Work Text:
“I’m so glad it’s finally summer!” Julie exclaimed as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder and started to walk ahead.
After a long, hard year, summer vacation had finally come round the corner, so Julie planned a day trip to the beach. The Ducks had no school, no practice, no games or tournaments, just 104 well deserved days to themselves. Some of the team had either gone on holiday or were busy on the day of the plan, but anybody free said they would definitely make it. So after a week full of planning, and after buying endless bottles of suncream, Julie, Charlie, Portman, Guy, Luis, Adam and Connie all headed off on their travels.
”Me too!” Luis replied. “I think I’d die if I had to stay in school any longer.” The team nodded their heads in agreement.
“How long will it take to get to the beach, Julie?” Charlie asked.
“Not long, really,” she guessed. “Ten minutes, maybe?”
”Awesome!”
So the gang began to walk to the beach. Ditching the rollerblades was a good idea from Connie, as the paths and roads by the beach were too bumpy, and it would be good for them to walk.
Soon enough, after what felt like hours due to the sweltering heat, they finally made it to their destination. The beach was a big area, with lots of sand covering it whenever the tide was out, and another corner was covered in rock pools. There was also a shop located just across the road.
”I don’t know if this’ll be useful,” Adam spoke up. “But I brought a beach ball if you guys wanna use it?” The team’s faces lit up with delight.
”You know what this means…” Portman teased.
Their faces immediately faded, and someone laughed nervously.
”Beach Ball Bombing!” he yelled, and everyone groaned in a mixture of defeat and excitement.
Beach Ball Bombing was a game Portman and Fulton had made up the first time the Ducks had ever done a beach trip. There were normally two “Bombers” who had to count to ten, and suddenly chase the first person on their mind until they were close enough to get hit with the beach ball.
”Wait a minute, Fulton’s not here.” Charlie pointed out. “Who’s gonna be the second Bomber?”
”We could stick with one! It’ll work either way.” Portman suggested.
”Hey guys, does anybody have a pump?” Guy reminded them. Suddenly, everybody remembered that they didn’t bring a pump for the ball.
”Dang it. I’ll do it.” Guy sighed.
”Give it to someone else if you get lightheaded.” Charlie warned. Guy gave him a thumbs up in return as Adam pulled out the beach ball from his rucksack and passed it to him.
”You guys think anybody else is here?” Connie asked suspiciously.
”I sure hope not.” Adam rolled his eyes.
”Maybe, but who knows? As long as they don’t bother us.” Charlie said optimistically.
”I just hope nobody bad is here. What if-
Adam was cut off as Guy finished blowing up the beach ball and decided to throw it to the side of his face. As the others began to laugh, Adam caught the ball and slowly turned towards Guy, smirking.
”Germaine… you’re going down!” he yelled as he began to chase Guy down the path and onto the sand, the others following behind.
Once they were on the sand, they decided a couple rounds of Beach Ball Bombing wouldn’t do them any harm.
”Okay, I’ll be the Bomber, get ready.” Portman smirked at the gang.
As he counted to ten, they all spread out and prepared for what was to come.
Portman turned around after counting, and his gaze was fixed on Charlie.
”Hey, Conway…” he spoke with a scary tone.
”Oh no.”
”RUN!” Portman yelled, as Charlie took off at a fast pace and Portman wasn’t too far behind him. Charlie ran a pretty decent distance before he eventually got hit with the ball.
”Dang it, I almost beat my record!” Charlie sighed, no harm meant.
”What is your record?” Portman asked.
”35 seconds, I got 30.”
”Well well, maybe I’m just too fast.” he smiled, and so did Charlie.
They continued to play three more rounds, with Connie, Luis and Julie being caught. They counted their timings and concluded that Connie got the farthest, she smirked in triumph.
”You guys wanna check out the rock pools or something?” Charlie asked as the team began to walk further along the beach. They all agreed and set in that direction, Luis leading them off.
The beach was almost covered in people. There were children building sandcastles and running around, and older people who were sharing a bench having an ice cream.
”Hold on…” Luis suddenly stopped in his tracks, causing half of the gang to bump into him. “Is that…”
”Wait a minute! That’s Coach!” Portman laughed, and he glared to get a good view. “Is he reading…”
”A newspaper?!” Adam blurted, and the entire team began to burst out laughing.
”No way! Since when did he ever read the newspaper?” Guy asked.
”Since forever, I guess.” Portman snickered.
And, to confirm their sightings, Bombay was sitting on one of the benches, with a newspaper in his hand, looking real silly.
”We should go surprise him.” Charlie declared, resulting in the Ducks carefully moving so they could get behind the bench without being spotted, succeeding in doing so.
As they stood behind him, Bombay kept reading the paper as if he had no input on what was happening, without looking up, like he hadn’t seen a thing. He thought he could hear a few laughs, but thought nothing of it as it was probably a bunch of kids by the water.
Everything was peaceful, until-
“Nice paper, huh Coach?” Charlie teased.
Bombay turned around to see half of his own hockey team struggling to stay serious. As he began to laugh, the gang immediately burst out laughing.
“Hey guys! How’s your summer going so far?” he asked.
”Pretty cool!” Portman replied.
”No rollerblading today?”
”Nope!” Connie declared. “We decided to walk because the paths here suck.”
”I agree. They’re not the safest for rollerblading.”
”What are you doing here, Coach?” Guy asked.
Bombay thought to himself. “Oh, I’m not doing much. Me and Hans were just gonna catch up, since I haven’t seen him for a while.” he said.
”That’s cool. What’s Hans been up to anyway?” Charlie questioned.
”Just the normal, you know, sharpening skates and keeping the shop tidy.”
”Sweet! We’re probably gonna head off now,” Charlie said as he looked towards the rock pools which were getting more crowded. “We were gonna hang by the rocks before they get too busy.”
”Great for you guys. Don’t do anything too stupid now.” Bombay warned, raising an eyebrow and pointing a finger at them all.
”We won’t.” Portman affirmed.
”Well, see you guys around! And make sure to get some practice in!” Bombay waved them goodbye as they walked off.
“I still can’t believe he was reading a newspaper.” Luis snickered.
”Same! I’ve never seen him read one, it makes him look like a real serious guy.” Charlie laughed.
”Maybe he just reads boring newspapers because he used to be a lawyer.” Connie prompted.
”Boring!” They all called at the same time, laughing.
The rock pools weren’t too far away now, as the gang continued to head over.
Until two boys walked past them and one of them suddenly gave Adam a shove.
”What’s your…” he trailed off as he turned around to see Larson and McGill, from the Hawks team, standing infront of him.
”You gotta stay out of our way.” Larson bickered as he proceeded to give Adam a harder push, and the gang immediately erupted.
”Hey, what the hell is your problem, man?!” Charlie argued.
”You better watch what you’re doing, before you make things worse.” Connie threatened.
”Well, you guys are always around us!” McGill complained. “It’s like you’ve always been near us ever since we got second! Like you’re showing off, although it was ages ago!”
”What’s it to you?” Adam asked. “You guys are the ones still going on about it.”
”Just shut up!” McGill yelled, aiming for another push but failing as Charlie stood his ground infront of Adam.
”If you go for him again, or any one of us, then we’re gonna have a serious problem.” he warned. McGill didn’t immediately step back, but a glare from Portman caused him to.
”Just- just stay away from us, alright?” Larson begged angrily. “You’re all nothing but annoying and we’re sick of you!”
”You know, we’d gladly be out of your sight if you just stayed away from us.” Julie insulted. Larson lunged forward to give her harm, but Portman stepped in.
”Do that again, and see what happens.” he remarked, and Larson immediately shuffled back.
The two Hawks exchanged whispers, as if they were struggling to agree about something, until McGill spoke again.
”We’re not gonna fight.” he declared sheepishly. “But in return, you gotta leave us alone, alright?”
”Can’t promise that.” Guy muttered.
And that got Larson really mad. He stepped forward, pushing past Charlie, and slapped him right across the face. Everybody erupted as Guy staggered back and bumped into Connie, who kept pulling him back. Adam, Luis and Charlie got into a verbal fight with McGill, and Portman immediately tackled Larson to the sand. Julie lunged forward and tried to pull him off, but didn’t succeed as the two continued to fight and Charlie tapped her shoulder.
Portman and Larson continued to fight eachother, yelling multiple slurs and offences, until Portman felt somebody pull him right back up.
”Break it up, man! Jesus Christ!” It was Bombay. He had obviously caught on to what was happening and came to make a stop.
Portman was full of rage. “Did you see them?!” he shouted in anger. “They can’t do that! We didn’t do anything to them! How is this fair?!”
“Okay, man! Okay! Calm down.” Bombay looked at Larson, who was also being pulled off the ground. But it wasn’t a good neighbour helping him up.
It was none other than Jack Reilly.
The whole team went silent as they stared at the man.
”Gordon.” Reilly mumbled, seriousness in his voice.
”Jack.” Bombay greeted back, staring him down.
There was an extremely loud silence.
Reilly sighed. “I’m not… going to-
“We’re just- we’re gonna walk off.” Bombay interrupted, guiding the Ducks to start walking.
Once Reilly and his two Hawks were moving the other way, Bombay stopped again.
”Would anyone care to tell me what happened back there?” He asked, exasperated as he got a good look at Guy’s face where he’d been hit.
Charlie took a deep breath. “Well, I don’t know, they just-
“They’re assholes, that’s what.” Portman blurted out.
”Quiet down, Portman.” Bombay warned carefully, without looking up. Portman sighed and Julie gave him an understanding look.
”It was just about the pee-wee’s, that’s all.” Adam mumbled.
”Yeah, but they were overreacting,” Charlie continued. “They kept pushing Adam and they tried to with Julie too.”
”Okay…” Bombay took in what he was hearing. “Get an ice pack on that as soon as you find one.” he told Guy, who nodded.
“What are we gonna do?” Luis asked.
”You guys,” Bombay started. “Are just gonna ignore it. Don’t give a damn about what they said. I’m gonna talk to Reilly, and I’ll sort things out. But next time they get on at you, just ignore them. Don’t let it get to you, if they see that then they’ll continue to fight.”
The Ducks all agreed.
“What if they come back to find us?” Adam gulped.
”I’ll make sure they don’t.” Bombay smirked. He waved the Ducks off and they continued their journey.
”Damn. All of this just to go sit on some rocks.” Portman scowled.
”I just don’t get how they hate us so much.” Julie groaned.
”You know, I really wasn’t gonna let them hit you.”
Julie laughed a little. “Yeah, I know. Thank you.”
”I don’t get why they’d go for a girl. Surely they know it’s not right.”
”Well, some people are just real stupid sometimes.”
They both laughed.
”Hey Guy, are you okay?” Charlie questioned.
”That hit looked bad.” Adam mentioned.
”It hurt like hell.” Guy mumbled quietly. “But I’ll be okay.”
Once the gang made it to the rock pools, they sat by an area that was closer to the ocean. They sat there for a while, looking for different sea creatures, or messing around. Guy had eventually found an ice pack for his face and kept it there until it no longer hurt.
After some time, when the sun had started to set, most of the team were messing about in the water. Charlie and Adam were sat on one of the higher rocks, not wanting to get too wet.
”You know, sometimes I wonder what summer would be like if I was still on the Hawks.” Adam spoke quietly.
”Really?” Charlie asked. “I bet it wouldn’t be as fun as this one.”
They both laughed a little.
”I’m glad I joined the Ducks.”
Charlie smiled. “Me too. You’re a good player, and a good friend.”
There was a little bit of silence, as the two listened to the rest of the gang messing around.
”I remember how nervous you were.” Charlie said.
As if on cue, Adam nervously laughed. “Yeah, same.”
”I know you thought the team didn’t like you.”
And Adam was silent.
”But trust me, they really did. They just couldn’t really show it because the Hawks treat us like crap.”
”I’m sorry about any of the times I did. It’s not like I wanted to, everybody just had to. Kinda like it was our job to annoy you guys or something.”
”It isn’t your fault. I could tell every time I’d seen you that you didn’t want to.” Charlie affirmed.
”Yeah, I didn’t.”
”The Hawks are crap. Screw them.”
They snickered.
”But really, we’re all glad we got you on our side.” Charlie smiled. “We’re a good team, everyone’s friends, we have the best summer quests too.”
“Thanks, Charlie.” Adam smiled too.
They looked out towards the sunset, and suddenly a few drops of water hit them like it was raining.
”Hey, you guys!” Connie yelled from below, throwing as much water as she could at the pair. “Come on down!”
Charlie gasped as the water hit him. “Okay! Okay!”
”If you guys don’t get down here in 30 seconds, I’m gonna get up there and push you in!” Portman teased.
Charlie and Adam then looked at eachother and burst out laughing, scrambling down the rocks and jumping into the water.
The team continued to hang around there until the sun had fully set, only drying off and packing up when the sky was completely orange.
”Damn, I wish I had a camera to take a picture of that sun.” Luis admired the sky before his eyes. “It looks like a painting.”
“Oh, man! I left my camera at home.” Julie sighed.
“I think I brought one.” Adam searched through his bag.
”Jeez bro, you brought everything!” Guy laughed.
”Found it!” He pulled the digital camera out of his bag and proceeded to snap the perfect angle of the sunset.
”Selfie anyone?” Charlie asked. Everyone immediately agreed.
“Here, I’ll give you the camera.” Adam said as he passed it to Charlie and everybody positioned themselves.
”Are we gonna say anything for the photo?” Connie asked quickly before Charlie could get a photo.
”We could do the quack?” Julie suggested.
And as everybody said yes, Charlie counted down from three, they quacked and snapped a photo.
Once the photo had been taken, the Ducks immediately crowded around Charlie to get a look at their picture.
”We got behind the sunset?! That’s the best picture ever!” Luis exclaimed.
”You need to keep that photo forever, Adam.” Portman told him.
”I definitely will.” Adam smiled.
And they walked off, back to their houses.