we sat in some diner with all the ducks, and i have to admit, an entire hockey team in a small place is very suffocating. i sat next to danny, my arm looped through his, because he gets kind of nervous when a lot of people are talking at once. though, i couldn't blame him, i could see how this could all be very overwhelming.

the ducks captain smiled at us, deciding it would be a good time for introductions,"okay, well i'm charlie conway, this is adam banks, greg goldberg, connie moreau, les averman, jesse hall, guy germaine, and fulton reed."

i smiled politely,"nice to meet you guys."

everyone continued with their side conversations, getting to know each other.

connie looked to danny and i, noticing our intertwined arms,"so have you guys known each other for a long time? you seem close."

danny nodded, smiling down at me,"oh yeah, we go way back. we've been each other's best friend since we were like two."

"aww that's so cute!" she gushed, leaning over the table to keep the small talk,"so, how long have you been playing hockey?"

her boyfriend, guy, seemed to keep to himself besides the occasional comment. which i respected. at least he didn't talk too much, no one was a fan of that.

i looked up at the ceiling trying to collect all my thoughts,"since about age eight peewees. before that i did figure skating. and then i quit at like ten to do more figure skating and then i quit that at twelve to play more hockey."

realizing my indecisiveness, i stared down at the table, wondering why i couldn't have just picked a lane. it was kind of comical though, how i couldn't seem to make up my mind.

"well, glad you decided to join us." connie smiled in amusement.

i laughed and nodded as danny flipped the script,"what about you? when did you start playing?"

i tried to listen to her response, but i couldn't seem to focus. this practice had drained me, i wasn't used to being roped around for three hours.

i felt julie lean towards me and turned to hear what she had to say,"hey, i know we're not really friends or anything yet, but that adam guy? rotally staring at you."

i smiled in amusement, glad that she had given me that information,"thanks, julie. feel free to tell me shit like that anytime."

sh laughed and turned back to arguing with goldberg about some kind of goalie thing, i don't know.

i looked over at adam, and when our eyes met, he immediately looked down to the table. i knew i had caught him.

i looked him up and down before turning back to danny and listening to his conversation.

•

like everybody else in tibbles' office, i was wondering what was under the giant sheet he stood beside. i sat on top of his desk, resisting the urge to play with the newton's cradle that laid so close to my hands.

danny, who was standing next to me, turned to question,"what do you think is under that sheet?"

i popped my gum, tilting my head to get a better look,"our dead bodies."

danny shot me a confused look,"what's wrong with you?"

i chuckled and turned my attention to the front of the room.

tibbles ripped the sheet off to reveal team usa on a wheaties box. i raised my eyebrows in surprise, wondering how i actually managed to look good in that picture. it must have been photoshopped, because even i knew my jawline has never been that defined.

"hey, that's us!" dwayne beamed, excited to see our faces.

jesse rolled his eyes,"duh."

tibbles started on a spiel,"today is wheaties boxes, tomorrow's action figures, video games, sky's the limit!" he pulled out a box, setting it on top of a table,"now just so everyone knows who you are...try on these."

tibbles grinned, throwing a brightly colored jersey in my direction. i attempted to catch it but it ended up on the floor next to averman.

i dropped onto the floor and grabbed while everyone went to the box and found their names.

gilinksy 25

25 was danny's birthday. he had my birthday as his number too, which was sweet. i wasn't sure what to make my number when i had first started, so we just went with that.

madison 18

danny looked at me as he grabbed a box with his name on it,"hey, there's a lot of stuff in there. track suits, hoodies, long sleeves, short sleeves. they've got a whole closet for us."

i sighed and stuck out my bottom lip, not wanting to get up,"will you go get it for me? i'm lazy."

danny rolled his eyes, dropping his box on the floor next to me, going to find mine. i smiled at him, before looking over to see a pissed off charlie.

i knit my eyebrows, and stood up, wanting to find out what was wrong. i approached him and took a seat,"what's wrong with you?"

he huffed, shaking his head,"this stuff says hendrix all over it. we're ducks."

i frowned, his words rubbing me the wrong way,"no you guys are ducks. this is a new team, charlie. change is good," when it was clear my words didn't help, i tried another tactic,"don't worry it's just a sponsor thing. i do them all the time."

he looked at me with questioning eyes,"you do?"

i shrugged, trying not to sound braggy about the whole thing,"yeah, most brands want me because people like to look at me, i guess," i realized that sounded bad, so i quickly tried to backtrack,"sounds narcissistic, i know, but... you win enough tournaments and trophies people like you and follow you around."

charlie frowned,"sounds awful."

i didn't see how he had drawn that conclusion, i actually found it to be kind of fun,"eh, it's not so bad, i actually kind of like it. having people want me, you know?"

he clearly didn't know, because his facial expression showed that he had no idea what i meant,"not really."

i guess not everyone needs outside validation, something that hadn't occurred to me.

feeling a little awkward, i looked for an out,"well, um, anyways, I should go help danny get my stuff."

i stood up and walked away, feeling like i had given him the wrong impression of me. next time i'll just let him sulk in peace.

•

we all sat outside in our track suits learning about ancient greece. i had my hand rested on my cheek, trying to pay attention. but it was hard, i was never much of a sit still and listen type of learner.

during this time of the day, if i was in washington, i would be in my musical theatre class. which would have been much better than sitting here, learning about city-states.

i looked over to danny, wondering if he also missed musical theatre class. he didn't meet my gaze and was seated next to charlie and goldberg across the field. i sat with guy and adam on a log, who i doubted could relate to my yearning for show tunes.

mackay continued to teach,"ancient greece. the start of western civilization. there were no sports, or wheaties boxes. so athletes competed for another reason. why?"

when everyone stayed silent, goldberg joked,"falafels?"

i rolled my eyes and raised my hand, knowing the answer.

"scarlett."

i let my hand drop,"pride."

she smiled, glad that someone knew,"exactly."

"did america always win?" fulton asked.

i looked at him incredulously, as everyone else laughed. had this boy been to school before?

"it's a good question!" dean defended him.

i found it endearing how the two enforcers stuck up for each other. it was cute.

ms. mackay smiled at the confused boy, "america wasn't around. america is still young, a teenager. just like you."

"like us?" jesse furrowed his eyebrows, the answer resonating with him.

she nodded,"yes. a little awkward at time, but always on the verge of greatness."

i smiled. that was kind of inspiring, i suppose. linking us to our country, i mean. relating us to a piece of land was a good way to get through to us.

•

for this particular practice, we were all in rollerblades, skating down a hill. and to add to the intensity, we were doing military-like chants.

"i don't know what i been told!"

"i don't know what i been told!"

"team usa is gonna win the gold!"

"team usa is gonna win the gold!"

"sound off!"

"one, two."

"sound off!"

"three, four."

as we continued to skate, i couldn't help but look over my shoulder at a, less than perfect, skating goldberg. he was stumbling and shaking, clearly unsteady.

i tried to move out of his line of injury, but i was a little too late for all that. i felt him as he rammed into me, knocking us both to the ground.

i yelped in pain as various body parts scraped against the pavement as we slid down the road. when we came to a stop, i could feel the tears welting in my eyes as i inspected my, newly bloodied, body.

"goldberg, what the hell?!" i griped, watching as blood trickled down my arm, falling off of my elbow, and onto the ground below.

goldberg gasped, stammering our an apology,"i am so sorry, scarlett! it was an honest mistake."

i huffed, trying not to be mad at him. he was right, it was a mistake, but i couldn't help the clench in my jaw as i said sharply,"it's fine, goldberg."

it also didn't help that goldberg seemed to be mostly uninjured. at least, there was no blood  i guess i must have broken his fall enough for him to be alright.

i guess charlie must have noticed we weren't with them anymore, because him and adam came skating up the hill.

charlie looked at me in shock as he kneeled in front of me,"scarlett, what happened?!"

"goldberg ran into me." i recounted the events from seconds before.

adam frowned as he stared at the blood leaving my body,"are you okay?"

"i'll go get coach!" charlie announced, swiftly skated away, while adam and i tried to stop the bleeding.

"how can i help?" adam knelt down, his voice panicky.

i sighed, trying to explain to him basic medical procedure for bleeds,"just apply pressure, i'll be fine."

he nodded and pressed both hands on one of my knees as i did to the other.

he looked at me and smiled, probably trying to distract me,"how are you not crying? i'd be bawling."

i chuckled, sardonically,"i don't know, i thought i would be too, i'm a huge crybaby. probably something to do with adrenaline, it masks pain."

adam smiled lightly, noting the fact i had spilled, as goldberg stood there with a panicked look on his face.

adam looked at him with knit brows,"what's wrong, goldie? are you bleeding too?"

he groaned, letting his guilt take over,"i feel terrible! i hurt a pretty girl and i can't even skate! what's wrong with me?!"

i laughed, his overreacting amusing to me,"first of all, thank you for calling me pretty," adam laughed, wondering why that was the only thing i had taken from goldberg's rant, "secondly, i'm fine. it's just a few cuts and bruises, worse has happened to me before."

adam nodded,"yeah, she's a tough girl, don't worry about her."

i looked at him and smiled, appreciating his words. it was sweet of him to say that, whether or not he had done it for goldberg's sake.

once charlie finally got back with help, he and coach took me back to charlie's house where his mom cleaned me up.

hotels don't usually appreciate first aid being done in their rooms, so i really didn't have much of a choice in the matter. but charlie's mom was really nice about the whole thing, so at least that's something.

if i'm gonna get maimed, at least i'll get to meet someone's mom, right?