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I glared at him. “First off, rude. Second, okay, honestly, that is a good question. But not in that manner.”
Triston’s lips clamped together, and he lowered his head slightly.
Chad looked between me and Jacob. “Do you seriously not know? He had a full ride in college. Got scouted, but got injured. Messed around, got a worthless degree, and had nothing to fall back on. A year later, he moves to Teller, and eventually he became the assistant coach. It’s not that deep.”
We all nodded, but it made me think just how little I knew about Coach Andersen and, by proximity, Una.
As a student at Fairview-Teller High School, or Fairy Tale High, as most of us called it, we allknewUna Nielsen. Not personally, but by reputation. We had all been glared at or had some sort of line thrown at us over the years. She wasn’t exactly quiet about her opinions, especially those of Fairview students.
She wasn’t mean or rude by any means. More like straight forward and blunt. She didn’t put up with anyone. She was the queen of the Teller kids, not that anyone would call her that to her face. She ruled because she had the respect of the students and she could get things done.
It was… inspiring, actually. Not to mention the fact that she was gorgeous, in a unique way. Though completely out of my league, I always thought about how pretty Una was. But it was that in combination with her strength and her confidence that really did it for me.
But until yesterday, I had never spoken a word to her. And now, I find out she’s my coach’s daughter? How it seemed like fate and disaster at the same time was astounding.
“So what do we do about it?” Navin asked, repeating his earlier question.
“Absolutely nothing. Why would it change anything?” I replied, jumping into a crouch and extending my right leg for a deeper stretch.
“Because she’s currently sitting in the bleachers again, watching our every move, and it’s kind of freaking me out.” He jerked his thumb to the right, showing me without being too obvious.
I glanced out of the side of my eye, not wanting to turn around completely and make a fool of myself.
Sure enough, there she was, on the bottom row again, her thumbs flying over her phone. I stared at her for longer than was probably normal, drinking her all in. My heart did some weird flip-flop thing in my chest as I watched.
It was a different feeling than I had for anyone else before. With Cindy, it was always more casual dating. I loved her, but the two of us weren’tinlove. We were friends. I thought the world of her, like a shining star in the sky.
But what happened to me when I talked to Una was different. It made me go weak in the knees. It made my heart pound. It made me sweat. I fumbled over my words like an idiot.
It was textbook infatuation, and it scared the crap out of me. Especially because it was Una Nielsen. The girl so far out of reach, it was like expecting to win the World Cup as a senior in high school.
“Earth to Charlie. Practice is starting,” Navin snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Might want to clean up the drool, bro.” He shot me a wink before jogging off to the corner.
Coach blew the whistle, and we all gathered. I threw one last peek over to the bleachers, finding Una gazing straight at us.
Before I could turn around, I collided with someone, sending me stumbling over my feet and almost hitting dirt.
“What’s up with you, man?” Ryder said, pulling on his arm to stretch it.
“Nothing… it’s nothing,” I replied, shaking out my own arms in an attempt to brush it off.
“Head in the game, Henrikson,” Coach barked. He rapped the back of his clipboard to get everyone’s attention.
Practice went as well as expected. Meaning I was a sweaty, gross mess by the end.
I grabbed my towel and wiped myself off, vowing to get as un-gross as possible in the quickest way. After swiping my deodorant under my arms, I slipped on a fresh T-shirt, threw everything else back into my bag, and took off across the field.
I had a mission, and I didn’t want to let anyone detract me from it.
“Hey!” I shouted almost too eagerly and too loud as I slid through the half-open gate between the field and the stands.
Una didn’t stop walking, though. Either she didn’t hear me, or she didn’t think I was talking to her.
“Una! Hey, wait up,” I called, jogging a bit to catch up with her. She stopped a few feet later, her head tilted, but not turning around.
I rounded to the front of her, plastering a grin on my face. “Hi.”
She raised an eyebrow, but once again, didn’t speak, waiting for me to continue with what I wanted.
