Coach Schmidt wasn't that bad if you overlooked his few bad habits. After all who doesn't have flaws.
For starters he came 20 minutes late with a mug coffee and his red whistle around his neck. He knew nothing about coaching and usually made us do sits-up or run for two whole hours, depending on his mood.
He came from the high school of the town next door and for some reason he hates this school. He never lost a chance to tell us how much of a failure we were.
The air in the locker room was polluted with every kind of perfume and fragrance. Most girls had already changed waiting for their friends to get ready.
Our P.E. uniforms consisted in a simple t-shirt with the school's logo, and really short shorts for us girls. With such a rich principal, I thought the school would be able to afford a tiny little bit of fabric to add on these sorry excuses of shorts. On the other hand no one ever complained about them.
It was still September and the weather outside was bearable, so we used the track field till Christmas break.
***
Stepping out, I took a seat on the benches. I'm not a talkative person, I usually wait for the others to start a conversation, simply because I don't know how to.
I scanned the the area for a familiar face.
There was Jamie from Math, the nice girl who knows everybody, destined to be a lawyer. Just coming out of the doors was another familiar face.
Daniel Coleman.
He wasn't a jock, or a bully and he didn't flaunt his talent. He's the school's basketball star.
Once upon a time it was the three of us. Me, Eleanor and Daniel. We were inseparable in middle school, we were the three musketeers. Everything changed as soon as we started high school. We didn't share any classes together so we slowly drifted apart. He was too busy from practice and hanging out with his cool teammates. Fast forward to two years later, we don't acknowledge each other when we cross paths.
He walked out with confidence greeting people as he passed and walked right past me.
Ouch. That hurts
P.E. was supposed to start over 30 minutes ago, but there was still no sign of the coach.
Speaking of the devil, here he comes.
He was wearing his usual green puke outfit. A half consumed cigarette between his lips, a huge cup of coffee in hand, and the famous red whistle.
He walked until he stood right in front of me. Slowly everyone gathered around him. He was still sipping his coffee, slowly. When he was done he threw the cup on the ground and blew his whistle.
Now, we were less then than six feet away from him, did he really feel the need to do that?
"Alright class, today we're going to practice for the Cooper test!" Immediately groans of displeasure started coming among the class. I don't mind running, that might be the only thing I'm good at apart from volleyball.
"Shut up! I don't want to hear you. Get in couples and start stretching or whatever you wanna do. I'm going to sit over there. Do you have any questions? No? Ok, get started"
He dismissed us after a heartbeat and everyone went to form pairs. We were in 17 in this class, meaning that I was most likely going to run alone.
I managed to find a corner for myself and started with the usual stretching we did before volleyball practice.
By the time I was done, most people had already started jogging. Just like I had imagined, my butt was half exposed for everyone to see. It wasn't long before I reached the others and passed them.
The last coach let us listen to music by ourselves in times like this, unfortunately the new one was far from understanding.
"Hey! Hey! Wait...slow down!"
To my surprise Daniel was running next to me.
"Aurelia, right?" This time I stopped completely staring ahead of me dumbfounded.
Is he for real?
"Do you have dementia ?" I asked turning to face him. I wanted to know if this was just a joke.
He looked at me puzzled "What do you mean?"
"Are you for real Daniel? It's been two years, not twenty. Have you seriously forgotten my name?"
This time he looked shocked that I even spoke to him "I'm sorry. I...I wasn't sure if you still remembered me. You have changed a lot."
"I think it's the other way around" I admitted.
"Do you mind if I run with you?"
"Not at all"