Right after the match, I drove to Han's shop, again using the back door.

Hans was sharpening another pair of skates when I walked in the back door. He dropped everything he was doing.

"Gordon, I'm happy you stopped by." His face lit up with excitement as he took off his glasses and set them down on his workbench.

"Really?" I raised a brow.

"Yes," He signaled for me to follow him. "The Ducks finally have a chance to make the playoffs," Hans said with me following closely behind him, walking past the counter.

"We have a chance to make the playoffs?" Hans led me over to the chalkboard with the PeeWee Standing Teams and schedule.

"Yes, everyone but the last two teams make it. Remember, the Panthers got the measles, they forfeited their season. If you beat the Huskies," He pointed to the name on the board. "You'll make the playoffs."

"Then we'll have to play the Hawks." My voice dropped.

"So!?" Hans scoffed.

"So they're a hard team. Nothing's changed since I played." I added.

Hans then turned to the board, "Well one thing has changed, or you wouldn't be a Hawk," Turning my attention to the map, Hans pointed to the district boundary lines separating District 5 and 6. "Last year, they redrew the district lines. The lake is not the boundary anymore, you see you'd be a Duck." He looked over at me.

Looking away, I shrugged my shoulders, "I'd be a Duck. I mumbled.

"But besides from that, you were probably cheated for half of this season." Hans crossed his arms.

"What do you mean?" Looking back at Hans.

Hans went back to the map and pointed on our side of the line, "Well if anyone living on our side of the line, will be considered as a Duck and have to transfer over to your team."

"Perfect time to be a Duck." I chuckled.

"Yes, yes, a perfect time to be a Duck." Hans chuckled.

An idea popped into my head, "I'll go down to the office tomorrow to pull some house addresses."

"Good thinking Gordon." Hans nodded.

The next morning, I got up early to go to the PeeWee Hockey League's main office to request a list of addresses from the players of the Hawks.

Going down the list of addresses, I recognized a familiar street name. Then I asked for the District boundary lines map and looked up the street name, one of the Hawks players.

I asked one of the managers to come with me and break Coach Riley the news. When we arrived in the rink, the Hawks were warming up for a game.

The two of us walked on to the ice towards the benches, "Excuse me, Coach Riley?"

Coach Riley then turned to face us with a smile until it dropped when he saw me walk towards him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm afraid one of your players is ineligible." The manager gave Coach Riley a piece of paper, he skimmed over the paper to look at the name, then he looked back up.

"Banks! Over here!" Coach Riley called Adam Banks over to the benches. Adam then took his helmet off and stopped at the glass wall. "This has got to be a joke right?"

"No, I'm afraid not." The manager held on to Adam's file. Mr. Banks then came down to the benches to see what the commotion was all about.

"Is there a problem, Coach Riley?" He stood by.

"Are you this boy's father?" The manager then cracked open the file. "450 North Hennipen Avenue, is that your address?" He asked Mr. Banks.

"Yes." The manager then closed the file.

"Well then I'm afraid there's no mistake, this boy is playing for the wrong team."

"What!?" Adam blurted out.

"According to league rules, Adam Banks should be playing for District 5."

Coach Riley and Mr. Banks took this news by complete surprise, "My son is a Hawk," Mr. Banks looked at the manager, then shot me a glare. "Not a Duck." He emphasized.

"Is this your doing Gordon?" Riley snapped at me, pointing his finger at me.

"I'll expect to see him at our next game," I added.

"No way!" Adam snapped.

Mr. Banks pointed a finger at me, "My son would rather not play than play for you." Adam looked at his father with wide eyes, then stared off into space.

I nodded my head, "Fine, if that's the way you want it, but remember, if Adam continues to play for the Hawks, then you'd have to forfeit every game for the season," I looked between Mr. Banks and Coach Riley. "Boy, I'd hate to have that happen." A smug smirk wiped across my face before turning to leave. The manager was explaining the situation of the district lines to Adam and Mr. Banks.

I almost made it out of the rink before I heard Riley yell my name from behind me, "Gordon? Hey Bombay!" I continued to walk towards the exit. "Bombay you stop when I'm talking to you son!" Finally, I stopped, rolling my eyes before turning around. "What's the idea here? You trying to sabotage me or what?"

"The law is a bitch when it works against you, isn't it Jack?" I snapped. "You got a whole team of Banks's, one kid isn't gonna make a difference."

"Even with Banks, what you trying to prove, you and that bunch of losers?" He snapped back at me. "Even that girl Victoria is a loser too. She shouldn't have the right to set foot on to that ice if she can't skate. I haven't seen her skate one but yet she still coaches."

"Yeah, your right, we hate losers, don't we? They are losers. They don't even deserve to live," I said sarcastically. "Maybe Banks won't make a difference, but at least we're playing by the rules," I paused. "Also, Victoria is the biggest help and most bright girl you'll ever meet in a lifetime. Even though no one has seen her skate, she will always have the privilege to coach my team at my side." My voice dropped.

"Why'd you turn against me, Gordon? For six years, I taught ya how to skate, I taught ya how to score. I taught ya how to go for the 'W'." Coach Riley snapped at me. "You could have been one of the greats and now look at yourself. You're not even a has-been. You're a never-was." He waved his hands in front of my face, I just turned and walked away. I wasn't putting up with any of his bull shit anymore.

When I arrived at my house, I spent most of my day there before the game tonight where I met up with the team at the rink.

Walking down to the locker room, I could hear Vic's voice, booming and radiating happiness and motivation to the team, when I walked in, Victoria was smearing Fulton's black face paint on her face, her hair was up in a high ponytail with her new cheer bow in her hair and her jersey on.

When she turned, her face lit up with a smile, "Hey Coach, I was wonderin' when you'd show up."

"Hey Coach," I smiled then saw Peter, Jesse, and Terry sitting down next to each other in folding chairs, not in they're uniforms. My face slightly dropped. "Why aren't you in uniform yet? We got warm-ups in half an hour." The boys didn't say anything except exchange looks with each other. Turning to the team, I clapped my hands together to share the news with them, "Alright everyone, listen up, I got some good news," Vic looked at me in confusion. "We're getting a new player," I paused, I had a feeling in my gut that everyone would want to claw my eyeballs out. "Adam Banks."

"WHAT!?" Everyone said in unison with annoyance in they're tone.

"He's a Hawk." Karp scrunched his face.

"He's a good player," I added. Karp stuck out his tongue.

"Everyone hates him," Terry replied.

"Ya, we don't need him!" Connie rolled her eyes while sitting next to Guy.

"I mean he's a pervy rich asshole, me and him don't quite get along, Coach," I added, rolling my eyes.

"Look I'm the Coach and I say we do need him. If we make it to the playoffs, he could be a big help."

"If?" Karp snapped. "Now all of a sudden you don't think we're good enough?"

"Ya, he thinks we're losers," Peter responded to Karp's question.

Turning to Peter, I was so lost and confused, "What?" I mumbled.

"I saw that picture of you, missing that goal," Peter stood up with his jersey in his hand. "You were a Hawk, weren't you? You and Riley stuck together till the end," Peter saw right through me, I frowned in shame. "I don't need your stupid equipment." He threw his jersey on the ground before storming out.

"Peter come back here!" I shouted at Peter who stormed out the door.

Turning to Jesse and Terry the shook their heads, "If you wanna play, play by yourself. Let's go, Terry." He mumbled before the two got up and walked out of the locker room.

"Look, I'm going up to the benches where I'm supposed to be if anyone wants to join me then good, but if not then well." I was at a loss for words, so I walked away and went up to the benches to watch the Jets practice.

Then a ref skated up to me, "10 minutes til game time Coach."

"Yeah, they working themselves into a frenzy." I lied to the ref, then we heard the gates open, Vic walked out on to the ice with Charlie and Fulton behind her. The two threw their helmets aside and skated around.

"Some frenzy."

"Hey, Coach." Vic frowned as she walked up to me.

"You're the other coach, huh?" The ref looked Vic up and down, not expecting her to be a kid. "Not what I was expecting." He chuckled.

"Ya, I guess." She mumbled, not even looking at me.

Looking out at Charlie and Fulton, I deeply exhaled, "We forfeit." I mumbled to the ref. Vic didn't even say anything, except to look up in shock.

The ref nodded and blew his whistle, "Ducks forfeit, Jets win."

Hey guys! Hope your all enjoying the chapter. Since I feel generous today, later, I will be posting another chapter for you all! 😌💕 Thank you to all my 𝓑𝓪𝓷𝓴𝓼𝓲𝓮 𝓑𝓪𝓫𝓮𝓼 for coming and reading my book. I love you guys! 🥺❤☺