𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑚𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡𝑦 𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑘𝑠 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑒𝑠 - 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 - 𝑏𝑜𝑜𝑘 2

Chapter 1

"Yeah, that's right and I hope he pays you guys more than he paid me." Coach took a plate of food from Jan.

"You got paid!?" Charlie and I looked at each other.

"How come we don't get paid?" I looked at Jan who handed Charlie a plate of food.

"Eat, eat, everybody, before the hasenpfeffer gets cold." Jan then looked at me, handing me my plate.

The four of us then started eating the food in silence, "So Vic, I just wanted to say thanks for being there for me when I got my injury." Coach Bombay looked over at me.

I was so confused about what he was talking about, I was never there to see his injury, "Coach," I started, looking at Charlie. "I wasn't there at your game."

"Ya, Vicki hasn't left town," Charlie added.

Coach, in confusion, set his plate down, "Then why did I hear you and see you at my game, taking care of me?" He folded his hands.

"You were probably hallucinating, Gordon." Jan stepped in.

"Probably, but I swear you were there Vicki." Coach looked between Jan and I.

"Like I said, she hasn't left town." Charlie reminded Coach while eating some eggs.

Changing the subject, Coach picked up his plate and continued to eat, "So hows the team?" He looked happy but anxious to hear the response.

"Well," I sighed, then Coach's face dropped. "Tammy, Tommy, Karp, and Peter all moved and Terry just oped and quit the team." I frowned, then started eating more eggs.

Coach sighed, "Well how about everyone else?"

"I only see Charlie and Connie more than the team at school besides Banks, since he goes to a private school in Edina." I frowned at mentioning Banks in the conversation.

"We'll have you seen him lately?" Coach leaned forward.

"No," I shook my head. "I've been so busy with school work that it's kinda been overwhelming and I really don't think he would recognize me anyway," My face dropped at the thought of Banksie. "He didn't even get me a birthday present!"

"Well, we, being the team, didn't get you anything cause we've all been busy and we wanna make it special," Charlie explained.

"Well besides you Char, ya got me something small for my birthday at least." Coach and Jan looked between us.

"Ok, ok, enough with the birthday talk, eat up so you two can go back to skate sharpening." Jan chuckled which made Coach chuckle a bit.

The two of us then went back to skate sharpening after we finished breakfast, leaving Coach and Jan. Charlie and I had sharpening stations facing each other so we could look and talk to each other. After a while I just threw off my glasses and leaned against the table, thinking about Banks just was a stab in the heart. Charlie then looked up from sharpening and shut off the machine before taking off his glasses.

He walked over to my station, standing in front of me, "What happened between you two?" Charlie asked calmly in a soft voice.

Looking up at his sympathetic eyes, I gave a small smile, "I dunno. We just got busy I guess. After that dinner date, we only called each other a few times and after that, we lost contact," Shaking my head, tears started forming in my eyes, and rolling down my face. "When my birthday came, I never got anything from him which really hurt," I fluttered my lashes rapidly before wiping the tears away carefully not to smudge my mascara. "I just really miss him. And the team. The Ducks. We're a family. A flock. A flock sticks together-" I croaked out.