Page 32 of Third and Ten

“Hey, JD,” one of my colleagues greets me as I walk into the teachers’ lounge.

“Hey, Loren,” I return with a sigh, grabbing my lunch out of the fridge. “How goes it today?”

Loren’s a fellow Camellia native, having graduated a couple of years ahead of me, with Blake. Though she wasn’t an athlete, her dad is probably the most respected football coach in our school’s history. But now that we’re colleagues, Loren and I have managed to develop a casual friendship, despite having so little in common throughout high school.

She purses her lips. “Eh, same old. Eight weeks and counting until Thanksgiving break.” I nod knowingly. Teachers live and die by the countdown until the next break.

“How’s Damien been doing in your class?” I inquire about one of my football players as I take a seat next to her at the lunch table.

She blows out a breath. “He actually managed to stay awake for a full hour today.”

I chuckle and offer the bag of chips I’ve just opened. “I guess we can call that ‘growth’.”

“The bar has been set low, my friend,” she says with a smile that contradicts her sarcasm, then plucks a chip from the bag. Loren is more optimistic than most in our line of work. I enjoy talking to her most days, which says a lot. It’s not that I don’t love my job and my coworkers, but the increasingly difficult working conditions have taken their toll on most educators, leaving us all disillusioned at best and perpetually tired and grumpy at worst.

“Funny how that phrase applies to nearly every conversation I’ve had today,” I grumble like the fussy old veteran teacher I’ve become.

She furrows her brow and fixes her gaze on me. “Something bothering you? You don’t seem like your usual sunny self.”

“Well,” I begin, surprised she even noticed, though I shouldn’t be. Loren’s nice like that. She continues staring at me expectantly as she sneaks another chip and crunches away. I sigh, reminding myself that I need all the help I can get. “There’s this…situation. It’s not exactly school related.”

“Oh, a dating situation?” she asks, settling in. “Do tell.”

I cringe. “It’s technically not a dating situation either, although I’d really like it to be.”

“But she’s not interested?”

“She’s been giving me mixed signals. I think she might be more averse to dating in general than to me.”

Loren straightens up in her chair, suddenly looking uncomfortable. “Um. This isn’t, like, one of those times when you’re being hypothetical but you’re really talking about the person sitting right next to you, is it?”

“No, no,” I reassure her quickly, holding my hands up in a panic. “I mean, no offense, you’re great and all, but—”

“But I’m no Tenley Robin, right?” She smirks and takes another chip.

“Wait, how did you know I was talking about Tenley?”

She shrugs. “I overheard Ethan saying she was back in town. Also, a few of his teammates were messing with him the other day, saying something about him being your nephew and referring to you as ‘Coach Thirsty’.”

I groan. “Was Ethan upset?”

“He seemed okay with it,” she replies thoughtfully. “I mean, he didn’t mind roasting you along with them.”

“Of course he didn’t.” I roll my eyes. “So, how do you know Tenley?”

“We were best friends all the way through middle school, you dork.” This time she confiscates the entire chip bag. “We’ve grown apart since then, though. I haven’t spoken to her in years, but I was hoping to run into her soon and remedy that.”

“You were?” It’s sad that I’m getting this excited for any connection to Tenley.

“Sure. Suppose she’ll be at the pep rally later?”

“Probably.”

“Perfect. I may be able to help with your situation. Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” she asks eagerly. I can almost see the wheels turning in her head. “And before you say anything, the answer isn’t ‘Tenley’s boobs’,” she adds, making me grin. “Though, maybe we should all be thinking about that, according to Damien’s description of her.”

I accidentally growl, making her laugh as she gets up and scoots her chair in. Her head barely reaches my shoulder, even though she’s standing.

“Calm down, Coach Thirsty. For the record, those kids are all rooting for you. Though, it’s mostly because they think you’d take it easier on them if you had a girlfriend,” she says, walking backward and bobbing her eyebrows suggestively. Then Blake surprises us both by flinging the door open and barreling into the room, just in time for Loren to plow into him.

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