Julie asks Coach Orion for advice about boys.

Boy Advice

Ted was flipping through a hockey issue of Sports Illustrated when he heard a quiet knock on his office door. Peering up, he saw Julie standing in the doorway, biting on her lower lip, her blue eyes drawn to the ground.

"Hey, Coach."

"Hey, what's going on?" he said. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"I have a free period," she said.

"All right; is there something going on?" he asked, setting his magazine aside and gesturing for the Ducks' goalie to take a seat. She sat across from him, her hands nervously twisting in her lap, which was unlike her – for as long as Ted knew her, ever since they beat the Varsity, Julie was typically his most confident player next to Charlie; she wasn't one to be nervous or afraid of confrontation. He'd watched her put those two Iceland goons in their place on national television.

"What's up?"

He heard her mumble something unintelligible under her breath as her face suddenly turned a brilliant shade of red, her cheeks resembling a tomato.

"You're gonna have to speak up," he told her.

Julie sighed audibly, saying, "I guess I need some advice."

"About what?"

"Scooter asked me to go with him to homecoming," she explained.

"And that's such a bad thing?" If Ted could recall, he'd seen Scooter kiss Julie on the cheek after the J.V.-Varsity showdown; having coached Scooter when he was a freshman, he knew Holland to be a good boy and someone who acted like a gentleman. He hadn't heard one girl at Eden Hall say one bad word about the kid, something Ted prided himself on since he was partially responsible for that. Surely, Julie would have a great time at the dance with Scooter.

"No, it's not," said Julie, shaking her head. "It's just . . . I don't know how Adam would feel about that."

That was news to Ted; as far as he knew, Julie and Adam were nothing more than friends. But he also couldn't deny how Adam looked at Julie, either; he remembered how Adam glanced back at the others after that underground scrimmage a few weeks ago, how Adam seemed to feel guiltier that he'd hurt Julie's feelings during the whole thing. Bombay had told him during their meeting about the team that Adam and Julie were pretty inseparable and that throughout the Goodwill Games, they'd had many moments where they shared a shy smile and came close to holding hands. And he often caught Adam looking at her during practice, how the newly minted Ducks alternate captain seemed to think that no boy was ever good enough for Julie, even if it were Scooter. Still, why did Julie care what Adam thought? Unless . . .?

"You think you like Banks, too?"

Julie's face went even redder, and she nodded, abashed. Ted winced . . . yeah, that was a pretty big problem, being torn between two different guys. He remembered his days at Eden Hall, the attention he got from pretty girls who expressed interest, how if he were to say yes to one, another would indeed be left brokenhearted with a lot of resentment, and it was not a position anyone wanted to be in. Looking at Julie's face, he couldn't help feeling immense sympathy for this love triangle she was suddenly tossed into.

"Look, don't take this the wrong way, but don't you have a mom and dad you could talk about this with? What about Connie?" If he recalled correctly, Connie and Julie were best friends; surely, Julie would instead turn to Connie in a case like this.

"Mom and Dad are all the way back in Maine," argued Julie. "And I can't call my older sister about it; she won't get it. And if I try talking to my mom about it, she'll go on and on about I should just give them both a chance and see how it works out and that it's okay if I go on a date with either of them, but I don't want to do that! I don't wanna have to hurt either of them and pick between them. And Connie's preoccupied with Guy; ever since they got back together, they've been . . ." She pulled a face; as sweet as it was knowing Connie and Guy had solved their lover's quarrel, they'd been extra all over each other ever since they reconciled. If Ted had thought he'd had a problem with them being separated and having animosity, now he had problems with them sucking face in between celebrations, and if Connie were preoccupied with her boyfriend, no doubt she'd have little time to listen to Julie's boy troubles.

Ted sighed; he supposed Julie wasn't wrong, and he could also imagine how hard it was for her not to have someone she could turn to who could give her boy advice since her parents lived so far away. Still, he wasn't equipped to deal with this; he'd never signed up to be a couples' therapist. But he was also aware he was the only adult at Eden Hall that the Ducks trusted; he'd earned that trust after they won the J.V.-Varsity showdown. If Julie trusted him enough to ask for advice about this little dilemma, he would have no other choice but to try his best.

Internally, he shuddered. He didn't want to imagine what would happen when Lucy hit that age to start dating. But he might as well get the practice in now so he knew what to say to her if she were ever in a predicament like this.

"Yeah, I can see how that's a problem." He licked his lips, thinking of the right thing to say. "I'm not exactly an expert on this, but if you think Adam will have a problem with it, you need to sit and talk with him about it."

"Oh, sure, that'll go over well," Julie scoffed. "He overreacted when Portman called me 'babe' once. What makes you think he'll take it well if I talk to him about going to the dance with Scooter?"

"That's because he just wants to look out for you."

"Yeah, but I think part of him may like me as more than a friend. And I don't even know if I feel the same way about him!"

Ted sighed again; this was dragging out longer than he anticipated, but he couldn't help feeling for the girl. She was torn between two good guys, both of whom she couldn't go wrong with. But she didn't want to worry about rejecting and hurting either.

"You have a daughter, Coach. What would you tell her?" Julie asked.

That was the question. What advice would he give Lucy? He didn't quite know because she was six years old. He didn't have to worry about her dating yet; yes, she joked about having "boyfriends" since most of her little friends were boys, but he didn't know what he'd say to her. However, Julie was begging him for answers. Looking at her face, he could see her uncertainty and how torn up she was over this, needing to choose.

So, he said, "Look, I know it sucks needing to choose like this. But you cannot do much if Adam doesn't take it well."

"Oh."

"But you know Banks, Julie. He's just looking out for you. I think it would help if you told Scooter to ask Adam permission."

"But it's none of his business about who I spend my time with!" He knew right away that the thought of Julie needing to ask permission from Adam to date a guy irked her, that she was a very independent girl who didn't need anyone's approval; however, if it were Adam's feelings that she was most concerned for, then she would need to have Scooter smooth things over with him first.

"Of course, it isn't," Ted agreed. "However, don't you think Scooter should be considerate of Adam? Because if Adam feels something for you, it wouldn't be fair for him to see you with Scooter like that. Guys are complicated at your age. Even though he's protective, he might be a little jealous seeing Scooter with you. So, if you and Scooter end up dating, I'd advise you to tone it down around Adam. Let him know that you still care about him regardless of who you choose to be with."

Julie sighed heavily, the color draining from her cheeks, and finally, she nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess you're right."

"But either way, I suggest you be careful. I'm saying this as a dad; you can never be too safe, especially since Scooter's older. I don't think he'd take advantage of you. However, it doesn't hurt to use extra caution."

Julie nodded, and Ted saw a slight smile creeping onto her face; he knew he'd done something right, since Julie seemed to be feeling better about it. He saw the appreciation reflected in her eyes as she said, "Thanks, Coach."