The Coach

I got up bright and early that following morning for school. We were on our second month of my freshman year and things were going pretty smoothly. My father normally got me up in the mornings but he never came home that previous night. Boy was my mother in rare form…

"Where in the hell could he be? I told him I needed him home by last night!" she yelled as she let my plate of breakfast plop in front of me.

"Um mom…you almost broke my plate." I said.

She sighed, "I'm so sorry honey, I'm just so frustrated with your father. He never calls when he's away and then he never comes home when he says he'll be home."

I shrugged and took a bite of my eggs, "Maybe his flight got delayed."

She shook her head and began washing the dishes, "No, he would have called…"

I was real concerned about my mom. It had taken her a long time to get over what had happened between her and my dad back when I was four. I didn't really remember much because I was so young, but I did know that one of his best buddies had done something to me when he took me on vacation. Since then, my mom always made me stay home with her whenever he went out of town with them.

"I'll stay home if you want me too." I told her.

She turned and smiled at me, "No that's ok honey. I need to relax that's all. Anyways you need to go to school today. I hear you'll be meeting your new coach."

I sighed, "Yea…"

"You don't sound excited about that." She said as she folded her arms.

"Oh I am, it's just Mrs. Huntington was an awesome coach...I'm really going to miss her. "

My mom sighed, "I know honey, but don't worry I'm sure your new coach will be just as awesome."

"I hope so,"

She smiled and then made herself a plate of food to eat. Just as she sat down, Emily appeared at our kitchen door.

"Come on in honey," my mom said with a smile.

Emily walked in wearing a very cute outfit she picked out at the mall. It was a black BEBE t-shirt, and a blue jean skirt. She also had on a pair of black wedge heels and a black purse to match. Her hair was pulled halfway up with lots of curls throughout it.

"Good morning Mrs. Hardy." She said with a smile.

"Hello dear, you are just in time for breakfast." My mom told her.

She smiled and sat her stuff down before getting some food.

"Did you sleep well last night?" I asked her.

She sighed, "Not really…my parents were up arguing all night again."

My mom frowned, "Awe not again,"

"Yea. I have no clue why they can't act civilized towards one another." Emily said as she took a seat next to me. "It's like they use each other as their personal punching bags and I'm the referee."

I shook my head, "I'm sorry you have to go through that."

"Yea me too Emily, you know if you ever want to get out of the house, you are more than welcome to come and stay here for a few days." My mom told her.

Emily's face lit up, "Really?"

"Of course, we had a guestroom put in for that reason."

She smiled and then looked at me, "That's awesome, I'll be like the sister you never had."

I laughed, "I already consider you to be a sister of mine. I sure wish someone here would have heard that request."

My mom blushed, "Honey I told you before, if I knew you wanted a sister or a brother I wouldn't of had my tubes tied."

I sighed, "Yea I know…but you could always have corrective surgery…"

Her and Emily shared a laugh. "You are so funny,"

After breakfast, I ran upstairs to brush my teeth before heading out to the bus with Emily. As we were walking towards my front gate, Emily spotted Mark coming out of his house. He was dressed in some black sweatpants and a white polo shirt. His reddish hair was pulled back into a low ponytail and like before, he had on sunglasses. He was carrying a duffle bag on his shoulder with our black and red school colors.

"Hubba Hubba…I wonder where he's headed this morning." Emily said.

I rolled my eyes, "Emily! Once again, you have a boyfriend and can I add that he's a grown man?"

She laughed, "Hey I told you before that there is nothing wrong with looking…but seriously I'm wondering where he's going."

"By the looks of it he's going to the local gym downtown." I told her.

"Awe…I guess he doesn't want us watching him work out anymore." Emily said.

I giggled, "Yea, or maybe his wife doesn't want us watching him."

Emily's eyes narrowed, "Man screw that blonde bimbo…if I wanted her man I would sooo take him!"

I laughed hysterically as I hopped on the bus. "Emily you are silly."

"No I mean it. She's got nothing on us…"

I shook my head, "And why am I part of that conclusion?"

She shrugged, "Because you're his neighbor and I'm sure you looked at him as much as I did."

I tried to fight off my smile, but that was only replaced by a blush.

"Ah ha! I knew it! You're too much like me so there was no way you could resist."

"Whatever, let's change the subject for now alright."

"Ok…I guess."

We made it to school almost ten minutes later. Emily and I went our separate ways as usual and I headed to my locker. When I got there, my friend Scottie was waiting for me. He was such a cutie, standing at 5'11, with lanky arms and legs, sexy brown eyes and hair, and to top it all off…he was gay. Can you believe it? Gay!

"Hey there girlfriend," he said as I hugged him.

"hey boo, how are you doing today?" I asked him as I opened my locker.

He shrugged, "Oh you know, same old me…me and Josh broke up…"

I gasped, "What? No way!"

"Yes way girl, he told me he wasn't into guys anymore and he left me…"

I shook my head, "Why didn't you text me?"

He shrugged, "I'm not sure…I guess I just needed some time alone."

"I hear ya," I said as I fixed my make-up.

"So are you pumped for your upcoming competition?" he asked me. "I know you're getting a new coach so it must be weird."

I sighed, "Yea it is weird. Mrs. Huntington led us to three victories so far this year. I feel like losing her isn't a great thing."

Scottie nodded and then smiled, "Then again…it may be a good thing."

"How?" I asked as I shut my locker.

"Well there's the new coach right there."

I turned in the direction he was pointing and nearly fainted in shock. There walking down the hall towards me with my old coach, was the new coach.

"Ah, there's our captain right there," Mrs. Huntington said as she smiled at me. "Mr. Calaway, meet Katrina Hardy."

I smiled up at him trying to hide my shock. "Uh, hello, it's nice to meet you again."

"Again?" Mrs. Huntington said.

Mark smiled and looked at her, "Miss. Hardy happens to be my next door neighbor actually. I didn't take her to be the swimming type."

Mrs. Huntington smiled, "Oh she's the best swimmer we've got. I'm quite proud of her."

I laughed, "Oh thanks Mrs. Huntington but it's not me that's makes up the team you know."

"Spoken like a true leader." Mark said. "Well I guess we better let Katrina get to class now. We wouldn't want her to be late."

"Of course, we'll see you after school Kat," Mrs. Huntington said as they began to walk away.

"Yea…no problem." I said as I watched them head down the hall. I was completely baffled at this point. I took out my cell phone and quickly texted the news to Emily, who I knew would be excited.