𝑯𝒆𝒚 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆, 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 | ᴹᴰᴳᶜ

TRACK TWELVE: Learn To Fly

It was our first game at States. We walked inside and began looking around. The rink was bigger than ours back home. At every game, I couldn't help but search the stands for Dad. I knew he wouldn't show after what I said, but I still had hope.

We won all of our games, leading us to make it to the semi-finals. The Don't Bothers versus The Mighty Ducks. We were in the locker room preparing for the game when Nick spoke.

"Now, I don't wanna jinx it, but could I request trophy custody over the summer?" He asked. "Last year, at sleep-away camp, I cried.. a lot, so I'd kinda like to re-band."

"I like it. Everyone vote on it." Evan said before getting up and walking to Sofi, who was sitting away from the team. Her knee was hurting bad after our game against The Lumberjacks. Sofi and Evan came back, and she closed the door on Alex, Bombay, and her parents.

"How could you go behind my back like that?" She asked Evan. "I had to. You heard the medic. You could've permanently damaged your knee." He told her. "Only if I hit it the wrong way." "So you're relying on hitting it the right way?" Evan asked. "No trophy is worth that much if it means you get hurt." "I have to play. Ten players, or we forfeit. I mean, I'd ruin this for everyone." "I mean, if you won't forfeit, I will." Evan told her. The rest of us stood up and forfeited as well. Sofi was the last to agree.

🏒

"Hey, you guys don't happen to know the name of a good engraver, do you?" Coach T asked us, walking with the Ducks behind him and the trophy in his hand, as we were walking out of the locker room. "Wait. Why would you?" I balled up my right fist as I dreamed of punching him again.

"You know, you didn't really win anything." Bombay stated. "Well, I got a trophy and a $200 gift card to PF Chang's that says otherwise." Coach T told him. "A trophy means nothing, and you know it." He said. "There's a voice inside you that knows that you didn't really beat us." "There's not a voice." "Oh, there's a voice." He taunted.

"You know what you've got with this championship?" Bombay asked him. "You got yourself an asterisk." "There's no asterisk." "Oh, there's an asterisk." Bombay said. "Come on, we would've crushed you." Coach T told us.

"Well, then, why don't you prove it?" Alex asked. "Meet us tomorrow at The Ice Palace at dawn." She told him. "Dawn? What is this, a duel?" Coach T asked. "Fine, we can meet at a more reasonable hour, but let's settle this on the ice." "No cameras, no crowds." Bombay started.

"This is ridiculous. You're down one of your best players. It'd be a joke." Coach T said. "Well, then you've got nothing to be afraid of." Bombay responded. "What's it gonna take to make this happen?" Alex asked. "What do you want?" "For you to go away." Coach T answered. "For good. If we win, your team goes from The Don't Bothers to The Don't Exists." "Fine. Wait, what? How would that even work?" She asked him.

"You drop out of the league. I never have to see your faces again. Yeah, you know what? I'm starting to like this." "If you win, we walk away. But, if we win, we take your name." Bombay said. "If we win, we become The Mighty Ducks." "Bro, you can't just change the name of an entire organization." Coach T told him.

"Uh, yes, you can. It's actually just some simple paperwork, my friend." Nick replied, reading off his phone. "So, what do you say?" Bombay asked him before we started quacking to taunt him. "Okay, okay, fine. We're in." Coach T finally said.

🏒

On the way back home, I texted Dad everything that happened. He said he felt bad and that he was sorry. He also said, "Well, there's always next year, Del." Which made me feel a little nervous as there might not be a next year.

I told him about us playing the ducks to earn the name, and he said that'll be the game he comes to. Dad's also a fan of the OG mighty ducks. He said he watched them play states in 1994 when he was eighteen. I asked him what it was like, and he said he'd tell me all about it when I got back home.

When I did arrive back, I waited on the couch but ended up falling asleep. Then when I woke up it was one in the morning and Dad was now asleep. I climbed up the stairs and got into bed.

🏒

We got ready to start playing The Ducks, and I looked in the stands to see if Dad was there. Then, plain as day, he was. He sat in the middle of the stands with Nick's mom's and Logan's dad. He also was holding his megaphone in his right hand. I knew I should have tried to hide it this morning.

Nick's mom, Paula, noticed me looking and poked Dad's arm, then pointed to me. He paused his conversation with Logan's dad and looked to see what she was pointing at and saw me looking happily at him. I waved, smiling brightly and excitedly. He waved back, smiling as well, and walked down to me. "You're here!" I exclaimed, hugging him.

"Yes, I am, my soon to be mighty duck." He replied, hugging me back. "Are you actually going to use the megaphone?" I asked as we broke away. "Maybe. We'll see how this game goes." We shared a laugh before he spoke again. "Knock 'em dead, Del." "Will do, Dad." "That's my girl." He said, attempting to ruffle the two braids in my hair that Maya had just done in the locker room. We hugged again, and he left to go back to his seat.

The game began after Koob amazingly sang the national anthem. We were winning 1-0. Before the Ducks started playing dirty, making the score 3-1 as the second period ended.

In the locker room, we were all pretty bummed before we all said how we already won and all that touchy, feely stuff I wasn't really good at. "All right. Just one more thing..." Bombay said, grabbing a box. "Some, uh, old friends of mine left something behind for you guys." He continued, taking out green Ducks jerseys from the original ducks. My jaw dropped as he tossed me the jersey of Dean Portman.

Logan Ken Wu's Jersey. Sam was wearing Fulton Reed's jersey, Lauren had Averman's, Sofi had Adam's, Maya had Connie's, Nick had Dwayne's, The Czech-mates had Russ and Jesse's, and Evan has Charlie's. Bombay kept smiling at me more than the team as a whole once we put our jerseys on.

When we stepped back out onto the ice, I looked up at the stands and waved to Dad before pointing at my jersey. He looked speechless and had a similar look in his eyes Bombay had.

The game was tied 3-3, with 40 seconds left, and as the clock began to run out, the tension ran high. Then, finally, we scored the winning goal. 4-3 for The Don't Bothers. The New Mighty Ducks.

"None of this was official! They aren't Ducks!" Coach T yelled furiously. "Shut up, dirt-face! You made a deal!" Dad replied, using his megaphone, making people laugh. At the sound of Dad's voice, Bombay's head turned sharply, finding him in the stands as he made his way down the steps to the ice.

"Coach T's right." Stephanie said. "He doesn't have the power to give you the name. But I'm on the Ducks board, so I–" Coach T cut her off. "So, you'll do what she says." "Exactly." Stephanie continued. "And I say... a deals a deal." We all started cheering and did a group hugged.

Coach T was mad, and Dad went over to the now ex-ducks side. "Hey, dirt-face!" He said, standing in front of Coach T. "Go home!" Dad shouted into the megaphone in Coach T's ear. Coach T covered the ear he yelled in and walked off. We laughed as Dad looked at me and smiled.

"You still own that thing, Shawn?" Bombay asked him. He turned his head and smiled at him. "I still enjoy being heard." He replied, stepping over to him. They hugged, and Bombay patted Dad on the back. "Does she know?" He asked Dad as they broke away. He shook his head as his smile softly faded. "Not yet." "Well, make it soon. You and I both know there's some stories that need sharing." They laughed together for a moment.

Logan skated over to me. "Your dad's pretty cool." "He sure is." I replied. "Listen, Lilah, I just wanna say–" "Just shut up and kiss me already, rookie." I responded. Then he did just that. When we broke apart, he spoke again. "Do you wanna be my girlfriend?" "You really want that?" "More than anything right now." I smiled at him. "Then, yes. I will be your girlfriend, Logan Larue." He let out a sigh of relief as he smiled back at me.