Breaking the silence, Connie let out a gasp and her head lurched forward. She put her hand to her temples and shook her head a little.
“Connie?” Guy asked, instantly concerned.
“It’s nothing,” she replied after a moment. “Just getting a glimpse of possible futures again. I hate it when that happens.”
“Am I playing hockey in any of them?” Portman asked bitterly.
Connie opted not to grace that question with an answer. If it were ‘yes’ he’d probably snort unbelievingly, and if it were ‘no’ he most likely mutter ‘that be right’ or something else much to that effect. Guy gave her a gentle, one-armed hug.
Not long after that, they looked up as Coach Orion approached. He tapped a dismal Portman on the shoulder.
“I’ve spoken to Mr Glencross and we’ve come to an agreement,” Coach Orion informed him. “He’s going to let you retake the test in two weeks time, and your participating in the upcoming championship depends on you getting a ‘C’ or better.”
Portman didn’t say anything. Coach Orion shook his head in exasperation and gave the Ducks a look that basically meant ‘please get him back to his senses and out of this slump before someone throttles him’. He turned and departed.
“Well, this is great!” Charlie said. “All you have to do is study, and you can still play.”
“Two lousy weeks to get from an ‘F’ to a ‘C’? Yeah, right.”
“C’mon, you can do this,” Julie encouraged.
“That’s easy for you to say, Miss Intelligence girl.”
“Hey, I have to study too.”
“We’ll all help you,” Adam offered.
“Yeah, I mean, it wouldn’t be the same playing the championship without you, man,” Luis added.
“Where would I be without my Bash Brother?” Fulton grinned, punching his shoulder.
Portman snorted.
“Y’know what? If he’s going to be all sorry for himself, I don’t think I want to help him,” Russ said, glowering. “We want you to play, Portman, but you don’t sound so enthusiastic about the idea.”
“Don’t you see? This is not going to work,” Portman replied. “I can’t get my grade up that high in time.”
“Can’t you at least try?” suggested Dwayne. “You might surprise yourself.”
“I doubt it.”
“Well, it sounds like you’ve made up your mind, huh? C’mon guys, it looks like Portman’s not coming with us,” Russ said.
Slowly, one by one, they all got up and left.