Page 61 of Teaching the Kot'oll Coach

He blinks some more and stares at me again.

Fuck... Now he’s going to think that I’m getting to what happened after I ignored him and left him behind before he was done with his sentence last night. I don’t mean to be mean to him at all...

He says, “My evening was fine. Ate a lot.”

I lift my brows at him. “Ate what? Tacos? Imagining that you’ve won something?”

“Well...” He leans close to my ear and looks around. “I’d want to win you, but I know you aren’t interested.”

He moves away quickly, but he already leaves me sitting with my eyes wide. So... he has decided that...

What am I thinking? That would be good for both of us. We can be friends and just that. He’s a good guy after all.

He takes another sip of his coffee and clicks his mouse, looking at something on his screen. I’m curious, but that’s none of my business.

Maybe this is the end of our conversation, at least for now.

I have another sip of my coffee too. Maybe it is time to have a last check on the material for the lesson I will be having with the kids.

I turn on the computer when Telke asks, “So... Do you have time after school?”

Is he asking me out? I thought...

He continues, “I think it is almost time for us to prepare for the floatball competition. I hope you’d grow to like floatball, but I understand if it’s not your thing. But since we’re doing it on the Sports Day this year anyway, I think we can practice.”

Um... Just he and I?

He seems to see my confusion, so he adds. “Our whole team will be going. It will be after the floatball team training session. I’ve already asked everyone else on the team. All of them can come. It will be great if you can also come. We can go through the rules so everyone will be on the same page for the sport.”

So there will be someone else with us. I’m not sure whether it’s a good thing or not. I don’t mind learning floatball with Telke and spending some time with him, but given what happened, maybe it will be better for there to be others around.

I’m not a fan of any sport that requires outdoor activity. Floatball can be played both indoors and outdoors, but the field in the school is outside, so it’s going to be hot...

But I think I should go so that the team will like me. I’m the newest teaching staff here after all, and it will be better to get along with everyone.

“Sure, I can join. I think I can have everything done within the after-school period.”

He grins. I love his grin a lot more than a frown. “Great, we’ll meet in the sports field by then. The floatball team will have the equipment out and ready, so it will save us set-up time. Depending on our progress, maybe we can have a friendly match.”

It sounds like quite a bit when I’ve never played the game before. But he’s a coach after all, so he should know what he’s doing.

I say, “Sounds good. Hopefully, everything goes well. But I don’t get it. Is it a tradition of the school to have a floatball match between teaching staff every year? Or is it a new thing?”

He chuckles. “Floatball is the new one, but staff matches aren’t new. Every year, we do something different. Usually, it’s for simple sports that most already know. Last year, we had relays. The year before, we did spear-throwing. I think there was a year we did axe-throwing. The principal loves to encourage us to stay healthy, so.. Or say, he loves to watch us struggle in front of kids.”

I roll my eyes. “Seriously? Even axe-throwing is on the list?”

“Yeah. It was wild.”

“Who won that year?”

Telke sits up and looks over the partition. So... It sounds like he didn’t make it up. “That one over there. I’m not sure whether you know him though. His aim is golden.”

“How did you do in the match?”

He blinks. “Well...”

“Sounds like that’s something you can’t win just because you have more hands.”

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