it took us a few days to completely pull off our prank. we had to work with the dean's schedule, and note when he would be out of his office, so we could steal some of his ants.

but the longer we waited, the more surprised they would be, which would only make the victory that much sweeter.

i heard a knock at my door, and adjusted my sweater, before answering it.

charlie was leaning against my doorframe, dressed in all black.

i smiled lightly,"charlie conway."

"scarlett gilinsky," he returned the smile, looking past me and the multiple baskets of assorted items,"those from adam?"

i looked back at them and nodded, rolling my eyes,"yeah."

charlie sighed, feeling a little sympathy towards me,"come on, scar. we've got revenge things to do."

i nodded and left my room, locking the door behind me.

we walked in silence, but i felt it had to be said,"charlie, i'm really glad that we're talking again," he looked like he was going to protest, so i continued to talk,"and i know that after this, you're probably gonna go back to hating me, but...i miss you and i just- i needed you to know that."

he stared at me for a second, processing my words.

i looked at the floor as we walked, too nervous that i had just completely embarrassed myself.

"i missed you too, scar," he slugged an arm around me,"i'm tired of fighting."

i smiled in amusement, wrapping my arm around his waist,"even if i am a backstabbing traitor?"

he shrugged, stating sardonically,"well, i'm a little bitch boy, so-"

i laughed and shook my head, relieved to have him back. all the fighting was too much for me to handle.

•

we stood inside the varsity's dorm building, while julie, who was on the frontlines, let us know we were safe,"coast is clear. come on."

i smiled devilishly, grabbing some rope from danny. we tied parallel doors to each other, so that if they tried to escape, it would really be each other who was keeping that from happening.

connie and guy were keeping look out, and dwayne had gone outside it catch any stragglers.

while charlie and russ went to get the ants, kenny stood on averman's shoulders with a fishing pole, to get the tubes right on the boys' beds.

kenny, however, could not seem to find the right stance, and was continually stepping on averman's head.

averman shook his head, as his glasses fell off,"nah, it's okay it's just my face."

i shrugged, walking by, and tilting my sunglasses down,"no one was lookin' at it anyways."

"ha ha." he replied flatly, adjusting his glasses.

once russ and charlie returned, and dwayne was done with his wild west expedition, we all gathered around to watch the ants pour into the rooms.

danny handed them the funnel,"use the funnel."

they carefully poured the ants down the tubes, and once that was completed, we all stood at the end of the hall, ready for all hell to break lose.

i grabbed onto the main rope, the one that held all the doors shut, giving me the power to let them free when i saw fit.

screaming could be heard from their respective rooms, and they tried the doors, but of course, it was to no avail.

after we felt satisfied enough, i let go of the rope. they all piled out of their rooms, yelling and swatting at their skin.

riley noticed us, and shot up, absolutely seething,"you think you're funny, huh? you think you're worth a damn? you're just white trash."

russ scoffed,"who you callin' white? there are at least three minorities in this group."

i frowned distastefully at the number,"god, that's terrible, we need to work on that."

"that's right," charlie smirked, ignoring my detour,"we'll take you anytime, anywhere."

i met eyes with adam, who was in only sweatpants, and was scratching all over. i looked down at the floor, unable to see him like that. it almost made me regret my decision.

riley scoffed,"sorry, i only speak to real captains."

i rolled my eyes, putting a hand on charlie's shoulder,"riley, i'll fucking drop your ass, whenever you want."

he stared at me with narrowed eyes,"tomorrow, dawn."

i looked at my teammates, who all seemed ready to go,"we'll be there."

"i gotta get to the showers!" someone yelled. they followed suit, running off.

suddenly we heard the thumping of cole. he was hog tied, a pretty nice touch, thanks to dwayne.

"i'm gonna kill you guys!" he yelled.

•

the next morning we all skated in circles warming up for varsity. i'll admit, i was a little late, but 'dawn' is a pretty ambiguous time. we had on our ducks jerseys, which was charlie's request. i figured it was the least i could do.

and to add to the excuses of why i had been late, i had lost the ring my brother gave me. i had turned my room upside down, but it was gone.

danny skated up to me,"why were you so late?"

i looked up at him, wincing,"i lost my ring."

his face fell,"the three thousand dollar ring?"

i nodded, hiding my hands in my face,"i had it last night on our revenge mission, and now..."

danny sighed, patting my shoulder,"good luck, scar. you're gonna need it."

i nodded at danny and watched as charlie skated up to adam,"they didn't tell me until it was too late. charlie, you've gotta believe me."

"yeah right, preppy." charlie spat.

adam sighed, but gave it a rest with him. he looked over to me, and started skating in my direction.

when he approached me, i let out an annoyed huff,"it's not the showdown, adam."

"it's a showdown." he pointed out, but he wasn't going to be able to outsmart me on this.

i bit my lip, not sure what to do to get him to stop,"dude, i asked for space, can you please just...go?"

he stared at me for a moment, looking solemn, "yeah, sure."

as he skated away, i called out to him,"and stop sending me edible arrangements, i don't even like fruit like that."

he chuckled, shaking his head, but didn't respond, per my request.

once we were done warming up, i got in my center position, ready to face off with riley.

he explained the parameters of the game,"first to ten. full check."

i smiled confidently at the boy,"bring it, bitch."

the puck dropped, and riley immediately knocked me down.

fulton and charlie skated after him, and i got up as quickly as i could, unfazed by his action.

i was up just in time to see them score.

i threw my hands up, thinking of a usually fool-proof play,"flying v!" i announced, hoping that something would give.

we all skated together, forming the 'v'. we passed the puck from place to place, but varsity blew right threw us, throwing me to the ground again.

they once again got the puck and scored. we reset, and julie told charlie to use the triple deke, but we were knocked down anytime we had the puck.

charlie groaned,"what do i have to do?"

i glared at riley, directing my statement to him,"we can't win if they cheat!"

he smirked at me, finding my anger amusing,"i'm not cheating, doll face."

"call me doll face again, and i'll cut off your dick." i spat, bowing up to him.

"wow, this duckie likes to quack," he commented, skating closer to me,"why don't you do something about it, sweetheart?"

"fuck you!" i yelled and lunged at him.

"woah," danny exclaimed, catching me by my waist,"scar, calm down."

riley looked at me with amusement, which only further set me off, as i spoke,"you're so lucky i don't touch garbage."

he laughed, and we set up, ready to play again.

charlie got the puck, and adam started pushing him, in a race to steal it.

"damn it, banks!" charlie yelled, shoving into him.

adam fell to the group, but got up just as quickly, picking a fight. they both ripped their helmets off, ready to get into it.

adam pushed him,"yeah, nice take down, you'd be in the box!"

"go cry to your rich parents!" charlie exclaimed, throwing a punch. they fell to the ground, continuing to scrap it out.

i gasped, watching as charlie's fist connected with adam's cheek,"stop!"

"you're telling me to cry?" adam asked, getting in a few punches himself,"you're the one who's been bitching about scarlett being captain, every second!"

charlie scoffed,"like you would know! you're not even around enough, you don't deserve her!"

i knit my eyebrows, the statement coming out of left field. what did that mean?

adam raised his eyebrows,"don't deserve her? man, you don't know anything!"

"get off of him, adam!" i yelled, trying to pull him off.

i was so engrossed in adam and charlie's fight, i didn't even notice how everyone around us had also started to fight.

let alone did i account for the fact that orion had made his way to the ice,"freeze!"

but his words had no affect on anyone, so he started separating us himself.

"hey, hey break it up! it's a damn good thing, i'm not your coach! get your team out of here now!" orion demanded, pushing riley towards the rink door.

riley and his team skated away, satisfied with what had happened. adam looked me in the eyes as he wiped blood from his lip and skated off the ice.

i sucked in a breath, unable to get the image out of my head.

"well, congratulations," orion said sarcastically, "you just forfeited whatever mental edge you had over varsity. now, they own you," he got increasingly more angry,"this isn't peewees. your little duck tricks, aren't gonna work at this level. now, for the last time, stay away from varsity! and get those ducks jerseys off now. the ducks are dead!"

we all slipped our jerseys off immediately, per the coaches instructions. except for charlie and fulton, who stood still as statues.

coach sighed, noticing what charlie was doing,"you got two choices, conway. take off the jersey now or you don't play."

charlie scoffed, shaking his head,"you're breaking up the best thing any of us have ever had."

"well, it's time to grow up." orion replied.

i knit my eyebrows. i had said that very thing to charlie weeks before.

"like you, huh?" charlie asked rhetorically,"a washed up pro, who has to show off to a bunch of kids. geez, that's real grown up."

i frowned, knowing that wasn't why orion didn't play the pros anymore. he wasn't washed up at all, but it wasn't my place to defend him. at least, not right now.

charlie skated off, and coach shrugged,"okay, goodbye, conway. anybody else wanna join him?"

fulton followed him, and i sighed. with exactly zero out of two bash brothers, i wasn't sure we stood a chance.

"alright, goodbye, fulton."