Page 67 of Catching Sparkles

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?”