Big Time Superstar

Big Time Confessions

A/N- This is a filler chapter while I write part 2 to Big Time Crib. It's a flashback to the end of the guys' first day of school at the Palm Woods. Again, this chapter is going to be centered around The Mighty Ducks. I apologize if you haven't watched it, but if you have Disney Plus, I definitely recommend :)

After what felt like an eternity of detention for spraying the whole class with water guns, Carlos, Logan, James, and Kendall knocked on their friend's door, ready to relax in her nice apartment instead of their worn out one.

Persephone opened the door and smiled when she saw her friends, "Hey guys, come in." Without a word, the boys entered her apartment and practically sprinted to her couch, flinging themselves down, sinking into it. Persephone laughed, amused, "Can I get you guys anything to lighten the mood?"

"Well, thinking off the top of my head, you could tell us about the hockey hint you dropped on us earlier." James didn't forget about how she hinted that she liked hockey. In fact, it consumed his thoughts all day.

"Right... well, I guess I have to tell you at some point. But you can't freak out, and don't make it a big deal, because it's really not. Ok?"

"We promise." Carlos spoke, smiling at the girl that stood in front of them.

"Well, when I said I like hockey more than cheer I didn't meant just watching the game. I actually use to play."

"Really? For who?" Logan leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"The Ducks." Persephone and Kendall looked at the faces of their friends, waiting to see how they'd react. When they started laughing, it was the last thing Persephone expected.

"Funny, Percy. Who'd you really play for?"

"I'm serious." Persephone remembered she kept her old jersey tucked away in he closet, and went to get it as the boys calmed down from their fits of laughter. When the girl returned, she held up the front side of the jersey to show Carlos, Logan, and James. All they could do was stare with their mouths agape, realizing she wasn't kidding, "There's one more tiny thing." Persephone turned the jersey around so the embroidery of her last name faced the three guys. Kendall's face was full of amusement as he looked to his friends, taking in their expressions. When they read the name, James fell out of his seat and hit the floor. Persephone's eyes widened as she set down the jersey and rushed to her friend's side to make sure he was ok.

James sat up and looked at Persephone, "You?" He pointed at her, "And him?" He moved his attention to the jersey, "But your last name-" He couldn't find the words to finish his sentence.

"It's a stage name. Exactly for this reason." Persephone playfully rolled her eyes and helped James to his feet, "I didn't tell you guys before because this was the reaction I was trying to avoid. I don't want you guys to see me as Persephone Bombay, Gordon Bombay's daughter. I want you to see me as Percy. Your friend and superior co-worker." Kendall smiled at her humor while the other guys still just stared at the jersey laying on the couch, "Guys, say something."

Carlos slowly turned his head to redirect his gaze to the girl, "This. Is. AWESOME!"

"Really?" Persephone was shocked. She thought they would he mad that she hadn't told then earlier, "You're not mad that I didn't tell you sooner?"

"Of course not. You had your reasons. Now," Carlos too the girl's shoulders and lightly pushed her onto the couch. He sat in front of her on the floor, and crossed his legs with his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands like a kid, "Tell us everything."

Persephone laughed at his childish tactics while Logan sat next to him, and James and Kendall sat on either side of her, "Well, me dad taught me to skate as soon as I could stand up on my own. There was this pond in our town that he'd take me to everyday. I was playing hockey before I fully learned how to walk. I always used to look forward to skating with my dad. It was something that only we shared. My mom never got the bond we had over a game where you body check people into glass, but she was happy we had something we could do together. Then when I was five, his career as a lawyer started taking off and he didn't have much time to play anymore. I remember being so devastated I wouldn't leave my room for days. So my mom started taking me to the pond and that's when I met Lester Averman, Terry Hall, and his brother, Jesse." She saw the boys' faces light up when they heard the familiar names. Persephone walked into her room and came back with a box in her arms. She sat back in her spot and pulled out a photo album with pictures of her and her friends. She passed it to Carlos so he could see it first, being the most eager to learn about her background, "The four of us were attached at the hip. We practiced together almost everyday. Then, when we were seven, we joined the District Five Pee-Wee hockey team. That's when we met Goldberg, Connie, Guy, Peter, Karp, and Charlie." She reached over and flipped to a picture her mom had taken of her and the team, "We sucked. Goldberg was afraid of the puck, which is unfortunate when you play hockey, let alone are the goalkeeper, Averman was always two seconds away from getting assaulted by the other team because he couldn't shut his mouth, and on top of that, our equipment was always breaking. I mean, we had to tape our names on the back of or jerseys. If that wasn't bad enough, we drove our coaches crazy. It got to the point where we had a new coach every couple of months." Persephone laughed to herself, remembering how they gave one coach a heart attack, "Then, when we were 10, 11 years old, my dad got a DUI and was ordered tons of hours of community service. It just so happened he was lucky enough to get assigned as our next coach. After almost giving up on us and teaching us how to cheat to win, he made us amazing. Like, a full 180. We got sponsored by his law firm and boss, Mr. Ducksworth. Hence our team name." She ran her fingers over the embroidery of a duck on her jersey, "They gave us thousands of dollars to invest in new equipment and jerseys that our names weren't falling off of every game. Then we met Adam Banks and Fulton Reed, who made us even better. And soon enough we became district champions." Persephone showed them a picture of her, her dad, and The Ducks holding a trophy with the biggest smiles on their faces, "After that, my dad left to try out for the minor leagues. In a couple years he was almost signed to the NHL, but when he hurt his knee, he knew it was over and he had to come home. When I was 13, he was asked to coach us as team USA  to play in an international Junior Goodwill competition. That's when met met Julie, Dean, Ken, Dwayne, and uh.... Luis." Persephone internally cringed at the mention of Luis. They had been going out for almost a year when she moved to LA. She didn't make him feel pressured to try and make long distance work, but he insisted on giving it a shot. Not too long after she moved, she found out he was flirting with every female that had a pulse on a daily basis, and ended it. They talked every now and again, but it wasn't a common occurrence. Persephone flipped to a picture of her and the team in their USA jerseys.

"Yeah, we watched some of those match ups." James piped up enthusiastically, "We wished we could get to play as team USA someday."

Persephone smiled, "Well it's not like we had much major competition.... besides Iceland. They really got into my dad's head. We lost one game against them and Captain Blood came roaring out." When she say the boys giving her looks of confusion, she explained, "It's a nickname we came up with for my dad after he kept us at the rink until 2:AM running drills and doing sprints. It wasn't fun anymore, and we all got pretty discouraged. Until we met Russ Tyler," She flipped in the photo album once again to a page that had a picture of her and Russ after he taught her how to accomplish the perfect the perfect "knuckle-puck" as he liked to call it, "Him and some of his friends reminded us why we were there in the first place. We were having fun while playing the game again." She smiled at the memory of her team versus Russ' team in a game of street hockey. She was convinced they wouldn't have pulled through if it weren't for them, "Charlie and I asked Russ to play with with us when Adam hurt his wrist in our first game against Iceland. When Adam came back, Charlie let him take his spot while he helped my dad coach from the sidelines. We always said he'd make a better coach than he was a play. Which is saying a lot because.... well, you've seen him play before. In our rematch against Iceland, we ended with a victory. But you guys already knew that." Persephone looked around to her friends and they were all leaning forward, invested in the story, as they nodded, signaling they already knew, "After that, when it was time to start high school, my dad got us all scholarships at a fancy prep school, Eden Hall, while he went to coach full time. But, I came here instead. There was an opportunity that was too big a chance to pass up. My mom wanted nothing to do with it. She didn't think I could make it as a singer or songwriter. So, I came here on my own. A couple years later, here I am, proving my mom wrong, and I love nothing more. I still talk to The Ducks sometimes, but they're busy with school, and I'm busy with work. I love them to death though. I wish I had more time to see them." Persephone smiled, thinking of her team, "Anyway, I think that about sums it up."

"You're really close to them, huh." Kendall wondered aloud, as he was now the one holding the photo album, flipping through the pictures of her and her friends.

"Yeah, but some of them are more like family." She showed him a picture of just her and her closest friends of the group. In a line, stood Averman, Jesse, Russ, Fulton, Dean, Charlie, and Persephone. Sge pulled out another photo album out from the box she found in her room, and opened it to the first set of pictures which were of her and her dad when she was first learning how to skate. She loved how happy they both looked and wished they could still have moments like those. As she kept flipping, she saw individual pictures of her and her friends. Her and Charlie at Mickey's Diner with ice cream in hand after their first win. Her and Jesse standing next to each other with sunglasses on, her arm on his shoulder and her other hand on her hip, and he crossed his arms in front of him, trying to look cool. Or her personal favorite, a picture of her standing in between Fulton and Dean. She had her arms crossed, facing the camera, and Fulton and Dean were standing back to back behind her with their arms crossed too, acting tough. As much as the two guys tried to act tough, they had a soft spot for Persephone whether they wanted to admit it or not. "And I promise if they're ever in town, you'll be the first ones to know." The guys let out celebratory cheers. As if on cue, Persephone's phone dinged, signaling a text message came through. She picked up her phone to see Charlie sent her a picture. She clicked it open to see a group picture of her friends making funny faces in their uniforms.

C- Victory is ooouuurrrrsss!

Persephone laughed, guessing they won their game.

P- Tell everyone I sat congrats. Celebrate with some ice cream for me. I wish I could be there. Love you guys.

Persephone locked her phone and put it in her pocket. She looked at the guys in front of her who were flipping through her photo albums, talking over each other nonstop, so excited about the new information that was given to them. The girl was so happy to have been blessed with the friends and family she had, and she knew that she wouldn't trade any of it for anything.

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Word count- 2,149

*Not edited*