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“We were handed your name about four years back when you graduated from college. I’ve been keeping an eye on your career, and I see you have two students in the track races now.”
“I do.” I smiled wide and turned so I could see them. “Reagan is taking part in the four hundred and twelve hundred, and Aria is doing the eight hundred and sixteen hundred.”
Harold came to stand next to me and crossed his arms over his chest as he looked out onto the field. “Aria the tall one?”
“No. That’s Reagan.” I turned to face him, feeling my chest puff out. “You wouldn’t think Aria is a runner, not with her gait, but wait and see what we’ve been working on.”
“Hmmm. Interesting choice taking a chance on someone who doesn’t fit the usual standards.”
I raised a brow and turned to face him fully. “See, here is where I don’t agree with the ‘standards.’ If you have a student athlete that you take at face value of what they can do right then, you’re already losing. It’s the potential you need to seek out. That’s what I’m looking for.”
Harold’s gaze met mine, and his lips started to pull up into a smile. He looked like an entirely different person with his smile. “Yeah. You’re exactly what we’re looking for.” He pulled something out of his pocket. “I have a position opening up—it’s not in track, though.” He paused to let that sink in. “But I have a feeling you could coach anything we threw at you.” I nodded, agreeing with him. I had never loved one sport more than another, not when it came to athletics. If I could help a student achieve what they wanted to, then that was more than enough for me. “Give me a call in a couple of weeks so we can talk.”
I took the card from him and stared down at it as he walked away. I’d just been handed an opportunity of a lifetime, but I wasn’t sure what I would do with it. Things were so up in the air, and right then, I needed to concentrate on the races ahead and not what could come from the conversation with Harold.
Pocketing the card, I concentrated back on the girls and the board as they started to call the races. Reagan’s race was up first, and I waited with bated breath as she took the start line. It only took minutes for her to come in second on the four hundred, and then after a small break, the eight hundred started.
My stomach dropped as Aria took her starting position. She was on the inside track, but all of those runners would dart for the inside line once the race had started. She’d never had to run with this many people before, so it was a new experience for her.
The loud sound went off, and she shot out of her position. It would only be twice around the track, but this wasn’t the one we’d been practicing the most. Her favorite was the sixteen hundred, and this one was just a bonus. She pulled ahead during the first lap, but lost a couple of places on the second lap and finally came in fourth.
I wasn’t sure what she was thinking because I couldn’t see her face from here. But Reagan went over to her, and I stared as they talked while they waited for the next race to be called up.
“Come on, Reagan!” I heard her dad shouting from behind me in the front row of seats as she took her start position.
Reagan’s start in the twelve hundred was amazing, and she kept a good pace up until the second lap, and then she flew. She pulled ahead without much effort and crossed the line in first place. She ran over to me, and I high-fived her.
“Well done, Reagan.”
“Thanks, Coach.” Her smile was wider than I’d ever seen before, and I could tell she lived for races like these. She turned around and stood next to me as they called the next race up. “She got caught off guard by the other runners,” Reagan said.
“Shit,” I whispered under my breath.
“It’s all good, Coach,” Reagan commented, and I glanced at her briefly. “I told her what to do and to just run her race. She’s got this.”
She had this, I knew she had, but it didn’t mean I wasn’t worried for her. I inhaled a deep breath and watched with narrowed eyes as she took her start position. This time she was in the middle, but there was something different in the way she held herself while she waited for the starting gun to shoot off.
Her head lifted, her gaze focused on the track in front of her, and then the sound blasted out. She kept a good pace in the first lap, keeping with the middle of the pack, but then sped up a little on the second lap. I was on tenterhooks as she went into the third lap with two other students ahead of her. Both of them had much longer gaits than she did, but I didn’t doubt her for one second.
As soon as she hit the last lap, she darted forward, picking up her pace and going faster than I’d ever seen her go before. She weaved past the person directly in front of her and didn’t let up until she was first place. There were only fifty meters left, and the student behind was catching up to her.
“Come on, Aria!” Reagan screamed, but I couldn’t say a word. I was frozen, unable to do anything but watch as she crossed the line. “Damn, that was close. I didn’t see who crossed the line first.”
“Me neither,” I told Reagan, staring at the board which would announce the winners. Aria slowed down to a walk, her hands on her hips and her attention half on the board and half on us as she moved closer to us.
The name of the third-place student came up first, and Aria halted on the track about twenty meters away from us. We all waited, our breaths held as the second-place name came up, and then Aria’s name flashed on the screen next to first place.
“Oh my god!” Aria shouted, spinning around and staring at me. “I won?” she asked, and I nodded. “I won!”
“You won!” I shouted back, unable to stop my feet from moving forward. She ran toward me, threw herself at me and her arms around my shoulders. “You won,” I repeated, spinning her around and then depositing her back on the ground. I was hyperaware of where we were, and although there were so many other things I wanted to do, I knew I couldn’t. I had to hold back—for now, at least.
“I can’t believe it.” She shook her head, and then spotted Reagan and ran toward her too. “We both won!”
I stared at both of them, proud of what they’d achieved. They’d both won the race they had trained heavily for. This was what I wanted to do. I wanted to help people achieve what they set out to, and help them realize goals they never even knew they had.
My gaze slid into the bleachers and met Harold’s, and I had no doubt I’d call him. We’d come here to get Reagan and Aria more options for college, but now I also had another option. Something fate had sent my way.
“Let’s go celebrate!” Reagan said as her dad came down onto the side of the track. “I vote burgers and anything junk food related. I’m so hungry.” She turned to face her dad. “What do you say, Dad?”
