“I thought we made an agreement, Walker,” Coach Benson said. “You told me that all of your grades would be good, so why do you have an F in this course?”
“It’s just a midterm grade.”
“Midterm grade my ass,” Coach Benson said as he folded his arms on top of each other. “The dean has been on my ass this year about the players keeping their grades up. No longer will you shits be able to pass by with bad grades. If you keep failing this course, you can’t play.”
Noah groaned as he stood from the bench and snatched open his locker, removing the things he would need to shower with.
“Coach, this class is hard. Professor Bryant rides my ass all day. It’s supposed to be an easy class, but she makes everything difficult. If I would have known she was teaching this course, I wouldn’t have taken it.”
When Noah had first met Professor Bryant, he had been surprised. He had mistaken her for a student because of her youthful appearance and her beauty. Now, looking back on it, it was silly on his part. He wished he would have never helped her pick up those papers that day because now he couldn't help but think the reason she made a first level psychology course so difficult was because of everything he had said to her. It was an irritational thought, he knew. From what Dale told him, Professor Bryant had been tough from the first day, which was why a good number of students dropped her class. But whenever she passed his exam back to him with an F on the front written in red ink, there was something in her brown eyes that made him think she was out to get him.
"Tough shit, Walker. You're taking the class now, so what are you going to do?" Coach Benson asked with impatience. His southern accent seeped into his words, revealing that the forty-five-year-old college varsity coach had been born nowhere near the state of Massachusetts that they were currently in.
Noah slammed his locker shut. “Honestly, Coach, I don’t know. I don’t even know if it’s possible to pass this course. The questions on the exams aren’t multiple choice. She wants you to give examples and details and write paragraphs and essays. It’s all unnecessary shit, and way too much on my plate.”
“I’m serious, Noah,” Coach Benson said, grabbing Noah's shoulder with a firm, warning grip. “The dean is serious about this. After the protests and complaints from some of the professors along with the students, athletes can’t just bypass courses anymore. I can't save your ass on this. If you don’t pass this course, then I’m going to have to sit you out on the bench.”
Noah groaned, annoyed and frustrated. He should have never taken that course.
“This is your year, Noah. You can’t sit out on your year. How are the recruits going to look at you when they realize you aren’t out there on the ice because you couldn’t pass a psychology course?”
“But Professor Bryant—”
“I don’t want to hear any buts or excuses. I need to hear that you’re going to pass.”
Noah swallowed his irritation and nodded. He would kick this course’s ass if that’s what he needed to do to skate on the ice. He wouldn’t let Professor Bryant ruin this for him. He would do whatever it took to pass this course.
“I’m going to pass, coach.”
Coach Benson nodded, satisfied with his word before he pulled back. “I’m going to talk to this Professor Bryant for you. Maybe she can give you some extra credit assignme—”
Noah snorted, slinging a towel over his shoulder. “Good luck with that, coach.” He walked towards the showers, nodding at a few of his teammates who passed him. Coach Benson hadn’t met Professor Bryant yet, so he didn’t realize that his speeches about the team needing Noah wouldn’t work on her. She was a hard ass out to get him, insistent on making his life hell.
CHAPTER
2
MELANIE
Get Accepted into Harvard
Graduate with Honors
Attend Grad School
Open Practice
Publish Book
Married byTwenty-FiveTwenty-SevenThirty-Two
Three Kids byThirty-TwoThirty-Seven
M
ELANIE GNAWED ON HER BOTTOM LIP, a terrible habit she hadn't been able to shake since her childhood. Her mother always warned her that her lip would burst one day, and though Melanie had encountered many bruises from biting on her lip with worry, till this day, she was fine with her lip still intact, and her mother's dramatics nothing but a child's fable in the back of her mind. But right now, as she stared at her list, Melanie couldn't help but worry that this time her mother's fable would come true; for the past five minutes or so Melanie had been staring at the list in front of her, her teeth buried deep in her bottom lip.
Since she had been a little girl, Melanie had always planned her life out accordingly, so she was never off track and accomplished everything she had ever wanted to achieve. But there was one task on her list that seemed unachievable no matter how hard she tried.
