Forever and Always | Adam Banks

Coach Orion

When school was over, the team had found themselves in the JV locker room. They were meeting their new coach for the first time and having their first practice. The team wasn't sure how much of a practice it was actually going to be, rather than their coach figuring out who would be playing where and in what line.

"Wow, this place is great." Their new rink. It was incredible. The place was massive and championship banners were hanging from the ceiling. Talk about pressure. Dean Buckley basically told them that they were only here to win the school more championships.

"You know, I bet they even have a snack bar here." Ellie elbows Goldberg in his ribs, letting him know that his comment wasn't relevant. A snack bar was the least important thing to everyone, well except Goldberg.

"They look pretty good," Luis says, as they stare at the varsity team on the ice. He wasn't wrong. They were certainly talented.

"They sure won a lot of championships," Julie points out. The banners weren't hard to miss. They spanned out across almost the entire rink. Clearly this school takes pride in all their championships.

"They're not so hot," Charlie responds. Sure the varsity team was good, but he doubted that they won any gold medals. The Ducks were a good team and could take on anyone.

As soon as the varsity came over and started taunting them, Ellie knew there were going to be problems between the two teams. Varsity had made it clear that the Ducks didn't belong at Eden Hall. And Charlie, along with a few of the other guys on the team, were extremely hard headed. Varsity was going to make their lives hell and members of the Ducks weren't going to sit around and let them do that.

"How about it, Cowboy? Round up?" Charlie asks. This was a common game they used in practices with Bombay and a team favorite. However, Bombay wasn't their coach anymore.

"Hey, Charlie, shouldn't we wait for the new coach before we mess around?" Ellie lets out a sigh of relief when Connie mentions waiting for their new coach. She thought that was the obvious choice since no one knew what he was going to be like. They already made a bad first impression with the dean, and they didn't need another one.

"Connie's right, Charlie. This coach isn't Coach Bombay. We should be waiting for him to tell us what he wants us to do," Ellie speaks up. She could tell by the look on Charlie's face that he didn't like what she had to say. However, Ellie didn't care. The choice to play round up was a terrible one and someone needed to tell Charlie.

"This is how we practice. Duck hockey, guys. He'll have to get used to it sooner or later." This was not a good idea, but everyone was on board with what Charlie wanted to do. He was their captain after all. "Well, come on, Cowboy. Hit it."

"Yee-haw! Round 'em up, doggies!" Everyone took off after Dwayne said that, not wanting to be the first one to get caught. Ellie skated to the far side of the rink for two reasons: a) she didn't want to be caught and b) she figured the less she participated in the game, the less trouble she would get in with their new coach.

"What are you doing all the way over here?" Adam asks, skating up to his girlfriend. This was her favorite game, so seeing her not participate was weird.

"This is a bad idea, Adam. No one knows anything about our new coach. Chances are he's not going to be anything like Bombay. I get that Charlie wants to keep the spirit of Duck hockey, but we're not the Ducks anymore. I just want to make a good impression." They weren't kids anymore and this wasn't Duck hockey. High school hockey isn't the same hockey they were playing before. Ellie went to a lot of her brother's games when he was in high school; she knows it's hard work.

"It'll be fine, Ellie. Relax. Let's have some fun." Adam grabs her hands and pulls her toward the rest of the group. He understood where Ellie was coming from as he had the same thoughts. However, their new coach wasn't here yet, so they might as well have some fun.