CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: the jv-varsity showdown
Friday was coming sooner than expected. they found themselves on the rink early each morning, practicing as a team once again.
andrea felt much better to be back on the ice with her real team. coach orion called them around as they all took a knee in front of him.
andrea knelt with charlie on one side, connie and julie on the other. the two girls had had a field day when they found out andrea and charlie were dating, relentless teasing and i knew it!s ever since. it was good to have her girls back.
"i've been doing some research on varsity, and i won't lie, they're good." orion said. "the way they wiped your faces in the dirt last time was no fluke. if you want your pride back, you'd better be willing to work."
work, they had. all week, andreas feet ached from being on her skates for hours on end, though she had no regrets. it didn't feel like a task, it felt like a privilege to be back on the rink with the ducks.
"there's nothing glamorous about it. in the pros, we call it blue-collar hockey. now there's one thing varsity does very well. they're vultures around the net." orion explained. "they pick up every piece of loose trash. that's how they beat you. not with the first shot; the second and the third. they bang in the junk, so if you wanna win," he picked up a garbage can, overturning it onto the ice. "you're gonna have to pick up the trash."
if you'd asked andrea a month ago if she'd like to play hockey with stinky used garbage, she'd have wrinkled her nose and asked you if you were crazy.
then again, if you'd asked her a year ago if she'd ever date charlie conway, she'd give you the same response.
so there she was, tossing garbage at julie with her stick. by the time she'd slap-shotted too many plastic waterbottles to count, orion called them back over.
in front of him was a cardboard box. "you guys are not skating like warriors!" he yelled.
the team murmured anxiously, sharing confused looks. "you look like something else," he continued, opening up the box and pulling out a jersey. "you look like ducks."
andreas face lit up, the team cheering and standing as they raced to grab their jerseys. "quack! quack! quack!" the kids cheered.
Then, it was game time. the warriors skated around their half of the ice, as the ducks did the same adorned in their new white jerseys.
andrea stood at the bench with fulton and charlie, staring out at her opponents. the chatter of the crowd loud in her ears, though she wasn't really listening.
"this is for hans." charlie said.
andrea gave him a sad smile. "for hans, for bombay, and for us." she said. "for the ducks."
after a pep talk on the bench, and their signature quack (which caught on with the crowd), andrea joined the rest of the starting lineup at centre ice.
andrea stood across from rick in the middle, the two taking their stances.
"you're gonna wish like hell you stuck with us." rick taunted.
"save the trash talk." she spat.
the puck dropped, and rick slammed her to the ground. she didn't let that stop her; charlie hesitated looking at her, and she yelled out, "go!" as she stood and chased after them.
varsity took a shot, which julie easily deflected. but like orion said, they always got the second shot; which goldberg, their newfound defensemen, kicked aside. julie covered it with her glove, the whistle blowing for a face off.
rick and charlie faced down. "why'd you come back?" rick asked.
"unfinished business." charlie retorted.
"we'll finish it for you." rick threatened.
the puck dropped, and charlie went straight for rick, shoving him flat on his ass. whether it was the trash talk, or the way rick had shoved his girl, it felt good to push him down.
andrea sweeped up the puck, ducking as cole tried to slam her into the boards. fulton was quick to jump on him, the group falling to the ground as varsity stole back the puck.
with another save by julie, charlie took the puck behind the net, rick body checking him
plenty of shoves later, charlie manages to ice the puck, and as the whistle blows, the ducks crowd around julie.
"way to hang in there." charlie tells the goalie.
guy comes to a stop next to them. "these guys keep charging. what are we gonna do here?"
"we gotta stand up to them." andrea says. "play a little defence."
charlie pats her shoulder. "atta girl. let's go!"
the ducks get their first shot, but the varsity goalie saves it. andrea rushes to the bench, switching off with russ who hops onto the ice.
she watches as a million shots are taken and a million hits are given out, but the ducks hold their own.
but varsity picks up the violence when they realize they aren't scoring. they even have to carry a loopy averman off the ice at one point.
guy takes a hard hit, and andrea is seeing red. the second period ends and still, nobody has scored. the ducks retreat to the locker room for the intermission before the final period.
"you're playing hard. i'm proud of you guys." orion tells them as andrea pulls her helmet off and chugs her water.
"it's gonna take a miracle for us to hold on." averman says.
and a miracle comes straight through the door; "dean portman is awarded a full athletic and academic scholarship to the eden hall academy."
andreas head snapped up, her goon of a friend reading off a piece of paper with his signature bandana across his forehead. a huge grin spreads across her face as her hands cover her mouth in shock.
"i had this lying around the house in chicago, my attorney thought i should sign it, i agreed. it's official boys, i'm back!"
andrea loved their fricken attorney.
she shot up, running to crash into dean in a hug. his laugh boomed across the room as he ruffled her hair, the rest of the team swarming them as well.
the third period was started with high, high spirits as dean skated out with them, cheering loudly.
as dean joined andrea and fulton at the centre line, cole taunted the new edition. "look, it's the other bash brother. ooh, i'm really shaking now."
dean had an eerie calmness as he smiled in response. "so you're the big enforcer, huh? it's nice to meet you. you know, we got something in common-"
"shut up!" cole interrupted him. "let's play hockey."
dean looked shocked, before grinning wider. "ha, whatever you say, sunshine."
the puck dropped, and cole skated straight for dean, who held his ground with a sinister chuckle. as cole rammed into him, dean ducked, pushing cole over his back and straight through the glass boards.
andrea and fulton skated over to him, andrea trying to hold in her laughter as cole tried to stand only to collapse.
"now that's clearing the garbage." fulton said.
portman laughed. "hey, man, we're just getting warmed up!"
the game resumed, andrea switching off with adam. dean and fulton fell right back into their old dynamic, slamming varsity down one by one.
luis slams into the boards after a shot, andrea wincing; apparently he was falling back into his old habit, too.
dean gets called for a penalty for hooking, and he retaliates by cheering at the crowd and jumping up at the boards.
he quickly escalates, pulling his jersey and chest protector off and getting shirtless. the crowd cheers, and andrea laughs and cheers too. charlie covers her eyes as dean flexes and waves his shirt around, and andrea giggles and lets him.
they get another penalty, five on three as orion calls for a time out.
"conway, jones... and goldberg. i'm going with you." orion tells them.
the three hop out onto the ice, andrea and charlie at centre ice while goldberg holds on defence.
two minutes are left on the clock. julie slides out of the net to make a save, but varsity gets the rebound. they shoot on the empty net, but charlie dives in front of the puck like it's a bullet and makes the save.
goldberg clears the puck. a minute left, and charlie is on defence against rick. it's intense, but charlie makes him make the first move, and sends rick flying.
he gets the puck, making eye contact with andrea, who's open at the blue line. he forces himself not to get lost in her eyes, and sends the puck her way.
she cradles it on her stick, turning and pushing herself down towards varsity's end. twenty seconds on the clock.
she knows they're behind her, but she doesn't look back.
ten seconds. she dekes out their defence.
she fakes left, the goalie sliding to meet her. she shoots it through his pad to the right.
she turns, reaching for the puck with her stick.
and she taps it in with a second left, right before she's tackled to the ground.
the buzzer goes, and cheering fills her ears.
andrea screams in joy, standing and tossing her gloves and stick down. she skates into the pile of her team mates, dean and kenny hopping out from the penalty box to join them.
she pulls her helmet off as charlie drops his and skates to her, grabbing her face. "i knew you could do it."
"i love you!" she breathes, a loopy grin stretched across her face.
charlie laughs, the two leaning their foreheads together. they stay like that for a moment, before charlie pulls away.
"you know," he says, "i think we've met before like this."
she feigns being confused. "really? huh, maybe you're right."
"oh, i'm definitely right. maybe we could spark your memory, recreate-"
she doesn't waste another second pressing her lips to his, the two of them fighting their grins as their team whoops and hollers around them.
"i love you more." he whispers before kissing her again.
AUTHOR SPEAKS!
AHHDISHAVEGSIWJDB and that's it folks 😔
jk i MIGHT have one more bonus chapter coming soon for you guys😏