Page 39 of The Coach

The campus pulsed with life like a giant waking organism, buzzing with the energy of a new semester. Students swarmed the sidewalks, bundled in scarves and coats, their laughter forming little clouds in the crisp January air. I should’ve been one of them—eager, ready for a fresh start. Instead, I was counting the minutes. Seconds, even. Each tick of the clock brought me closer to seeing him again. Blake.

My stomach twisted as Finn and I stepped into the gym. I scanned the room, my heart pounding, but Blakewasn’t there yet.

“Yo, Ty! Finn!” Derek’s voice broke through my thoughts. Some of the guys jogged over, grinning, shaking hands with me and Finn. “Dude, I thought you two would never get here. Ready for another bout?”

“Yeah,” Finn and I said at the same time, voices flat, and everyone chuckled.

“Still in holiday mode, eh? I hear you, man.” Derek slapped my back, and we joined the rest of the team on the mats. The room smelled like sweat and ambition, the same as always. Something felt different, though. I tried to shake it off, focusing on the warm-up drills, but then the door opened, and there was—Coach Simmons.

Not Blake.

Our old coach strode in with a stiff gait, clipboard in hand, his whistle hanging around his neck. His hair had more gray in it than I remembered, his belly a little rounder. “Okay, gang, listen up,” he called out, his voice husky but kind, a bit tired. It had nothing of that sharp and authoritative tone that whipped us into shape for the last four months. “As of today, I’m back as your head coach. Hope you all had great holidays. But we’ve got a lot to cover today, so let’s get to it.”

“Excuse me, Coach,” Scott said. “What about Coach Hudson? Is he staying as an assistant coach?” He beat me to it only because I was still too shocked to react.

“Er, Coach Hudson won’t be coming back.”

“What?” I gasped, but my voice was drowned in the sea of confused murmurs.

“He submitted his resignation this morning,” Coach Simmons added, offering no further explanation. “Come on now, line up for the weigh-in.”

I felt like the ground was moving beneath my feet. I was sinking into quicksand.

“Bro, are you okay?” Finn asked, standing beside me, his hand on my back the only thing keeping me from falling. I must have looked like I was about to pass out, because then he yelled, “Coach, Tyler is feeling ill. I think I better take him to see the nurse.”

Coach Simmons glanced at me over his glasses and nodded. “Uh, right. Do you need someone else to help you?”

“No, we’re good,” Finn threw over his shoulder and rushed me out of the gym.

As soon as we were out, I felt a panic attack taking hold of me. I struggled to breathe, my vision blurred, my head heavy. A boa constrictor coiled around my lungs, squeezing the air from of my chest. If not for the warmth of Finn’s body pressed against mine—his arm around my waist, mine slung over his neck—I’d swear I was evaporating like smoke into thin air.

“Ty, breathe,” Finn was saying, out of focus, fanning my face with his hand. “Just breathe. It’s gonna be okay.” He sat me down on the bench in the locker room and ran to the water cooler to get me a cup. He made me drink it and then splashed the last drops on my face.

“I have to go and see him, Finn,” I said, slowly coming around. “I have to talk to him.”

“Okay,” Finn said. He paced up and down the locker room a few times, running his fingers through his hair, then stopped in front of me. “Coach Simmons said Blake quit this morning. So he’s still gotta be at his house.”

I rose from the bench, my feet still swaying. “I’m going there.”

“Not without me, you ain’t.”

24. Blake

The knock on my door was the loudest sound I’d ever heard. I knew right away who it would be: the person I most wanted and most dreaded to see. My hand lingered on the doorknob, my palms sweaty as my heart pounded against my ribs.

Man up, for fuck’s sake, I said to myself.You’re doing this forhim.

When I opened the door, Tyler stood on my doorstep, cheeks rosy from the cold air, dark hair tousled from the wind. But he wasn’t alone; Finn stood beside him, looking like a deer in the headlights. I knew without even glancing back at Tyler that Finn knew everything. And he had every right to—a part of me was glad the secret was out in the open at last. It didn’t matter anymore, anyway.

“Hey,” Tyler said, pulling my focus back to him.

“Hey.” My voice sounded stilted, so I cleared my throat. “Er, come in.”

Tyler turned to his friend. “Could you leave us alone now?”

“Ty—” Finn started to protest, but Tyler cut him off.

“Please, Finn. I’ll be alright.”

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