Never Gonna Happen

9

The rest of the summer went by fast, way too fast. I had spent most of my time with Mindy, Rick, and Scooter. Scooter and I had just decided to ignore what happened between us, it would be better if we just dealt with it by not dealing with it. 

At one point, Rick had cornered me, asking why Scooter and I were acting weird around each other. I told him to go fuck himself. 

My friends must love me. 

My parents had made it their mission to annoy me every minute that I was around them ever since they got home. Yes, I loved them, but I just really wanted them to shut up right now. 

"We are not arguing about this again, you are staying here and not at the dorms." My dad argues back. 

"Ok, but all of my friends are staying at the dorms. Plus, I won't have to waste any gas by driving there when I can literally just live there. And I'll be home on the weekends." 

Dad sighs and leans back further into his chair, "Your mother and I hardly see you, we would like it if you stayed here." 

"You do realize that you guys never see me because you're both always working? It's not really my fault." Dad glares at me and I shrug, "Look, it would just be easier. C'mon Dad, you're literally the Dean of the school, you'll see me every day." 

He rubs the bridge of his nose and finally sighs, "Fine." 

I smile, "Thank you." 

He motions me out of his office with a wave of his hand. I hate when he does that, makes me feel like he doesn't think that I'm even worthy of a verbal dismissal. 

I stop at the office doors, "Can I share a room with Mindy?" 

"Sure." I smile once again and practically bounce out of the room.

I had managed to move the majority of the things I wanted into my dorm last night. Mindy and I had both slept in our dorm last night, as did most people who were staying in the dorms. 

I woke up to someone knocking quite aggressively on our door. Mindy is already awake so she opens the door to a shrieking cheerleader. I'd probably recognize her if I didn't try to smother myself with my pillow as soon as she started shrieking. 

When the room finally quiets down I move the pillow away from my face and I look over at the clock on my nightstand, "Why am I being woken up so early?" I ask. 

"Back to school assembly, remember?" The cheerleader tries to remind me. 

I glare up at her, "God, I'm skipping that." I turn over, trying to fall asleep again. 

I feel someone sit on my bed, "You'll get in trouble." 

"Having the last name Buckley means I get away with certain things." I mumble, half of my face smushed into my pillow. 

The soft pillow that I was laying on is ripped from underneath me and I bounce up to look at who stole it from me. Mindy stands with a hand on her hip, eyebrow raised, as she holds my pillow. "Get up." 

I scrunch my nose at her and she throws my pillow at me. I catch it and grumble as I stand up, quietly protesting the assembly. 

Mindy starts talking to the other cheerleader again and I look over to see who it is, "Oh. Hi Morgan." 

Morgan looks over at me and smiles, "Morning." 

I frown, "Don't remind me." She giggles at me and then turns back to Mindy. 

By the time I'm ready, Mindy and Morgan have already left to go and get a seat. I leave and make my way to the assembly hall, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I go. 

"Jess!" Someone calls from behind me. I turn around to see Owen walking towards me. 

Oh, god. This is either gonna be really bad or really awkward. 

I stop walking and wait for Owen to catch up with me. When he finally joins my side he smiles widely at me, "Hey." 

I smile back, "Hi, Owen." 

Owen smirks a little, "Oh, and see I didn't think you'd remember my name, seeing as you never called me." 

I lightly hit his chest, "Yeah, I deserved that. I was busy. I am very incredibly, truly, sincerely, sorry that I did not call you." 

Owen's smile rejoins his face as he looks down at me, "All cool. I was just poking fun. Although, I was a little sad that you never called." 

"What if I called you now?" 

He looks down at me, his eyes twinkling, "I'd have no objections to that." 

I laugh as Owen moves to open the assembly hall door for me. I follow him as he leads us to the Varsity hockey boys. He moves down the line to go sit next to someone but I sit next to Scooter, behind Mindy. I look incredibly out of place because I'm not wearing a cheerleading uniform or a hockey letterman jacket. Great. 

"Hey, you know what?" I hear Rick ask. "You Ducks don't belong here at Eden Hall." 

I look over to see a group of freshmen turned around in the seats, looking at him. 

"What?" One kid asks. 

"Hey," Another steps in, "Easy, Russ. They probably just think we're someone else. Um, I'm Dwayne. We're the new hockey team. And you are...?" Dwayne asks Cole. 

Cole puts his gum in Dwayne's outstretched hand as Rick replies, "Varsity. The only hockey team." 

I shake my head and lean over to Scooter, "Please tell me that Rick isn't trying to pick a fight with freshmen." 

Scooter whispers back, "If I said that, I'd be lying." 

I groan as I watch Rick continue, "State champs. You know, my little brother lost his J.V. slot when they brought you yo-yos in here." 

"Probably wasn't good enough." A girl says, turning around to face Rick.

Rick leans forward and points towards his dad on the stage, licking his lips, "See, that's my dad. He's going to get the board to revoke your scholarships. Just you wait." 

"That's your dad? Nice outfit, did it come with a yacht?" 

I clamp my hand over my mouth to stop me from laughing. Scooter pushes his lips together tightly, trying to prevent himself from laughing too. 

Cole mocks the Duck's laughter as my dad calls out to the crowd, beginning the assembly, "Welcome. Since its inception in 1903, Eden Hall Academy has taken great pride in its illustrious tradition of excellence. Yet...as we approach the coming millennium, we dare not shrink from the specter of inevitable changes..." I tune it out as my dad continues. 

I lean back over to Scooter, "I was woken up for this? God." Scooter snickers and I lean my head on his shoulder, "Fuck it, I'm going back to sleep." I close my eyes as the assembly continues. 

I jerk up when the group around me starts clapping and cheering, I start clapping too, "Why are we cheering?" I ask Scooter.

"Hockey stuff." 

"Oh." 

"...we have all made a change for the future." My dad continues from whatever spot in the speech he was at, "And so today, after much debate on both sides, we proudly open our doors via full scholarships to a truly gifted group of student athletes. So, will you please join me in giving a big rousing, Warrior welcome to the gold medal winners of the Junior Goodwill Games-"

My dad is interrupted as we all hear screaming coming from behind the curtain. The curtain rips down and people start laughing as we see a group of kids laying on the ground, "Hi," One of them says, "We're the Ducks." 

The laughter in the assembly hall grows louder as I turn to look at Scooter, "Oh, god." He whispers.

Oh, god, is right.