Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1 – Not Reinstated

“I move that the scholarships . . . not be reinstated.”

The whispered chorus of “What?” and “Are you kidding me?” filled the board room, chilling the air. Ted and Gordon glanced at one another, shaking their heads, with Ted closing his eyes. How was he supposed to explain this to his wife? Bella was not going to be happy to hear this at all – when he told Bella his ultimatum, she’d been furious that he would be willing to lose his job. She was eight months pregnant. She couldn’t support their family all by herself even though she made a good nursing salary.

But the looks on the Ducks’ faces upon hearing the news hurt worse. Ted could see Charlie’s face dropping, matching his mother’s – Casey looked near tears. Julie and Connie were sharing a tearful glance as they shook their heads, unable to believe that this was happening. Dwayne only stood there, looking blankly. Luis and Kenny looked furious, as did Fulton and Guy. Watching their faces fall, Ted felt his fury spike. Even after Gordon threatened to sue these board members, they were still willing to test Gordon’s threat of an injunction and kick these kids out. Ted’s disgust rolled through him; his stomach nauseated as he watched the kids start crying, especially when he saw Riley, Cole, and the others celebrating it.

“We’ll miss you, Ted,” Tom Riley said smugly.

“What are you talking about?” Ted demanded.

“If I recall correctly, Dean Buckley informed us that either these Ducks stay or you go,” Tom explained. “We’ll jumpstart that for you now.”

The looks on the Ducks’ faces transformed from saddened to shocked. Julie’s mouth fell open. Dwayne, despite being so dense, seemed to understand. Russ and Fulton looked pissed. But the ones who looked angriest were Charlie and Bombay; Charlie’s eyes were glassing with tears that threatened to surface, and Bombay’s face was turning a hot shade of red; he’d been the one to help vouch for Ted to get this job two years ago after he retired from the North Stars, and had even written a letter of recommendation for Ted to get the job, knowing Ted had to provide for his family and pay for Lucy’s physical therapy, and Ted was still paying off insurance from the car accident even though the offender needed to help pay off the expenses. He’d have no way to pay the bills if he lost this position.

“Are you kidding me?” Gordon demanded. “You can’t fire him!”

“Don’t do this, please!” Julie pleaded, tears streaming down her face. “You can’t!”

“Your coach made it clear he doesn’t want another team. He might as well have quit anyway. So, what’s the difference?” asked Tom, shrugging.

“But what about the rest of our season? Who will coach us?” demanded Charlie.

“You’ll be leaving at the end of the semester anyway,” said Dennis Cole, crossing his arms. “There’s little point in you continuing your season. You have until the end of next week to clean out your desk.”

“But that’s not fair!” Charlie snapped.

“Charlie, shh,” Ted demanded, hushing the kids. He turned to the board. “So, that’s it?”

“It’s really a shame, Ted,” Tom said coolly. “You were one of our best players at Eden Hall, and you could’ve gone all the way had you not retired. Instead, you settled for coaching. And you’re willing to settle for this little group that can barely meet our standards. I wonder what your wife would have to say about that.”

“Mention my wife, and I’ll kick your teeth in!” Ted snarled, feeling his anger flare. How dare Tom Riley talk about his pregnant wife like that? As if it weren’t bad enough that Tom was rubbing his early retirement in his face. This was low, even for him. “What happens with me and my family is none of your damn business!”

“You know you’re too good for this, Ted,” Dennis said. “You could always go back to playing pro. So, why don’t you?”

Ted’s words caught in his throat. For this reason, he kept his personal life personal because, from his experience, people loved to use it against him. If he ever dared let his guard down and told anyone about Lucy’s condition or his wife being eight months along with his boy, they would more than likely say he was letting his family down by choosing the Ducks.

But Charlie stepped forward fiercely. Ted knew that Gordon had taken Charlie to the Eden Hall rink early in the morning before they left for their away game against Stillwater (which they won). Charlie had seen Ted with Lucy and had seen his reason behind doing all he’d done in the last few years and why he chose to retire, not because he wasn’t good enough, but because his family needed him much more. Ted could see that Charlie's exposure to this information suddenly made him protective, which triggered the rest of the Ducks to get provoked, and the Ducks didn’t even know the reason behind Ted’s early retirement.

“Don’t say that to him!” Charlie snapped. “You don’t know half of what he’s sacrificed! He’s more of a man than you’ll ever be, you son of a bitch!”

“You watch your mouth, young man!” snarled Tom, getting up from his seat and slamming his pen down.

“Why should I?” Charlie demanded. “You wrote us those contracts because you think we’re one big joke! You wanted to set us up to fail and knew what would happen; you’re loving this right now! Well, guess what? I’m not gonna let you disrespect him because you haven’t got a clue what it means to work a day in your life for anything! The only success you’ve ever had in life was inheriting money. You’re lucky you have it.”

His angry words triggered an uproar. Suddenly, the Ducks were all yelling at once, and several parents, including Charlie’s mother, started yelling. Several other students, too, protested, including a young lady named Linda Chavez, who’d been trying to get the school to change the mascot's name since before the semester started. Charlie’s cry of indignation caused everyone else in the room to join him, and Ted could see how the boy could influence a crowd of people. The kid was charismatic and had a way about him that got others to listen to him. Gordon was right. The boy was the heart of the team.

“Guys, enough!” Gordon demanded, stepping in front of the Ducks captain. He turned to each of the board members. “You think I don’t mean what I said? Well, guess what? Be prepared for your life to be hell on earth for the next month. Because if you don’t think I won’t go through with this, then you’re really, really wrong.”

“Oh, really?” Tom sneered. “I’d like to see you try.”

“This school made me what I am,” Gordon smirked. “That’s your mistake: teaching me everything I know now. Just trust me. There will be hell to pay for this in a few short days. And you’re gonna regret it.” He took his briefcase back from Dean Buckley and shoved his copies of the scholarships inside it before leading the Ducks and Ted out of the board room. Once outside, Julie and Connie embraced each other, sobbing into one another’s shoulders, already preparing for the heavy goodbye they’d need to exchange, and Ted felt his heart burn, especially as he noticed Fulton holding Kenny close to him and Luis and Dwayne fighting back tears.

“So, what’s gonna happen now?” Connie asked, sniffling as she squeezed Julie tighter.

“I go through with the lawsuit,” Gordon said. “Though I’m gonna need a few days to prepare everything. So, until then, keep your heads down and do your best to stay out of trouble. I promise I’ll take care of everything.”

Ted nodded, knowing Gordon would fulfill his promise. Still, the lump formed in the pit of his stomach as he thought about how he’d need to tell Bella that he’d gotten let go because of some idiot prejudice.

“But what about you, Coach? Huh?” Goldberg asked. “What’s gonna happen to you?”

“I’ll have to find another job until they reinstate me,” Ted said. “That is if they reinstate me. Somebody needs to look after the skate shop with Hans gone and Jan still returning from Norway.”

“You deserve better than that, Coach,” Adam argued, shaking his head.

“Well, what about you, Banksy? I mean, your parents can afford to keep you here,” said Charlie.

“I’m sticking with you guys,” Adam said. “Where you guys go, I go.”

The Ducks all nodded, but as they stood there, some of them crying their eyes out, the Varsity team passed them, grinning like a pack of wolves who found lunch. Ted and Gordon stepped in front of the kids, determined to shield them as best they could while Riley and Cole sneered at them.

“Too bad about your season, losers!” Riley laughed.

“This isn’t over, Riley!” Charlie spat.

“Oh, it is. Even your former coach can’t save your sorry asses from this one. You’re nothing but a bunch of white trash, and you always will be white trash.”

“Who are you calling white trash?” spat Russ. “Only reason you’re here is ‘cause Mommy and Daddy gave you everything!”

“Well, the good news is, the J.V.-Varsity showdown isn’t happening. And that’s for the best. Dad did you a favor, anyway. Might as well not embarrass yourselves any more than you have already,” laughed Riley. “You don’t belong in our school, and you never will. And you can take Banksy with you. He never had the heart of a Warrior anyway.” They watched as Riley swallowed a few times, and before anyone could do anything, a spray of spit flew onto Adam’s face as Riley and the Varsity walked away.

“Hey!” Ted snapped. “Riley, get back over here, now!”

“Last I checked, Coach, you don’t work here anymore,” Riley snickered, and he continued to walk away, but not before he raised his middle finger, directing it toward Ted.

The Ducks just glowered at Riley and the Varsity as they left, laughing, the laughter a reminder that these Ducks would have to go back to public school and that the flock would be separated at the end of the semester. Undoubtedly, the Varsity team would hold this over the kids’ heads until Christmas break, which was when the first semester ended, and the kids would all have to return to the public school system. Ted could feel his face burning with anger at the thought, and the sick feeling in his stomach worsened as he thought about the kids and how they’d grown on him in the recent weeks, especially Julie, Goldberg, Averman, and Dwayne, and most recently, Charlie, the glue that held the whole team together.

Ted could hear the kids’ irate whispers of, “What an asshole,” and, “He can do that?” But Ted knew that Riley especially hated him and had been hoping for this day since Ted’s first day of coaching at Eden Hall Academy. It looked like Riley finally got his wish after two years, but it only made Ted want to fight this even more. But he also felt an overwhelming sadness crash through him as he thought about the Ducks, the kids Gordon entrusted him to take over coaching. He’d never intended to grow close to any of them; swore he’d be nothing but professional . . .

Ted closed his eyes, having not realized how much he would miss the Ducks until now. He’d grown attached when he swore he wouldn’t and knew now that he felt a father’s love for these kids, and he’d only known them for a few weeks. He could feel his own eyes burning as he turned his gaze toward Gordon, who only stared back at him in determination.

“Gordon, give them hell,” he gritted out, tears filling his eyes.

“I will,” Gordon promised firmly. “I swear.”

Ted was cleaning out his desk in the coach’s office when he heard a knock on the door, and he peered up to find Charlie standing there on the threshold, blue eyes red-rimmed. He was still wearing the clothes he wore to the board meeting; only his tie was loosened, and his jacket was removed. He wandered over to the box containing the Duck jerseys, looking at Ted with an uncertain expression.

“Since we’re leaving anyway, can we have them back, please?”

Ted sighed. “You know Gordon’s gonna fight it, right? It won’t be like this for long.”

“What if he can’t win this one? Huh? Then what?”

Ted stared back at Charlie, watching as the boy dug into the box for the jersey he’d given Ted the other day before their away game. The number 96 glared at him as Charlie gingerly tucked the jersey under his arm.

“Look, Charlie,” Ted said gently, walking around his desk to touch the boy’s shoulder. “I said it myself: you kids are my team. I meant it. I wouldn’t want to coach anyone else. You know that, right?”

Charlie nodded, tears pooling in his eyes. “It just sucks that you had to lose your job. It’s not right.”

“I know it isn’t.” Ted raised his hand and gently cupped Charlie’s face, wiping at the tears that fell. “And my wife won’t be happy knowing this happened. But we’ll figure it out together. In the meantime, I need you kids to do one thing for me: try your best to behave, even if the Varsity team doesn’t behave themselves. Because you shouldn’t give the board any more justification to expel you guys.”

“I will behave if Riley does,” Charlie sniffled.

“Charlie, I mean it,” Ted said sternly. “Okay? I don’t want you kids making this worse for yourselves.”

“So, we’re supposed to stand there and take Riley and his abuse?”

“No, I’m not saying that. I’m saying you need to do your best to take the high road. And if you kids ever need me, I’ll be looking after the skate shop while I look for employment elsewhere. Who knows? Maybe I’ll look into applying for a substitute teacher’s position at the District Five High School. Sure, it won’t pay as well as Eden Hall does, but it’s something.”

“I don’t want you to settle,” Charlie whispered. “Your daughter doesn’t deserve that.”

Ted nodded, offering Charlie a gentle smile. “She’ll understand. I could do no wrong in her eyes. Trust me.”

Charlie nodded; Ted could see the lump forming in the boy’s throat as the tears spilled, and without warning, the teenager launched himself forward at Ted, arms flinging around his neck, and Ted could feel the boy’s tears soaking into his shoulder.

Ted balked at the gesture – a couple of weeks ago, they couldn’t stand to be in the same room. Now, the boy was hugging him. Slowly, Ted raised his arms to return the hug, a hand reaching upward to cradle Charlie’s head while his other arm wound tightly around his back. At this, he couldn’t contain his own tears as he wept silently for the Ducks, knowing that if Gordon failed, they would get tossed out like the white trash Rick Riley thought they were. He couldn’t blame Charlie and the others for being scared over this, especially since the only faculty member who’d vouched for them and looked out for them was being wrongfully fired – who was going to look out for them now that Ted would be gone from the school? The Varsity would be out for blood even more and would up the harassment, and Ted did not want to imagine what the Varsity team would do now that he was gone.

Ted just tightened his arms around the Ducks’ captain a little more, running a hand up and down Charlie’s back gently, wincing at each sob that ripped through the kid. While Charlie might’ve not wanted to be here weeks ago and thought Ted to be nothing more than a washed-up bully, Ted knew that Charlie now knew that his future was in jeopardy, and that terrified the kid – the kid might’ve acted like he hadn’t cared weeks ago, but Ted also knew that Charlie desired for nothing more than to make his mother and Bombay proud. And now that he was being thrown out (despite his GPA going back up to the ‘C’ average needed to compete), it was a slap in the face to everything he and the Ducks had done over the last four years. Ted couldn’t blame the boy for being hurt – they were gifted these scholarships to turn them into a huge spectacle, a publicity stunt; nobody was ever going to take them seriously and to make matters worse, the flock would be separated should Gordon’s lawsuit not succeed.

Closing his eyes, Ted felt Charlie tighten his hold around him almost suffocatingly. But he didn’t care. After weeks of animosity, they finally had something binding them together, and they found something in common.

At that thought, Ted whispered, “It’ll be okay. Gordon’s gonna win this one. Just take care of yourself, Charlie. And take care of the others. They’ll all need you.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 2 – Protests

When Ted woke the next morning, he felt sick. It wasn’t dinner not settling right. It was the fact that he’d lost the job he’d worked so hard to get two years ago, his second chance after retirement from playing pro. He couldn’t sleep all night; he tossed and turned despite feeling Bella beside him. He woke several times to go to the bathroom, and nothing appeared to be wrong each time he sat on the toilet. Bella ended up giving him ZzzQuil to help him fall asleep, but even that didn’t help much.

When he woke the next day, it was to Bella still asleep beside him. She’d worked all day the other day, and he knew today was her day off, which he was grateful for. He was concerned because, lately, the hospital had been giving her quite a few night shifts, which were a strain on her due to her pregnancy, especially since their babies had a habit of coming earlier than expected.

Sighing, Ted rose from his bed, his stomach twisted into a giant knot as he sat down on the toilet, last night’s dinner finally leaving him, and he winced, knowing the diarrhea was due to the stress he’d been under yesterday at the board meeting. The only thing giving him hope was that if Gordon went through that lawsuit, things would change. But he knew that until it took effect, he’d be without a job.

By the time he finished on the toilet, he got undressed and went into the shower, the hot water making him feel marginally better as it hit his shoulders, his face, his chest; his arms as he scrubbed himself down with Old Spice. He also took the time to shave his face clean before changing into a Minneapolis North Stars sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers and heading downstairs, where he smelled coffee, bacon, and eggs, but he wasn’t up for eating anything, not after his dinner left him the way it did.

But he wasn’t surprised that Bella gave him the cold shoulder when he kissed her good morning and grabbed his coffee mug. She’d been furious that he’d lost his job and even more furious at the board members. But what infuriated her the most was that she needed to be the breadwinner and pay all their bills until he found another job. Not that he could blame her. She worked too long and hard at eight months pregnant; it shouldn’t just be all on her. It wasn’t fair. When they got married, they’d decided it would be an equal partnership between them, that he would help her in any way that he could, and he couldn’t even do that. What would that make him look like a husband and a father if he couldn’t even provide for his family?

“Belles,” he whispered, “I know you’re mad. But I promise that I’ll find another job soon. I swear.”

“I know that.” Bella whipped around and looked at him sharply, her long red hair flying around her face. “I just . . . I can’t believe they did that to you after everything you’d done at Eden Hall! How am I supposed to be the only one working with the baby on the way? Huh?”

“I’m gonna talk to Jan,” Ted soothed her. “His flight landed from Norway last night, and he’s back at the skate shop. I’m sure he’ll find me something to hold us over.”

“We can’t lose this house.” Bella’s eyes filled suddenly. “We just finished the nursery. And . . .”

“We’re not gonna lose the house, honey.” Ted cupped her face into his palms, brushing her tears away. “Listen, we will make it work. We did it before when I retired. We can do anything. We’re in this together, okay?” He moved his hands from her face to her stomach, feeling his baby son kick against the inner walls of Bella’s stomach. “Right, little guy?”

Bella smiled tightly despite everything. “Yeah, I know. Do you want any coffee?”

“I don’t know,” Ted admitted. “I woke up not feeling too good.”

“How about tea instead?”

Ted nodded. “Yeah, that would be great.”

Bella nodded, grabbing their stash of herbal tea out of the cupboards and beginning to boil the water as Lucy came rolling out of her bedroom, yawning.

“Hey, honey, good morning,” Ted said.

“Daddy?” Lucy asked.

“Yeah, sweetheart?”

“Is it true? That they took your job away?”

Ted sighed. The last thing he’d wanted was to have to explain all this to his daughter. She was six years old, too young to understand the burden her parents had to deal with. She didn’t deserve to have anything fall on her shoulders.

“Don’t worry about it, sweetie,” Ted told her. “Let Mommy and I figure it out.”

“But I wanna help. Should Sadie, Seth, and I do our lemonade stand?”

Ted couldn’t help smiling despite the situation. If he admired one thing about his daughter, it was her will never to give up. If it meant she and her little friends starting a lemonade stand out of their front lawn to earn one dollar per every cup they sold to the neighbors, she’d do it. She didn’t like seeing her Mommy and Daddy struggle with anything.

“If you think it’ll help, you can do it until the temperatures drop, honey. Maybe when it gets colder, you could even do hot cocoa.”

Lucy beamed brightly at this and rolled over to the kitchen table so she could start eating her breakfast. By the time the water was boiling, Bella placed an herbal teabag in Ted’s mug and poured it over it.

They ate breakfast together in silence until Ted looked at the clock; it was nearing time for him to drop Lucy off at school. He helped her into her jacket and strapped her backpack onto the back of her wheelchair before pushing her out the front door, kissing Bella goodbye and promising they would eat dinner together later after Lucy’s hockey practice at the District Five Ice Rink.

After dropping Lucy off at school, he drove toward the skate shop, where he knew Jan would be waiting for him. His heart sank, knowing he’d be going back to the place where Hans had died in his sleep. It never ceased to sicken him that Hans had died alone; he couldn’t help thinking that maybe if he’d been there, he could’ve done something. But he also knew realistically that nothing could’ve been done.

He pulled up in front of the skate shop and parked his Land Rover before climbing out and going around the shop until he found the back door. He knocked quietly, hearing Jan mumbling to himself.

“That old strudel-head threatened to leave me for Florida and open a surf shop! Bah! Now, how I wish that were true!” As he stepped inside, Ted could see the tears sparkling in the older man’s eyes.

“Hi, Jani,” he whispered.

Jan turned to him, smiling brokenly. “Teddy,” he said, the sound of Ted’s old nickname from his Peewee playing days sending a rush of warmth through him as he met the older man in a tight hug, feeling Jan kiss him on the cheek.

“I’m so sorry about Hans,” Ted said gently as they pulled apart.

“I’m going to miss that old strudel head. But at least he’s with Greta Thordesen now,” Jan said wistfully.

“Greta, who?”

“Our teacher from first grade.”

Ted smiled despite everything. He really loved Jan.

Jan patted him on the cheek lightly, smiling sadly. “I heard about you and the Ducks.”

Ted heaved a forlorn sigh. “News travels that fast?”

“Gordon told me,” Jan explained gently. “And you ought to see this, sen.” He led Ted toward the television and flicked it on, and Ted could see the TV was switched to the local news station. Images of a protest flashed on the TV, and it appeared to be outside Eden Hall Academy. Ted saw the members of the student council, editors from the Eden Hall Record, and other students positioned outside the main building on campus, holding picket signs and posters. He also saw a table set up, and Linda Chavez, a freshman girls’ representative and a writer for the paper, was seated behind it, trying to get other students to sign some sort of petition. Ted could see the signs had decals of Indian chief heads crossed out, duck heads, and slogans like DUCKS FLY TOGETHER, QUACK, QUACK, QUACK, KILL THE WARRIORS, REINSTATE THE DUCKS, REHIRE COACH ORION, and LET THE DUCKS FLY.

But there was also a counterprotest with the Varsity Warriors and cheerleaders, who held signs that said things like THE DUCKS ARE DEAD and WHITE TRASH DOESN’T BELONG HERE. Ted could see Rick Riley and a few other Varsity players burning Mighty Ducks of Anaheim jerseys and Ted’s Minnesota North Stars jersey while a few of the people on Linda’s side ripped up Warriors state championship banners and stomped on the Warriors jerseys and crewnecks sold through the school store. It was worse than a Devils versus Rangers game at the Garden in Manhattan.

Ted sighed. He knew this would be ugly when the board chose not to reinstate the scholarships. He hadn’t expected, however, that enough students would protest and want to see the Ducks return to school. But seeing the student protests and the unyielding support for the Ducks made Ted realize that Linda and those who wanted to see the Ducks return next semester wouldn’t take it. In fact, he could see from the way their mouths moved that they seemed to be singing a chorus of Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It.” But he also saw the police were setting up barricades, trying to keep the peace between both sets of protesters.

He hadn’t expected the Ducks to make this big of an impact. But he could see that the people protesting on behalf of his kids wanted change and they wouldn’t stop demanding it and would be proud to call themselves “Ducks” should the school’s mascot’s name change.

“They’re still going to need you, Teddy,” Jan said, snapping Ted out of his reverie.

“Yeah, I know.” Ted swallowed hard. “I’m scared of how they’ll be without me there.”

“We’re not gonna take it! No! We ain’t gonna take it! We’re not gonna take it anymore!”

It seemed that Gordon’s promise that he’d give those board members hell translated to most of the student body wanting to give the Varsity and Tom Riley hell. It seemed nobody could stop singing “We’re Not Gonna Take It,” “It's My Life,” “We Will Rock You,” and “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” endlessly. Charlie felt that he was listening to nothing but the ‘80s and ‘70s all morning, and he wouldn’t lie if he said he didn’t care that it disrupted things in the classroom.

Linda didn’t take long to organize the student protest outside the school early that morning. It seemed she’d spent all night working on posters and picket signs, and she’d gathered up as many people as possible to be outside the school to protest as the board members and Dean Buckley entered. While it was nice knowing other students were fighting for them, that didn’t negate his bitterness toward the board members and the Varsity team.

By lunch, he found himself humming “We’re Not Gonna Take It” on his way to the dining hall. And before he could take his seat, Linda ran up to him.

“Charlie,” she said, “I wanna do a piece on everything for the paper. Do you have a minute?”

“Yeah, sure.” He exited the dining hall and followed her down the hallway toward an empty classroom. Linda pulled a tape recorder and spoke into it after hitting record.

“Date: September twenty-fifth, 1995, time: noon. I am Linda Chavez, head columnist of the Eden Hall Record, and I am joined by Team USA captain and former Junior Varsity Warriors forward Charlie Conway. Charlie, thank you for sitting down with me.”

“Thank you,” replied.

“Okay, let’s start: You and the other members of Team USA’s hockey team from the 1993 Junior Goodwill Games were admitted to Eden Hall on a full academic scholarship, correct?”

“Yes, that is correct.”

“But the school board has serendipitously decided you no longer deserve those contracts, despite being well within the average to compete. Why do you think that is?”

“It’s prejudicial. They admitted us because they wanted to make us look like a joke to everyone here,” Charlie said. “They said they’re making us leave because we weren’t winning games. But the J.V. team has lost games in the past. Part of why we were brought in was because the previous J.V. team’s season went so badly, and they needed new blood in to have a better season. I’d say we delivered that when we beat the Panthers this past weekend.”

“What about the abrupt termination of your coach, Ted Orion?”

“It’s not fair,” Charlie answered, feeling his anger spike as he thought of Coach Orion, who would be struggling to find work after all this; while he knew Jan would give Ted a position at the skate shop, it wouldn’t be enough to provide a life for Ted and his family, not with Ted and his wife having a new baby coming, but he wasn’t about to disclose that to Linda; he wanted to make sure that Coach Orion’s personal life was protected because it was nobody’s business what was going on.

“He’s earned his position as the J.V. coach and shouldn’t have been fired just because we were expelled,” Charlie continued ardently. “Sure, he threatened to quit if we were let go, but he should’ve been allowed to have a choice in it all, you know?”

Linda nodded. “What about this promise your former coach is making about suing?”

“He’ll go through with it. He knows there’s no cause. Tom Riley just wants our scalp. We'll be back if Coach Bombay can prove no justifiable cause in court.”

“Okay, Charlie, thank you. I think that’s enough.” Linda turned off the recording device, but as they left the classroom to head back to the mess hall, they were greeted with pieces of paper attached to the bulletin boards with crude writing that seemed directed toward Linda. Charlie was disgusted at a lewd note that said GO BACK TO THE KITCHEN, CUNT!

He shook his head in disgust as he ripped the flyers down. “Can you believe this? This is ridiculous!”

“Tell me about it,” Linda spat as she helped him tear the flyers down before they headed into the lunch room, and as they did so, they caught sight of Rick Riley throwing Mighty Ducks of Anaheim jerseys into the trashcan, lighting a match.

“Hey, put that out!” Linda snapped.

“Don’t tell me what to do, you dumb bitch! You’re just as disgusting as the rest of those Ducks. You don’t belong in our school!”

“It’s everyone’s school, you dumb jock!”

“You heard her,” Charlie snarled. “Now, put that flame out. It’s a fire hazard. You set that trash ablaze; you’re dead before the fire alarms go off!”

“It’s a free country,” sneered Riley, dropping the lit match into the trashcan. The trashcan was engulfed in flames, causing the fire alarms to go off just as Charlie predicted they would, and he knew that this was just the beginning.

Gordon Bombay knew what he was about to do was risky. But he needed to take some risks if he had any hope of getting the Ducks back into Eden Hall and getting Ted his job back.

He couldn’t sleep all night long. He’d actually felt sick, and that translated to physical sickness; as soon as he’d returned to his mother’s house, he’d ended up vomiting in the kitchen sink. He didn’t want to imagine what would happen to his Ducks if they left at the end of the semester. Julie, Dwayne, Kenny, Luis, and Russ would no doubt need to go back to their respective states, and that thought saddened him especially – Ken had a strong friendship with Fulton and Russ, Dwayne was already tightly bound with Averman and Goldberg, and Julie was Connie’s best friend. To think they’d have to leave their friends behind like that . . . He remembered how Julie and Connie had cried into each other’s shoulders after the board meeting concluded, which shocked him – Connie was one tough cookie due to growing up with two older brothers, whose favorite pastime when she was younger was pulling her hair and teasing her constantly; it took a lot to make her cry.

With that thought in mind, Gordon approached the Star Tribune offices. He knew the person he’d be talking to would no doubt raise even more hell. Granted, he saw the student protest on the news early that morning and how it nearly caused a riot on campus. But if he was going expose Tom Riley and the rest of the school board for what they really were, then he needed to go to someplace even higher than the courts. Granted, he would be roping Adam’s father into this, but this needed to get out to the public so that parents would know exactly where they were sending their children for the supposed betterment of their education.

Entering the office's front doors, he approached the secretary at the desk. “Excuse me, ma’am, can you let Simon Gibby know that I’m on the way up?”

The secretary, whose nametag read “Jane,” looked up. “You’re Gordon Bombay, right?”

“Yes, and Simon won’t mind seeing me. He’s a friend,” Gordon told her.

“Okay, then.” The lady picked up her phone and punched in the number, saying, “Simon Gibby? You have a visitor. Gordon Bombay.” She smiled before hanging up the phone. “He’s ready for you.”

“Thanks.” Gordon grinned at her before walking toward the elevator, choosing the correct floor number to take him to Simon’s place of work.

He and Simon Gibby went way back. Simon had been a freshman at Eden Hall Academy when Gordon and Ted were seniors. Simon had been somewhat of an outlier: he’d been a Junior Varsity hockey player, but he’d also been captain of the chess team and a member of the school newspaper . . . at least until he wrote a puff piece that hinted the Varsity Warriors got by due to preferential treatment; he’d been told if he published the article in the paper, he could potentially be expelled. And Simon had already been a target for bullies – Dennis Cole’s younger brother Marvin would flush Simon’s glasses down the toilet at least twice a day, and he’d been a victim of hazing on several occasions. Ted and Gordon did what they could to look out for him, but once they graduated, there was nothing that they could do.

Luckily, Simon was an overachiever. He’d been one of the youngest people accepted into Eden Hall Academy on full scholarship at just twelve years old because he skipped a couple of grades. And he’d also graduated early and went to college for journalism. Gordon knew the kid’s talent would get him somewhere in life, and now, he was writing for the local newspaper, covering everything that happened in the Twin Cities.

It would be poetic for Simon to write about the unfairness surrounding the Ducks’ expulsion and Ted’s wrongful termination. If he did, the parents would no doubt see the truth.

The elevator rang sharply once it landed on Simon’s office’s floor. Once the doors opened, he walked through the halls of the Tribune until he found the room where all the people who wrote for the paper sat. Listening as they typed away on the computers, Gordon quickly picked out Simon – he looked the same as Gordon remembered: blond curls and Coke bottle-framed glasses – he was almost blind without them.

Simon sat in his chair, swiveling around expectantly. Upon seeing Gordon, his face softened significantly, and his eyes twinkled behind his thick glasses. “Hey, Gordy.”

Gordon smiled back at him. “Hey, Si, it’s been a long time.”

Simon extended his hand out and shook Gordon’s, smiling so widely that he reminded Gordon of the over-enthused twelve-year-old boy who followed Gordon, Ted, and Basil McRea around like a lost puppy. He reminded Gordon of Averman in an odd way. Perhaps it was the curls to their hair and the fact that they both wore glasses – Gordon would be surprised if he found out that Simon wasn’t a distant cousin of Averman.

“Look, buddy,” Gordon whispered, “I kind of need a big favor. You see, Eden Hall expelled the Ducks yesterday, and . . .”

“Say no more,” Simon whispered back. “I’ll remind Eden Hall about a little something called ‘freedom of the press.’” He winked at Gordon, grinning gently.

“Do it.” Gordon winked back. “And I want you there covering me when I slap them with my injunction.”

“I will.” They shook hands on it. “Wanna talk about it over dinner later?”

“Sure thing, kid. And don’t worry. I’m paying. I owe you one for this.”

“Anything for an old friend.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 3 – Not Gonna Take It

“Hey, Julian!” Julie felt a wad of paper hit the back of her head. “Oh, Julian!”

She whipped around, glowering at Cole, who sat behind her and Adam in their AP biology class. She had no idea how he’d gotten into the AP bio. He was a pure idiot, just sitting there and doing nothing all period. Lately, his favorite pastime was calling her “Julian” instead of by her real name – perhaps he got a kick out of the thought of her and Connie being the J.V. team’s only girls, and this was his way of suggesting she was more of a boy than she was a girl.

“Shut up!” she spat. “My name’s ‘Julianne,’ not ‘Julian.’”

“Oh, really? I couldn’t tell the difference since you play on a team with a bunch of dudes. Or used to. Did you and Moreau change and shower with the boys, too? Are you sure you’re not a guy?”

“I said shut up!” Julie snapped.

“Cole, lay off her,” Adam snarled, leaning his hand onto her shoulder.

“Cole, come on, leave her alone,” Scooter said – at least he was the only decent one on the Varsity team who had some sympathy.

“Did I ask you?” Cole snapped at Adam and Scooter. “Get your panties out of a wad! It’s just a joke.”

“Just stop it already!” Adam said.

“You know something, Banksy? It’s a real shame you’re going with them,” Rick Riley said in mock sympathy. “You could’ve gone all the way like Lukey did. Instead, you settle for these fucking losers.”

“Hey, let’s watch the mouth,” Adam suggested. “And quit comparing me to Luke! I never asked to be on Varsity! I don’t want your abuse! And I don’t want to be my brother! So shut your mouth before Dr. Heathcliff comes back. This lab report is worth twenty percent of our grade, and I’m not gonna get a bad mark because of you two boneheads.”

“You watch your mouth, Banksy,” Cole said. “Or I might have to wash it.”

“Go ahead. I dare you,” Adam spat, turning his attention back to his and Julie’s report, but as he did so, Averman returned from the bathroom. As Averman went to the back of the classroom to his assigned seating, Rick shot his foot outward, and Averman stumbled, tripping over Rick’s leg, landing on his chin, glasses falling off his face as Rick and Cole howled with laughter.

“Cut it out, Riley.” Scooter, God bless his soul, got up from his seat to help Averman up. Perhaps he wasn’t such a bad guy, Julie thought as she watched Scooter help Averman to his feet. Averman nodded at Scooter in appreciation before heading back to his lab table, where he’d gotten paired up with Linda Chavez, the girl trying so hard to change the team’s mascot to something less racist than the Warriors.

The rest of the class period twisted Adam’s stomach, and it didn’t help that lunch was in another hour or so from now. In a way, he was thankful he had English class next and that it was with the other Ducks because he wasn’t sure how much more of Cole and Rick’s harassment he could take. Between Rick and Cole’s inappropriate comments to Julie and Rick abusing Averman, he thought he’d be sick. He knew Rick and Cole were doing this because they knew now that Ted Orion was no longer employed and the Ducks would most likely be leaving at the end of the semester, so it meant they could get away with anything now. But Adam would be more than happy to get away from them. Suppose he had to choose between going to public school with the Minnesota Ducks and staying at Eden Hall playing for a bullying Varsity team. In that case, he’d choose a public school in a heartbeat, even if it would disappoint his dad, who’d always wanted Adam to have a better education and would’ve sent him to Eden Hall Academy even if Adam didn’t get accepted there on scholarship.

It felt like a miracle when the bell rang and dismissed them from class, and Adam headed to the English class he shared with Charlie, Russ, Averman, Fulton, and Linda. As he walked, though, Linda caught up to him.

“Adam,” she said, “I’m working on an expose for the paper. It’ll cover what happened at the board meeting. Would you mind giving me your side of things?”

He thought about it. Granted, if he said anything to Linda about the kind of treatment he’d received at the hands of the Varsity team, Rick would be even more pissed off at him than ever before. However, what more could Rick do that he hadn’t done already? He’d put the Ducks through enough hell since day one at Eden Hall, and he’d already made Adam’s time on Varsity miserable. Plus, if Adam were leaving the school at the end of the semester, it wouldn’t be like Rick knew where he lived, and Rick wouldn’t be caught dead being seen around a public school of all places.

Still, he couldn’t help feeling some dread settle in. No doubt, if he opened his mouth and spoke up, Rick would go after him even harder; he’d probably go after Julie, given how close Adam was with her. He didn’t want to think or dream up what Rick would potentially do. But he also knew that the truth needed to get out there.

“No, not at all. We can do it after school’s over,” Adam said as they neared their classroom.

“Are you nervous about it?” Linda asked, referring to Rick and Cole.

“What more could they possibly do?” Adam asked. “They’ve already thrown J.V.’s clothes in the showers and pulled that dine-and-dash stunt.”

Linda eyed Adam’s wrist; she must’ve noticed the bruising surrounding it, shaped like a handprint. “They’ve done a lot more than that, from the looks of it,” she said sympathetically.

“That’s nothing.” Adam pulled on the sleeve of his hoodie, determined to hide the bruise on his right wrist.

“Let me guess. Somebody twisted it?” Linda inquired, her blue eyes piercing into him.

Adam sighed heavily. There was no getting Linda to back off. She was ever the journalist, wanting to find out the truth. She’d give those reporters who covered Watergate a run for their money. “Yeah,” he said.

“If you want, I’ll keep your name anonymous.”

“Thanks, Linda.”

Lunch was the hour the Ducks dreaded most, mainly because of the lack of adult supervision in the mess hall. It would provide the Varsity team with the perfect opportunity to do something. It was bad enough that they stole Ken’s lunch every day.

Speaking of which, Cole did just that as they went to their seats. But Charlie grabbed extra food on the way through the lunch line. The least he could do was ensure Ken got to eat something. Not to mention, Goldberg bought desserts for everyone, ensuring Ken would get to have something else.

Charlie was relieved that Adam was back with them, meaning the Ducks didn’t have to worry about him as much as they had when Adam had been sitting with Varsity. But even so, Charlie’s senses seemed heightened more than usual. Perhaps he was paranoid, but he had his concerns that Varsity would try and pull something much worse than stealing Ken’s lunch. Now that the Ducks’ scholarships were revoked, Varsity wouldn’t hesitate to remind them of that every day. And Varsity also didn’t hesitate to remind them they didn’t have their coach anymore – with Orion gone; they had nobody on their side anymore – well, maybe except for Dean Buckley, but he was just as complacent, going between fighting to keep them at the school and kissing up to the board members.

Charlie decided he’d drown his sorrows in one of the desserts Goldberg brought back to the table. One of the brownies looked tempting, chocolatey, gooey, fudgy, rich, and indulgent, just the sort of thing he needed to cure his depression over being unable to play hockey for the rest of the season.

He unwrapped the brownie from the plastic wrap and took a bite out of it, sighing. But he could’ve sworn he heard some snickers coming from the Varsity team’s lunch table, not that he was surprised there; they were most likely laughing over something stupid.

He downed most of the brownie before sipping some juice he’d gotten in line, and Linda sat beside him, hardly eating anything herself, her eyebrows furrowed as she went over her notes – she’d interviewed a few of the other Ducks for her article she planned on typing up, and she was looking to get it published by next week.

“Linda, you know when you publish that, Varsity’s not gonna be happy with you,” said Connie warningly.

“What more could I do that won’t piss them off? They already hate me because I petitioned for the school mascot’s name to change,” Linda pointed out.

“Yeah, but they’re gonna come after you harder,” said Luis. “Just be careful.”

“I can take care of myself,” Linda insisted.

“I hope you’re right,” Charlie said, absentmindedly beginning to scratch at the back of his hand; he felt a sudden itch there that he couldn’t ignore. “Because there’s no telling what Riley, Cole, and the others would do.”

“He’s right about that,” Adam said, and that was when Charlie noticed the bright, purpled bruise surrounding Banksy’s wrist.

Charlie eyed the bruise, quirking an eyebrow. “Let me guess? Rick?”

“It’s nothing, Charlie,” Adam said stubbornly.

Charlie rolled his eyes. Adam was nothing if not stubborn. The idiot tried playing in the Goodwill Games with a stress-fractured wrist. Of course, he’d try to hide any severe wrist injury, not liking pity and not wanting the extra attention it would bring. Plus, if Adam complained about it, Rick would go out of his way to attack him further and go for something worse than just twisting his wrist.

“Adam, what the hell have they been doing to you?” asked Russ.

Adam sighed. “Let’s just say they always reminded me they were my superiors.”

“Well, where did that come from?” demanded Fulton.

“After the dine-and-dash. I tried to go back and pay half the check.”

“But how the fuck is it still looking like that?” Fulton looked pissed. If Portman were there, they’d bash the Varsity’s heads in.

Adam looked down, uncomfortable. “I don’t wanna talk about this.”

Julie shook her head. “One day, they’re gonna cause permanent damage.”

“Jules, it’s fine. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“You’re an idiot,” said Russ. “You should’ve gone to the nurse for that a while ago!”

“Oh yeah, sure, and get a sling and wrist wrap for it. Varsity would love that!” Adam snarled.

“Quit trying to be brave, Banksy,” Averman said. “You’re not Superman.”

“They’re right, Adam,” said Charlie. “That doesn’t look good. Did they hurt you anywhere else?”

Adam went quiet at this, and it made Charlie wonder what else the Varsity team had been threatening Adam with. Sighing, he scratched at the back of his hand again, glancing down and seeing it looked red and inflamed, and it didn’t look like it would be going down any time soon.

Crap.

He glanced down at the brownie, the only thing left of it being crumbs on his lunch tray. While he hadn’t noticed any traceable nuts in it, it had probably been made with nut oil, or almond flour, or an extract, or something. And then he recalled the Varsity team’s snickers, and suddenly, he felt the rash make its way from his hand to the rest of his arm, his other arm, tingling and burning and . . .

A sudden wave of pain shot through his stomach, and his mouth started to tingle, kind of like how his arm did when it fell asleep. And he felt something catch in his throat, his own breath.

“Conway? You okay?” asked Guy.

He couldn’t speak as he felt his breath catch again, and he started coughing, his body spasming as he felt tears sting at his eyes.

“Oh, crap!” Goldberg whined. But when he noticed the brownies on the tray he’d placed in the middle of the table, he said, “I . . . I didn’t buy those.”

“Dammit!” Connie and Guy suddenly darted out of the lunch room before Charlie could stop them, not that he could speak anyway through his choking. He knew what this was, hadn’t experienced one in years, but remembered it so clearly. The only ones who knew he was allergic to nuts were the Ducks and Linda. He hadn’t told anyone else.

“Charlie? Do you have an EpiPen for it?” Adam demanded, wandering around until he was knelt beside him.

“No, I don’t think so,” said Averman nervously.

“Yeah, he hasn’t had a reaction like this since the first grade,” added Goldberg.

He could feel Adam rubbing his back gently, and he soon heard sirens in the distance, knowing Connie and Guy must’ve called 9-1-1. As embarrassed as he was over being a huge spectacle in front of everyone there, he couldn’t deny that he was scared. He couldn’t breathe. Black spots danced in front of his eyes as an overwhelming nausea suddenly seared through his stomach, and he fought with all he had not to throw up. Just as he started retching, he felt his body grow weaker as he felt like he would pass out . . .

And then he blacked out just as he heard the paramedics coming in, darkness clouding his vision as he fell out of his chair . . .

“Are you sure that he’ll be all right?” Casey Conway asked, her voice strained as she sat close to her son, watching him as he slept, the oxygen mask around his mouth and nose fogging with each breath he took.

“I’m sure,” Bella Orion assured her soothingly. “We gave him a dose of steroids, and he’s breathing much better now that he’s on oxygen. But it was good that his friends called for help when they did. It was a pretty severe reaction.”

“But do you know what caused it?” Gordon Bombay asked tightly, holding Charlie’s hand.

“His friends told the paramedics that he’d consumed a brownie, and they suspected it might’ve been contaminated with nuts; it’s not uncommon and a fairly simple mistake that could happen to anyone,” Dr. Lincoln Hanson explained gently, though his words did very little to soothe anyone in the room. When they’d found out that Charlie had eaten something nut-contaminated, everyone had been on edge, especially Ted, who hadn’t been aware that Charlie was allergic to nuts. While it could’ve been an innocent mistake, apparently Goldberg didn’t recall buying the brownies, which gave Ted the hunch that the Varsity team possibly slipped the brownies onto Goldberg’s tray when he didn’t notice anything. But the only thing that did not add up was how the Varsity team could’ve found out that Charlie was allergic.

“It should’ve been labeled,” argued Ted Orion, his anger detectable. “The ingredients should’ve been listed on there so he could’ve known.”

“I’m not arguing with you there, Ted,” Bella said gently. “But we won’t know much more until Charlie wakes up. For now, let’s just be glad that he’s all right and that nothing worse happened to him.”

“Thank God,” Casey whispered, wiping at her eyes, which had been filling with tears continuously the whole time she’d found out that her son had been admitted to the hospital for anaphylaxis. She’d been so nervous and angry that Gordon had insisted on driving her to the hospital, and she was a little more than surprised to see Ted there, too, but she’d been relieved when she heard from Ted that his wife was Charlie’s nurse; she knew her son would be in good hands.

Sighing, she brushed her fingers through Charlie’s hair, watching his breath fog around the oxygen mask as his chest rose and fell steadily. The rash had decreased significantly thanks to the steroids and cortisone, and the color had returned to his cheeks. But she couldn’t help feeling angry all over again as she thought of how Ted had so unfairly lost his job as the coach; if he’d been there, maybe this wouldn’t have happened because now, the Ducks had nobody looking out for them. At least Ted had kept them out of trouble and did what he could.

“Even if I were still employed, it wouldn’t have made a difference, Ms. Conway,” Ted said, as though he’d read her mind. “The Varsity team had no respect for me, and they still don’t.”

“Do you think they might’ve had something to do with this?” Casey demanded.

“I wouldn’t put it past them,” Ted said darkly. “We’ll add that to the list of disputes when we go to court.”

“How soon will that happen?” Casey asked.

“I’m still working through the details with Adam’s father,” said Gordon. “We think we’ll be able to get a court date for next week. Should the board members and the Varsity team fail to show up for their court date, the police could issue a warrant for their arrest.”

“It would serve them right,” Ted said somberly, his gaze turning to Charlie’s sleeping face.

“Too bad about your captain. If you could call him that,” Rick Riley sneered at Averman, Kenny, Guy, and Dwayne as they changed out of their gym clothes – phys. Ed. was their final class of the day, and they were just desperate to get to the hospital to see Charlie. But they also unfortunately shared it with quite a few Varsity players, including Rick Riley and Logan Brown, who seemed to make it their mission to target them, primarily when they were assigned to play dodgeball. They took it upon themselves to peg them with dodgeballs at every open opportunity, and the worst thing was that the gym teacher, Coach Kiel, did nothing to stop it. He was just as complacent as they were.

“Save it,” Guy snapped. “We know you guys did something.”

“Can you prove it?” asked Logan Brown, smirking.

Averman opened his mouth to retort, but he knew anything he said would fall on deaf ears. They couldn’t prove that someone from Varsity had slipped those brownies onto Goldberg’s tray. And even if they did voice their concerns, who would believe them without proof? Most certainly, the board members wouldn’t – they’d believe their sons over the Ducks any day.

Riley scoffed, smirking. “Just what I thought.”

“Look, we did nothing to you,” spat Guy. “Just back off and leave us be!”

“No, you back off!” Rick reached his hands outward and gave Averman a fierce shove, sending the red-headed nerd falling backward onto the bench; he would be left with bruises for days after that.

“Look, let’s just go,” Kenny said, clearly not wanting any trouble – it was no mystery among anyone that he was afraid of Rick, but he was even more afraid of Cole.

Guy sighed. He hated the thought of letting these jerks walk all over them, but he also knew that if they had any hope of staying at this snob fest, they’d need to stay out of trouble the best that they could, especially if Gordon succeeded in slapping the school board with his injunction.

Guy just shot one last glare at Rick and grabbed his backpack, shouldering it and leading the others out of the boys’ locker room. But before he could get over his disgust with Rick rubbing Charlie’s allergic reaction in their faces, he was distracted by the sounds of a shriek from somewhere in the distance, and he turned to see something he’d hoped not to see: Connie falling down the staircase, and Cole standing at the top of the steps, watching as she fell, her head slamming into the banister until finally, she collapsed on the ground.

“CONNIE!” Guy shouted, his worry suddenly overwhelming him, along with a fierce rush of anger that seared through him as he rushed to her side, kneeling beside her. He grabbed her shoulder and started shaking her, only for her head to loll back and forth limply, doll-like, her beautiful brown eyes closed. “CONNIE! WAKE UP!” Tears flooded his eyes as he glared up at Cole, who stood there, acting like he’d done nothing, but Guy knew Cole had been the one to push Connie down the stairs; he had to be; there was no other explanation for it.

“Connie!” Dwayne knelt near her, too. “Oh, God.”

“Stay with her!” Guy demanded of Ken, Dwayne, and Averman. “I’m gonna get the nurse.”

“No, go call for an ambulance,” Averman said shakily. “I don’t think she’ll be waking up on her own.”

“Shit! Shit!” Guy shot up and ran for the nearest phone he could find, putting loose change into it and punching in the three numbers.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”

“Hello? Um, I need an ambulance at Eden Hall Academy. It’s my girlfriend. I think she was pushed down the stairs, and she’s unconscious, and . . .”

“She’ll be okay, right?” Guy demanded from where he sat at Connie’s hospital bedside, holding her hand tightly.

“She has a mild concussion, but she should wake up in a couple of hours,” Coach Orion’s wife assured him gently, offering him a comforting smile. Despite that, Guy didn’t feel very comforted. He wouldn’t feel better until Connie woke up. Hearing her scream as she fell down the stairs – no, not as she fell, as she was pushed down – he’d felt as though his entire life flashed before his eyes as he ran to her, feeling sick with worry due to her being unconscious. And to make matters worse, nobody in the hallway did anything to help; either they didn’t notice (which he found impossible to believe), or they were scared of Cole doing something to them, clouding their better judgment. He still couldn’t fathom the thought that anyone could just stand around and watch someone get hurt or abused and not do anything to stop it. At that thought, he squeezed Connie’s hand tighter.

“You said you saw one of the Varsity players shove her?” Coach Orion asked seriously.

“Well, no, not exactly,” Guy stammered. “We just saw her fall, and I saw Cole at the top of the stairs. Other than that . . .”

“Well, without proof, there isn’t much we can do,” Coach Bombay said from where he sat on Connie’s other side, stroking her hair back from her forehead.

“What more proof is needed?” asked Charlie, who’d woken up not even an hour ago after being treated for anaphylaxis. Guy had been relieved to know that Charlie was all right and that the doctors had treated him in time before anything worse could happen. “They hate our guts and have been out for us since we arrived at Eden Hall!”

“But unless someone comes forward and says they saw something, Tom Riley and the other board members are going to say you’re making things up for attention,” Coach Orion explained. “It’s not right. But unfortunately, that’s how it is until Moreau wakes up and can give her side of the story.”

But as Orion said that, they all heard the low, pain-filled groan from Connie’s bed, and Guy watched with a held breath as her head moved to the side, and she struggled to open her eyes. Her eyelashes fluttered weakly, and she whimpered, “Ow!” as her eyes closed again.

“Connie, can you hear us?” Coach Bombay asked her.

“My . . . My head . . .” Guy sighed, leaning over; he kissed her on the forehead softly, as if his lips touching her could erase her pain as Bella leaned over with a penlight.

“Let me check your eyes real quick, hon,” Bella murmured, leaning over Connie. She gently prodded at Connie’s lids and flashed the light into her eyes, and Connie responded with a pain-filled whimper, which Guy winced at – he’d never heard that sound in his life from her, and he hated it.

“Shh, we know it hurts, and you can go back to sleep in a second. But right now, we need to know what happened. Do you remember anything? Did you trip and fall, or were you shoved? If so, who did it? Did anybody see or hear anything?” Bombay asked her.

“Cole,” Connie groaned, confirming Guy’s suspicions that Cole had shoved Connie down the stairs.

“Jesus,” whispered Charlie roughly.

“Okay, you don’t have to say anymore. Go back to sleep, honey,” Coach Orion whispered, giving her knee a gentle pat as Connie went back to sleep again, her face relaxing as her cheek went to rest against the pillow.

“Well, we’ll add that to our disputes,” Bombay said. “Because the Varsity team is violating the Code of Ethics. It’s listed in your player contracts that the physical assault of a teammate is enough to get you suspended for the rest of the season. Between Charlie being slipped nut-contaminated brownies and Connie getting shoved, I say we have enough evidence to back our claims that the Varsity team gets preferential treatment.”

“That better be enough,” Coach Orion said darkly. “Because the longer they walk free, the more the Ducks are in danger. Two of them going to the hospital in one day?”

“I’m gonna get us our court date for next Monday,” Gordon said reassuringly. “So, don’t worry about it. This will all be fixed soon.”

“Good,” Charlie spat, and Guy could see the gears turning in Charlie’s head as he thought up all of the revenge pranks that he wanted to pull on the Varsity team but couldn’t because he knew if he stepped out of line even once, it could jeopardize everything they were working for. And that was the part that stung the most, knowing that they had to take all this abuse until Bombay took the school board to court and filed for that injunction.

They just hoped the Varsity team wouldn’t do something worse than this.

Unfortunately, they knew the Varsity team was more than likely planning something far worse. And next time, they wouldn’t go after the Ducks; they’d go after somebody close to them.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4 – Freedom of the Press

Linda Chavez wouldn’t lie to anyone about how much she hated Eden Hall.

For one, almost every jock and cheerleader at the school was a complete snob. Not to mention, the jocks were extremely chauvinistic, and most of the teachers didn’t seem to care about their students; they only cared about pleasing the board members, all of whom had children on the Varsity hockey and cheer teams. She wouldn’t be going to this snobby school if it were up to her. But then she remembered that both her older brothers attended school here, and her father wanted her to have a shot at an excellent education so that she could go to the best colleges.

It wasn’t until she met the Ducks that her perception changed. The Ducks were some of the only decent people who showed up at this place and were some of the nicest ones she’d met in her weeks of starting at Eden Hall. They were just as unhappy with this place as she was, and not just because they could no longer hold the name “Duck,” but because they’d been brought in as a publicity stunt by the board members to “win” at hockey.

Hearing the news that they would get kicked out at the end of the semester filled her with hopelessness. Once they were gone, those idiot Varsity hockey players would terrorize the entire student body into submitting to them. Already, Rick Riley and his gang of bullies were showing everyone who was in control. Their setting Ted Orion’s Minnesota North Stars jersey on fire during the student protest on Monday proved that much – they didn’t care about authority or consequences because they never had to face any.

The thought sickened her so much that she decided to take her disputes to the school newspaper. She’d interviewed almost all the Ducks – those who were too afraid to speak out, namely Adam Banks and Kenny Wu, asked to remain anonymous, but Connie Moreau, Charlie Conway, Fulton Reed, and Russ Tyler were unafraid of what the Varsity team thought of them; in hindsight, that was probably why the Varsity (maybe, and it was a very big maybe) slipped Charlie a nut-contaminated brownie, or why Cole threw Connie down the stairs yesterday afternoon.

Just thinking about Connie lying there unconscious on the floor fueled the fire in her, and she’d requested with the journalism teacher, Mrs. Sweeney, if she could stay late to work on her article. Mrs. Sweeney assured her it wouldn’t be a problem at all and even left her with the key to the classroom to lock up afterward. So far, Mrs. Sweeney was the only teacher at this preppy school who seemed to care about her students – she’d even told Linda to be careful; that the last student she’d had who tried writing an expose on the Varsity team’s bullying was threatened with expulsion if he published it, and that was why nobody at Eden Hall Academy had tried writing any puff pieces that painted the Varsity team in a negative light ever since – they had a gag order on them preventing them from speaking out.

Clearly, the board members forgot about a little something called “freedom of the press” – they could not, legally, prevent her from writing her piece because it was connected to freedom of speech. The press was protected for a reason, and she didn’t care what she had to do; she would get the truth out there whether Tom Riley and the board liked it or not. She wasn’t one to let anybody intimidate her.

Her eyes burned the longer she sat in front of the computer, typing her article, her fingers cramping as she did so, but she was determined to finish it so it could be edited and printed on Monday, the same day Gordon Bombay would be taking the board members to court.

She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn’t hear the door to the journalism classroom open. What startled her, though, was hearing someone’s throat clear, and she swiftly turned around in her chair, seeing Justin Woodward, the sports commentator and also the head sports columnist, standing there, watching her with what she thought to be a guilty expression on his face. In the short time that she knew Justin, the junior was a nice enough kid and relatively friendly with both the J.V. and Varsity hockey teams, though she felt he did bend over backward often for the Varsity team. It made her wonder if he’d done anything to piss them off in the past; if he was willing to kiss up to them if it meant him staying on their good side.

“Oh! Justin, you scared me there,” she said, but upon seeing he still had that guilty look on his face, she added, “Are you okay? Is something wrong?”

“Can I talk to you outside in the hallway?”

“Yeah, sure.” Linda slowly rose from her seat, following Justin until they were outside, alone in the hallway. “So, what’d you want to talk about?”

“You know that article you’ve been working on for the paper?”

“Yeah?”

“You need to pull it,” Justin said quickly. “You can’t write it anymore.”

So, that was what Justin wanted to talk about. She narrowed her eyes at him. While she knew Justin to be buddy-buddy with the Varsity team, she didn’t think he wouldn’t have a backbone. “Too late now. It’s almost ready to be edited and published.”

“No, Linda, I’m serious. You can’t publish it,” Justin urged her, his tone filled with warning.

“Really? Whose side are you on? The newspaper, or the Varsity team and the alumni? You know, Justin, I thought you had more integrity than that!”

“It’s not that simple . . .”

“It is. Look, I will publish that article, and you can’t stop me! The truth has to get out there, and –!”

She was cut off by a hand clamping over her mouth tightly, an arm wrapping tightly over her torso, locking her arms in close. She tried moving her lips to bite down on the hand over her mouth, but it was so tightly clamped down that she couldn’t; she could only let out muffled screams as she was dragged out of the hallway, away from Justin, who looked back at her apologetically as she kicked out, trying to get her assailant in the shin, the knee, anything, but it was fruitless as she was dragged down the hallway and eventually spun around, facing Rick Riley.

“Shut up, you dumb bitch!” Rick spat. “You made your choice. Now, you’ll pay for it. Let’s go.” He gestured for whoever was holding her to follow him and led the way out of the school's front entrance, walking toward a crowd of boys from the Varsity team. Linda was able to pick out a few of their faces as Rick continued leading the way.

With each step she took unwillingly, fear flooded her, chilling her veins, as she was forced to follow Riley and the Varsity toward the ice rink. All she could do was scream muffled screams as Rick and the others threw the doors to the rink open. She got a better view of what one of the Varsity players was holding: a roll of duct tape already being cut into strips.

“Do it,” Rick ordered the one holding the duct tape, and the larger boy stepped forward, grabbing Linda’s wrists roughly and wrapping the tape around them tightly. He then nodded at whoever was covering her mouth to remove his hand.

“What are you do –?” She couldn’t finish because another piece of duct tape stretched over her mouth, gagging her.

“Putting a gag order on you,” sneered Riley. “You won’t pull from writing that piece? Well, we know what’ll make you shut up.” He reached forward and grabbed her arm tightly, shaking her. “You sure are a pretty thing.”

“It’s hard to tell with all those clothes on her,” someone laughed.

“You’re right.” Riley reached over roughly, grabbing her sweater and pulling at it, the buttons popping off before his hand went downward toward her skirt; he reached underneath, groping her over her panties. “Not even wearing tights. This makes it easier.” He grabbed the waistband of her lace underwear, and Linda let out an even louder scream as she realized what was going to happen and nobody was around to stop it.

“Hmm, someone likes lace. My favorite.”

Rick watched, snickering as Cole pounded into the girl one last time, pulling out. He pulled his boxers and pants back up, zipping and belting them as Linda lay there, sobbing, naked from the waist down, bleeding. The insides of her thighs were already marked with deep, purpling bruises from Rick and the others forcing her legs to spread apart; if they hadn’t held them apart, she would’ve smacked them in the sides of the head with her knees, which she’d tried doing several times.

Rick walked over to her, smirking. “So, are you going to reconsider?”

Linda glared up at him, shaking her head no and saying something muffled behind the tape over her mouth.

“Wrong answer.” Rick kicked her hard in the ribs; she reacted by screaming a muffled scream, curling over. “And you’re bleeding all over the ice, bitch!”

“Why don’t we give you a bath?” snickered Darrow.

“Not a bad idea,” grinned Cole, grabbing Linda and throwing her over his shoulder. She tried fighting Cole, kicking and squirming, and Rick laughed at her attempts as he led the way to the Varsity locker room, where he marched toward the showers and turned them on cold.

“Come on, bath time!” Cole tossed her down onto the ground underneath the freezing spray. Linda screamed louder behind the tape covering her mouth as she squirmed, trying to get out of the shower. Still, Cole grabbed her and forced her to sit against the wall while Brown and Mullin tied her ankles and knees together with plastic zip ties, which they brandished from their jeans pockets and also used to secure her wrists even more. Finally, they turned the showers off, leaving her soaking wet and freezing cold, but not before grabbing her sweater and shirt and forcing them up and off of her despite her hands being tied up. Rick reached for a Sharpee that Mullin handed to him, and he uncapped it, crouching down to Linda’s level and proceeding to scrawl across her bare stomach, the insides of her bruised thighs, her breasts . . .

Slut.

Whore.

Bitch.

White trash.

“Well, that’s it,” Rick said, examining his work as he added another strip of tape over her mouth for good measure. “Why don’t you say we get outta here, fellas?”

“Well, what about her?” Brown asked.

Rick scoffed, smirking. “Nah, she’s not going anywhere. Now, come on; the beer’s getting warm, boys. And I need a drink.”

The others nodded, grinning in agreement as they left, Linda’s screams piercing behind them as they shut the locker room door. Rick hoped that would teach her a lesson to keep her mouth shut.

He led the way out of the rink toward his brand-new 1994 Camaro, a seventeenth birthday present from his father. He popped the trunk, displaying the Sam Adams Boston Lager cases he’d gotten from his dad’s liquor supply.

“Well, cheers to the Ducks leaving Eden Hall for good! The Ducks are dead!” Rick grinned, grabbing a beer, snapping it open, and taking a long sip. The bitter taste filled his mouth as he downed it, pounding it down fast, and everyone took turns drinking a can of beer until both cases were empty, and the cans were crushed up in the backseat of the car. They went through all four twelve packs together, even splitting a can and drinking out of the same one together, and Rick could feel he was on his way to intoxication, having drank at plenty of parties over the years.

“Who’s driving?” laughed Rick drunkenly, handing his car keys over to whoever wanted to take his car for a spin.

“I am!” slurred Cole, reaching gaily for the keys and jumping in the front seat while the others took their seats in the back of the car. Rick jumped in the passenger’s side, hooting drunkenly as Cole put the key in the ignition and the car into drive, pulling out of the lot.

“WHOO!” Cole whooped as he sped along, way past the speed limit, onto the streets of Minneapolis. Nobody knew how long they were driving until they saw and heard the wailing red and blue sirens of a police car just as Cole barely hit the brakes, the car crashing into a tree.

“You fucking idiot!” Riley yelled, punching Cole hard in the face as he felt the front of his Camaro crunching like a tin can. The blood spilling from Cole’s broken nose was nothing compared to the damage done to his Camaro. “You better be paying for that, you stupid shit!”

“Ease up on the language, gentlemen,” came a stern female voice. The Varsity players drunkenly turned to find two female police officers standing there. “Now, put your hands on the steering wheel where I can see them.”

“I can think of many places these hands would like to go, lady,” laughed Cole stupidly. It helped that the female officer talking to them was pretty hot, maybe in her early thirties, blonde with big boobs and blue eyes, just Cole’s type.

The female officer narrowed her eyes at him. “Yeah, you’re coming down to the station, gentlemen. Blood, breath, or urine?”

“No thanks, we’re full,” snickered Brown.

“Yeah, real clever. Now come on, let’s go, boys.”

“I’ll ‘cum’ if you do,” sniggered Darrow.

“You shut your mouth and come with us to the station.” One of the officers grabbed Cole by the arm, hauling him out of the car and locking handcuffs on him. And even though Rick and the friends he had with him were hammered, he somehow knew he was in for it, the fear being enough to sober him up, but only a little bit.

“Is it just me, or is it a little more peaceful?” inquired Russ as he, Kenny, Luis, Julie, and Dwayne walked across campus together toward the main building.

“I don’t know. I didn’t notice, Russ,” Dwayne shrugged.

Julie rolled her eyes; Dwayne wouldn’t notice anything even if it slapped him in the face. “Russ means that Riley, Cole, and some of his other friends aren’t here. I wonder what happened to them.”

“Maybe they did something so bad the other day that they finally got what was coming to them,” Kenny said hopefully, and Luis nodded in agreement.

“I doubt it,” Russ said. “Those cake eaters get away with everything.”

“Well, let’s enjoy it while it lasts,” commented Julie as she shouldered her backpack. But as they passed the ice rink on their way to the school’s main building, they heard sirens in the distance and could see the flashing lights of an ambulance and police cars. And the crowd of students making their way to the rink seemed like a beacon, signaling everyone across campus to come and see what was happening. Apprehensive and curious, Julie led the boys toward the rink; they pushed their way through the mess of students, who crowded around the yellow tape that marked the place as a crime scene.

Crime scene. Those two words seemed to cause Russ to tense up – he’d seen his share of violent crime where he grew up in Central LA. His father was a corrections officer at a prison, and Russ had plenty of horror stories to share about the kinds of people his dad oversaw within the prison. They didn’t want to imagine what had been found for the police and an ambulance to show up, especially this early in the morning. But when they caught a glimpse of Coach Wilson looking white-faced and alarmed, Julie felt her apprehension turn into a chilling fear that seemed to crystalize her veins, and she thought she knew cold – she grew up in Maine, where winters were as cold as Canada; she thought she knew cold until she came to Minneapolis to prepare for the Junior Goodwill Games.

But a different kind of cold feeling flooded her, as though somebody had poured pure ice water down her veins; it caused her to shiver as she neared the yellow tape, seeing the paramedics leaving the ice rink. They wheeled a stretcher out as they headed toward the ambulance, and as they passed, Julie saw who was on the stretcher, lying there wrapped up under heavy blankets . . .

“Linda?” she whispered as she heard someone else coming behind her, along with whispered swears, and she turned around to see Charlie standing there with Coach Orion. The look on Charlie’s face was one of sheer horror – he looked so white that she feared he’d pass out, and his blue eyes bulged widely; he looked torn between being horrified and angry, and Julie knew Charlie could be pretty volatile when he got angry. God help the person – or people – who’d done this because their life would be over should Charlie learn who did it.

“Oh, God!” Charlie attempted to go underneath the crime scene tape, but Coach Orion grabbed his arm and pulled him back. It was a mystery how Orion was holding Charlie back right now. Typically, someone would have to fight tooth and nail to keep Charlie from losing his temper, yet somehow, Orion had more power over him than Julie realized; she didn’t know when or why things shifted with Charlie’s view of Orion, but from what she heard on Sunday during the board meeting, Tom Riley’s comment about Coach Orion’s family struck a sensitive nerve with both Charlie and Coach Orion. Now, Charlie had a sudden newfound protectiveness and defensiveness for their former J.V. coach.

“No, Conway, we’ve gotta stay back,” Orion said sternly, but he stepped forward, yelling for one of the paramedics to come over. The female one ran toward them as he asked, “Which hospital are you taking her to? Hennepin County Medical?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Then page my wife, Bella Orion; have her be one of the nurses for the kid,” Orion said. “I’ll follow you there.”

The paramedic nodded, running back over to help haul Linda into the back of the ambulance. Julie only felt partially comforted that a female officer would ride with Linda to the hospital. But it made her wonder what Coach Wilson had found in the rink that would make him call the authorities.

Orion turned to face them, looking more troubled than Julie had seen him when he’d given them the news about Hans’s sudden passing. “Look, I know you kids are worried, but you’ve got to go to class.”

“I’m not,” Charlie insisted.

“I know that,” Orion said firmly, but his face softened considerably as he leaned a gentle hand on Charlie’s shoulder. “I’ll drive you to the hospital and see if we can get some answers. We’ll fill in the rest of you once we know more.”

“Okay, Coach,” Luis said, gulping as they walked back toward the main building on campus.

“I hope she’s all right,” Dwayne said worriedly.

“Me too,” Julie shuddered, not knowing how she’d concentrate in class today.

Charlie stormed into the lobby of Hennepin County Medical Center, his heart racing as he neared the front desk. The whole ride to the hospital, he had to fight against the nausea that threatened to build in his stomach; every time he thought of Linda lying there white-faced on the stretcher, covered in thick blankets, he felt vomit threaten to crawl up his throat, and he’d nearly gotten sick on the side of the road twice.

It seemed to take an eternity to reach the front desk. When he did, he said hoarsely, “Can you please tell me Linda Chavez’s room?”

“Are you family?”

Charlie’s words caught in his throat – he knew what the answer would be, that because he wasn’t family, he wasn’t allowed back there yet, and all the other bullshit people told you when someone you cared about got admitted to the hospital. Still, he desperately wanted to know whether Linda was all right; what had happened. Too many questions raced through his mind as tears filled his eyes, blurring his vision so severely that his world was distorted behind a blurred, wet wave.

He felt Orion’s hand on his shoulder and heard his former J.V. coach say, “No, we aren’t. But he’s her boyfriend. And my wife, Bella Orion, is her nurse. Can you make an exception?”

Weeks ago, Charlie never thought he’d have any gratitude toward Coach Orion. But he otherwise nodded at the nurse, still not trusting himself to speak, even though Linda wasn’t exactly his girlfriend, but he supposed she was close enough to it, and then he remembered he still owed her a Coke and felt a twinge of guilt, as they’d never gone on that date as he’d promised her. He was suddenly thankful that Orion’s wife worked at the hospital and that Orion made sure Bella tended to Linda. It brought him tremendous comfort knowing Linda would get the best care possible because Bella was one of the best nurses in the whole hospital.

The nurse sighed, looking highly reluctant, but otherwise handed them two visitor passes. “All right. Her room is 1A10.”

“Thank you,” Charlie said earnestly, taking the pass and signing his name on the visitor’s sheet before Orion signed in, too, and handed the clipboard back to the receptionist. As they ventured down the hall of the hospital, his anxiety only went down minimally as he started toward Linda’s hospital room, where he noticed Lieutenant James Averman – Averman’s uncle – standing outside murmuring with Orion’s wife.

“She barely let us examine her. Whatever was done to her . . .”

“I’m gonna have to ask her some questions, but I’ll give her some time to relax first. That poor girl’s been through hell.” Upon seeing Charlie and Orion there, Lieutenant Averman said, “Charlie.”

“Is she all right?” Charlie asked, his voice still hoarse.

“We’ve fixed her up,” Bella said gently. “Honey, there’s no easy way for me to put it. But she’s in rough shape. When we examined her, we found signs of sexual assault; we’re assuming a group of people did it because . . . well . . . they wrote some things on her. And she’s running a fever; there’s the possibility of hypothermia because she was found in the Varsity locker room showers; there was water found on the floor.”

After that, Charlie couldn’t hear anything else. His legs suddenly felt like Jell-O, unable to carry his weight, and he shakily sank down. Sexual assault. Linda. His nausea returned at full force, and he started to gag as someone thrust a trash can under him. Finally, he blew chunks into the wastebasket, spitting and choking as the acrid taste of vomit spilled from his mouth. He felt someone’s hand resting on his back – Orion’s – rubbing gently.

He spat into the wastebasket while Orion kept rubbing circles into the small of his back. “Easy, Conway.”

“No!” Charlie managed to choke out in between vomiting. “No!”

“Shhh. Relax,” Bella murmured. “Relax. Listen to me. You won’t be able to go in there if you don’t relax. She’s gonna need you. But she’ll need you to be strong for her, okay? Do you want me to call your mother and Bombay so they can be here with you?”

Charlie nodded, panting as he finally caught his breath. He spat once more into the wastebasket, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as Orion and Lieutenant Averman helped him up.

“I’ll get you some water,” Lieutenant Averman said gently, rubbing his shoulder while Bella grabbed his hand and gently squeezed as the doctor exited Linda’s room.

“She’s stable now,” said the doctor, Dr. Smith, her blue eyes saddened. “She can have visitors, but only a couple of people at a time.”

“Thanks, Doc,” Orion whispered tightly.

“Did you collect any evidence that I can bring down to the station?” asked Lieutenant Averman, returning with a bottled water for Charlie.

“We did. But if you’re gonna question her, take it easy on her. She’s traumatized enough.”

“Of course.”

Charlie pushed past Dr. Smith, not wanting to hear any more of this. Bella, however, stepped in front of him and opened the door to Linda’s room. “Linda, sweetheart, Charlie’s here to see you. Are you up for visitors?”

“Yeah,” came Linda’s husky voice.

Bella nodded, turning around to face Charlie. “Just be careful with her. She has a couple of cracked ribs, and she might not do well with being touched.”

“I understand,” Charlie said roughly, more tears filling his eyes as Bella let him and Orion into the room.

As he entered, he was relieved that, apart from bandages surrounding Linda's wrists, he didn’t have to see any visible injuries. Still, she was drawn and pale, with dark circles under her eyes as she lay underneath thick, heavy blankets used for shock patients; despite the thick material covering her, she shivered as she turned her head to look at Charlie, her eyes bright red.

“Oh, God, Linda,” was all he could say as he inched closer to the bed, his feet automatically moving toward her; he was convinced that nobody would be able to stop him from going toward her, and he’d wondered how Orion had stopped him from going underneath the crime scene tape earlier back at the school. Looking at her, he could tell that she was in so much pain, and she looked cold – her skin was white, and he could’ve sworn there was a blue tint to it, and her hair was damp; hearing she’d been left in the showers and that there had been water on the ground, he was willing to bet the water had been turned onto the cold tap, which explained why she was so cold and had hypothermia.

“Charlie.” She said his name so brokenly that he wanted nothing more than to pull her into his arms and hold her, to warm her up. However, he considered she probably wouldn’t like that at all, so he settled on pulling up a chair and sitting beside her, close enough to touch in case she initiated contact.

“Who did this?” he asked her gently, though inside, his fury stormed through him, threatening to burst as he fought to keep his limbs from shaking. He didn’t know how he was holding his anger at such a minimal level – maybe it was because he knew displaying his anger toward the situation wouldn’t help Linda, that if he showed her how mad he was over this, she’d think his antagonism would be directed at her, and that was not what she needed to see; she just needed someone to be there for her and not blame her.

Linda sniffled, tears suddenly flooding her eyes as she clammed up, looking too afraid to say anything. It was as if she were scared that if she opened her mouth, it would alert whoever did it to come and hurt her again. She was usually so outspoken, unafraid to speak her mind; to see her so quiet didn’t sit right.

“Was it the Varsity?” Charlie asked, keeping his voice as gentle as possible, determined to coax it out of her.

Linda nodded at that, the tears rolling down her face, and Charlie internally swore; he could only guess which ones did this, and he felt his sheer hatred for Rick Riley and Bradley Cole increase to a level he’d never felt before – he didn’t think it was them; he knew it was them. They were the only ones malicious enough to come up with such an idea, and the others would willingly follow them – well, maybe not Scooter; he seemed all right, but all the others blindly followed orders because they were too big and stupid to have minds of their own. He’d never hated anyone as much as he hated Riley and Cole, and he was worried he’d be sick again as he wiped his eyes.

“Which ones?” he asked coldly as he heard the hospital room door open. Even though he knew it, he wanted to hear Linda confirm it, so they went after the right ones.

“Riley and Cole,” Linda sobbed out, and at that, Charlie clenched his fists together tightly, though he hid them out of Linda’s view for her sake. “The other three . . . I don’t know their names.”

“You’re kidding me,” came Lieutenant Averman’s voice, and Charlie whipped around to see him watching them with wide eyes. “Well, as soon as we wrap things up here, I’ll add that to the list of charges.”

“What do you mean?” Orion asked angrily, asking the question Charlie asked himself, albeit in his own head, not out loud. What else had the Varsity guys done? What more could they have done after they’d brutally sexually assaulted Linda?

“Two of my female beat cops caught Riley, Cole, and a few of their friends on a DWI last night,” Averman’s uncle explained. “Bradley Cole was driving and crashed Richard Riley’s 1994 Chevrolet Camaro into a tree. There were beer cans in the backseat. And their blood alcohol level was point ten.”

“What a complete idiot!” Orion exclaimed, his face suddenly turning hot red.

“They’re all idiots,” Lieutenant Averman said coolly. “And now that Linda’s sexual assault is being added to the charges against them, along with them being involved in Bombay’s lawsuit, it’s like Christmas morning came early at the station. We’ve been wanting to get them for a while. Do you know how many DWIs and suspensions Bradley Cole has had in the last two years? Not to mention, he was driving with a suspended license.”

“And they just got off?” Charlie spat, feeling his anger increase.

“Well, this time, Daddy’s money isn’t gonna get them out of it,” Lieutenant Averman said reassuringly. Turning to Linda, he said, “Are you okay if I ask you a couple of questions, honey? If not, we can do it later.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Linda whispered.

“You want Charlie to stay with you?”

Linda’s hand crept out from underneath the blanket, and she reached over, clutching onto Charlie’s hand tightly. Charlie responded by squeezing on tighter, letting her know he wasn’t letting go.

Gordon and Casey wasted no time going to the hospital; when Bella called, explaining that Linda, the girl who’d been vouching for Charlie and the Ducks, had been sexually assaulted and that Charlie was with her at the hospital, Gordon didn’t hesitate to pick Casey up from Mickey’s. He clutched a rolled-up copy of the Star Tribune in his hand, knowing that Charlie would want to see it.

Still, he felt sickened, as Charlie had told him Linda was working on an article for the school paper about the Ducks’ scholarships being stripped away. If he had to guess, the Varsity team had done this as a revenge tactic. He wouldn’t put it past them because nothing was low enough for them, and the fact that they were so brazen about it, doing it when they knew Gordon would be filing for the lawsuit against Eden Hall . . . he was infuriated just thinking about it, knowing that this was the third incident of violence that occurred since the Ducks were told they wouldn’t be welcome back next semester. First, Charlie got slipped nut-contaminated brownies. Then, Connie was pushed down the stairs. And now, somebody had gotten raped brutally (and Gordon suspected that Linda wasn’t the first girl they’d taken advantage of). How many more limits could the Varsity team push? What were they trying to prove? That they could get away with anything because of their parents’ money and connections? The very thought sickened him to his core, knowing his Ducks were being discriminated against once again because of who they were and where they came from. He couldn’t wait for the court date to get there fast enough. He didn’t care how long it took. He was going to make sure he won.

As soon as they entered, they saw Bella Orion standing there in the lobby, clearly waiting for them. “Thank you for coming,” she said tightly.

“Is she all right?” Casey asked anxiously as Bella led them to Linda’s room.

“She’ll be okay physically. She’s been treated for shock, and we also fixed any vaginal injuries she’d received during the assault. But she’s scared. We just sedated her so she could rest,” Bella explained.

“Did you find out anything else? Who did this to her?” asked Gordon as they neared Linda’s hospital room.

“She told Lieutenant Averman that two of the individuals who assaulted her were Richard Riley and Bradley Cole. Coincidentally, Riley, Cole, and three of their friends were arrested last night for a DWI,” Bella said gravely as she opened the door to Linda’s room, where they saw Charlie sitting beside her, holding her hand in both of his as she slept due to being sedated. Charlie jumped but relaxed otherwise as he saw it was just his mom and his former Peewee coach there.

“Oh, gosh, Charlie.” Gordon entered the room and swept the boy up into a fierce hug, feeling the teenager begin to cry into his shoulder as he hugged him back.

Charlie sniffled, choking out, “I’m gonna kill them! I’m gonna fucking kill them for this!”

Gordon tightened his arms around Charlie and brought his hand upward, cradling his head against his shoulder and stroking his hair. “Don’t worry,” he murmured. “We’ll get them for this. They’re not gonna get away with it. Not this time.”

Charlie pulled away, wiping his face as he sat beside Linda. “I just can’t believe it came to this.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, take a look at the front page,” Gordon said gently, handing Charlie the newspaper; the front-page headline read:

DUCKS DEVALUED

The Eden Hall Academy Board Withdraws Academic Scholarships for Team USA, Yet Keeps the Varsity Warriors Amid Disciplinary Complaints

By: Simon Gibby

For the Star Tribune

Charlie glanced up at him, eyes widening, but Gordon just smiled back gently.

“Just wait and see,” he assured Charlie. “For the next week, parents will call to complain. They know the truth now. Nobody can hide.”

“You’re telling me that the Varsity team has violated almost EVERY Code of Ethics, and they’re still enrolled?”

“So, you kicked MY baby out, yet you let Brad Cole stay there even though he doesn’t have the grades?”

“I will NOT have my kids go to a school that doesn’t uphold its own standards!”

“Five of your Varsity players got arrested last night for drunk driving! Are you gonna kick them out, too? Or are you gonna keep them there?”

“You’re SPINELESS! You had a perfectly good Junior Varsity hockey coach, and yet you fire him for what?”

“Why am I hearing that Rick Riley has RAPED a girl last night? What’s next? Will he go after my daughter, too?”

Dean Roger Buckley played through every voicemail that filled his inbox. All morning long, he’d been receiving endless angry telephone calls from parents, some of whom were parents of the Ducks, others who had children attending school on scholarship, and others who’d attended the school years ago. It seemed the list of disputes was endless, and as he listened to all of them, he glanced at Tom Riley, who sat there stonily, arms crossed.

“Tom,” he said, “you’re hearing what they’re saying. These parents are going to pull their children out if we don’t reinstate the Ducks.”

“But they weren’t performing up to our standards,” Tom argued. Buckley internally rolled his eyes – only Tom Riley could continue making excuses for his son.

“And yet your son –”

“This has nothing to do with my son!” Tom spat.

“Tom, I got a call from the hospital saying Linda Chavez was raped. She’s saying your son gang-raped her last night before he took that drunken joy ride!” Buckley argued. “If we keep your boy here, we’ll lose a lot more students than we’ll gain. And . . .”

“My son will stay here,” Tom said coldly. “I don’t care what Bombay plans to do. He’s not gonna twist my arm to keep those brats of his here. If they can’t play the game –”

“You mean if they can’t win at the game,” Buckley corrected. “Tom, maybe Gordon has a point. You have no reasonable cause to kick the Ducks out; you wrote those scholarships for them, and they signed their names, agreeing they’d come here to play hockey as long as they earned the grades needed to compete. They’re well above the ‘C’ average, and . . .”

“And they’ve been a nuisance since they got here!” snarled Tom, slamming his hands on the desk.

“And have you gotten a look at the front page?” Dean Buckley passed that morning’s paper over to Tom so he could look at who wrote the article. “Look who wrote this. This is obviously Simon Gibby’s way of exposing the Varsity team’s apparent lack of discipline! Almost every parent has read this! And if parents feel their children are unsafe coming to school here, we won’t have a graduating class! Tom, think about this logically; if Gordon Bombay follows through with his injunction and is proven right, you will be forced to pay restitution until long after the Ducks graduate from college. He will bleed you dry, and he will drag this school through the mud! Now, either you change the vote on the Ducks’ scholarships, or we get taken to court. And it’s bad enough that your son will be tried for a DWI and sexual assault of a minor! It’s your choice.”

“I couldn’t give a rat’s ass,” Tom sneered. “You know what? I say we let him.” He barked out a laugh and stormed out of the office, only for him to be greeted by a mob of angry teenagers who’d been stationed outside the dean’s office singing “We’re Not Gonna Take It” on an endless chorus, and when Tom tried pushing his way through them, they tightened up, not letting him leave.

As Dean Buckley sat there behind his desk, watching, he felt the pangs of regret hit him as he continued listening to the angry voicemails that got left for him to hear. He listened as Guy Germaine’s father angrily ranted about how his son was discriminated against, yet the Varsity team got special treatment. There was another call from Phillip Banks, who yelled into the phone about how his son had been getting bullied by the Varsity team, and nothing had been done to stop it. But the angriest call came from Casey Conway, who demanded the board reinstate Charlie Conway’s scholarship, that she was not going to let her son settle for anything less than the best opportunities at a good education because he’d earned it fair and square when he signed his contract.

Gordon Bombay hadn’t been lying when he said that this would bring worse consequences. As he looked outside his office window, Dean Buckley saw an angry mob of students outside, waving their fists and holding picket signs demanding the Ducks be let back in, and he barely ducked his head in time to avoid an incoming brick being thrown at his office window.

“QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK! QUACK!”

Chapter Text

Chapter 5 – Charges

“All right, Linda, are you ready?” Lieutenant Averman asked as they stood on the opposite side of a windowed room in the police station, the blinds over the window.

“And they can’t see me, right?” Linda asked apprehensively.

“It’s one-way glass. They won’t see you at all,” said the officer who’d ridden with her to the hospital – Officer Melendez – soothingly.

Linda nodded, and Charlie grabbed hold of her hand tightly. Coach Bombay had also come along with Linda’s father, Dominik, for support, and Linda’s older brothers, Ralph and Oliver, were getting on the next available flight back home from Stanford. When Charlie met Linda’s dad back at the hospital, he thought the man looked broken – it was bad enough that the poor man was widowed and had raised Linda and her brothers on his own from the time Linda was eight. Now, he had to face the reality that his daughter had been raped brutally by members of the Varsity hockey team, all because she’d tried to put the truth out there. Charlie couldn’t begin to wonder what was going through the man’s mind.

“Okay.” Lieutenant Averman pulled on the blinds, which revealed the window to the white room, where every member of the Eden Hall Varsity Warriors stood in a numbered line for Linda to identify which of the ones participated in the gang rape Wednesday night. Charlie could see Scooter in the lineup; since Linda didn’t know the names of the other three who’d participated, Scooter needed to be there, even though the likelihood of him participating in it was minuscule. He’d most likely been asleep at the dorms, not knowing what Riley, Cole, and his other friends had been doing.

“Take your time,” Lieutenant Averman murmured, and Charlie squeezed Linda’s hand harder as she carefully studied everyone in the lineup.

Riley stood in the center at number five and Cole at number four. Linda whispered, “Numbers four and five.”

Averman nodded, knocking five times first and then four times to alert the officer inside that Cole and Riley were part of the lineup.

“What about the other three?” he asked Linda gently. “Think about it.”

“Um . . .” Linda swallowed nervously, and Charlie could see the tears glazing in her blue eyes as her face paled significantly. Finally, her eyes settled on the people who stood at numbers one and seven. “One and seven, I . . . I think, maybe?” Her breath hitched in her throat, and Charlie moved, gently wrapping an arm around her.

“Are you sure?” Officer Melendez asked.

“Yeah, I . . . I think so,” Linda said shakily. “That’s them. Yes. Those are the ones.”  

“And they’re the same ones we caught for the DWI,” Lieutenant Averman said, shaking his head as he tapped his hand against the glass once and then seven times. “My guess is this: they assaulted you first and then decided to celebrate afterward by drinking and taking a joy ride past curfew.” He turned to Officer Melendez. “Contact those boys’ parents and let them know they’ve got the right to an attorney. And we’ll also need to get some DNA samples from them. The others are free to go.”

“Sure thing, Lieutenant,” Officer Melendez said, walking off to make phone calls. But Charlie could hear Linda’s breath growing more hysterical the longer she stood there looking at Riley, Cole, and the others, and he whisked her away.

“It’s okay, Linda, go outside and get some air, maybe something to drink,” Lieutenant Averman said soothingly as Charlie quickly led her away, tightening his arm around her as they went around the corner, with Gordon trailing them closely.

“It’s okay,” Charlie whispered. “You’re all right. It’s gonna be fine.”

“No, no, I can’t look at them!” Linda choked out, tears spilling onto her face as Charlie found a bench for them to sit down on. He helped her sit, gently rubbing her back as Gordon knelt before them, grabbing her hands carefully.

“It’s okay,” Gordon soothed. “Look upward and breathe, in through your nose, out through your mouth. Just breathe.”

“I can’t.”

“Yes, you can,” Gordon whispered. “Just breathe. In and out.”

“No!” Charlie winced, watching as Linda grew more hysterical. “God . . . I want my mom, but at the same time . . . if she were here, if she saw that this happened . . .!”

“She did,” Gordon said firmly. “She’s looking out for you. And I know because I still talk to my dad. There are times I just look up and . . . well, I swear I can still see his face sometimes. Yeah, he’s not here, but at the same time, he is. And I don’t think. I know. Come on, look up.”

Linda nodded, her gaze turning upward as she sucked in a deep breath before releasing it slowly. At this, she seemed to relax as Gordon released her hands.

“What happens now?” she asked.

“Well, we go to court on Monday,” Gordon said. “We’ll be using what they did to you, to Charlie, to Connie . . . all of that will be listed in our disputes that if the Varsity team is allowed to stay at Eden Hall despite all they’d done, the Ducks shouldn’t get their scholarships revoked; should the Eden Hall board members continue withholding the scholarships, they’ll all have to pay off restitution for probably the next twenty years, or worse, the school itself could get shut down. As for what happened to you, that’ll have to be its own separate case and will be included in the suit involving their drunk driving because it would have to be before a jury. But your case could help influence the judge’s decision in keeping the Ducks at Eden Hall.”

“So, I’d have to go court again?” Linda asked as that hysterical edge returned.

“Maybe not,” Gordon said. “If a prosecutor could get them to agree to a plea on all charges, then you won’t have to testify.”

“But would they be allowed back at Eden Hall until that trial date?” Charlie asked, strained, not liking the idea of Riley or Cole coming within an inch of Linda, Connie, or Julie.

“That’s up to the judge to decide,” Gordon said. “It’s also up to the judge whether you get a restraining order. They don’t just hand them out to people. It takes a long time to process for one.”

“That’s ridiculous!” Charlie hissed, disgusted at just the thought of Linda needing to go to school with those bastards.

“I know,” Gordon said gently. “And it’s unfortunate, but that’s how it works. It’s not always just. But they’ll get what’s coming to them. But look at it this way: let’s say they can return to Eden Hall before trial and have no restraining order. The J.V.-Varsity showdown could happen after all.”

At that thought, Charlie grinned. He wouldn’t lie that the idea was satisfying, being able to face Riley, Cole, and their band of idiots one last time before they took them to court. What a perfect way to get their revenge than by playing against them in the exhibition match, only for them to lose? And if they were to plead guilty in court on top of that? There was a strong likelihood that they would be going to prison for many years to come. And when Charlie turned to Linda, he could see her smiling at the thought, too.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Charlie said.

Gordon dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, handing Charlie a ten-dollar bill. “Here. Buy yourselves something from the vending machine. You look like you need it.”

Charlie took the money from Bombay, saying, “Thanks, Coach.” He grabbed Linda’s hand, led her down the hallway toward where he’d seen the vending machines, and grinned at the sight of Coke cans. Turning to Linda, he saw her smiling weakly, too.

“I remembered I still owe you a Coke,” he said, putting the five-dollar bills into the slot and putting in the request for two Coke cans.

“Not quite how I pictured it would be, though,” Linda said, a hint of sadness in her tone as their sodas fell at the bottom of the vending machine.

“Me neither. But I’ll take it.” Charlie grabbed their cans and handed one to Linda, who took it and popped it open.

“Thanks.”

Charlie smiled at her gently, wrapped his arm around her, and kissed her on the top of the head. “Why don’t we walk down to the skate shop?”

“Look, I want my lawyer,” Rick Riley sneered as he sat in the interview room, arms crossed over his chest.

“He’ll be here soon,” Lieutenant Averman said coolly. “But until then, we need to ask you some questions, considering the victim identified you as the one who raped her.”

“Who? Linda Chavez? The leader of that covenant trying to change the mascot’s name? Whatever she told you, she’s lying. She hates men,” sneered Riley.

Gordon Bombay shook his head as he stood outside the interview room, listening; he pulled the blinds down over the window to the room in disgust, even though he secretly knew that Riley wasn’t going to go down without a fight. He shared a glance with Phillip Banks as well as the DA, Frank Huddy.

“He’s not gonna budge on it,” Gordon said, shaking his head.

“Well, he’s gotta crack at some point. Either agree to a plea deal or go through a full trial. And I can imagine that poor girl doesn’t want to do that,” said Huddy.

“She doesn’t,” Gordon said, strained. “But that’s beside the point. We've got nothing unless we can get some confession from him or the other four who participated. On the other hand, we’ve got evidence about the dine and dash – the Ducks had to pay off that entire check, and the Varsity team didn’t put a dime toward it. They committed fraud; they’ve probably done it many other times before the Ducks went to Eden Hall. So, at least we have that because Charlie saved a copy of that receipt. The bill was not cheap.”

“Aside from the fraud charges and the DWI, what else could we get them for? Especially if they refuse to admit they’re guilty of raping Linda?” Phillip asked. “Aggravated assault for slipping Conway nut-contaminated food?”

“They’ll deny that,” Gordon sighed.

“What about Connie Moreau getting pushed down the stairs?” asked Huddy.

“Nobody’s coming forth and saying whether Cole shoved her or not, and Connie had a mild concussion – they could use that in court to say that it affected her memory,” Gordon said. “At this point, all we’ve got for the injunction hearing is our justification that if the Varsity team can continue attending Eden Hall despite their poor grades and disciplinary issues, then the Ducks should get equal opportunity to have their scholarships.”

The other two men sighed hard. They knew that this wouldn’t be easy, gathering up all the evidence, but in any case, they didn’t realize it would be this difficult. They’d thought for sure that Linda’s word about being sexually assaulted would be enough to prove something. But with Riley, Cole, and their other friends vehemently denying that they’d sexually assaulted Linda, their chances of Riley and Cole taking a guilty plea were slim, even though there was evidence from Linda’s rape kit.

But they heard a knock on the door before Gordon could elaborate further. Officer Melendez entered with Scooter, who wore a look of palpable guilt on his face; at Scooter’s side stood a boy of about sixteen, looking noticeably nervous.

“Mr. Bombay, these two boys have something they wish to say to you,” Officer Melendez announced.

“Of course,” Gordon said. He eyed Scott Holland – he recognized the boy as Quinton Holland’s son, as Quinton Holland had been an exceptional goalie for the Varsity Warriors when Gordon had been in school, and he’d even been named Boy of the Year and was listed in Eden Hall’s Athletic Hall of Fame. For Quinton’s son to be coming forward willingly, he had to know something. And Gordon could see Scooter looked ashamed of something; he kept looking down at his feet and seemed hardly able to look them in the eye.

“What do you boys have to say?” Huddy asked, eying them both sternly.

“Rick won’t confess that he raped Linda? I’ve got proof of it,” the boy at Holland’s side said, handing over what looked like a voice recorder. Gordon had to guess that this boy was Justin Woodward, the kid Linda mentioned she’d been speaking to out in the hallway before the assault occurred, who’d tried convincing her not to publish her piece on the Ducks. “I was in the journalism classroom the day they planned on doing it; I was working on my piece for the paper before class when he came in and demanded that either I help him with it, or he’d . . . he’d do something to me.”

“What do you mean ‘do something to you?’” Phillip asked, taking the device from Justin.

“He grabbed my ass and said he’d stick something up it if I didn’t go along with his plan.” Justin looked like he’d be sick mentioning it, and Gordon winced – he was well aware of the kinds of hazing the Varsity team participated in, though it was clear to him that it had only gotten worse as the years went by.

“And I was present when he talked about the dine and dash,” said Holland. “Banks overheard what he was saying and tried to sneak away to warn the Ducks, but Rick grabbed his wrist and twisted it and threatened him not to interfere, or else, he’d . . . teach Banks a lesson.”

Gordon nodded, understanding. “We’ll listen to the tape and determine whether that’ll be enough.”

“Thank you,” Justin said, looking relieved. “Um, I better go and see if I can find Linda and Charlie. I owe her an apology.”

“They should be around here somewhere,” Gordon assured him. He beckoned Josh and Holland to leave so they could listen to the recording. He watched as Phillip placed the voice recorder on the table before them and pressed “play.”

“Rick, no, I won’t do it,” they could hear Justin saying, trying to muster up bravery in his tone, but even Gordon could hear the palpable fear in the kid’s voice.

“Look, either you go along with this and get the bitch not to publish that piece, or I’ll have you take something up the ass. Maybe if you did, you’d loosen up more, Junior.” Riley’s voice sneered softly, and Gordon could feel a trickle of coldness travel down his spine. “Come on, remember all we’ve done for you? We’ve taken care of you. The least you can do is take care of us.”

“Get your hands off of me!” Gordon could guess this was where Rick’s hands had been traveling to places that they shouldn’t be, and as he closed his eyes, he could visualize Justin being cornered as Rick grabbed him inappropriately – that was sexual harassment. If Rick wasn’t above sexually harassing boys as well as girls, it was apparent the kid had serious issues.

“Then do we have a deal?”

“Okay.” They could hear Justin gulping. “We have a deal. I’ll tell her not to publish the article.”

“But we’ll be going with you to make sure you follow through with it,” they could hear Cole braying. “If you fail at it, well . . .”

“Then we’ll give her a lesson she’ll never forget,” came Riley’s voice. “It’s time the bitch learns to loosen up and stop being such a prude. And you’ll put in a good review of our next away game, right?”

“I will! I will! Now stop, please!”

“All right, Justina,” Cole sneered. They could hear something that sounded like a sharp slap and a yelp. “Say hi to your boyfriend for us.” Another example of harassment – Gordon wondered how many times Cole and Riley had done this to get Justin to cooperate with them. For all he knew, Justin kissed up to the Varsity team and wrote good things about them in the school paper to avoid this kind of treatment, and he felt a pang of sympathy because he knew that in situations like this, when the person extorting you got what they wanted, it was never enough – they would always demand for more, and it never went away. The more you fed the beast, the bigger it got.

He felt even more guilt flow through him – he and Ted had witnessed this sort of reprehensible behavior many times in the past and had done nothing because they’d wanted people like Tom Riley, Dennis Cole, and the other upperclassmen to think that they were cool; nobody wanted to have the reputation of being a “pussy” or “weak,” and that may have gotten them to survive through four years of high school. Still, they didn’t think about the longevity of it all. If only they’d spoken up and said something sooner . . . looking at Phillip Banks, he could see Adam’s dad felt just as much guilt – after all, he’d once been like that; he’d judged anyone who came to Eden Hall on scholarship and at one point thought the Ducks to be worthless because their parents didn’t come from money, and it was clear to Gordon that Phillip regretted ever thinking that, especially now.

“I don’t have a boyfriend. If you see me with a guy, that’s my roommate. So, why don’t you shut up?”

“Watch your fucking mouth, faggot!” Another sharp slap; Gordon could guess Cole or Riley had been slapping Justin somewhere below the waist. He winced as he turned the recording device off, unable to listen to any more of this. Things at Eden Hall really had worsened over the years, and he couldn’t help feeling some guilt that he’d thought for sure this would be a better chance for his Ducks – in a way, it was, but at what cost? Their safety? Their dignity?

“You think you’ve got the evidence you need, Frankie?” Gordon asked, glancing up at Huddy, whose face was turning the color of a beet.

“Yes,” Huddy said, not hiding how disturbed he was by this new development. “Once this injunction hearing is all over, I’ll be charging Richard Riley, Bradley Cole, and the other members of the Eden Hall Varsity Warriors on conspiracy to commit rape, conspiracy to commit fraud, extortion, aggravated assault, harassment, driving while intoxicated, refusing a breathalyzer test, and property damage.”

“What about Holland?” asked Phillip. “Would you be including him in the indictment?”

“If he’s willing to testify against his buddies, I’ll let him off. Because something tells me that the kid wanted no part of this,” said Huddy.

“I think you’re right about that,” agreed Gordon. “And if this doesn’t help us in our case to keep the Ducks at Eden Hall, I don’t know what will.”

Ted carefully watched the blade he was sharpening, determined not to make it too sharp. Although he hadn’t done this in years (the last time he’d done this, he worked at the skate shop to help pay for books throughout his years at the University of Minnesota), he remembered well enough how to do it. But that didn’t stop Jan from picking at him.

“Watch the edges! You’re making it too sharp!” Jan criticized.

“Do I tell you how to sharpen skates, Jan?” Ted asked, rolling his eyes. “How did Hans put up with you, old man?”

“Why don’t you do what he did before I visited Mama?” Jan asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“What?”

“Threatened to move to Florida and open a surf shop! Bah! I should do that! At least then, I could enjoy the sun and the waves.”

“How would you survive out there?” Ted quirked an eyebrow at Jan. “They’ll take one look at you and put you in a retirement home.”

“And I’m nowhere near ready to retire. Did you know I’m buying the District Five Ice Rink? Next year, it’ll be the Ice Palace! Nothing but the best for the Ducks of District Five.”

Ted smiled; if anyone would keep the District Five Ice Rink going, it would be Jan. However, he did worry that Jan was trying to push himself too far in his old age, especially since Hans was now gone and he had little to no help running the shop. Granted, Ted wouldn’t mind helping out and becoming a partner. However, he couldn’t make a living sharpening skates for the rest of his life. Bella would no doubt kill him over that if he suggested to her that he would spend the rest of his life sharpening skates for a low salary.

They heard the bell ding as the door opened, and Charlie and Linda entered, clutching cans of Coke; Linda looked as though she’d been crying, and Charlie kept his hand tightly wrapped around hers.

“Charlie,” Jan said, “you should teach this strudel head a thing or two about sharpening skates! He’s turning them into sabers!”

“You call me a strudel head? Just seconds ago, you talked about moving to Florida!”

At this, Charlie’s face fell. Ted could see the boy was so depressed over all that had been happening lately that he actually believed Jan was moving. “You’re leaving me, too?” He sounded hurt over it, and Ted instantly felt guilty – when he left, the Ducks were left vulnerable; he recalled how Charlie reacted to Gordon leaving them in Ted’s hands. Now, the Ducks had nobody at Eden Hall. For all Ted knew, Charlie was feeling abandoned again, this time by the guy who insisted either the Ducks stay or he go. Ted didn’t miss the way Charlie said the words “leaving me.” It was clear the kid felt everyone left him at some point or another, and Ted wondered if that was the reason behind his attitude problems at the beginning of the semester.

“Relax, it’s just a joke,” Jan chortled. “Let me guess? That time down at the station was rough?”

“No shit,” Charlie commented, tossing his Coke can in the trash.

“You look like you could use my specialty,” Jan said.

“Hassenhepher and eggs,” the three of them said together wistfully, and Jan went off to the kitchen area of the skate shop to start preparing his rabbit stew, which he always cooked up in a pressure cooker.

“What is that?” asked Linda.

“It’s best you don’t know what it is,” chuckled Charlie, despite his bad mood.

“Yeah,” Ted agreed, but when he turned to look at the clock, noticing the time, he raised an eyebrow at Charlie. “Shouldn’t you be back at school?”

“Like I’d want to go back there,” Charlie said shrewdly, sitting on the couch.

“Even if they reinstate your scholarship?” Ted asked.

“I don’t want to play for a different coach,” Charlie insisted, crossing his arms over his chest stubbornly – to think weeks ago he hadn’t wanted Ted to coach him. Now, he didn’t like the idea of returning to Eden Hall if Ted wasn’t there.

Ted sighed. Gordon had warned him that Charlie tended to be stubborn, and did not like change. And while he was flattered that Charlie wanted him to coach him now, he didn’t want the boy jeopardizing his whole future. “Then what would your option be? Hm? If I don’t get reinstated?”

“Go back to public school?” Charlie suggested wryly.

“And you’re too good to settle for public school education, Charlie,” Ted said seriously, sitting beside him. “To think once upon a time, you thought I was a jerk. Who would’ve thought this would happen?” He gestured between the two of them, smiling softly.

“How should I have known?” Charlie mumbled, his face going bright red.

Ted reached over and rubbed at the back of Charlie’s neck. “You couldn’t have. But I suppose both you and I needed to do the changing.”

“Well, this time, Eden Hall needs to change.”

“Whether they will or not remains to be seen. But Gordon will make them pay. Trust me on that.”

“You know from experience?”

“Yeah. He was the one who helped me after I got into that accident – he got the perp to take a plea bargain for it. He’s really good.”

Charlie smiled weakly. Ted could see in the boy’s eyes that he really loved not just Gordon, but Ted was also growing on him. And as Ted glanced over at Linda, he could see her face softening – maybe she was seeing that not all jocks were so bad.

“You will not drop my son from the team if I can help it,” Tom Riley snapped, glowering at Franklin Wilson, who stood before the board members like he was staring into the barrel of a gun.

“Mr. Riley,” Franklin said quietly, “what I saw in that locker room . . . what happened to that girl; I can’t get that out of my head. I haven’t been able to sleep ever since that day.”

“There’s no proof that my boy had anything to do with that,” Tom said lazily, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Even with the girl’s word?”

“It’s simply a revenge ploy – a publicity stunt. She’s doing this for attention, thinking it’ll sway the judge’s decision.”

“Then how do you explain what I saw written on her body? Or the fact that she had no clothes on?”

“Maybe she consented to it.”

Franklin shook his head, unable to look Tom in the eye. He couldn’t believe the lengths the board members were willing to go to try and protect their sons despite the abhorrent things they’d done ever since the Ducks’ scholarships got revoked. Part of him didn’t want to have to coach Rick Riley anymore, given all the bad press surrounding this situation. But he also knew that the board members’ vote needed to matter here, and if they voted that Riley, Cole, and everyone from Varsity stay on Varsity despite all this, the decision was going to stand as it stood, and nothing would be able to change their minds.

When he’d found Linda Chavez in the Varsity locker room with those words written on her naked skin, it made him think of his two daughters, who were thirteen and nine; if anything like that had been done to Sidney or Nicole . . . he didn’t want to imagine it.

“Look, if you want to keep your job here, keep the boys on Varsity where they belong,” Tom Riley said coolly.

“And what if they’re found guilty?” gritted out Franklin. “They’ve already been caught driving while intoxicated.”

“Don’t worry. The judge will be on our side of this fight,” smirked Tom Riley.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Franklin demanded. “Tom, let me fill you in on something. One day, you and that boy of yours are gonna be in a situation that your money can’t get you out of. You may think you can bribe your way into winning this one. But you won’t. Because Bombay’s gonna destroy you in court. Face it. You cannot win. It’s over.”

“It’s not,” Tom hissed. “Now, if you are through, the door’s right there.”

Franklin sighed and looked over at Dean Buckley, who just shook his head – there wasn’t much Buckley could do if the board members refused to vote for their boys to step down from playing on the Varsity team. But even as he exited the board room, he felt that this was just the beginning, that Tom Riley would find some other way to twist his arm into not testifying against Rick and Bradley when the time came for those boys to go to trial. But he also knew if he didn’t testify against Rick, Bradley, and the others, there was no way Tess would forgive him, and he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he didn’t have his wife’s forgiveness, especially since he felt that finding that poor girl bound and gagged and naked, soaking wet in the locker room, bleeding from between her legs, covered in bruises, was punishment enough for him not doing something about the Varsity team’s behavior sooner.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6 – Injunction

The night before the trial left Ted Orion tenser than he’d ever felt in his life. He tried, for Lucy and Bella’s sake, to not let it show. Bella had enough to worry about being eight months pregnant, and her due date was approaching. And Ted didn’t want Lucy’s head being filled with worries.

So, that night, he tried distracting himself by playing a hockey videogame with Lucy, who had her little friends over, Seth Germaine and Sadie Moreau, whom she played on the Ducks with; Connie and Guy had also come by for the playdate, and were currently in the kitchen helping themselves to seconds of Bella’s homemade tuna-macaroni casserole while the kids played together – or rather, Seth played by himself, lining up his action figures and stuffed animals in the very specific way he liked them to be, and screamed at anyone who dared knock them over or set them out of order, one of the many traits to his diagnosis; Sadie, on the other hand, was dressing and undressing her Barbies, combing their hair and pushing them along in the toy car. Lucy, who had no patience for dolls, smashed on the controller's buttons as she played with her player of choice; of course, she chose to play defense. She was truly the definition of a daddy’s girl.

“Lucy, don’t you wanna play with Sadie?” Connie asked as she came into the living room, crouching down to her sister’s level and grabbing a Barbie.

Lucy shook her head. “I hate playing with dolls,” she grumbled.

“I’m not playing. I’m accessorizing,” Sadie defended.

“I’ve tried buying her pretty dolls,” said Ted, shaking his head. “She ripped the head off a Barbie. The only doll she likes is her Kirsten Larsen doll.”

“But you can’t play with American Girl dolls,” pointed out Connie.

“That’s the whole point,” Ted grinned. “She likes looking at them. Just don’t expect her to play with them.”

Connie sighed; while it was nice that her sister and Lucy got along, they had their differences. While Sadie loved her Barbies, she hated her hair being pulled back, while Lucy had no patience for playing with dolls and loved having bows in her hair. They couldn’t be more different, yet somehow, those two got along well enough, as hockey was one thing that bound them together. Ted just hoped that District Five would continue to fund the Ducks, and that the Ducks would continue to be sponsored by Jan and other small businesses so that future kids could play on the team, because Ted knew as well as anyone that opportunities for hockey only grew more obscure the older children got – high schools in Minnesota, fortunately, were able to have enough schools to form a league for the high school level, but the opportunities for young girls and people with disabilities to play were just up-in-coming. The University of Minnesota was talking about forming a women’s Golden Gophers team, but that wouldn’t take effect until another few years.

He was pulled away from the action of the pre-season game by the doorbell ringing, and he got up from the sofa to answer the door, seeing Charlie and Gordon standing on the threshold.

“Hey,” Gordon said, “I wanted to prep you for tomorrow.”

“I’ve already got my letter to the judge written,” Ted said, beckoning them inside, and Bella wasted no time in plating up tuna casserole for Gordon and Charlie, who took the plates of food appreciatively.

“Good,” Gordon said. “But I’ve gotten word that Weathers was initially chosen for our case; apparently, Tom Riley claims Weathers being involved would be prejudicial to the case, and he requested somebody else.”

“What’s he got against Weathers?” As far as Ted knew, Judge Weathers was very fair; he’d handled Ted’s case with the automobile accident five years ago and made sure the perp was thrown in jail with the key thrown away.

“Apparently, Weathers’s son got into a dispute with Tom Riley and the other board members. Weathers’s son was hand-picked for the Varsity team and witnessed a lot of the bullying happening on campus. He tried speaking up about it and was hazed in front of the entire school – strung up from the flagpole covered in syrup and feathers and had been stripped to his boxer shorts. Weathers complained about the harassment, but Tom Riley and the others refuted it; Weathers sued and won and got them to pay a hefty fine,” Gordon sighed, the frustration evident on his face as he explained the reason why this case was turning into a circus.

“So, who do we have?” Ted demanded, shocked at this revelation – he’d had no idea that something like that had happened.

“Joe Capitano,” Gordon said, “‘Let Them Go Joe.’ So, Huddy’s petitioning the court again to change the judge because he says that Capitano is personally connected to Tom Riley – they play golf together at the country club, and Phillip says he heard Tom invited Capitano to go on a cruise with him to Cancun for the Christmas holidays.”

“Of course, they do,” Ted sneered, nearly laughing, though it wasn’t funny at all. “So, which judge are you requesting?”

“Melinda Morrow,” Gordon said. “She’s very fair. And she has no personal affiliations with the DA, Phillip Banks, or me. So, if she’s approved, the time for our case will be pushed back to twelve noon tomorrow.”

“Good,” Ted sighed.

“And Simon Gibby’s been turning up the heat, exposing the board members. When I spoke to Dean Buckley, more and more parents called the school to complain. They’re saying if the Ducks aren’t reinstated, there won’t be a graduating class of 1999.”

“Karma’s a bitch,” Ted smirked. “I’ll drink to that.”

“I hope after this, justice is served,” Charlie said bitterly. “‘Cause after what they did to Linda, they all make me sick.”

However, without warning, Ted heard a loud, whooping yell outside, and a loud crash accompanied by shattering glass, and he soon heard Lucy, Sadie, and Seth screaming.

“Daddy!” Lucy shrieked as she came rolling into the kitchen; Connie had scooped her sister up into her arms, and Guy had run out into the living room, grabbing Seth as Ted raced out of the kitchen, up the stairs, and to his and Bella’s bedroom, where he kept a safe that nobody knew the combination to, but he did – the combination was his old North Stars number, 21, followed by Mike Modano’s number 9, followed by Basil McRae’s number for the North Stars, 17. The safe unlocked with a click, and nested inside was his shotgun, loaded with birdshot – he found it ironic that he took over coaching the Ducks, yet, he, his father, and his brother took duck hunting trips together whenever they camped out in the summers.

Seizing his shotgun, he barreled downstairs just as he caught a glimpse of a hot, orange flame landing on his front lawn, and he darted outside, the cold October air biting at his skin; he hadn’t bothered with a coat. He could see the fumes of a flaming Molotov cocktail, and looking into his living room, he saw a brick was there on the ground . . . if God forbid that brick hit Lucy or the other children in the head . . . no, he didn’t want to imagine that happening. But what worried him more was the hooting laughter he recognized from members of the Varsity hockey team, who yelled, “Thanks for the win, Coach!”

Shaking his head in anger and disgust, he grabbed the garden hose and sprayed the fire out, the scent of burning grass filling his nostrils even as he wandered back into his home, where he saw the little ones crying in hysterics; Guy and Connie were each clutching their siblings closely to them, and Bella had her arms wound tightly around Lucy. Gordon had also barred Charlie from going outside, his arm thrown in front of the boy as he stood erect as a brick wall, and Ted noticed how Gordon had gotten Connie and Guy behind him, as though he were shielding them. Ted never thought in a million years that Gordon would like kids. But he also recalled the conversation with Gordon before he took over – these kids were Gordon’s family.

Bella, on the other hand, had tears running down her face as she walked over; she looked white as she said, “Ted, in all your time coaching, we’ve never had this happen before, ever. If this injunction doesn’t go through . . .”

“It will,” Gordon insisted. “Riley’s not gonna get out of this free. If this goes through and he violates the agreement, he’s getting fined. And if he doesn’t pay the restitution, he’ll get jail time. As for what Riley, Cole, and their friends did to Linda Chavez, Huddy plans to try the other boys as adults. And the fact that Tom Riley continued allowing his son to participate in hockey despite that harassment lawsuit from Judge Weathers? Let’s just say the penalties will be greater.”

“Good,” Ted spat. “It’s about time. And add this to the list of charges you’ve got.”

“I will.” The firm conviction in Gordon’s tone was only mildly comforting. Ted knew Gordon would win. The question was, would things get worse before he could?

“Your Honor,” Frank Huddy said as he stood before Judge Melinda Morrow, “what Phillip Banks and I’s clients demand is for accountability.” He pulled out the copy he had of the Ducks’ contracts. “These scholarships were an offer, signed by the recipients under the agreement that they would attend Eden Hall on a full academic scholarship as long as they maintain a minimum of a ‘C’ average to compete for the Junior Varsity hockey team. The Ducks – the ones who signed these contracts – have kept up with their end of the bargain. Julianne Gaffney is an ‘A’ student. Lester Averman is in advanced classes. Charles Conway’s grades have increased significantly. Yet, the Eden Hall board members have decided to withdraw their scholarships simply because they’re not ‘winning’ at hockey. It isn’t a just cause to revoke their contracts.”

“What about the pranks pulled against the Varsity team?” rounded Tom Riley’s personal attorney, Alec Diegel. “It’s been reported that the Junior Varsity team released fire ants in the Varsity team’s dormitory rooms.”

“After the Varsity team bullied them first, Your Honor,” Frank argued, his voice filled with pleading. “Please, hear me out. What the Varsity team has done to the Junior Varsity team is far worse than fire ants. The Varsity team has physically assaulted Adam Banks. They pulled a dine-and-dash on the J.V. team and forced them to pay a check to the Minnesota Club that was eight hundred-fifty-seven dollars, knowing they could not afford it, which is fraud. Not to mention the recent charges of sexual assault and a DWI. If Thomas Riley is going to keep his son and the rest of the Varsity team at Eden Hall Academy despite the blatant disrespect to the Code of Ethics, then there’s no reason why the Ducks should be expelled.”

“Your Honor –”

“No, I’m not done here,” Frank said. “Thomas Riley not only had had a lawsuit against him by Judge Weathers when he refused to do anything about the bullying toward Weathers’s son, and he was fined over one thousand dollars in restitution as a result.”  

“Your Honor, I object; this is preposterous!”

“No, it’s not, Your Honor. I’m arguing here that there’s an apparent disregard for rules set in place and that Thomas Riley and all the other board members are displaying preferential treatment to their children while jeopardizing the futures of the Ducks. He also had no right to terminate Theodore Orion from his coaching position.”

“I’ve heard enough,” Judge Morrow said, cutting both Frank and Alec off, and Gordon could see in her eyes that she was fed up. It brought him some relief that this injunction would be approved and that after all this was said and done, and he was looking forward to getting to go to Casey and Charlie and inform them that the Ducks’ scholarships were reinstated. He could visualize it so clearly: the smiles on Charlie and Casey’s faces as they beamed with happiness, the joy on Bella and Lucy’s faces when they learned that Ted would get his job back, the relief on Julie’s face that she didn’t have to leave Connie behind . . . those kids were finally going to get the respect that they deserved. And he knew that he could go back to California knowing that everything was going to be okay; his kids weren’t going to be in danger of losing anything, and their futures would be secure.

“Thank you, Mr. Huddy,” Judge Morrow continued; she turned her steely gaze over to Tom Riley. “I hereby order Thomas Riley and the rest of the Eden Hall Academy board of trustees to reinstate the Ducks’ scholarships, as well as Theodore Orion’s coaching position. Should you fail to do so, you will be fined upwards of twenty thousand dollars, and should you fail to pay off that debt, you will be in contempt of the court and face prison time. Do you understand?”

Tom Riley’s face turned hot red; he looked infuriated, but nonetheless nodded stonily, looking as though he’d rather go get a root canal than reinstate the Ducks’ scholarships. Gordon could see the cogs turning in Tom’s head, could tell that the man was very close to losing it, and was surprised that Tom was keeping his temper in check. Still, when Tom nodded, Gordon felt relief flood through him, and he anticipated jumping in his car and racing back to his mother’s house so that he could call Casey and Charlie and invite them over that night to share the good news; he wanted to burst out and scream it to the world that the Ducks were back; looking over at Ted, he could see his old friend looked positively relieved that the court was ordering his job be reinstated.

Gordon couldn’t recall feeling this happy since the Ducks brought home their very first state championship win – that had been the proudest, happiest day of his life when he watched the boy whom he loved like a son score in overtime. But this came close to that moment, and as he glanced at Phillip, he saw Adam’s father look as though he were biting back his smile, trying to disguise how happy he was with these results.

“Yes, Your Honor,” gritted out Tom Riley, but he nonetheless shook his head in frustration that he once again lost a case.

“Case closed,” Judge Morrow said, banging the gavel down. Gordon had to smile at her – she was no-nonsense; he hoped they got her when they sued the Varsity team for the sexual assault, aggravated assault, and their DWI, along with the fraud charges, because even though Gordon no longer harbored the philosophy of “It’s not worth winning you can’t win big,” anymore, this was an exception – they needed to win. The only difference was that he would make sure that they won fair.

Later that night, he had Ted, Bella, Lucy, Charlie, Casey, and Jan over – after gathering them all up, he ordered several large pizzas from Twin City Slice, along with mussels, house salad, and buffalo wings; Ted, Charlie, and Lucy ate like horses – he’d seen Ted tuck away three whole cheeseburgers at a time and he knew Lucy inherited his appetite in addition to his athletic talent. When the pizza, salad, mussels, and wings arrived, that was when he made his announcement.

“We won,” he said.

“What?” Charlie looked floored. A week or so ago, the Ducks couldn’t begin to imagine that this injunction hearing would be successful. The kid just blinked at him, his jaw opening and closing several times.

“We won,” Ted said, smiling at Charlie. “The board will be reinstating your scholarships, and I go back to work starting Wednesday.”  

Bella looked so happy, as though she might cry, though Gordon attributed that to her pregnancy hormones. “You mean –? Really?”

“Yes,” Gordon said firmly. “It was either that or those board members get prison time. When Tom Riley heard that, he wasted no time reinstating the scholarships.”

Upon hearing that, Lucy screamed and rolled her way over to him, flinging her arms around his middle, and Gordon chuckled as he embraced his little niece as Bella walked over, hugging him and kissing him on the cheek. Casey, too, looked positively relieved at the knowledge that her son would be able to stay at Eden Hall Academy for the next four years. Without thinking, she walked over to Gordon and kissed him on the cheek.

“Thank you,” she said tightly, her crystalline eyes filling continuously as Charlie rose from his seat at the dining room table, and he hugged Gordon the same way he hugged him back in the hallway at Eden Hall when Gordon encouraged him to “be that man” the Ducks needed.

Gordon sighed, tightly winding his arms around his boy, his son, his captain, his everything, the child who had given him a life when everything had been so empty and dark. He’d been on the verge of losing his way completely – Charlie had been the one to guide him back into being something those around him could be proud of. Now, this was his way of repaying Charlie for all of the good that he’d brought into his life ever since he met him that day out at the pond when the ten-year-old boy dared his friends to climb onto the limo’s room and beg for a spin on the ice.

He felt Charlie press his forehead into his shoulder, and he felt wetness there as he brought a hand upward to stroke Charlie’s hair lightly; he could feel the silent gratitude Charlie was expressing as they tightened the embrace, suddenly not desiring to relinquish it even though he knew that there was food sitting there on the table growing stone cold – nobody seemed to remember that they had yet to eat dinner; they were just too relieved and happy at the knowledge that the Ducks were back and here to stay and that everything was going to be made right eventually.

Finally, he heard Charlie whisper, “Thank you,” in his ear, and Gordon responded by pulling away slightly to press a light kiss to Charlie’s forehead, and when he pulled away to cup the boy’s face into his hands, he noticed the others had left them to have some privacy.

“You’re welcome,” Gordon replied. “Keep making me proud. Okay?”

Charlie entered Eden Hall the next day feeling lighter than he’d felt in days. Knowing that he and the Ducks weren’t in jeopardy of losing their scholarships anymore was a huge relief. But they still had unfinished business to take care of: the Varsity team. Because now that Coach Orion was back, and the Varsity team was due to be sued for all of the crimes they’d committed, Charlie was up for one last game against them; it would symbolize a new start for this preppy school and have this place play under a new banner, one that Linda Chavez had been fighting so hard for.

Nothing could seem to diminish his good mood, even when he, the Ducks, and Linda entered the mess hall that afternoon for lunch. But before they made their way through the lunch line, Riley, Cole, and the rest of the Varsity team approached them, looking smug.

“Well, congratulations on destroying our school,” Riley sneered.

“Hey, it’s everyone’s school, you stupid jock,” Linda declared coldly – somehow, she hadn’t lost her bite, though Charlie could see the palpable fear in her eyes as she hid behind him; he barred her with his arm, making sure he stood in front of her protectively. Fulton and Goldberg moved so that they were standing behind Linda, and Connie moved to stand at Linda’s other side – no way would they allow the Varsity to lay another hand on her again; they might’ve been allowed back in under the condition that they leave the Ducks alone until they went to trial, but Charlie didn’t trust them to keep true to that.

“No, it will never be your school,” Riley smirked. “Don’t you get it? You’re our own little affirmative action, brought in to entertain us. But you couldn’t even do that. Your fancy lawyer kept you in on a technicality, but you’ll never belong. You’ll never be anything but a bunch of losers on a free ride.”

“‘Free ride?’” Russ demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. “Look at you, rich boy! Mommy and Daddy gave you everything, huh?”

“Well, look, Ricky,” Charlie sneered back, glaring at him. “We’ve got unfinished business before your up-in-coming court case. So, why don’t we settle this fight on the ice where it belongs?”

“You know we’re gonna hurt you,” laughed Cole stupidly.

“Well, last time, you had an unfair advantage. You had one of us – Banksy,” Charlie declared, throwing an arm across Adam’s shoulders.

“Keep him,” Riley taunted, and Charlie could see the flash of hurt come across Adam’s face – how many times had the Varsity team alienated him over the past couple of weeks? Charlie decided that he really didn’t want to know as he tightened his arm around his best friend, silently communicating to him that he didn’t need those guys.

“Well, after we beat you, the Warriors die, and the Ducks fly!” Russ declared, smirking as Riley and his friends walked off to their table in the lunch room.

“Yeah, Russ, way to make them madder,” Averman commented shrewdly.

“Let’s just focus on what we need to do,” Charlie said to his team, leading the way to the lunch line with fierce determination. “We’ve gotta get to work now that we’re back.”

Chapter Text

Chapter 7 – Take Out the Trash

“There’s nothing glamorous about it,” Coach Orion said to them in practice first thing that afternoon. “In the pros, we call it blue-collar hockey. Now, there’s one thing the Varsity does very well. They’re vultures around the net.” He reached into the trash can and picked up an empty tuna fish can to make his next point, holding it up like a puck. “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 tipped the garbage can over, emptying it out onto the ice, and the Ducks were greeted with the sight of rotten bagels, half-eaten apples, molded oranges, milk cartons, water bottles, soda cans – it looked like Coach Orion had decided that he’d skip garbage and recycling day and have them use this as a form of exercise, “– you’re gonna have to pick up the trash.”

The smell was horrendous; they had not been expecting trash, but it was fitting in an ironic way; the Varsity referred to them as “white trash,” and here they were using actual trash as a metaphor for the puck. Averman made a quip about cream cheese as he picked up a bagel, but everyone shook their heads, not at all in the mood for jokes.

“All right, now let’s get to work. Clean up the ice,” Orion said. “Get in front of the net and show me defense.”

Charlie nodded; if he was going to get his “C” back, he’d need to lead the team by example. And he would do whatever it took to prove to Orion that he deserved it, and he would also do whatever it took to prove to these preppy snobs that he and the Ducks belonged. He made the first move, stepping up in front of Julie while Orion made passes to them, flinging various pieces of trash in every direction, aiming for different angles and heights, some being low to the ground, others flying in the air, which Julie caught with her glove.

Charlie wasn’t hearing what Orion was saying; he was just focused on clearing the ice free of trash. Despite panting hard, he had tunnel vision and a set determination to play defense. When he told Orion that he wanted to come back, he’d been serious.

He was going to show Orion how badly he wanted this.

He didn’t just have his team in mind. He also thought of his mom, who wanted to go back to nursing school and finish her degree, but she couldn’t afford it; he made a promise to himself then and there that when all this was done, after he graduated from college after getting accepted on a full athletic scholarship, he would be spending the rest of his life taking care of his mother so that she could have her second chance and have the career that she always wanted. But that could not happen if he didn’t succeed at Eden.

He was grateful that this was his and the Ducks’ second chance. He was determined not to waste a second of it.

So he dug deeper, clearing a milk carton away before it could reach the net. He could hear Orion yelling for them to keep clearing the trash, and they all worked up a sweat until all the trash was on the other side of the ice. By the end of the drill, he and all the Ducks were panting fiercely, and Orion rewarded them with a cooler filled with Gatorade. He tossed all of them a bottle, and Charlie gratefully started sipping his Gatorade, relieved that it was the fruit punch flavor, his favorite.

“All right, you kids are starting to look like a group that plays defense,” Orion said, nodding in approval. “I’m proud of you, team. Really. Now, keep that same energy the rest of the week; by Friday night, we’ll send the Varsity team home crying. And this will shatter any confidence they might think they have for their impending trial.”

Charlie had to grin at that. While it wasn’t going to be a huge show in front of the whole school since Riley, Cole, and the rest of the team were under criminal investigation, the revenge would for sure be sweet.

“But are people gonna show up and watch?” asked Connie nervously.

“Just the board members and Buckley,” said Orion firmly. “We’re keeping this underground. If we win, the school’s mascot changes. Keep that in mind when we play on Friday night. And on that note, you guys are not skating like Warriors. You look like something else. You look like Ducks.”

They watched in anticipation as Orion skated off to his office, where he emerged bearing a large cardboard box. He set it down at his feet and pulled out the first jersey: Dwayne’s, and Charlie could feel his face breaking into an ear-splitting grin that stretched widely, and Orion tossed the jerseys at them. They all eagerly jumped up to catch them, and Charlie was feeling the sensation of being ten years old again when Bombay loudly proclaimed, “We’re Mighty Ducks!”

He could feel his eyes burning; this had been the very thing he missed the most, that feeling of identity, feeling like it was okay for him and his friends to stand out. Orion was right. They would never be Warriors.

He was more than happy to swap the red and white Warriors jersey for the Ducks one, glad that he was wearing his old colors, the very jersey that Jan had gifted to Team USA almost two years ago. He felt lighter than he’d felt in days, and he knew that when he wore this jersey on Friday night, it would give him that feeling it had given him when he and the team faced Team Iceland in that final period.

“It’s about time,” Orion said, grinning at them. “And when you wear them on Friday, make it count.”

“We will,” said Charlie firmly, his confidence soaring as he knelt there wearing his signature 96. It was only missing the “C,” but he felt complete with or without that “C” because it no longer defined who he was; he would always be their leader, no matter what number or letter he wore on his chest.

Hans had been right.

Thinking about Hans caused his eyes to mist, and looking at Orion, he knew Orion was thinking the same as he was.

But before he could skate off to the locker room to get changed, Orion pulled him aside.

“What do you need, Coach?” he asked.

“Nothing in particular,” Orion said, with a gentleness reflected in his gaze that Charlie saw reserved only for family. Orion only looked at Lucy like that, and Charlie was torn between feeling embarrassed and flattered that the man was looking at him that way. “I just wanted to tell you that after the trial is over, that’s when we’ll have Hans’s funeral; I’m arranging for it to happen after sentencing.”

Charlie nodded; he suspected Orion would be planning it that way, but he wasn’t looking forward to laying Hans in his final resting place. It only hurt more, thinking about his last encounter with Hans, how the way he’d acted toward the older man had been so filled with anger.

“I was an ass to him,” Charlie blurted. “The last time I saw him, I . . . I noticed he wasn’t looking good. If only I’d stayed longer, maybe I could’ve . . .”

“You can’t think about what you could have done, son,” Orion said soothingly, though Charlie saw the unmistakable tears in Orion’s eyes. Charlie knew Orion had regrets about not spending enough time with Hans. Charlie sometimes forgot that Orion had grown up knowing Hans, as well. He’d been so angry for the past few weeks that he’d overlooked that; he hadn’t considered that Orion and Bombay had grown up together as childhood best friends; therefore, Orion would have grown up close with Hans. “The doctors even said that his heart was getting weaker and weaker. There wasn’t anything we could have done,” Orion added mournfully.

“I just wish that I had more time with him,” Charlie whispered.

“I know. Me too. I miss him.” Orion swallowed hard. “That’s why, after the funeral, the plan is that we’ll all get together at the old pond.”

“The District Five Ice Rink?” Charlie asked, knowing full well what Orion was talking about – it had been where it all started four years ago.

Orion nodded. “Yeah. Part of it, Bella and I requested that Hans be cremated. We’re gonna scatter his ashes outside the rink.”

“But why have a full service if –?”

“We’re gonna put Hans’s original Ducks jersey along with a few of his most-prized valuables inside his casket, that way his remains are spread and christen the ice rink and a part of him will always be present at the cemetery whenever we visit him,” Orion explained. “That, and I talked to the rink manager; he cleared for us to use the space for something I have in mind for after the service. And I wanted to talk to you about another thing: we need six pallbearers for the funeral. I was thinking it should be you, Gordon, Fulton, Robertson, me, and Portman – three of the originals, three of the newer guys.”

“Wait? Portman?” Charlie gasped.

“Don’t tell the others. Gordon’s gonna see if he can get Portman back,” Orion winked. “We need him for some reinforcement.”

“Yeah.” Charlie nodded.

“All right, then, go get showered and changed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

The rest of the week went by, and when Friday night finally came, all of the Ducks were rightfully nervous. They weren’t just facing a tougher team; they were facing people who’d been making their lives at school a living hell. Connie didn’t feel as confident as she normally did – initially, while at this preppy school, she’d resented Guy for constantly wanting to protect her. But after Cole had shoved her down the stairs, she knew then and there that Guy’s natural instinct was to protect and defend her.

She needed to face Cole tonight, but didn’t think she could do it. He’d been brutal; she could still feel the imprints from his hands shoving her, her head smacking into the railing until her head finally cracked against the floor. She’d been told she was lucky not to have a skull fracture, but her head had hurt for days afterward, and she was convinced that she still felt a little bit of dizziness, but she also thought that that was probably her own anxiety getting to her.

She regretted constantly lashing out at Guy. He’d had every right to worry about her.

As she sat in the locker room, her chest felt tight with breathlessness as they all sat listening to Orion’s pre-game speech, but she could hardly hear a word of what he was saying. Everything felt unattached, like she wasn’t there but somewhere else.

She must have been more out of it than she realized, because everyone had left the locker room, and she was still sitting there. She felt Guy grabbing her hand, and saw Orion kneeling before her, a look of concern washing over his features as he looked at her with that universal dad look on his face; it reminded her so much of her father that it caused her eyes to blur and sting.

“You with us, Moreau?” she heard Orion asking her gently, but his voice sounded like it was underwater.

She shook her head. She felt light-headed and breathless, her chest heavy and tight as she struggled to take a breath, and Orion squeezed her knee softly.

“Give me five things you can see,” Orion said.

“What?” she asked, her throat sounding hoarse.

“Tell me five things you can see,” Orion repeated.

She thought about it, looking around her before saying, “Um . . . the lockers, you, my bag . . . my clothes in my locker, my water bottle.”

“Okay, now tell me four things you can feel.”

“Guy’s hand, the seat, my Ducks jersey . . . my knee pads.”

“Three things you can hear?”

“You . . . um . . . the air conditioning, the water dripping from the sink tap.”

“Two things you can smell?”

“Guy’s cologne; lavender from my deodorant.”

“Now, something you can taste.”

“Could it be what I ate earlier?”

“Yes.”

“Salad.” She could feel the tightness ease up as she finally took a breath, and she wiped at her eyes as Orion grabbed her hand and squeezed gently. She didn’t know what that was, but it did make her feel better, and she no longer felt like she was suffocating, but she still felt her face flush in embarrassment; she wasn’t at all used to this. Normally, she’d be much more independent and could handle herself better. But for some reason, she just didn’t seem to be in control today, and she hated it.

“That was a panic attack,” Orion told her, bringing a hand up to wipe her eyes. “I’ve had my share of them after the accident.”

“How do you make them stop?” she asked.

“You can’t prevent it completely,” Orion told her. “But focusing on what’s present helps. Honestly? I don’t blame you for having one. Nobody thought Cole would ever take it that far; he’s an idiot, but he never shoved a girl in all the years I’ve worked here.”

“I find that hard to believe,” Guy grunted out, and Connie could feel him squeezing her hand even tighter and hear the strain of anger in his voice. He won’t hesitate to do it out there today.”

“It doesn’t make sense. I’ve been shoved by boys all my life. I could always take it. Why now?” Connie asked, hearing the rawness in her voice.

“Because this was the first time someone’s really hurt you intentionally,” Orion said firmly. “I’d say you’ve got every right to have a breakdown here and there. You gonna be okay out there today?”

Connie nodded. “Yeah. Let’s get this over with.”

“If I see anything out of line, I’m pulling you out,” Orion said firmly. “I wanna make sure you and Julie are protected – not that I don’t think you can handle yourself, but the Varsity’s gonna go head hunting. But I don’t doubt Coach Wilson will keep his boys on a leash after all they’d done.”

Connie nodded again.

“Hang tough, honey,” Orion told her. “‘Cause didn’t you once say, ‘I’m no lady, I’m a Duck?’”

At that, Connie had to crack a smile. Bombay must’ve told him about that. “Yeah, I did.”

“So be a Duck,” Orion said firmly, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet, and he led her and Guy out of the locker room so that they could warm up. They could see the Varsity players already out there, skating around for warm-ups, and Cole flashed her a wicked grin as she fell into line with the others, skating and practicing shooting the puck into the net, but she did her best to ignore him as she did some routine stretches.

They ended warm-ups with Orion blowing the whistle, signaling for them to come to the bench. They all gathered around, and Orion said, “All right, Ducks, let's go hunting for goose eggs. Now hands in.” He put his hand in, and added, “Quack.”

At that, all of the Ducks grinned. To be able to do their signature team chant again, it once again allowed them to reclaim the part of them that had been ripped away weeks ago when they started going to this snob fest. As the Ducks looked out into the seats of the arena, they saw Linda Chaves, Casey, Jan, Bella, Lucy, Dean Buckley, and some of the other board members watching. It wasn’t at all a huge show in front of the whole school, but it was their chance to earn their pride back by showing the board members that they’d worked for it all week to prove that they belong.

Plus, with Rick Riley’s impending trial, a win here would be the icing on the cake.

“Quack,” Orion repeated, and they all joined in with him, quacking loudly before they yelled, “GO DUCKS!”

“All right! Let’s go get ‘em!” Orion yelled. He sent Adam, Charlie, Dwayne, Fulton, Russ, and Julie out as the starting line-up, but that meant Adam needed to face Riley, who was the starter for the Varsity team. Connie didn’t know what Riley was saying to Adam, but she could see Adam glaring back at Riley fiercely as one of the referees came over and dropped the puck.

Needless to say, the whole game was a mess.

Nobody scored anything, meaning both sides were playing great defense. But they got their share of injuries. By the second period, the Varsity team was obviously trying their best to cheat. Averman got a concussion that led to him dizzily laughing at Orion as he was helped off the ice, and Guy was slammed into the glass so hard that he had a dislocated shoulder. Even Casey was fed up with the lack of penalties, because when she saw Charlie get slammed into the glass by Riley and soon afterward, tripped by Brown, she yelled, “COME ON!” Even Lucy was screaming bloody murder from the stands, yelling, “COME ON, DEFENSE! THEY’RE EATING YOU GUYS ALIVE OUT THERE!” And Orion was pissed on their behalf; he kept yelling at Coach Wilson to put a muzzle on his boys, and Wilson looked back at him helplessly, apologetically; it seemed no matter how many times Wilson pulled one of his boys out to hold them accountable, it just seemed to drive the Varsity team to play even dirtier, disregarding the consequences each time.

Charlie should not have been surprised that those Varsity guys were this stupid; they were going to be on trial soon for fraud, sexual assault, aggravated assault, harassment, driving while intoxicated, refusing a breathalyzer test, and property damage, yet they were continuing with their ways, showing that they would never change. Charlie hoped that the judge would throw the book at them and lock them all up for a long time, because even though this was a controlled environment with Orion looking out for their safety constantly, they were still getting brutalized left and right.

Charlie knew that they were getting beaten up. He felt sore and tired by the time they ended the hypothetical second period, and they trudged off to the locker room, determined and not at all defeated, even though they knew that the Varsity guys were playing dirty. He sat down on the bench heavily as he panted, gulping down some water.

“You’re playing hard,” Orion addressed them as he patted Russ on the shoulder. “Really. I’m proud of you guys.”

“But they’re cheap-shotting us to death, Coach,” said Luis.

“I know they are. I know they are,” Orion said gently, his voice full of sympathy.

“It’s gonna take a miracle for us to hold on,” said Averman, shaking his head. But just as Averman noted, the locker room door opened, and in came the second Bash Brother, Dean Portman.

“‘Dean Portman is awarded a full athletic and academic scholarship to the Eden Hall Academy,’” he read off his contract, grinning. “I had this lying around the house in Chicago. My attorney thought I should sign it. I agreed. It’s official, boys! I’m back!”

Relief washed through them, and Charlie grinned broadly as he got up to greet Portman, who grabbed him by the arm and yanked him into a hug, giving him a noogie. It felt good to have Portman back; with Portman here, no doubt, they would be far safer out there on the ice.

“Thanks for coming back, man,” said Adam. “Rick Riley’s been kicking my ass.”

“I should never have left you guys alone,” Portman said. “What would you do without me if I weren’t here?”

“I’m sure you heard plenty about what happened when you weren’t here,” said Connie, looking relieved that Portman had returned.

“We’ve missed you, man,” said Luis, grinning.

“All right, Dean, get dressed,” said Orion, reaching over and patting Portman on the shoulder.

The Varsity team better run for the hills, because Portman would surely knock a few of them out in retaliation.

That proved to be right. The moment Portman stepped out onto the ice, he was a menace; he sent Cole flying into the plexiglass, the dividing wall shattering as Cole collapsed against the seats. It was poetic justice after he shoved Connie down the stairs.

Portman even skated up to Cole to rub it in his face as Cole blinked stupidly. “How do you like that? Not so fun, huh? Maybe that will teach you not to go after the little guy, or in your case, a girl,” he sneered, loudly enough for Connie to overhear.

“Way to take out the garbage,” grinned Fulton, skating up to Portman and fist-bumping him as Connie went over, laughing.

“Thank you, Dean, but I am no lady. I’m a DUCK!” Connie spat before skating off to continue the game.

They continued bringing an even stronger defense with Portman in. But with the final two minutes of the period approaching, Orion decided that they needed to bring their best, so he called for a timeout and had all the Ducks come over to the bench.

“Okay, Ducks,” he said. “We’ve got two minutes left. All we’ve gotta do is hold our ground. So, here’s what we’re gonna do. Conway, Banks, and Goldberg, you’re our line-up for offense. We’re going with you guys. Russ, Dean, you’re our defense.”

“Wait, me, Coach?” asked Goldberg, shocked.

“You, Goldberg. You earned your spot out there,” Orion assured the fourth, unofficial Bash Brother. “Okay, Ducks? Here we go! Come on!”

The kids cheered loudly, moving to take their spots on the ice, but Orion stopped Charlie before he could go any further. “Hey, Charlie, we’re really backed into a corner here. We hold them off for two minutes, we got ourselves a tie.”

“We’re up to it, Coach,” Charlie replied.  

“I know you are,” Orion said firmly. “But you deserve to win. Not careless, but not too careful, either. If you see your shot, take it. Make sure it counts.” He then pulled out something from his jacket pocket that he’d been keeping with him the whole game and patted it onto Charlie’s chest. Charlie glanced down at his “C” and beamed at him. “Go get ‘em, Captain,” Orion added, patting Charlie on the shoulder, and Charlie’s smile somehow widened even more before he skated off to take center ice. Charlie went and took the face-off against Riley. Riley, unfortunately, ended up winning the face-off, but Julie made another massive save as the Varsity rebounded. But they were open-net again.

Luckily, Adam threw himself in front of the net and caught the puck right in the chest, saving it. Goldberg got hold of the puck and cleared it out of the zone. Julie scrambled back to her feet, and it was Goldberg, Charlie, and Adam skating along as Goldberg cleared it across the way. It went back into the Varsity zone, but the kids were backchecking, holding Riley and his goons off.

“Make him make the first move, Conway,” Orion yelled from the bench, watching everything closely as he kept his eyes trained on his newly minted captain, and suddenly, Charlie swooped down low, getting underneath Riley and flipping him over, regaining control of the puck!

“THAT’S WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT!” Orion yelled proudly. That was when Charlie had the breakaway with a minute left. Goldberg and Adam hauled ass behind him, and Charlie neared the goalpost to take his shot against Scooter. Charlie did his triple deke and took his shot . . . no . . . he was faking it, and he passed the puck over to . . .

“SHOOT GOLDBERG! SHOOT GOLDBERG!” Orion and the other Ducks shouted, yelling for him to take it. Goldberg took it . . . and the puck sailed into the open side of the net within seconds! It was one to nothing! They won!

Orion roared proudly, punching his fist into the air as he leaped over the diving wall, rushing toward the Ducks; Charlie, Adam, and Goldberg were tangled in a massive group hug, with Goldberg looking whiter than a ghost as he registered that he’d been the one to score the winning goal in the game; he’d even made Charlie promise that he wouldn’t do that to him ever again, but Charlie would do it over and over again in a heartbeat.

Charlie broke away from the hug and skated over to Orion, who was shaking hands with Coach Wilson. Orion had his arms wide open, and Charlie took that as an invitation to jump on the man in a massive hug. Orion wound his arms tightly around him, patting his back and ruffling his hair, fatherly, saying, “Hell of a pass, Captain!”

“Thanks, Coach!” Charlie said, grinning as he pulled away, and he felt warmth surge through him as he saw Orion looking at him with so much pride and affection, and Charlie could feel a newfound love for Orion, a love that he’d only reserved for Bombay for years.

Speaking of Bombay, Charlie saw Bombay climbing down from the bench with Casey and Linda, fighting their way down so that they could greet him. Charlie skated off to meet them as he watched Riley behave like a sore loser, cursing in defeat as he walked off the ice, shoulders slumped. All of the Varsity guys looked pissed, but they knew at that point there wasn’t anything they could do, and Charlie knew then and there that it was starting to sink in for them: they were going to be convicted for several felonies soon, and they were going to jail – no, not jail, prison; their lives were over. Their hopes of getting into the Ivy League were destroyed, and nothing could ever repair their damaged reputations. Charlie almost felt sorry for Riley because Riley looked so pathetic, but he also felt that justice had been served halfway. As he reached over and hugged Bombay, he felt Bombay smiling against him in pride.

“I’m proud of you, Charlie!”

Charlie could feel his eyes burning tearfully as he pulled away. “Thanks, Coach,” he whispered.

Bombay beamed at him before he leaned forward and kissed him on the forehead, and Charlie felt the tears spill over as he hugged Bombay again before pulling away and hugging his mom, who whispered, “I love you!”

“I love you, Mom,” he choked out.

Casey pulled away and framed his face in her hands. “I’m proud of you,” she said.

“Thank you.”

“Charlie.” Linda reached over and grabbed his hand. “Thank you.”

“We’re Ducks now, Linda,” he said. “The Warriors are dead.”

“Good.” Linda smiled at him widely before kissing him on the cheek, and Charlie leaned down, hugging her tightly.

At least now, he was certain of one thing: he and the Ducks were here to stay.

Chapter Text

Chapter 8 – Trials and Tribulations

“Okay, are you ready?” Frank Huddy asked everyone as they sat in one of the private meeting rooms in the courthouse.

“Hardly,” said Charlie as he gripped Linda’s hand tightly.

Charlie’s one-word response summed up how all the Ducks were feeling. None of them would ever be ready for what they needed to face in that courtroom. But they also understood how necessary this was, that the results of this court case could not only impact the rest of their high school careers, but their children’s lives, as well.

“I can imagine,” Huddy said. “However, I want to prep you all before we go out there. Obviously, we didn’t get Morrow because she presided over our injunction hearing. And Riley, Cole, and the others pled ‘not guilty,’ so therefore, we have no choice but to go through with a full trial.”

“Well, which judge did we get?” asked Orion tightly.

“We got Judge Jack Danno,” said Huddy.

Bombay seemed to sigh with deep relief. “Good. I’ve been in his courtroom before. He’ll look at this objectively and make sure that whatever punishment comes should the jury find the Varsity team guilty, that it will be fair; he’ll look at everything the Varsity team has been charged with and give the proper amount of prison time needed.”

“And given that Rick Riley has made the dine-and-dash prank a tradition, I’d be a betting man and say that that tradition went on for years even before he came to Eden Hall,” said Huddy.

“You’re damn right about that,” said Orion. “I consider myself the lucky one. I was on the Varsity team. Therefore, I wasn’t left stuck with that check.”

“So, what you’re saying is that Thomas Riley did this and passed it along?” asked Huddy, quirking an eyebrow.

“He started the whole thing,” said Bombay. “He was always a hustler.”

“But wouldn’t it be too late to bring charges against Tom Riley?” asked Phillip Banks, strained.

“He would have to have his own separate case,” said Huddy, rubbing at the space between his eyes. “However, we aren’t here for him. What he’d done over two decades ago and what his son did are two different cases, and he’s already paying his restitution for nearly kicking the Ducks out of Eden Hall. Therefore, what he did is almost irrelevant to the current case. Unless, of course, the owners of the Minnesota Club are willing to come forth and sue him for fraud, which I doubt they will because at the end of the day, they got their money – Tom Riley was just the lucky one that everyone on the JV roster from his time at school had the money to pay off those checks.”

“He’s both lucky and unlucky,” gritted out Orion, shaking his head.

“Very much,” Huddy agreed gravely. “But we’ve still got the sexual assault, sexual harassment, property damage, DWI, and aggravated assault charges listed – Moreau, your brain scans from the hospital came back clear, no signs of memory loss from your concussion whatsoever, therefore, they cannot say that your memory was compromised because the memory box wasn’t damaged when you hit your head, you were able to do basic math, you knew your name, your birthday, the date that it happened – your testimony would provide great weight should you decide that you still want to.”

Connie nodded, and Guy grabbed her hand in his tightly. “Yes, I’ll testify.”

“Even though we do not have the substantial evidence to say that it was Rick Riley or Cole who slipped you the nut-contaminated brownie, Charlie, Connie’s testimony will provide weight for the aggravated assault charge,” said Huddy. “That’s the good news.”

Charlie nodded, feeling relieved about that.

“If it helps,” said Scooter, “I did overhear Rick discuss it with Brown and Darrow; I don’t know if they fully knew that Charlie was allergic to nuts, though. If they did know, I don’t know where they could have heard it from because nobody knew except Banksy.”

“And I wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell them that,” argued Adam.

“Then that would be considered, for them, a coincidence,” spat Orion, looking completely pissed that Riley had strategically planned for that without even realizing it.

“And we can’t go by coincidence; we cannot say that Riley knew Charlie was allergic because we truly don’t know if he knew. Therefore, we’ll need to bank on Connie’s testimony as well as Linda’s,” said Huddy, eying Linda sympathetically. “That is if you’re comfortable with it.”

“Whatever you want to do,” Linda whispered, looking defeated; her eyes were ringed with dark circles, and she looked paler than usual, and Charlie knew that she hadn’t been sleeping or eating well since the trial date was announced. He hated the thought of Linda needing to go up there, but he also knew that her word would provide what they needed.

“Okay, then,” said Huddy, glancing at his watch. “We should start heading inside. The trial starts in twenty minutes.”

The Ducks all nodded and exited the room, nervously heading into the courtroom. When they walked inside, they saw the jury, many of whom looked like them, ordinary individuals, which only provided them a little bit of comfort. However, they had no clue how the jury would react to the disputes they were about to make. They also saw the whole Varsity team sitting on the other side of the room; Riley and Cole were smirking; Brown, Darrow, Hart, Labine, Mullin, Bard, and Kabine also looked considerably smug. However, Charlie’s main concerns were those who’d sexually assaulted Linda, which included Brown and Darrow. The others, Hart, Labine, Mullin, Bard, and Kabine, were probably going to get lesser charges, considering all they’d done was just go along with the dine-and-dash, but according to camera footage near Orion’s house, it had been Hart’s pickup truck that had been driving away when the Molotov cocktail hit Orion’s front lawn, therefore, Hart was one of the key people suspected of property damage, and he’d probably had somebody else with him, as well, therefore, Hart was going to get the bulk of the property damage charges as well as harassment charges.

Charlie didn’t want to think about how the boys would all get separate prison sentences; he felt in his gut that Brown, Darrow, Cole, and Riley would go away for the longest, while the others would probably get probation or community service. He just hoped whatever punishment came was the right one.

Still, he could catch Riley leering at him as he took his seat, but then he realized Riley was truly leering at Linda, who cowered underneath him as he wrapped his arm around her tightly, holding her close as though to shield her away.

“They keep looking at me,” she whispered, her voice shaking.

“Ignore them,” Charlie murmured. “It’ll be okay. Just look straight ahead, don’t give them anything, okay? And when you’re up there, just look at me, or Connie, try to find a friendly face to look at until it’s all over.”

Linda nodded, and Charlie could feel wetness on his shoulder as he hugged her tightly. He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead as someone announced, “All rise for the Honorable Jack Danno!”

They all rose, and the judge swiftly entered the room before sitting down on the stand. Charlie watched anxiously as the judge nodded for the lawyers to present their opening arguments to the jury, and then it was time for the prosecution to call up their first witness.

“The prosecution calls Constance Moreau to the stand.”

Connie rose nervously and fixed the skirt on her dress before she faced the Bible, putting her hand over it and swearing to tell nothing but the truth before she sat down.

“Please state your full name and address,” said Frank, moving closer to her.

“Constance Marie Moreau, 5749 Pleasant Ave, Minneapolis, Minnesota,” Connie said, swallowing the dry feeling in her throat.

“Can you recollect what happened the afternoon of October 3^rd in your own words?” asked Frank.

Connie nodded. “Yes. Um, I was headed toward the staircase after my last period, and I was heading to my locker. But when I reached the staircase, Bradley Cole approached me and tried grabbing at my wrist. I yanked it away from him, and he reached out, grabbed me by my shirt, and he said, ‘White trash bitch’ before he shoved me down the stairs. My head hit the railing first, and everything went black afterward.”

Frank nodded. “And you say with full confidence that Bradley pushed you?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t experience any confusion due to the concussion?”

“No, I didn’t,” said Connie.

Frank nodded. “And do you have any lingering symptoms now?”

“No.”

“What’s fourteen plus seven?”

“Twenty-one,” Connie answered.

“Can you tell me your date of birth?”

“August 3^rd, 1982.”

“Who is our president?”

“Clinton.”

Frank nodded in final approval. “Thank you, Miss Moreau. No further questions, Your Honor.”

“Defense, you may proceed,” said Judge Danno, and Alec Diegel, Riley’s attorney, approached the stand, wearing half a smirk on his face.

“You claim that your memory hasn’t been compromised, Miss Moreau?” he asked her.

“Yes,” Connie said firmly.

“I see,” said Alec, nodding, but he was still grasping for doubt, because he next asked, “You swore to tell the truth, correct?”

“Yes. I did.”

“But you and the Ducks have a rather colorful history of lying, right?” Alec asked.

“Objection, Your Honor,” Frank said. “What is the relevance?”

“I’m getting there,” Alec said.

“Overruled,” Judge Danno said. “You may continue, defense.”

“By lying, I mean all of the pranks you all pulled over the course of your time at Eden Hall. Weren’t you one of the ones participating in the fire ants being released in the Varsity dormitories?”

“We did do that, but that was in retaliation for the Varsity team ditching us with a check we couldn’t afford,” Connie said.

“I see,” Alec said. “Well, how about this? Didn’t you fake taking falls during a Peewee hockey game almost five years ago?”

“We were kids,” Connie said. “We didn’t know any better. When your coach tells you to do something, you do it.”

“So, what if your coach told you to jump off a bridge? Would you do the same?”

“No.”

“Your Honor,” Frank said, raising his hand. “I’m not seeing the correlation here.”

“But if Miss Moreau here partook in assaulting the Varsity team with fire ants and cheating during a hockey game in her youth, what else could she be lying about?”

“One has nothing to do with the other. Is this about her being confused from a concussion? Or are you trying to paint her as a pathological liar?” Frank challenged.

“Objection sustained,” Judge Danno said before turning to Alec. “Mr. Diegel, if you cannot come up with an argument relevant to the discussion at hand here, please refrain.”

“Fine. No further questions, Your Honor,” Alec said, smirking.

“Listen,” Orion said to Alec calmly; Alec had been grilling him the hardest so far, asking him repetitively if he saw who threw the Molotov cocktail, asking him whether he was fabricating his stories about the Varsity’s history of harassment against the freshmen, whether or not his history with Tom Riley motivated him to have some vendetta against Rick Riley. It seemed to go on for longer than necessary, and everyone could see Orion was fed up with Alec. “I’ve got three full-time jobs: husband, Junior Varsity hockey coach, and dad. I’ve got much more important things on my mind than revenge.”

“But all that unpaid time off you had from being terminated –”

“Wrongfully terminated, sir,” said Orion.

Alec nodded. “But it was still a termination. That must have given you a lot of free time to sit and plot.”

“Plot? Plot what?” Orion asked.

“But you couldn’t prove whether or not it was my client who intentionally gave you nuts, correct?” Alec asked Charlie, narrowing his eyes.

“Yes,” said Charlie. “But I also heard them laughing in the background; I don’t know which ones, but they were laughing as I ate the brownie, which means they probably somehow knew, they just didn’t know how severe it was.”

“But did you see them put the brownie onto your friend’s tray?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“So, you cannot confirm nor deny that you’re lying about it right now?”

“I guess not?” Charlie felt at this point, these questions were just being asked to confuse him. His head was spinning, and he imagined that this was how it felt to have ADHD. He couldn’t follow where one question led to, and it seemed to carry on this way the whole time the prosecuting witnesses were up there.

Alec seemed to be hoping that he could trip them up, get them to say something that would lead to cracks in their stories. But so far, everyone was sticking to what they knew and what the truth was.

However, it was frustrating. Glancing at the clock, it was lunchtime. He was hungry. He wanted a burger from Mickey’s Dining Car. He wanted a soda. He wanted to get off this stand to get some fresh air. But Charlie knew that he was stuck up there until Alec decided that he was done with him.

“Yes, or no?”

“Well, that’s not how I pictured it would go.” Charlie sighed heavily as he collapsed into the booth at a nearby McDonald's; the judge had called an hour break for lunch, and Orion and Bombay both offered to take him to get something to eat somewhere, which was a relief, because the last thing Charlie had that morning was coffee and a muffin from Mickey’s.

“Well, so far, this is good,” said Bombay, sipping a large sweet tea and picking at his fries. “Diegel’s going in circles. He’s grasping for anything to try and make you guys look like liars, and he’s doing a terrible job of it.”

“And his suggestions that Connie’s memory was compromised hold no weight,” said Orion as he bit into his quarter-pounder with cheese. “When Bella goes up there on the stand to provide the medical reports, Alec won’t be able to argue with anything. He won’t even be able to suggest that Linda’s injuries were a result of rough sex because consensual, rough sex never leads to the kinds of injuries she received during that assault.”

“And what if the Varsity team realizes they have no case and they decide to change their plea at the last minute?” Charlie asked.

“It could happen, but it most likely won’t. They’ll drag this out until they’ve exhausted every argument they can make,” said Bombay. “I would know. I did the same for clients that I represented.”

“You would know, Coach,” Charlie said dryly as he dipped his chicken nugget into his hot caramel sundae, much to Orion and Bombay’s disgust. “So, what happens if Riley, Cole, and those who participated in the rape are found guilty?”

“Well, Riley’s eighteen, Cole is nineteen, the rest are seventeen-going-on-eighteen,” said Bombay. “Riley and Cole would have to register as sex offenders because Linda is fourteen. The others who participated, they’ll be sentenced to juvenile hall, but there is a chance that the judge will seek to sentence them as adults.”

Charlie sighed with relief. “How many years do you think they’ll get overall?”

“It’s hard to say,” Bombay said, reaching over and covering Charlie’s hand with his. “But the good thing about this is that if they’re found guilty and they’re given the maximum, they’ll be forbidden from being within a hundred feet of you once they’re on probation. And they’ll have the possibility of parole, but when that time comes, I will talk to Frank about making sure they don’t get out.”

Charlie nodded, feeling partially relieved as he dragged another McNugget through his sundae, and Orion looked completely disgusted as he asked, “Do you have to do that? My wife does that right now!”

“It’s sweet and salty! Don’t knock it till you’ve tried it!”

Orion rolled his eyes. “You eat like a pregnant woman when you’re stressed. I’ve noticed it.”

“Can you blame me?” Charlie asked as he sipped his orange soda, rolling his eyes. He then glanced down at his watch, the one Bombay had gifted to him when he graduated from eighth grade. “It’s almost time to go back.”

“So hurry up and eat, kid,” Orion said, biting into his burger again, even though his stomach was in knots over this situation. They just hoped that the odds would be in their favor and that this case wouldn’t drag out for another day, because he didn’t think he could handle this much longer.

“The prosecution calls Linda Chavez to the stand.”

Linda looked like she’d be sick as she rose from her seat beside Charlie, and Charlie watched nervously as she sat down on the stand. Still, he flashed her what he hoped was a comforting smile. But even as he did so, he glanced down at his watch; the time was four-fifteen. The court closed in fifteen minutes.

Given the hefty charges against the Varsity team, this was no doubt going to drag into the next day.

Still, he sat there and watched as Linda recounted what had happened the night she was assaulted.

“And then what happened?” Frank was asking Linda, and Charlie winced as he noticed her starting to tear up. She’d been fighting back from crying thus far, but he knew that once she started recounting all of the gruesome, painful details of her assault, she wouldn’t be able to hold the tears back anymore.

“Richard, he . . . he led us to the ice rink, and he . . . he had one of his friends put tape over my . . . my mouth to stop me from screaming,” Linda whispered, her breath hitching as she sniffled, tears rolling down her face and staining her cheeks black from her mascara. “He grabbed me and shook me, and he said I was a pretty thing; someone said it was hard to tell because I had clothes on.” Charlie watched as her whole face went bright red, and his anger and hatred for the Varsity team spiked to another level as he clenched his hands tightly, fighting so hard not to jump up and start yelling; he knew that Frank was setting the pace for Linda, which he was grateful for. He didn’t want her rushing at all.

“Richard, he . . . he started pulling my clothes off; he . . . he pulled my underwear off and forced me on my back, onto the ice, and he . . . he climbed on top of me. He pulled his pants off, and he forced my legs apart, and he . . . he went in; he . . .”

“It’s okay, take your time,” Frank whispered. “Did the others participate as well?”

“Yes. Bradley was the last one to r-rape me,” Linda stammered, trying desperately to wipe her eyes.

“And then what happened?”

“Richard asked me if I was going to . . . to reconsider writing my article. I shook my head at him to say no. He kicked me in the ribs, and . . . and one of his friends suggested giving me a – a bath; they dragged me into the shower and turned the water on cold and they . . . they eventually tied my hands and feet together and . . . and they . . . after they turned the water off, they . . . they took the rest of my clothes off and I could f-feel them writing stuff on me.” Linda’s face crumpled as she cried harder, and Charlie really had to fight the urge to kill Riley and Cole right then and there. Only Orion’s hand on his arm prevented him from jumping from his seat and running to Linda so that he could hold her and be at her side.

“Thank you, Linda, I know that was really hard, but you did great,” Frank assured her soothingly. “No further questions.”

“Well, it’s officially four thirty; we will resume court tomorrow at nine A.M. Be prompt, everyone.” Judge Danno dismissed them by banging the gavel, and Linda wasted no time in rushing off the stand and into Charlie’s arms; he caught her, holding her close as he went and stroked her hair, rocking her gently.

“It’s okay,” he murmured, kissing her on the forehead. “It’s over. You don’t have to go back up there till tomorrow. It’s okay.” But even as he said those words, he knew they were in vain. It was far from okay. Because Linda would have to face Riley’s attorney tomorrow, Diegel wouldn’t make it easy on her at all. With that thought in mind, he hugged her even tighter, determined to make her feel as safe as he could.

Chapter Text

Trials and Tribulations Part 2

Knowing Linda had to resume testifying was a difficult pill for everyone to swallow. Charlie felt like a brick had settled in his stomach, and he could only imagine what Linda was feeling; they’d met at Mickey’s early that morning for breakfast, but neither he nor Linda ate much at all. He hated that she needed to go back up there, and hated that Riley and Cole’s attorney was going to make it that much harder for her.

As he watched her go back up onto the witness stand, anger flared up, especially when he saw Riley and Cole smirking, like they were certain they were going to get off scot-free. The anger seemed to heat up his veins and leak through into his bones, his face red and flaring up underneath the pressure as he fought not to lose his temper completely. He knew that when this was all over, he would not miss this place at all after needing to sit in this courtroom for days on end, hearing everyone recount every horror before the jury.

He watched as Diegel did his cross-examination, a heaviness weighing down on him as he listened to the defense lawyer confront her.

“Are you certain that you didn’t consent to have sex with my clients?”

“Yes. And I couldn’t give consent,” Linda said, her voice breaking. “They taped my mouth shut; I couldn’t say anything even if I wanted to.”

“Interesting,” said Diegel, “and I must ask, this wasn’t set up? This wasn’t some ploy to get revenge?”

“No.”

“You say you didn’t want it, but did you do anything that could have provoked them? What were you wearing that night?”

Charlie wanted to stand up and scream. Why did it matter to this scumbag what Linda wore? Luckily, he didn’t have to intervene because Huddy rose from his seat.

“Objection, Your Honor! Hostility toward the witness.”

“Sustained. Mr. Diegel, would you please stick to relevant information?”

“But, Your Honor, it is relevant. What she was wearing that night could have put ideas into their minds.”

“Your Honor, the defense is wasting time,” Huddy said, his voice strained. He turned and glowered at Diegel before saying, “It doesn’t prove anything substantial.”

“The argument is still sustained,” Judge Danno said calmly. “Mr. Diegel, drop it.”

“Fine.” Alec turned back to Linda. “You could have made it easier by not publishing the article. Why didn’t you?”

“Because the public deserves to know the truth,” Linda said with conviction, swallowing. “And barring me from doing so goes against freedom of the press. I’ve got every right to speak up against what I think is unfair.”

“Nothing further, Your Honor.”

“The prosecution has no further witnesses, Your Honor.”

“Thank you, Mr. Huddy. Mr. Diegel, you may call your first witness.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. The defense calls Richard Riley to the stand.”

Linda stepped down from the witness stand and practically bolted toward Charlie, who grabbed her in a fierce hug.

“You did so good,” he murmured into her ear. “I’m so proud of you.” He guided her back into the chair as Alec asked Riley to confirm his name and address.

“Richard Joseph Riley, 149 Blaisdell Avenue, Richfield, Minnesota,” Riley answered.

“You are a senior at Eden Hall Academy, correct?”

“Yes.”

Diegel proceeded to ask Riley everything that happened from his point of view, but the only things that came out of Riley’s mouth were lies: he insisted that Cole’s license wasn’t suspended, even though it was. He insisted that his blood alcohol content wasn’t that high, but it was. He even suggested that Linda led him on and that he didn’t know that the Ducks could not afford to pay for that dinner at the Minnesota Club. Charlie couldn’t believe that Riley was able to believe his own lies; either he was a complete psychopath, or all those years of playing hockey had led to him taking too many hits to the head, meaning his brain was probably damaged. Charlie couldn’t decide which to choose from, but the further he listened to Riley’s lies rolling so smoothly off the tongue, the angrier he felt, especially when he heard Riley talking about how Linda dressed and how her outfit “provoked” him that night to rape her.

Luckily, Huddy chewed Riley up and spat him out.

“Your blood alcohol content was point ten, Mr. Riley,” Huddy said coolly.

“But it wasn’t,” Riley scoffed.

“Oh, really? Then how come it came up that way on your urine test?”

“It was planted by the cops? They faked my test with someone else’s piss?”

Huddy narrowed his eyes. “That has got to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard in my entire life; the evidence is there. There were beer cans in the back seat of the car, Mr. Riley. What put it in your head that it was okay for you and your friends to get behind the wheel of a vehicle while drunk? Did it occur to you that you could have killed a civilian?”

“No, it did not, because we were not that drunk.”

“So you admit to underage drinking, which is against the law?”

“What? No.”

Huddy shook his head, huffing out a frustrated sigh. “Well, what about Linda Chavez? Did she give consent? Did she tell you ‘No?’”

“She made it seem like she didn’t want it, but she did. She enjoyed it.”

“Can you tell me the definition of enjoy?”

“Yeah. To have pleasure in something. I’m not stupid.”

“So, you believe that her screaming and crying and fighting you meant that she enjoyed it?”

“She likes it rough.”

“Rough sex doesn’t cause the severe injuries that she sustained,” said Huddy, glowering at Riley. “And did you or anyone on the Varsity team have any knowledge that Charles Conway was allergic to nuts?”

“No, we didn’t. And we didn’t give him anything with nuts in it. Even if we did know, we wouldn’t have done that.”

“Nothing further, Your Honor,” Huddy spat, disgusted, but as Charlie glanced at the jury, he could see that none of them believed Riley’s testimony.

The same went for everyone else on the Varsity team, especially Cole, who was stupid enough to incriminate himself by saying that yes, he did lightly shove Connie when she was on the edge of the staircase, and that was enough evidence for someone to see that Cole had intended to hurt Connie by shoving her down the stairs.

But when it came time for character witnesses, Charlie watched as Tom Riley went up there trying to lie for his son.

“He wouldn’t do such a thing,” Tom insisted. “Truthfully. Off the ice, he wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Charlie nearly laughed when he heard that statement, and he had to bite his tongue until it bled when he heard Cole’s mother idiotically try to defend his actions; she was hilariously stupid about her son if she believed that Cole was incapable of hurting a girl. Some witnesses claimed to know the Varsity players since they were children; hell, even Jack Reilly, Coach Bombay’s former Pewees coach, went up there trying to defend them, but he was just as quickly shut down by Huddy, who brought up how Reilly’s aggressive coaching style might have influenced those boys to act the way that they did, how Reilly encouraged his boys to hurt others intentionally.

At the end of it all, things weren’t shaping up to be in the Varsity team’s favor. And while Charlie knew they’d need to wait for sentencing to hear what the Varsity team’s punishment would be, he was much more anxious to hear the final verdict.

He looked down at his watch and saw that the court was about to close in an hour. He didn’t know if he could last another day in this place, but just when he thought that they would need to go back to court tomorrow morning because the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous decision yet, the jury returned, clutching their papers in their hands and facing everyone in the room, the looks on their facings speaking louder than words ever could.

“We, the jury, find the defendants guilty on all counts,” the head juror said sternly.

Judge Danno nodded. “Thank you.” Turning to the Varsity team, he said, “Your sentencing date is a week from today at nine A.M, sharp. Do not be late. Case closed. Court is dismissed.” He banged the gavel down hard, and Charlie felt like he could finally release the breath he’d been holding in the entire time as he turned to his friends, who looked tremendously relieved. Connie, Linda, and Julie were all crying happy tears. Dwayne, Russ, and Kenny were hugging each other tightly. Even Portman looked tempted to rip his shirt off and start doing a victory dance in the middle of the courtroom.

But the most relieved of all of them was Coach Orion, who was beaming harder than Charlie had ever seen him.  His arms were open as Charlie walked up and hugged him, and it felt even warmer than when they’d hugged after the Ducks beat the Varsity team in that underground scrimmage.

The warmth with which Orion hugged him brought forth a tight, burning sensation to Charlie’s chest as his throat constricted. He managed to whisper out, tightly, “I’m sorry.”

Orion seemed confused by his statement. “What are you sorry for?”

“For being wrong about you.”

Orion shook his head. “You’ve got nothing to apologize for, Charlie. We both misjudged each other.” He pulled away and leaned a hand on Charlie’s shoulder, and Charlie could see a sort of paternal love there that he’d only ever seen in Bombay’s eyes all those times. “And for the record? I’m proud of you. I’ve always been.”

“What do you mean?” Charlie asked, confused as he blinked at Orion.

“I meant it when I said I watched your tapes,” Orion said gently. “But I was also there when you won that Peewee championship. I watched you score that goal in overtime. I knew you were something special even before you got into Eden Hall, Charlie. And I only pushed you because I knew that you could do more. I want you to be happy with what you’ve achieved. But you shouldn’t be satisfied; you should strive for more. I know what you can do.”

Charlie stared back at Orion, open-mouthed. It never occurred to him that Orion had watched him and the Ducks from the time they were ten years old. But he also supposed that it made sense on paper, that Orion had known about them because he was friends with Bombay. Charlie just nodded in return, understanding, finally, what Orion had been trying to make him see all along: Orion wanted them to be better than their best; he wanted them to be just as good on defense as they were on the offense, because defense was the thing that mattered the most in the game, and Orion had been on their defense from the moment it was announced that their scholarships were revoked; he fought for them and stuck up for them, he lost his job for them and showed them that he cared, and Charlie felt his eyes mist as he finally clamped his mouth shut and nodded, hoping that his single gesture was enough to convey his gratitude toward Orion for all the trouble that he went through for them.

Orion seemed to understand, because he smiled a little more widely, his blue eyes seeming a lot less cold; they held a twinkle as he reached over and clasped Charlie on the shoulder, squeezing gently.

“You are the real Minnesota Miracle Man, kid,” Orion said sincerely. “Keep making me proud, all right?”

Charlie nodded back. He wanted to say that he would, but once again, he saw that Orion knew what he meant. Orion pulled him in for another hug, and Charlie sank into him, his heart opening even more and making some room for Orion, who was now one of the many father figures that he held dear to his heart as he hugged the former Stars player back, gripping the back of his suit as Orion’s hand reached up to cradle the back of his head.