Page 82 of Teaching the Kot'oll Coach

She giggles. “Thank you!” It doesn’t take long before she bows her head. “I’ll leave for the next lesson now. Thank you, Miss Bailey and Mr. Stek.”

Telke shouts at Kime’s back as she goes down the corridor. “Don’t run! Stay safe!”

I can’t help but smile as I watch Kime go. “Looks like she is feeling better, too. She was upset that she caused the traffic accident.”

Telke lets out a soft sigh. His eyes are still glued to the card. “So, you’ve finally realized that the accident has nothing to do with you, huh? There are many causes to what happened, but none of that has to do with you.”

“Well...” I know Telke is fine, and there’s no reason to keep dwelling in the past, yet... “There could have been things happening that resulted in you staying in the school for a bit longer, then you wouldn’t have witnessed the accident and...”

“Kime wouldn’t have survived it.”

I sigh again. “Yeah... That’s not a desirable outcome either.”

“I hate to put it like this, but maybe all of us have already put in our best effort and what happened was already the best outcome there could be.”

He leans closer to my ear and lowers his voice. “If we weren’t in the school, I’d hug you. As long as you’ve tried your best, that’s what counts.” He moves away soon enough, hopefully before anyone will see that. “It’s like floatball, you can only try your best.” He winks and heads to the staff room. “I’ll meet you after school?”

“Another floatball practice?”

“No, but something else.”

Oh... Now he’s keeping me waiting.

I turn to head to the library again. There is still work to be done, not to mention the workday isn’t even half over.

I put up a smile and greet everyone on my way. Sometimes, that’s the problem with working in a school. There seem to be beings around all the time, and I can’t find any alone time.

Thoughts run through my head, but I don’t have time to organize any of them.

Am I making the right decision?

Maybe I know to tell Kime that trying her best is all she can do with the card, but I should tell that to myself, too.

And... Even though I’d hate to let cocky Telke be right all the time, maybe he has a point. Maybe if I try my best to make the best decision I can make, that’s what counts.

Telke has been reliable too.

Am I... going to be fine if I don’t stay with him? There won’t be his strong arms to keep me warm and safe. There also won’t be his silly jokes to make me feel better.

He is the positive and happy one between us.

Chapter 34

Winnie

It takes almost a lifetime of waiting before it is time for me to leave school. Telke messaged me and told me to wait for him in the parking lot. It feels like he is going to bring me somewhere. I hope he is a bit more creative than another restaurant. I like great food, but it gets boring to always be going for food here and there.

Telke is already there when I arrive. He waves at me while folding his other arms together. He looks better with a smile.

“Finally, you’re here!”

“Apparently, someone isn’t that patient.”

He chuckles and fixes his cap. “I suppose. Get on the ship, we’re heading to... somewhere...” He blinks and seemingly loses steam as he thinks about the destination. If it’s not a good place, why does he want to be there with me?

Inside the spaceship, everything looks normal. He turns on the light and waves for me to join him at the driving dashboard.

I sit by his side, getting comfortable as I set my backpack to the side. His spaceship smells like him, comfortable and pretty chill.

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