silver lining • adam banks

the ducks

"um...i know they went to the junior olympics last year, and they won," i replied, trying to think of anything else i could remember,"and i think one of them got a penalty for roping."

scooter laughed,"roping? is that a real thing you can get penalized for?"

i shrugged, honestly having no idea. i was pretty sure they made the rule just for that kid, "i guess so. they won the olympics, so i assume they're a pretty good team."

"well, they must be if they were given full rides to this school." scooter responded, opening the door for me.

eden hall academy is an incredibly prestigious school, and they don't give scholarships to just anyone. you either have to pay your way in or be a prodigy. and it seems we were about to meet a full team of prodigies.

"yeah, must be," i nodded, looking at the people who were filing in to meet the ducks,"why does riley care so much, anyways?"

scooter sighed, shaking his head. clearly he thought the justification lacked sound reasoning,"his little brother, ryder, lost his j.v. slot when they brought the ducks in. he's pissed."

i rolled my eyes,"he's so dramatic. i've seen ryder play, he barely made j.v. anyways."

scooter nodded, letting out a deep breath,"well, that's neither here nor there. we just have to watch and report back."

"got it." i replied, as we stopped in front of the stage.

it wasn't long before the place was packed and we watched as the ducks walked onto the stage, formal clothes under their jerseys.

i smiled lightly, as i couldn't help but notice how attractive some of the members of the team were. i understood why eden wanted them around, they were all very easy on the eyes.

i leaned up scooter, whispering,"are you seeing this? i thought our team was hot."

scooter chuckled, matching my volume,"you thought we were hot?"

i shrugged, not thinking much of it. a teenage girl constantly around varsity athletes, of course i thought they were attractive.

"i mean, not cole," i answered, causing him to laugh,"but yeah, generally speaking."

"even me?" he questioned, winking obnoxiously.

i pushed my bottom lip out, pinching his cheek, "especially you, baby doll."

he rolled his eyes, pushing my hand off, and looking at the ducks,"so, what? which ones do you think are hot?"

i smiled in amusement, figuring if we had to be here, this would at least be a fun game to play, "uh, that one," i pointed to the one with curly blonde hair, whose number was 00,"that one," i pointed to number 22,"that one," i pointed to number 99, before i started to quick fire them
off,"him, him, him, her, and her."

"that's like half the team, sawyer." scooter scolded me.

i looked at him blankly,"i said what i said."

he laughed and we stopped talking, watching as the coach of the ducks started to talk,"thank you. it's a great honor to be here today, to introduce you to a truly great group of kids. sure, they can be a little rambunctious. they've run me ragged, and played more than their fair share of pranks," he said causing them to let out a laugh,"i still haven't forgotten about the eggs."

i laughed mockingly with them. just because i thought they were good looking, didn't mean i suddenly wanted to be here to spy.

"shh." scooter nudged me, not wanting to be embarrassed by my actions.

i rolled my eyes, but nonetheless stayed quiet, as the coach continued,"but i hung in there and they hung in there for me. we became 'the quack attack', 'the flying v', and 'the bash brothers'. i've never had a better time. these kids are winners. each and every one of them. but more than that, these are good people. i hope they enrich and enliven your school and your lives the way they have mine," coach finished his speech, and gestured to the dean,"now, i hand you over to the capable hands of my old biology teacher and the current headmaster of eden hall, dean buckley."

buckley smiled, taking the hot seat,"gordon bombay has a lot to be proud of. we are happy to welcome the ducks to our great educational institution. so, today it gives me great pleasure to award you these full athletic scholarships to eden hall academy. where we hope the ducks will be happy warriors and lead us into glory....and divisional championships."

i bit my lip, staring at the dean harshly, as i suddenly understood the nature of the scholarship offer. it had nothing to do with their stats or talents, and everything to do with the name recognition of the team itself.

they opened up the floor to questions, but scooter and i decided we had seen everything we needed to see.

plus, i has to get to work fairly soon.

"okay," i started, glancing back at the conference, which now seemed worlds away as we neared scooter's car,"so that's all for publicity, that was clear, right?"

"clear as day." scooter nodded, unlocking his doors.

"i feel kinda bad for them," i sighed, taking the passenger seat,"it's gonna be bad if they can't perform."

scooter knit his brows, not following what i was saying,"what do you mean?"

i frowned. i could see how conditional their scholarships were, and while that's the case with every scholarship, i knew riley would be gunning for them. and with his dad on the board, if the ducks aren't immediately amazing, their scholarships getting revoked seemed like just a matter of time.

"i just think they're gonna have to mind themselves." i told him, not wanting to put any ideas in his head.

scooter was an incredibly empathetic person, and i didn't wanna bum him out over hypotheticals.

"yeah, especially since riley will be on their ass every second of the day." he grumbled, backing out of his parking spot.

i nodded in agreement, looking through the window as he drove.

i thought maybe this year would be different, but it seemed scooter and i would still be under riley's heel, doing his bidding in order to sabotage the ducks.

they seemed like good enough people, and i didn't wanna hurt them. but i didn't have a choice.