Team USA *Adam Banks*

Gray

     I opened my eyes and looked over at the mirror on the wall beside my bed...my hockey skates were hung on it by the shoe strings and my roller blades were sat on the floor below them.

     It may have been just a Pee Wee Championship, but it pulled all of us together and I missed them. When we got into high school, some of us stayed in the same school and some of us moved to a different one, separating us.

     There were other reasons why I stopped being friends with them and I wish things had turned out differently, but I regrettably can't change anything.

     My mother passed away almost six months ago, things have changed a lot since then, my dad to be specific. He used to be my best friend...but now he hated me. He has given me bruises but that isn't what bothers me, it's the mental abuse. Along the way, my depression got worse making me completely separate from everyone, including the team.

     I dropped out of school to do online school but that only made things worse between my dad and I, I found myself just waiting for something, it seemed like life was an eternity of repeating the same day over and over again.

     He didn't very much approve of me playing hockey just because that was something I did for myself, he figured that me doing things for him was more important, most of the time I agreed, so I decided to skate at night instead of when he was awake.

     I missed all of them, but Charlie, Connie, and Adam stuck out the most. Things were always complicated with Adam and I, we were the closest out of everyone on the team, even closer then Connie and Guy. It scared me how much I missed him, he always used to be there when things were bad and I was always willing to do the same for him, I cared about him so much but I didn't know if he would ever even remotely feel the same.

     The memories of the team seemed to swallow me as I stood up and walked over to my dresser, ignoring my reflection, then changed out of my pajamas and into my clothes.

     I walked over to my iPod dock and started playing A Day To Remember trying to avoid my dad if he was here. I laid down on my bed staring up at the ceiling but got back up to look in the mirror.

     I was surprised at how normal I looked, I was expecting to have make up strung all around my face but I didn't, I put on a little eyeliner and mascara and as I put the make up down, I heard something.

     "Gray!" it was Charlie, then a few seconds later a duck call sounded.

     I turned off my music and stuck my iPod and my phone in my pockets then opened my window, I looked down to see Charlie, Averman, and Jesse standing there with they're roller blades on.

     "We're back! The Duck's are back!" they yelled, in a heartbeat, I had my roller blades on and was outside skating with them to go get Connie and Guy.