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This was just plain awkward now. I followed Coach’s direction and when I was done, I found him where I left him leaning against the table. I didn’t know what to do because he wasn’t leaving the kitchen yet.
Coach pulled out a chair and offered for me to sit. Then he took a seat too. “Abby was Aiden shoving you?” He asked.
“Is he in trouble?” I asked.
Coach Mac laughed at me. “Why don’t you want to tell on him? He could have hurt you. There are tree roots you could have tripped over them in the dark and gotten seriously hurt. I’ve heard you aren’t the most graceful girl.”
I rolled my eyes at him. Then I realized what I had done. Coach didn’t like it anymore than my dad did. “Sorry.”
“Did he hurt you?” Coach wasn’t giving up.
“He shoved me.”
I could also tell that Coach didn’t like that. “Why?” He was frowning at me.
“I don’t want Cal to know. He’s already not speaking much to Aiden and Luke. I guess he shoved me because we’re dating.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” Coach shook his head at me.
“Got anything better, Coach?” I asked because I sure didn’t.
“Mind if I talk to Aiden and Luke?” He asked.
“Can I stop you?”
He laughed at me. “For a quiet one, you got some spunk.”
I was trying to restore peace between the three friends, but it wasn’t working so far. After tonight, Cal was going to be angrier with Aiden and Luke. “I just want to fix their friendship and short of breaking it off with Cal I can’t seem to do that.”
“Abby,” he patted my knee. “You make Cal happy. His friends should be happy for him. You aren’t responsible for fixing Cal’s relationship with Aiden and Luke. They will fix it eventually.”
“I feel responsible,” I interrupted the Coach.
I didn’t like conflict. I shied away from arguments which is probably why it took three years for me to figure out why Tyson was shutting me out. I never confronted him.
Being a teenager wasn’t easy. We had kids at school bullying us. Kids at home, our siblings that were conflicted with us. Parents pushing or not in my case. Why couldn’t we just get along, I wanted to scream.
I didn’t scream. I didn’t say anything much at all. I think they already thought the quiet, nerdy girl was strange. “Are we done here?” I asked the coach.
“We are,” he replied. “Abby don’t let them push you around. You’re smart. Cal likes you. You’re pretty. You have things going for you, girl.”
I laughed at him. Then I got up from his nice kitchen table and put my chair back where it belonged. I glanced at Coach. “That’s easier said than done, you know.”
“I know.” He gave me a nice smile. One that was compassionate and knowing. “I was you once.”
“No way,” I said completely shocked by his admission.
“I was. I was a skinny basketball player. Tall and gangly. Then I bulked up and switched to football. Tight end just like Cal. Smart as hell but nerdy too. Didn’t really blossom until college. You’ll see,” he promised me.
I could only hope.
“Thanks Coach.”
“You’re welcome Abby.”
I walked out onto the front porch it was a long way across the fields through the trees to the bonfire. I stopped on the steps this time not afraid because I knew Aiden and Luke were gone. The cheerleaders weren’t though and even though Delia wasn’t with them they were giving me dirty looks because I had gotten Aiden in trouble. I just couldn’t win tonight.
I looked around for Johnny, Tyson and Cal. The other players were gathered around the fire laughing and having a good time but I didn’t see the three boys that I wanted to find. I asked one of them, an offensive linemenn who was usually pretty nice to me where they were. He pointed to the cars where we had parked when we arrived.
