Sunshine - Dean Portman - The mighty ducks 2

Part three

Nostalgia is a beautiful lie dressed up in sepia.
-Atticus

Irene didn't get a good night's sleep. Again. She woke up in the middle of the night cold and sweaty, eventually she managed to go back to bed with the help of music to drown out her panicked thoughts. Because of this she slept in and was awoken by a loud knocking.

"Go away, I'm sleeping." Irene grumbled loud enough for them to hear. Of course they didn't care and kept on obnoxiously knocking. Annoyed Irene rolled out of bed not caring how she looked.

"What?" She told the person not bothered to open her eyes. As usual she wasn't in the mood to talk. Irene yawned and opened her eyes to see Dean, the annoying boy from the night before.

Dean Portman who was leaning against the doorway was taken aback at the sight. Even half asleep Irene O'Callahan was pretty but not to normal society standards, she looked stunning even with drool on her mouth and eye bags, pretty in a artsy way. Her light brown hair was short and choppy. Her brown eyes looked like the Grand Canyon and if the light hit just right they almost looked amber. Irene's hands had led smudges from when she stayed up drawing. Circle glasses stood crooked on her nose like she just out them on which she did.

Of course he never was going to say that she was pretty, instead he bursted out laughing.

"You drool in your sleep." Was all he said as she glared at him.

She rolled her eyes and pushed up her glasses with her nose.

"What do you even want Portman?" She asked, leaning against the doorway tired.

"Get dressed."

"I am dressed."

He looked down at her shorts and oversized hockey tee. Long socks covered her burned scar legs except it didn't seem like a fire. They were circular as if you put a lighter to your skin.

"That-never mind. We are meeting the coach, hurry up." Dean told her as she shut the door in her face. He ended up standing there looking like an idiot standing at the door. Eventually he regained his senses and walked away wondering about the small burn marks that covered her legs but pushed the thought aside.

It was none of his business.

Eventually Irene, who was not a morning person, got dressed and had her hockey bag ready to go. She brushed her messy face and was clad in a Nirvana band tee with jean shorts and a dark flannel thrown over. The long socks she wore that morning still on. She made her way over to the hotel elevator and pressed the lobby floor when she heard someone running.

"Hold the elevator please!" It was the tall blond from her team.. She was carrying a large hockey bag and was running to the elevator trying not to be late for meeting the coach as she wanted to make a good impression.

Irene put her foot between the elevator door so it wouldn't close before she got there.

"Thanks." The girl told Irene who nodded and played with her bag strap. "You don't say much do you?"

Irene shrugged and pushed up her glasses. She never was a people person. Even when she was younger. She blamed her dad, she blamed him for a lot of things. The two girls stood in silence the rest of the way down. Irene who never liked small spaces gripped her hockey bag tighter with every second. On the outside she looked calm but on the inside she was silently panicking. She was brought back for the time she was trapped in the ice box, dark and alone.  Soon the elevator made a ding and she ran out of the elevator glad to be free.

Irene was nervous to see her old friends if she was telling the truth. Sure she was excited but she didn't know if the other ducks would like her. One specific duck in particular, Fulton reed. Her childhood friend. She didn't know why she was so nervous she just was; last time she heard from him he quit playing football and joined her hockey team. When she last visited which was over  four years ago he finally was on a team with the ducks and she played with them before.

She knew most of the ducks except Adam banks. She remembered him as the rude hawk player who would make fun of her not having new gear.

Don Tibbles met the team in the lobby where they were all waiting and led them into the same limousine they arrived in.  Irene texted Elliot telling her that she was going to meet the team so she wouldn't worry about the girl.

They arrived at the locker room  so they could get ready to meet the coach. Irene's nerves got the best of her as she got ready.  All she could think about was what if her teammate didn't like her? What if they know about juvie?

She tried steading her racing heart but her nerves took over her brain. She sat down on a bench struggling to take her sweatshirt off and in frustration ended up yanking it off and throwing it across the room.

Dean, who saw the whole ordeal, chuckled under his breath as he continued to get ready. He slipped his Morgan park jersey over his pads and began lacing his skates before putting his bandana on.

Irene dug around in her bag before finding her old thunderbird jersey she stuffed in there. She liked playing with the Seattle team but they weren't closely bonded as most. They still played well besides that fact, winning a Seattle championship that caught the eye of Don Tibbles.

She laced her skates and made her way to the ice. The first thing she noticed was the ducks huddled together in green and yellow jerseys.

Luckily she had her helmet on so they didn't recognize her right away even with her last name and number 17 on the back of her jersey. She quickly sped by her childhood friend Fulton just in case as she didn't tell him she was here.

Coach Gordon Bombay was talking to his favorite player, Charlie Conway about new plays for the season and how they would beat Iceland when the new ducks skated in. There were six of them in different jerseys around the US. Gordon did hand pick most of the players along with the help of Don Tibbles but some he didn't know how well they played, or how they played together.

Charlie Conway watched the players approach his coach as he brought his attention to the sponsor next to him. Charlie skated to join the rest of his team as the new players skated on the ice.

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Word count 1131