“Sure did.” Two more people came out of the office. Assistant Principal Newsome and the front desk attendant that happened to be married to the assistant principal, Leeanndra.
“Lee!” I called out, excited beyond belief. “I’m so glad to see you back! How’s the baby?”
“She’s doing so well.” Lee hugged me gently. “I’m so glad to see you back, too. How are you?”
“I’m good,” I promised and stepped back. A complete lie seeing as I was still hurting and dealing with parental issues, but we didn’t need to get into the nitty-gritty of everything. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet your newest student, Berkley Grant.”
Berkley stepped up and did that awkward wave that people did when they didn’t know anyone.
“Ahh, Ms. Grant,” Principal Ryan said as he came to offer her his hand, which Bossy took with a solid shake. “I’ve heard a lot about you from Eddy’s sister.” When Nettie wasn’t playing in her professional games, she was back here taking over my soccer duties so my girls could have a coach that knew what they were doing seeing as soccer season for us was in full swing. “I hear you have quite the soccer gene, too.”
“I guess,” Bossy’s cheeks flamed. “I do love soccer, though.”
Understatement of the year.
“You’re from Texas, right?” Ryan asked.
“Uh, yeah.” Bossy smiled. “Why do you ask?”
“Because you’re being dropped directly into soccer season after leaving home.” He grinned. “Did you play in high school?”
Lucky for us, her grandparents had decided that they were too old for club soccer, leaving her to play for her high school and rec team only. If she’d played club soccer like she was fully capable of doing, and excelling at, she’d have been a whole lot less easy to hide.
Bossy was a standout. There was no way in hell that she wouldn’t have been noticed if she’d been more visible.
“Oh, yeah.” Bossy smiled. “I did. We’d just finished our season when I transferred here.”
“I hear you’re pretty good.” Ryan nodded. “It’ll suck for your old team to have to lose you, but we definitely won’t be complaining to have another great soccer star on our roster.”
Wasn’t that the truth?
It just sucked that I couldn’t put her on varsity due to UIL rules on transfer students.
But, it would be good for her to learn the program and her teammates before she was stuck in a role that the team might resent her for having.
Next year would be her year, but I was sure that Bossy would be perfectly fine hanging out with junior varsity until then.
Plus, her fellow sophomores would mostly be on JV with her.
“Hey, Darcy!”
A young man that I knew quite well peeked his head in the office, surprised to be called out when he’d been walking by to get to his next class.
“Could you show our new soccer gal to her first class?”
Darcy was the JV goalie for the boys’ team.
Though they played in the fall, they continued to train year-round unless they were in other sports.
Darcy was great, and I liked him a lot. He was a good kid with a solid head on his shoulders. He was also sweet and kind, and I had zero problems with him showing my favorite girl around.
He proved his sweetness when he saw me and cried, “Coach E!”
Everyone in the school had called me Coach E. I’d wanted to distance myself from the Wheeler name when I’d first come on as a history teacher and head coach of the girls’ soccer team. At the time, I hadn’t been embarrassed of the name like I was now, but I’d been under a thick, dark cloud of my father’s role as a pastor that some liked, and some hated.
I wanted to be my own person, and that was why I’d decided to never go by my last name.
The students’ address had started out as Coach Edith, then Coach Eddy, finally shortened to Coach E in the last few years.
