Temporary Coach Part 01

“Hey! Hey! Hey!” I went running over to some of the seniors picking on another one of the other students. The rain had made the ground all muddy and they’d shoved him down into it. “What are you doing?!” 

“Nothing,” Grant smiled. He was too pleased with himself. I couldn’t do much to him though. The most prolific QB the state had seen in years and I wasn’t able to do anything. He didn’t care either. That stupid grin was enough to tell me that he was almost proud of what he’d done. 

“Nothing…” I tapped my foot impatiently. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t call him an outright liar. “Alright then. Break it up then. I expect you guys to finish your mile.” I told them. 

“Sure thing coach,” Grant didn’t lose that stupid smirk. Damien and Scott were right behind him. They did just about everything he told them to do and didn’t bat an eye at it. 

I turned back to the guy on the ground. “You okay?” I asked. 

“Yeah…” he tried rubbing some of the mud out of his face but his sleeve only put more on. “I’m fine…” he sniveled. 

“Alright,” I tried to keep an upbeat attitude. “How bout you go get cleaned up in the locker room and whenever you finish you can come back out here. Just remember to take as much time as you need.” I tried to emphasize taking his time but couldn’t tell if he got that. He walked back to the locker room with his head sunk. I watched as Grant and his friends ran the rest of their laps. 

They were just so cocky all the time. I couldn’t believe how much they were able to get away with but at the same time I knew I didn’t even know the half of it. Coach Arbors had been around them for the last four years and once he saw just how many games they were able to win, he did everything in his power to make sure they stayed on the team. What were a few dozen missed assignments or tardies to being able to go to state four years in a row? It was annoying but me and the other teachers knew our raises counted on it as well.

However, after Coach Arbor’s unexpected slip disc we were down a teacher who could coach the boy’s gym classes. None of the female teachers wanted to do it and there was no way the school would allow a bunch of horny high schoolers in the same class as the girls. The male staff had to take over dividing the classes up, sacrificing their own free periods. Lucky for me I was given the senior weightlifting class. There were only five students in the class but the real problem was how little I actually knew about weight lifting. Too bad I didn’t know a God damn thing about it. Even when I was their age I didn’t care about it but now at 32 I couldn’t give a damn. I'd become alright with my extra weight that formed around my belly. It wasn't much but still a little noticeable.  

“Everything alright Mr. Harris?” Paul asked me still running in place. I was a bit surprised to see how much endurance the kid had. He wasn’t a jock like the other three and I just thought he’d be lagging behind just like Bradly. 

“Yeah…” I groaned. “Everything’s fine. Just had to send Bradly back into the locker room…”

“Really? What for?” Paul asked. 

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “He’ll be fine. Just needs a break from those three…” 

Paul looked over at Grant, Damien and Scott. “Mind if I go check on him?” he asked.

“Did you finish your mile?”

“Yep. All done,” he said in a chipper tone. 

I didn’t believe him but figured it probably wouldn’t hurt. I didn’t know if Paul was friends with Bradly but figured it probably be good for him to talk to someone his age. “Alright,” I threw my thumb over my shoulder telling him to go. “Just don’t let them know I’m letting you out too.”

“I won’t,” Paul said. “I’m really good at keeping secrets.”

I just shook my head, not wanting to pry any deeper. It’s bad to assume but I figured it had something to do with Bradly being gay. There wasn’t anything wrong with it but the way he stared at the other guys asses during the gym class didn’t make it any less evident. Of course they’d have to pretend not to notice while I was still there but at the same time I couldn’t be everywhere at once. 

The guys finished their last lap and stood in front of me. “Alright coach,” every time they called me that I could feel the condescension dripping in their voice, “all done with that mile. Now can we go work out in the weight room?”

“Yeah,” I said. I hadn’t made a plan and it seemed like Coach Arbor didn’t plan much else besides extra gym time for his athletes. “I’ll meet you three there. I expect you to be working out when I get there as well!” I called out to them. I felt like they held a special finger up in the air directed at my back but I wasn’t about to make a scene. Checking on Bradly was a little more important right now than making those three happy. 

I opened the locker room door but could hear those two talking. “Are you sure they won’t notice?” Bradly’s voice asked. There was something different about it but I couldn’t quite place it.

“No. They won’t notice a thing!” Paul said excitedly. “That’s what makes this thing so cool! I can change whatever I want and only people I want to notice will!”

“But how… I don’t get it…” Bradly said.

“You don’t have to. All you need to know is that those three won’t bother you anymore.”

“Hey boys,” I called out to Bradly and Paul. “What are you doing in here?”

Paul stuffed his tablet into his backpack and tried to act innocent. “I’m just making sure Bradly’s doing alright,” he lied.

I stared down Bradly. Of course my neck had to tilt back but I felt like my glare was enough. “Is that true?” I asked.

“Ye-yeah,” he choked out. Despite being so large, he still had a surprisingly gentle heart. 

“Alright… Well, we’re in the weight room. I don’t expect you to dawdle,” I scolded them. 

I started for the door when Bradly stopped me. “Wait! Don’t you notice anything different?” he asked.

“Huh?” I turned around looking up and down the giant. 6’6” and a good 280 pounds of solid mass built for all kinds of destruction on the football field. He had an amazing record and combined with Grant’s QB skills we hadn’t lost a game all season. Even without Coach Arbor around those two carried the team. Bradly could have easily gone pro right now if he was allowed to. His large muscular body even made some of the pros look small. But I didn’t know what he was talking about. “Uhh… Did you get a new haircut?” I asked seeing the spiked tips. 

“Yep! You got it!” Paul interrupted Bradly as he was about to correct him on something. “That’s exactly it.”

“It looks good,” I smiled at the big lug. “Anyways, don’t dawdle. I’m still technically your teacher and you need to participate in class if you want the easy A.”

“Yes, Mr. Harris,” the two said combined. I shook my head with a bit of a smile on my face. 

“I can’t believe it!” Bradly said as I was still leaving. He seemed to forget just how much his voice bounced off the walls of the locker room. “He didn’t notice a thing!”

“Like I said. That’s what this thing does. It’s the chronivac. Changes whatever I want and no one notices a thing,” Paul said. 

“But what else do you want to change?” Bradly asked.

“I’ve got a few ideas…”

I ignored the last statement and started for the weight room. ‘Must be one of those secrets…’ I smiled myself. It didn’t make any sense but I couldn’t let it bother me too much. I still had Grant, Damien and Scott to worry about. Them playing a video wasn’t nearly as bad as anything those three could come up with. I opened to door to the weight room surprised that the three were actually working out. I was a bit surprised. 

“What’s up Mr. Harris?” Scott asked me.

“Dunno,” I said back. “Just glad you guys listened to me I guess.”

“Of course we do,” Damien said. It felt a little odd coming from them but at the same time exactly right. I didn’t know what was wrong. I turned to Grant expecting some kind of snarky response but he couldn’t seem to say anything. 

“Alright then,” I smiled to myself. ‘Maybe I am making a difference.’ However my eyes wouldn’t leave their bodies. Something about watching them work out was churning something inside me. I wanted to lift the weight with them but figured it’d be a bad idea. I held myself back until the bell rang. “Oh well…” I said to myself. However my eyes lingered on the weights and I had to pull myself away from them as I headed to my next class.