Challenge | Adam Banks

SEVENTEEN

Julie laughed, "Duh." She fluffed her hair in the mirror absentmindedly as she carried on the conversation. "What are the others?" she asked as she checked her teeth for lipstick stains.

"You and Scooter, obviously," Delanie quipped, earning her a glare through the reflection of the mirror. She giggled before continuing, "but also getting to meet the rest of your team would be cool. And seeing Connie and Charlie all dolled up. I kinda miss Zander too, we haven't talked in a while." As she gushed, she began to realize how attached she was becoming to both of the Eden Hall hockey teams. It made her stomach churn a little bit, honestly.

Julie was just finishing her last once over when there was a knock at their door. Delanie jumped to her feet, not bothering to leave her blanket behind, and pulled the door open. Luis and Kenny were on the other side, standing with two boys Delanie hadn't met. Luis grinned, "Hi Delanie."

Delanie smiled, "Hey, nice to see you again." She offered an identical smile to Kenny, who grinned right back. Her eyes traveled to the other two boys. One was wearing a cowboy hat and the other had a comical smile on his lips. Delanie didn't quite know what to make of them.

Noticing her stare, Kenny cleared his throat. "Delanie, that's Russ and Dwayne. Guys, that's-" his introduction was cut short by Russ's voice.

"Jett's little sister," he detected easily. When Delanie raised an eyebrow, he shrugged, a grin on his lips. "You two look identical, really."

Dwayne shook his head, his hat teetering ever so slightly. "Naw, I wouldn't say identical. I do see the resemblance, though," he nodded as he spoke, a soft smile appearing on his lips. Delanie just stared blankly, still not sure how to handle the whole situation. Sensing her unease, Dwayne continued, "I was more going to say that I've heard Adam talk about you. You're just as pretty as he always swore you were."

Luis elbowed the taller boy as the girl in the doorway blushed, mumbling a thank you under her breath. Luis and Kenny both gave Dwayne a look, causing the tips of his ears to redden. "Sorry," he muttered as Luis shook his head, sending Delanie an apologetic smile.

Julie appeared before Delanie had to come up with some sort of conversation topic - something she was very grateful for. The blonde put her hands on her hips. "Stop harassing my roommate," she scolded, eyeing each and every one of the boys in front of her.

Dwayne and Russ both smiled sheepishly. "You look nice, Jules," Luis complimented, "but I'm tired of waiting for you. Can we please go now? I feel bad for making Scooter wait after he offered us a ride."

Delanie sent Julie a look that the blonde girl deftly avoided. She gave her roommate a one-armed hug before joining her group of boys in the hallway. "Say hi to Jett for me," Delanie said smoothly, though everyone knew whose name she really meant to say.

Julie chuckled dryly, "Not happening, your brother scares me." Delanie rolled her eyes as her roommate continued, "I will give your best regards to my pal Banksy though. I know how much you're missing out on seeing his butt in dress pants."

Delanie reached out to smack her friend, but the blonde's reflexes were quicker, and she hurried to the front of the group. When they were halfway down the hallway, she called out a goodbye that fell on deaf ears. Delanie had already closed the door with a slam.

- -

For a while, the formal dinner was going better than Julie had anticipated. She joked around with her teammates, shared gossip with Connie, and even got to steal a couple of glances at the handsome upperclassman that sat a little ways down the table from her. She had made sure to drop Delanie's name to Adam, glee filling her soul when his ears turned bright red. She nearly jumped out of her skin when her chirp was answered by a voice that was very much not Adam's.