Rhys
I LEFT CHERRYVALE High with an odd cocktail of emotions sloshing around inside me.
On one hand, I was filled with excitement for how perfectly suited I would be for the job of football coach.
And they needed one bad. Principal Sanchez had even gone so far as showing me the team records and overall stats for the last few years, and I’d nearly winced in pain.
She’d been Ms. Sanchez when I’d been in school, my science teacher for three out of my four years at Cherryvale High. She’d been around for my run as quarterback, both JV and varsity, and had seen what I’d accomplished, including the standing record for touchdown passes in a season.
She’d explained that if I could get the team on track, they could secure a lot more funding for the sports department with ticket sales, concession and merch revenue, and community fundraising.
My presence would be a massive help not only to the football team, but the other sports teams that could use help with funding, and it’d free up scheduling issues for the staff who’d been temp covering.
I’d have other duties assigned to me, mostly handling inventory of equipment, field maintenance, fundraising, and administrative stuff like running study halls.
But I really didn’t mind the sound of any of that.
Basically, I’d be important. They needed me.
It was embarrassing, because I knew it was mostly my ego talking, but the idea of being somewhere I could actually make a difference and be more than a number in a sea of cubicles was just so appealing.
I’d never felt that way about a job before.
The words Kendall had said to me, about not having to be miserable at a job, echoed in my head as I stuck my key in the ignition of my dad’s car to head home.
I hadn’t exactly believed him in that moment, but… Maybe it was possible.
On the other hand, the pay was sort of miserly.
Basically exactly what you’d expect for any staff position at a public school.
It was enough that I could move out of my parents’ place, but I damn sure wouldn’t be living a life of luxury.
I wasn’t sure I even cared about that, but as soon as I conceptualized the thought, Hailey’s voice popped into my head scolding me for throwing away my potential, wasting my time in some piddly little coach position.
She’d always complained about my lack of ambition, warning me I’d end up a failure if I didn’t let her push me and push me.
Sighing, I pushed the thoughts out of my head as I dug my phone out of my pocket.
Kendall was seeing a movie with my mom, so I knew he wouldn’t get my text right away.
But he’d been the one to tell me about the coach position in the first place.
I’d hesitated to even go to the school and talk to them about it, knowing the pay would be enormously less than what was being offered by the corporate marketing job my parents had told me about.
But now that I had… I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get it out of my mind.
Went over to Cherryvale High to talk about the coaching job… Hope your movie is good. See you soon, Sparkles.
I was going to drop the car off, then walk over to Kendall’s to wait for him. It would take an hour or so on foot, but a long walk to try and organize all the thoughts in my head was just what I needed.
At home, I went inside to cool off a bit before heading out and to let Dad know his car was back in the garage. When I peeked in the living room, I found him lounging in his beloved armchair with a golf game playing on the TV. His own personal version of heaven.
I cleared my throat to let him know I was back, and he lifted a hand to greet me.
“Hey, there you are. You mind grabbing me a beer from the fridge?”
I took one for myself too, and handed his over before plopping down on the couch across from him.
“How’d your interview go?” He asked, before popping the top of his can and taking a long sip.
“Ah, it wasn’t exactly an interview. I was just getting the information.” It was technically true, but she had made it clear that the job was mine if I wanted it.
“How was the information?”
“Um… The pay’s pretty bad. I mean, it’s not great, you know?”
“Did you think it would be?”
“No,” I answered, shifting into a more comfortable position and popping open my can just so I had something to do with my hands. “I knew it wouldn’t be.”
“Guess you don’t mind too much, then.”
Clearing my throat, I had to admit he had a point. On some level, I’d known I wouldn’t care about the low pay. But it was weird to think about. Would he be annoyed with me if I didn’t take the job he’d recommended? Especially knowing how much better the money would be?
“I, um… I guess not. Does that bother you?”
He turned to face me for a second, looking confused. “Why would your paychecks bother me, son?”
“Well, I mean, you guys paid for me to get a business degree. I wouldn’t exactly be using it.” Maybe it’d come in handy for the administrative and fundraising parts, anyway.
He scoffed, waving a hand dismissively at my remark. “A degree’s a degree. Sometimes you end up using it, sometimes you don’t. You wouldn’t be the first.”
“Yeah. I guess.”
“Besides, you probably gained a lot of knowledge there, even if it’s not the degree you’ll be using. I suspect a lot of what you learned about football might be useful as a football coach.”
I grinned, tilting my head in acknowledgment. He was funny. He always had been. “Imagine so. I’m not sure if I’m going to do it yet. I need to think about it.”
“Well, up to you,” he said, and that was that.
“I put your car back in the garage. I don’t think I’ll need it anymore today,” I said, and he gave a small nod.
“You staying in tonight?” He wondered.
“Ah, no. I just feel like taking a walk.”
“I see.”
I looked at him, expecting for my expression to be analyzed or for him to try and figure out what I was thinking, like what my mom would be doing in his position. But he was just watching the game.
“Aren’t you going to grill me about where I’ll be, or who I’ll be with?”
“Nope,” he said easily. “You’re a grown man. I figure you know what you’re doing.”
I grunted, taking another sip from my beer. “Mom’s been hounding me night and day about it.”
He snorted, giving me a sidelong glance. But he was grinning. “Yeah, she tends to do that.”
It was quiet for a bit, just the sound of the commentators on the TV making observations about the players, until I finally decided I would ask what I’d been wanting to ask him.
“You met Mom in college, right?”
“Right.”
“But you, like, dated other people before her. Didn’t you?”
He chuckled a little. “Sure. Of course. I didn’t do too bad for myself back in the day, believe it or not.”
I believed it. He was a good looking guy, even now. And he’d been a track runner in high school and college.
“So how’d you know… when to stop? Like, how did you know she was the one you wanted to be with for real?”
He pursed his lips for a few moments, like he was thinking.
“Well, I guess it was because I had a hard time imagining a future without her. In other words, I could imagine other girls I’d dated in the future, if I made myself think about it.
But she was the one that I didn’t have to make myself imagine it with, you know what I mean?
And if I did ever think about it without her, it didn’t feel so hot.
Basically, if she wasn’t there I didn’t want it. ”
“… Yeah,” I said, letting out a deep sigh. “I get what you mean.”
I didn’t know what to say about that, or how I really felt. I’d been thinking about Kendall all the time lately, but honestly I was having trouble imagining what my future would be like at all, with or without him or anyone else.
“Hey, did you fix that leaky faucet in the guest bathroom?” He asked suddenly, like he’d only just remembered.
“Yeah. The cartridge in the handle was worn out. It was easy to change.”
He nodded, looking impressed. “Thanks.”
“I took out the old weatherstripping around the windows and the front door and replaced it too,” I said, smirking when he gave me an incredulous expression. “It was pretty bad. It’ll save you a lot of money on the energy bill when winter rolls around.”
“Alright,” he said, popping his eyebrows up. “I’ll take your word for it. I appreciate it. This place might fall to ruin once you’re out of here again.”
“Ah, don’t worry about that,” I said, scratching the back of my head before throwing back the rest of my beer. “I’ll be staying close.”
“Cherryvale doesn’t seem so bad anymore, huh?” He asked, giving me a sly look.
Snorting, I stood up and shook my head as I tossed the empty can in the trash. “I’m going to head out. Tell Mom I said goodnight and everything.”
“Sure I will. And what I won’t tell her is all this how do you know when you love someone stuff,” he teased, and I coughed, feeling my face heat up. “Becks would really have a cow if she knew you were thinking about that.”
“I didn’t say I was,” I denied. “I was just curious.”
“Right,” he responded, sarcasm dripping from the single syllable. “Be safe, lover boy.”
The sound of his laughter followed me all the way to the front door.
I TOOK MY time on the walk, listening to music through my wireless earbuds to drown everything else out.
As the songs transitioned from one classic rock song to the next, I thought about all the times I’d listened to Kendall’s playlist in the car with him.
Show tunes and poppy club bangers. It felt unbelievable, but they were growing on me.
I knew I needed to focus on the more immediate issue of what I was going to do about this job thing, but it all felt like too much.
I decided to let it stew for a bit, and then revisit it, probably with Kendall, when I felt equipped to make a more informed decision.
Maybe I’d go and talk to the recruiter guy my dad knew, just so I had all the information on both options.
But the thought of doing that made my stomach churn.