Janelle went through school trying not to think about what will happen when Mr. Gardner gives her a ride home later. But, school ended faster than she had expected. The school bell rang and she went to her locker to get her stuff and she went to his classroom. She waited at his door, waiting until he was finished with whatever he was doing. Mr. Gardner got out the classroom and locked it behind him. He had his stuff with him and he looked half-surprised and half-happy when he saw Janelle waiting for him.
"Hey." Mr. Gardner smiled at her, walking out the school.
"Are you sure you're okay with giving me a ride home? Because I can wal –" Janelle was now walking side by side with him and she felt like a burden for getting rides from a teacher.
"It's not safe to walk. I don't mind, do you?" They reached his car and she just stood there.
"Well, no."
"Well, then come on." He opened the door for her to get in the passenger seat. Janelle buckled her seat belt and put her bag on her lap, patiently waiting what this drive will lead to. Mr. Gardner got in the driver's seat and started the car and there was an awkward silence between them both.
"I'm sorry for what happened earlier, Janelle. I was out of line and I shouldn't have kissed you on the cheek."
"Sure you're sorry." Janelle teased him and the awkward silence was out the window.
"Seriously, you're like, what, sixteen, maybe seventeen, I shouldn't be doing that. I'm your teacher."
"Well, apology accepted. It did make all my fantasies come true, though. If that makes you feel any better." Janelle nudged his arm and he laughed.
"You have fantasies about me?" He raised an eyebrow and started to smirk.
"Yeah, I bet everyone in that school does. Who wouldn't? Have you looked at yourself? Those eyes. That smile. The way you raise your eyebrows when you laugh."
"Janelle, I'm flattered."
"Yeah, sure. Just speaking the truth, Gardner." Janelle felt more comfortable now. Her arm was on the armrest and Mr. Gardner's hand fell to hers. They both looked at their touching hands and entwined them together. When they reached Janelle's house, Mr. Gardner shook his head and pulled their entwined hands together.
"Janelle, I'm sorry, we shouldn't be doing this. I'm sorry, really. I think it's best if we don't speak to each other about this, or speak to each other at all." There was a long pause. Janelle didn't say anything; instead she just got out of the car quickly as she can. She slammed the car door shut and ran straight up to her room. Luckily, her parents weren't home because if they were, they would have made a big deal about it. Janelle thought she was stupid for liking her teacher in that way, but then again, she felt somewhat sad. She went downstairs to watch TV and she fell asleep before her parents got home and when she woke up, she was tucked in her bed. She smiled at the fact that her Dad must've brought her up to her room. She yawned and scratched her eyes to make her vision clear. Suddenly, the thought of what happened appeared in her mind and she didn't feel like going to school today. So, she told her parents that morning that she wasn't feeling well and thought that for once, they were going to listen and make her stay at home, but they checked her temperature and it was at a normal degree, so they told her to go to school. She didn't really want to go to first period, so she ditched. She came back at around the middle of fourth period and once the bell rang, she went to her locker and grabbed her iPod. She was walking down the hall when she saw winter sport try-outs plastered on the wall. She grabbed the small piece of paper and read it through. Girl's Basketball try-outs were tomorrow (Saturday) and she was thinking of trying out. If she was going to live here, she might as well live it up the way she wants to, and to her, that's playing basketball. The school day was over and she didn't see Mr. Gardner the entire day and she was glad. While she was walking home, she saw Mr. Gardner's car pull up to the curb and yelling something out to her. Janelle didn't really care what he said, partly because she couldn't hear what he was saying because of her music. Instead, she just kept walking, ignoring Mr. Gardner because the yesterday he said it would be best if they don't talk and that's exactly what she's going to do.
"I'm trying out for basketball and tryouts are tomorrow." Janelle said at the dinner table.
"Really? I know you'll make it, sweet heart." Janelle's Dad said in excitement. He always wanted her to play basketball because he had played basketball when he was in high school, plus, he also taught her how to play.
"Thanks, Dad."
"I agree with you, honey. Janelle, you'll do great." Janelle's Mom said, with a really wide smile on her face, but not sounding as excited as her Dad. She wasn't really into sports like Janelle was. The tryouts were tomorrow at noon and Janelle was nervous because she thought what if she wasn't good enough? What if there were other people better than her? She brushed those thoughts off and was now on her way to Western Summit High to tryout. She was wearing black shorts with high Nike socks and a white shirt. Her hair was up in a ponytail and she had her duffle bag with her. When she entered the Gym there was no turning back. She was thirty minutes early and there were other girls there shooting around. Janelle went over to a table to give them her athletic packet. They wished her luck and she went to the bleachers and put her shoes on. They told her that she could shoot around until the Coach comes. Her heart was beating rapidly because she really wanted to just get up and leave, but at the same time, she was excited. She went to an available court and started shooting around. Once she had a basketball in her hand, she felt like she was in her own world, she was always felt that when she was playing basketball. And don't even start when she starts dribbling, her cross-overs are so quick, as well with her spins; all thanks to her Dad. She could never beat her Dad, but once she started practicing her shooting and especially her dribbling, she could beat him. Janelle's Dad can also dribble as well as her, but Janelle would like to think she was better, though, her Dad would fairly disagree. Janelle did a spin into a cross-over and put it in for a lay-up. When she made the basket, everyone that was there was looking at her in complete awe. A girl walked up to her, basketball tucked in her arm. She was tall. Taller than Janelle.
"Wow, you're good."
"Thanks." Janelle said, she looked nice.
"I'm Kasey." She stuck her hand out for Janelle to shake, and Janelle gladly accepted.
"I'm Janelle, nice to meet you." They were shooting around with each other and they got along well. More girls came in and were told to line up from shortest to tallest; that's where Janelle and Kasey parted ways. They told each other good luck and Janelle felt sort of happy that she had made another friend.
"Okay, Coach isn't here yet, but start warming up." One of the people at the table told the girls and they gathered in a circle to stretch first. While they were stretching, Janelle saw the Coach come in. She shut her eyes and she couldn't believe her luck – or misfortune. It was Mr. Gardner. He was the Coach for Girls' Basketball and she could not believe it. Mr. Gardner saw her instantly and smiled at her. Janelle looked away and continued stretching.
"Alright, girls! Line up. Shortest to tallest, again." Mr. Gardner yelled. They lined up and Janelle was fairly in the middle, she wasn't too short nor was she too tall. She was at an average height, about 5'4".
"Alright, looks good. Who's ready to play some basketball?" Everyone else yelled in excitement, while Janelle just stood there, looking down at her feet.
"I'm Coach Nathan or Coach Gardner. Hell, I don't care, you can call me by my first name or last name, and it doesn't really matter. Tell me your name and what grade you are in when I point to you, please." Janelle didn't really hear the names, but she heard some girls that were a freshman, sophomore, and some juniors, but to her surprise, there were no seniors. Mr. Gardner pointed at Janelle, but she couldn't speak, due to the fact that he spoke for her.
"Why hello, Janelle. What are you doing here?" Janelle looked up and decided to smart mouth him.
"What does it look like, Nathan? This is basketball tryouts." Janelle smiled teasingly at him and he immediately understood why she was acting like that. Everyone around them were looking intently at them both, waiting for Mr. Gardner to speak up or get angry.
"Very well. You better be as good as the way you smart mouth." Mr. Gardner finished the line and split us up on each basket. There were six baskets in the whole gym and he put me on the main court, main basket where he was at.
"Okay, you guys are going to pass it in like this and play defense, while the person with the ball will try and score. If they go up for a shot, what do you guys do?" To Janelle's surprise, no one answered, so she decided to.
"You box out."
"Correct, now do you guys get it?" Everyone answered yes and went to their assigned courts. Mr. Gardner watching the people on the court Janelle was on. He was taking notes on his clipboard as he was watching. When it was Janelle's turn to play defense, the only thought that ran through her mind was she was going to make her Dad proud and make the team. She didn't care if Mr. Gardner was the coach. Janelle passed it in and the girl she was guarding was the same height as her, she looked like she was a freshman. The girl didn't have good handling, so Janelle easily took it away.
"Sorry, but good job." Janelle told the girl and the girl looked at her and smiled; a sign of saying thank you. Janelle looked up and Mr. Gardner was still watching. He looked like he was waiting until it was Janelle's turn. He looked satisfied when Janelle took the ball, but he was curiously waiting for her to see if she could play offense as good as she could play defense. It was Janelle's turn to play offense and the person that was going to guard her was about an inch or two taller than her, but she didn't get intimidated. When she passed the ball to Janelle, Janelle faked to the left and dribbled to her right. The girl was playing hard defense, but somehow in Janelle's mind, she knew not to panic and suddenly, she was in her own world again. She did a cross over into a spin and did a lay-up. Luckily, it went in because if it didn't, it wouldn't have looked as nice as it did. When Janelle went to the end of the line, everyone on the same court as her told her a good job and that she was good. Suddenly, she felt someone grab her arm and she was pulled out of the line.
"Hey!" Janelle yelled, wiping her sweat off her forehead.
"Wow." Mr. Gardner looked at her in complete awe.
"What?"
"You're good, like really good."
"Like yeah? Thanks. Now, can I go back? After all, this is tryouts. I would for the coach to ruin my chances." Janelle said. She was beginning to get irritated whenever Mr. Gardner tried to speak to her.
"What's wrong?" Mr. Gardner tried to strike a conversation.
"Not now, Mr. Gar – Nathan."
"Then when?"
"Never. You said that it would be best if we don't speak and I'm trying to not speak to you, but lookie here, you keep trying to talk to me."
"I'm sorry, really."
"Save it, Nathan." Janelle walked away and went back to the drill. They did more drills and she was glad she tried out. Now, she would have to wait and see the results on Monday.
"Alright, great job girls. The roster for JV and Varsity will be on my front door on Monday. If you don't see your name up there, I'm sorry, but don't give up hope." Mr. Gardner flashed him that smile that Janelle always loved. Janelle took off her basketball shoes and put on her vans. She put on her sweater and started walking out the door. Now, she would just have to wait until Monday. When she opened the door, she accidentally hit someone.
"Oh, sorry. I didn't –"
"Ouch."
"Oh, it's just you. I've got to go."
"Why are you avoiding me?" Mr. Gardner grabbed her to pull her attention on him.
"Let go of me. YOU said it was BEST if we don't speak to each other anymore. That's why I'm avoiding you. This isn't appropriate, remember?"
"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to, but it's true! I'm three times your age!"
"I didn't care! If I did, I wouldn't have let you did that to me. Damn, Mr. Gardner. You're right, this is inappropriate. I would like it my seat is in the back when I come to school on Monday because I can ditch that class again, I don't mind." Janelle walked away because she didn't want to hear it anymore. She was tired of hearing sorry. She's heard 'sorry' all her life. She was hoping she didn't make the team, but at the same time, she wanted to with all her heart, even if that meant apologizing for the way she acted to Mr. Gardner.