“When Walker told me about you, I was expecting someone…” —his eyes trailed her up and down— “…different.”
“Walker?” Melanie repeated with a frown. The only Walker she knew was… “Noah Walker?”
“I’m Coach Benson, and Noah is one of the players on my team,” he said as he removed his hat, before offering his hand to her. Melanie felt herself tense in his presence as she hesitantly offered her own hand. She had a feeling the reason she was getting a visit from the coach of the hockey team wasn’t for a nice chat about Noah’s failing grades. She heard the rumors about how passionate Coach Benson could be when it came down to his players. She didn't want her afternoon to be ruined by some overzealous man that did not realize that his players wouldn't be able to skate by in life on their athletic abilities alone.
When her hand touched his, she could feel the rough callous graze her own soft skin. He seemed to notice the same as his grip became tighter, glancing at her manicured nails within his hand. And when their eyes met, Melanie could see appreciation in them.
Melanie pulled her hand back. She had never been good around men before. It made her nervous.
“I’m assuming you came here to speak to me about Noah’s grades,” Melanie said as she walked back behind her desk and gestured for him to take the seat across from her. “Please, have a seat, Coach Benson.”
“Todd,” he said, sitting down. “My players have no choice but to call me Coach Benson. But you can call me Todd, and your name is…”
“Melanie,” she answered. A smile broke out on his face causing her eyebrows to knit together with confusion. She didn't understand why he was smiling about her name. Personally, she would have preferred if he kept calling her Professor Bryant, drawing a boundary that needed to remain there. Soon, she had a feeling when she told Coach Benson there was nothing she could do about Noah's grades that he would no longer be smiling or wanting her to call him Todd.
“Melanie,” he said, still smiling before he cleared his throat, sitting up properly in his seat. “You’re right. I’m here to talk to you about Noah’s grades and what we’ll be able to do to get them up.”
He sounded like a parent from one of the private high schools she previously taught at. But in this case, Coach Benson wasn't a parent, and Noah wasn't a child. He didn't need to be coddled by anyone, least of all her or his coach.
“I’m not sure what we'll be able to talk about Coach Benson—”
“Todd, remember. Unless you decide to join my hockey team. Do you like hockey, by the way?”
“Actually, no... Todd. I’m not the biggest fan.”
He looked personally offended, and Melanie had to compose herself to stop herself from laughing. For some reason, everyone in this state took sports way too seriously for her taste. She loved basketball herself, but if someone told her they didn't like it, she wouldn't feel like the world had ended. But that's exactly what Coach Benson looked like right now.
To placate him, Melanie added, “I don’t like hockey, but I have a friend who loves it. She tries to go to every game when she has a chance, and she constantly raves about it.”
Coach Benson looked relieved as if the world were right now. Melanie barely concealed her snort. Sports fans were ridiculous.
“Everyone in Weston loves hockey, Melanie. It's in the water and the air. That's why so many young men here grow up to be amazing hockey players, and Noah Walker is one of them. Everyone here knows he'll go pro, but that boy still needs to prove himself before he does. He has to be on the ice to do that. He can't prove it from the bench."
Melanie leaned back, swallowing her bite. As much as she wanted to end the conversation right here with a simple yet firm no, there was a glint in Coach Benson's eyes that told her he was a believer in Noah, and that every word he spoke, he meant.
Melanie didn't doubt his words, but the problem was that she didn't care. What Noah did out on the ice had nothing to do with her classroom. He wasn’t the only athlete she taught, and though she knew her classwork wasn't the easiest, she had other athletes who were passing her course. Because unlike Walker, they wanted so badly to play that they did whatever it took to keep them out on the ice or the field or wherever they were playing at. They might not be passing with flying colors, but they were getting by on their C's. If they could do it, then Walker could do it but wasn't trying hard enough.
Melanie could tell that Coach Benson was a nice man. But a nice speech that sounded like it came right out of Remember the Titans, a movie which she loved, by the way, wasn't going to change the facts.
“Look, Noah is failing my class. I’m not failing him. If he applied himself the way he applies himself on the ice, he would be passing my course with flying colors, but he isn’t. This is college, not high school. I’m not going to run after Noah to make him see the importance of this course when I have other students who do.”
“Noah is a hard worker, Melanie. He probably just isn’t getting the material.”
“And this is why I have office hours and why I allow my students to ask questions during class, but in the past month since the semester has started, Noah has done none of these things. If he doesn’t get the material, instead of skipping, talking, and disrupting my class, he could try to learn the material, but he doesn’t. That shows me he doesn’t care.” Melanie sighed, feeling tired just speaking about Noah. He was one of the most obnoxious, disrespectful students she had ever had. “Let me ask you a question, Todd.”
He nodded, jaw tight. Melanie could see that he was wrestling with his need to defend Noah from the way his jaw clenched. Melanie was surprised this conversation hadn't turned into a screaming match yet. She had heard the stories about Coach Benson fighting on behalf of his students. She wasn’t sure what she was doing to make him so calm, but she hoped that their conversation could continue that way. She would hate for this to turn nasty.
“If you had a player on your team who skipped practice and ignored your plays on the ice, what would you do?”
He swallowed thickly, readjusting himself in his seat. “I would kick them off my team.”
“Exactly," Melanie said. "I have nothing against Noah. He seems like a good enough kid, but he doesn’t take my class seriously, and if he doesn’t find a way to pass this next exam coming up, he will fail my class. After that, there is nothing he can do because he’s already done poorly on the rest of my course work.”
Coach Benson shot up from his seat, startling Melanie and rattling the items on her desk. He paced back and forth, his big booted feet slamming against the carpeted floor with each step he took. Suddenly, he stopped, turned towards her before slamming his hands against her desk as he stared her in the eye.
Melanie gulped. So, this was the passionate Coach Benson she heard all the stories about.
“I understand everything you’re saying, Melanie. And I apologize if it seems like Noah isn’t respecting your class. But he isn’t like that. He isn’t one of those students. He just doesn’t get the material right now. But if you were to help him, then he would be able to do it. I promise you that.”
