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chapter twenty: gordon bombay, public defender, representative of the ducks

a/n:

lmao so we have two chapters left before the epilogue <3

jamie's conflicting feelings about the ducks and her slight trust issues will be explored in the next two chapters

jamie being the more aggressive out of the two of them will never not amuse me. girl is like so tiny.

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Just when Jamie thought things were finally going good, the school had to pull it right out from underneath them.

Dressed professionally, she stands in a room with her boyfriend and his teammates in front of the Eden Hall Academy Board. Linda stands next to her and Charlie's mother is on her other side, the Varsity kids standing across the room from them with these smug looks on their faces. The school, because of the Ducks' losses, is trying to take their scholarships and send them packing- which is illegal, Jamie thinks- and they're here to make a case for themselves.

Which is seeming to be fruitless and pathetic right about now.

Buckley clears his throat to get the attention of everyone in the room. "Do I have a motion for reconsideration?"

The board members begin to discuss it amongst themselves, a murmur of hushed conversation filling the room. Jamie's stomach twists painfully because she doesn't know what they're going to do if they lose their scholarships- half of them are from all around the country, after all- and she makes eye contact with Rick from across the room.

He has no sympathy in his eyes.

Not that she was dumb enough to expect it or anything. It's just that, maybe she thought that, since he more or less treats her like a human being, he would extend that to other people.

Apparently, she thought wrong.

"I'm sorry, Coach, but unless there is a... motion from a board member and a second, the decision must stand."

Jamie looks away from Rick, finally, to look at Charlie nervously. For the entire time she's been around him, he's had a magical ability to somehow just save his ass no matter what he does. She hopes to God that he's got something now.

"You leave me no choice but to bring in our attorney." Orion hums.

Buckley looks at him, utterly confused, and Jamie cocks a brow, looking at Linda. Linda shrugs, looking just as unsure as she feels.

The doors to the room open with a flourish. "Dean Buckley, the board."

Gordon Bombay, the Ducks' old coach, enters. He's carrying a briefcase.

"As counsel for Coach Orion, and the JV hockey team I'm here to set forth your legal options so that you may make the best possible decision for all parties concerned."

"Mr. Bombay, this isn't a legal proceeding." Buckley's face is so pinched with confusion that it might stay that way permanently.

"Not yet, but I can assure you that it will be. Do you mind?"

The dean, still perplexed, takes the briefcase that Bombay shoves in his direction after the former coach pulls one of the scholarships from it.

"These scholarships, an offer, became a binding contract upon the signatures of the recipients and acceptance by the Ducks. They cannot be voided except for cause which, I guarantee you, you have none. Should you decide to pursue their cancellation, I will slap you with an injunction."

Jamie resists the urge to laugh because she knew it was illegal, and then resists the urge to smile because Bombay is doing a great job. She meets Rick's eyes again, and all confidence has been replaced by an unreadable emotion.

He cocks a brow, glancing at Bombay before glancing at her again, and she shrugs in response.

Get fucked, Rick.

"I will tie this matter up in court for years, until long after these kids have gone on to and graduated from college. And I will collect damages. I will win. Because I am very, very good."

Bombay leans on the table as he speaks, hands flat against the surface. She tries not to be amused by how horrified the board members are.

"You know why I'm so good? Because I had a good education. You gave it to me, and you're gonna give it to these kids."

Jamie turns to look at Adam only to find him already staring at her. There are about a hundred emotions in his eyes, and stress is pulling at all of his features.

She smiles softly, trying to ease his nerves.

"Now, some of you might be snobbish enough to believe that these Ducks don't belong at Eden Hall. Let me tell you, you are dead wrong. These are remarkable young people. You give them their full shot, and I promise you they will succeed, not only on the ice, but in the classrooms as well. These people are my friends, and I know what they can do. Accordingly, I demand that you reinstate their scholarships, for their benefit and for your own."

Another murmur of conversation fills the silence after a few tense seconds, the board members shocked by the audacity and the varsity team incredibly frustrated with them. Jamie has to bite her cheek, forcing herself to not smile and jinx everything.

"I move that the scholarships..." An older woman dressed in an ungodly amount of red says with a sigh. "be reinstated."

Her heart lurches, and she scans the rest of the board members with hopeful eyes.

"Is there a second?"

Come on. Come on. Come on.

The man next to the woman hesitantly raises his hand.

"All in favor?"

Slowly but surely, all the people around the table reluctantly raise their hands, mumbling complaints. Buckley taps his gavel.

"Scholarships reinstated!"

Jamie laughs a shaky, shocked laugh as the entire room erupts into cheers. Bombay hugs Orion, and then Charlie, and Adam pushes through the crowd to make his way to his girlfriend. He puts his hands on either side of her face, kissing her sweetly.

"We did it." He smiles, pressing his forehead against hers.

She grins, putting her hands on his chest. "You did."

Adam's grinning, shaking his head as she pulls away from him. Jamie takes his hand, walking out with him as everyone else starts to file out of the room.

"You should all go out to celebrate." She hums. "Pizza or something."

He nods. "Yeah, that sounds like a good time. But what will you do?"

"Go home." Jamie shrugs.

Okay, maybe the idea of him hanging out with those kids awakens a nagging monster from the back of her mind- maybe she worries that he only started hanging out with her again because he didn't have any other friends anymore and, now that he has them again, he'll start to realize that he doesn't need her anymore.

But she's not going to stop him from being happy because she has trust issues.

Adam hasn't given her a reason to not trust him since they started hanging out again, so she'll just shove that little voice down.

He frowns over the idea of it but nods anyway. "Okay."

All happy chatter stops as Rick and his varsity goons approach, sour looks on their faces.

"Congratulations...on destroying our school."

Adam squeezes Jamie's hand.

"Hey, look, it's our school too." Kenny cuts in.

"It's everyone's school." Jamie scoffs.

"You stupid jock." Linda tacks on.

"No, it'll never be your school. Don't you get it?"

Rick's staring at Jamie with the evilest gaze she's ever gotten from him, but she refuses to shrink down.

"You're our own little affirmative action, brought in for color to entertain us. But you couldn't even do that."

"Gee, Rick, way to sound like a pretentious douche." She scoffs.

Adam looks at her with that 'please-stop-picking-fights-with-people-who-are-bigger-than-you' expression.

"Your fancy lawyer kept you in on a technicality." Rick raises his voice over hers. "But you'll never belong."

"You'll never be anything more than a bunch of rejects here on a free ride."

"Free ride?" Russ scoffs at Cole's audacity. "Look at you, rich boy! Mummy and daddy gave you everything, huh?"

"Yeah, man, you can't even read."

Cole narrows his eyes at her.

"Hey! JV- Varsity game's on Friday. Then we'll show the whole school what a joke you really are- then maybe you'll leave on your own."

Charlie slaps Rick's hand away from his tie.

"It'd be... the only honorable thing to do."

Jamie wants to ask him what the hell he knows about honor, but Adam gives her another look.

"You know we're gonna hurt you."

What kind of freak?-

Charlie scoffs. "Listen, you guys had an unfair advantage last time. You had one of us: Banksie."

"Oh, well. Keep him. He never had the heart of a warrior anyway."

"He's not chattel." Jamie cuts in again, a sour look on her face.

"Hey, Biff, one more thing." Russ hums, crossing his arms. "After we beat you, the Warriors die and the Ducks fly."

Linda turns to look at her, looking pleased as punch with that, and Jamie can't help but smile crookedly herself.

"Hey, anything you want, loser. Hm?"

With that, Rick turns on his heels and walks away, his team following him like a pack of loyal mutts. Adam turns to Jamie fully, staring at her like she's crazy.

"You're going to be the death of me."

"I know."

Averman claps Russ on the shoulder. "Good move, Russ. Make 'em even madder- Charlie, we gotta do something man."

"Yeah. You're right. We gotta get to work."

Before he can walk away, Linda grabs his arm.

"Me and Jamie will be here for you guys every step of the way."

Now, they never discussed this. Linda knows just how Jamie feels about these kids as a group, how she's kept hold of a childhood grudge and let it fester for years.

Jamie cocks a brow as Linda turns to look at her, causing the rest of them to turn to her, too.

"Uh, sure." She hums, squeezing Adam's hand a bit. "Whatever you guys need- homework help, motivation, a place to crash after practice. We've got you."

Adam smiles brightly, kissing her on the head, and that alone makes it all worth it.

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a/n:

jamie's gonna regret that comment about cole. rick isn't gonna stop him :)

comments and votes are super appreciated! they let me know that you guys like my writing and they motivate me to continue! thank you