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Coach Orion hung up the phone, leaning heavily onto his desk.
Informing someone of the death of a loved one was never easy news to deliver.
Charlie's mother had just called, to give him the news. Hans, the beloved owner of the Ice Palace, had passed away the previous night.
Growing up, he'd frequented the popular skate shop often, and had looked up to both him, and his brother, Jan.
The funeral was to be on the following Saturday, both for family living overseas to make travel arrangements, as well as allowing the kids to attend.
He debated, for a fleeting moment, whether he should run them through their scheduled practice, before informing them.
They had already been through so much, still trying to find a balance, a new normal, at Eden.
Fulton had returned two days ago, contrite, and ready to make a concentrated effort on playing two-way hockey.
Charlie was still stubbornly refusing to both speak to his mother, or return to school.
Dean Buckley had already stopped by his office, earlier that morning, to discuss Charlie's future with Eden, and the Warriors' JV hockey team.
He'd argued for a few more days, to give Charlie a chance to come back, on his own.
It was not looking very promising, the Board baying for any excuse to revoke the former Ducks' scholarships.
--and they were not above cutting them loose, one at a time.
On grades, alone, he'd already had discussions with the dean, on Averman, and Goldberg, who both were averaging low C's in their schoolwork.
The dean had also visited him in regards to Dwayne loitering in the stables on a regular basis, protesting on how the horses were being mistreated.
He had also visited to discuss Luis, who was apparently "socializing" a little too much with the Varsity and JV cheerleading squads.
"Was that Charlie's mom, on the phone?"
Orion glanced up, and found Julie Gaffney standing in the doorway, decked out in her full kit, appearing both cautious, and hopeful.
She was one of only three that had received glowing positive reviews from the dean, thus far--along with Ken Wu, and Adam Banks.
Casey usually called at the same time, since Charlie had quit the team, to give him progress updates, as well as to find out if Charlie even had the opportunity to return.
Julie had taken to checking in, after learning about the calls.
He breathed out a deep, gusting sigh, before speaking.
"It was," He replied, simply.
"Is he okay?" Julie asked, her countenance lightening at his reply.
She stepped forward, partially into his office. "Did she say if he's coming back soon?"
He pinched his lips together, for a moment, shuffling some papers together, delaying the inevitable just a little bit longer.
"No, she did not," He finally responded, meeting Julie's gaze with a closed off expression.
"Oh," Julie murmured, her shoulders, drooping. "I was sure that Hans would have talked some sense into him by now…it's been almost a week…"
Orion breathed in deep, again, wishing he didn't have to break this news.
"There's actually something I need to tell the entire team," Orion stated, when she trailed off, rising from his seat.
Julie straightened up to her full height, her gaze sharp.
"What happened? Did something bad happen to Charlie?"
He gestured for her to precede him, holding his extended arm out, towards the rink.
"Let's head up to the ice," Orion said, instead. "So everyone can hear, at the same time."
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