Page 16 of When It Burns

Damn, what a day.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

THEO

Friday afternoon, we don’t have practice so I leave the station and run home to let Bear out and change clothes. I swear the Labrador rolls his eyes at me when I walk in the door, but I grab some treats out of the container for him anyway. He gives a single twitch of his tail, so I call it a win before I let him outside.

“Hey, Margaret!” I yell through the house as I throw my bag down and make my way to the bedroom to grab the coaches polo Will threw at me as I left practice yesterday. I have to admit that while this isn’t how I ever imagined my life would go, I am having fun with the team. I still feel my throat close up every time I think of my brother and his love for the sport, but I know that Brian was right when he said this is what Jake would have done.

“Hey!” Margaret responds. After changing, I walk back her way and find her in the kitchen talking on the phone. “Yes, Heather. We are getting settled in. Y’all will have to visit soon. I am baking some snacks for us to take to the beach this weekend. Theo just walked in the door and is getting ready to go up to the high school. Did you know he is coaching football? I know I can’t believe it either. Yeah, we have a lot to catch up on. Maybe y’all can come down in a few weeks? Okay sounds good. Love you too.” She hangs up the call and looks at me. “Are you going to Meet the Saints?”

“Yeah, I am about to head that way,” I tell her as I grab a bottle of water out of the fridge.

“Hannah and Caroline were texting me about it earlier today. Can I ride with you? I haven’t met anyone else in town, and I want to start meeting people since we’re the outsiders,” my sister asks looking hopeful.

“Sure that’s fine, but only if you let me have one of those cookies you just took out of the oven. But hurry your ass up, we don’t have all night,” I respond before taking a long swig of my drink.

“Deal. I am going to go change clothes. I'll be back in just a minute,” she mutters over her shoulder, already making her way to her bedroom.

I take a seat on the barstool Margaret picked out for the counter and grab for one of the warm cookies. It melts in my mouth and I fight the urge to let out a groan. I usually don’t like sweets but these things are like heaven.

While I wait, my mind drifts to how different this moment would be if my family hadn’t fallen victim to death's grimy fingers. I have no doubt that Jake would be coaching at an incredible high school and our parents would be his biggest fans. Margaret would probably have gone off to a fancy culinary school like she'd dreamed of, but she couldn’t bear to move too far away after everything’d happened. I have a hard time even picturing what my life would look like. The carefree, funny boy of my youth had died along with my family that night, and all that’s left is the shell of what used to be. I shake my head and try to pull myself out of the pit of my thoughts. I know the ‘what if’ game is useless, but it’s a trap I fall into more often than I care to admit.

Trying to focus on something else, I get up and fill up Bear’s bowl. He scratches on the door, obviously ready to eat. I scratch his head and let my mind wander to Caroline. I don’t know how the hell she's managed to get so far under my skin, but it’s obvious she has captivated me more than I would like to admit. I imagine her in the kitchen grabbing a cookie off the pan before tearing off a piece and placing it in my mouth. I’d lick the melted chocolate off her finger and suck on it until she let out a whimper. I’d push her against the bar, wrapping her legs around my waist so she could feel how desperately I wanted her before pulling her shirt down to reveal her rosy-

“You ready to go?” Margaret asks, breaking up my fantasy. Fuck. What the hell is wrong with me? It seems like the more I tell myself that Caroline is so far out of my league, the more I crave her touch. I shake my head to clear my thoughts and take a breath, trying to get the image of the hottest girl I’ve ever seen out of my head.

“Yep, let’s go.”

* * *

When we pullup to the gym at Springside High, I am once again reminded that football is life in this town. We are twenty minutes early, and there doesn’t seem to be a parking spot anywhere. After making a few laps, I see some other trucks parking in the street so I follow suit and jump the curb. This is crazy; it’s not even a real game tonight.

“Wow,” Margaret says. “I feel like we’ve jumped into the set ofFriday Night Lights.”

“No kidding,” I say, feeling overwhelmed by the crowd I’m about to walk into. “We’d better get going though.” We open our doors and make our way to the gym’s entrance. It’s clear we are new to town, and we get a bunch of stares as we walk into the gym. Great. “This place has to be a goddamn fire hazard.”

“Don’t focus on that tonight. Pretty sure that’s what got you in this position in the first place. I am going to sit with Hannah and Caroline. They texted and said they’d save me a seat with them in the front. You good?” my sister questions, concern evident on her face. She knows crowded and confined spaces are not my favorite thing, but I shake off her concern telling her I’m fine. I watch as she makes her way to the bleachers where I see Caroline and Hannah waving to her. They are both wearing jeans and shirts that say “Springside Varsity Cheerleading” across the front. For a moment I can’t take my eyes off of Caroline. She’s wearing those damn jeans again, and I know I can’t think about it or I will have a whole other issue. I look around desperately for a distraction and finally spot Will with the rest of the team in the other corner of the gym.

I walk over and give the team and coaches a small head nod. Will speaks loudly enough that the huddle of boys can hear him, “Okay, Principal Hale will welcome everyone and then we’re up first. When they call your name and number, just step forward and wave. They’ll introduce y'all first and then the coaches. After that, Wesley will say a few words inviting everyone to come support us this season. We will have a seat, and we will watch the cheerleaders and the band perform and then they’ll introduce the volleyball team. You already know that I expect you all to give them your undivided attention. Otherwise, we’ll spend the entire practice on Monday running hills.”

There’s a chorus of “Yes sir,” and “Okay, Coach,” before the boys turn their attention back to the conversations they were having. I sit in silence for a few minutes before I notice an older lady making her way over. I look over to see Hannah and Caroline whispering to my sister with looks of concern on their faces. The woman can’t be more than four-foot-nine and has to be at least seventy years old, so surely she can’t be the reason the girls look like they’ve seen someone kick their puppy.

Their concern suddenly makes sense when the elderly lady walks right up to Will and pokes her finger in his chest. “Well, I never thought much of you as a coach, but even I didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to put these boys in danger. Don’t you know this coach you brought in is violent? It’s bad enough that we’re stuck with him as the fire chief, but to bring him into a space where kids are involved. It’s despicable. You should be fired!” the woman spits at Will, raising her voice enough to gather the attention of most of the people in the packed gym.

I am stunned speechless. I open my mouth to defend myself, but no words come out. I know I am not close to winning any popularity contests around here, but for her to insinuate I would hurt any one of my players? She must be off her damn rocker.

Before I can restart my brain, Will steps in and says, “Now Mrs. Sally. We both know that’s a big accusation to be throwing around and you don’t have a bit of evidence to support it. And since you decided to spew your hate in front of my team, I’m gonna give you the courtesy of being as polite as I can possibly be. You’re full of crap. I’ll take you trashing my coaching ability all over town because nobody in Springside gives a dang what you say. But I will not have you undermining me and my staff in front of my team. Chief Johnson has cleared a background check, and I believe that he will be an asset to this team and this community. And I think that’s more than you could say after that incident you caused last year don’t you think?”

Mrs. Sally sputters at him, “Those pills were prescribed. It was all a misunderstanding.”

“And that’s why you showed up to the Safe Harbor luncheon high as a kite and it took three police officers to remove you?” Will asks in an innocent sounding whisper so that only she and I can hear him.

Mrs. Sally looks like she’s ready to throttle Will, but he gives her his most charming All-American smile and says, “Thanks for your concern, Mrs. Sally, but next time you have a problem, don’t address it in front of my players. Go Saints!”

He turns his back to her and she has no choice but to go find a seat. I look at Will, feeling like I should say something but coming up empty. He must read the expression on my face because he says, “Don’t. You might not be my favorite person, but no one deserves the wrath of Mrs. Sally like that. Plus it looks like you’re here to stay. Just don’t be an asshole anymore.”

I give him a tight nod and see the man I am presuming is Principal Hale making his way to the podium set up in the center of the floor. Will motions to the rest of the team, letting us know that it’s time. We stand and line up after the introduction concludes. Will takes the microphone and runs down the row of all fifty-seven players before getting to the coaches. When he calls my name, I step forward and wave. For the most painfully awkward six seconds of my life, it’s dead silent. No one claps. Everyone stares at me like they aren’t sure what to think of me. I go to step back, effectively mortified, when Caroline, Hannah, and Margaret erupt into the most obnoxious cheering I’ve ever heard. The rest of the crowd finally jumps in, and Will gives me a shrug before moving on to Coach Marcus who’s standing beside me. He makes it through to the end and Wesley walks up to the microphone.

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