to write a longer one soon!