Page 5 of Teaching the Kot'oll Coach

I shake my head to clear my it when a stream of heat finds its way to my cheek. I’m not going to think about that. It’s going to be weird to want a hug from him, especially when we just met.

But those muscles...

I peek at him again. He is back to working on something on his computer screen, which the partition board blocks from me. His two arms are behind his head as he rests on them, while the two other arms are typing. If the keyboard is bigger, maybe he can type with all four hands. That would be impressive.

It looks like he has been training hard. I wonder how those muscles look under his clothes.

Except that’s not what I should be thinking about.

I turn to stare at the wall on the other side. My seat is next to the corridor, so that leaves a side of freedom with no one next to me. On the wall, there are a few drawings from students. One of the drawings is about family. At least it looks like it is, with a few beings on the paper. The beings are dancing in a park. It is a pretty messy crayon drawing, but for a kid, it’s a nice picture.

“I think Jackel put it up there.” Telke points at the drawings. “It makes me happy looking at the drawings.”

“I bet. So, I heard this school is pretty good at floatball.”

Telke grins. “We are. We’ve been winning the city’s championship for a few years in a row now. I’m more than happy to see kids playing hard in the field.”

“You’re the coach.”

He winks and flexes the two upper arms. “For sure. Every week, the team practices for three days. As long as the kids are having fun, that’s all it matters. It will be great if we keep winning, but that’s not as important as getting better together.”

I think I kind of like him by now.

But I’m not here to make friends. I just wanted to leave the city I was living in for a change of scenery.

I’m supposed to focus on my own work and just be doing that. I’m not here to get to know others more than I need to.

Telke is going to say something, but I stand and walk away, pretending to be on my way to do something important. Maybe he’ll get a hint and stop talking to me.

I kind of feel bad despite it may be for the best for both of us.

chapter 4

Telke

So... I stare at Winnie’s back as she walks off in the direction of the storage room, which is usually locked, and the only key is with the receptionist. There’s no reason for Winnie to go there, other than keeping her distance from me. Maybe I’ve talked too much, and she doesn’t like that.

I sigh and stare at my computer screen again. Maybe I’m doing it wrong again.

Somehow, this sucks so much that... I don’t even know what else I should be doing to make things better for both of us.

Maybe... Maybe she isn’t interested in being friends just yet.

I take a breath, trying to calm myself. I should focus on—

The bell that marks the end of a session rings, which means that it is almost time for my lesson to start. At least I’ve gotten out of my suit and ready for some action. My heart pounds again and blood runs through my body in a good way. I can’t wait to be with the kids.

I rub my hands together while gathering everything I need. I get the clipboard with the attendance sheet and my water bottle and head over to the door. If Winnie wants some space and time to herself, it’s fine. I don’t understand the burning urge inside me, but I’m certain that I give great hugs and I kind of want to hug her and pull her into my arms. That’s such a wild thought when I haven’t even gotten to know her that well. I’ve never felt that way with others, but maybe there’s a reason for that.

Maybe?

I head down the corridor, waving to a few on the floatball team who are getting ready for their lesson in another room. Students here pick their own lesson plan to a certain extent, so in the time between sessions, beings shift around and get ready. I like this. It almost feels like we’re all on the sports ground. We all move with a purpose, even though we don’t move in the same direction and aren’t all doing the same thing.

The day may not start the right way, but I can figure it out.

Arriving at the sports ground, a few students are already there. They are chatting among themselves when there are still a few minutes until the lesson begins. For this class, they are new to the school, and this is the first day of their first school year here, so I hope to make sure everyone enjoys themselves and gets to know each other. These few that are chatting seem to be getting along already, so that’s good.

It doesn’t take long before the bell rings again. I blow a whistle and gather everyone around me. “Good morning, class. I’m Mr. Stek and we’ll be spending this year together.”

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