Page 15 of She Wolf

“No thank you, dear. I’ve already had my cup for the morning.” She taps the edge of her mug that says, ‘I’m so mean. I have no standard deviation’.“I like to save the next one for after lunch.”

Nodding, and securing the lid down on my travel cup I make my way back to the door.

“Catch you later. Have a good day.”

“You, too dear, you too,” she says with a wave.

I arrive at my office and get ready to start my day. I’m in a newer wing of the building and so it still feels fresh. Plus, with how big the windows are in here, the room floods with light.

My desk sits close to the window but far enough away that I’m not backed into a corner, and I’ve managed to find posters that have a motivational message but aren’t those lame cat or sunrise ones with corny sayings, to put on the walls.

It’s also littered with pamphlets, strategically placed helpline phone numbers, and a library of up-to-date college prospectuses.

Jack has produced yet another drawing of him on an ice rink and so I tape it up on my wall, carefully taking the old one down and placing it into the cardboard folder I have full of his other masterpieces.

I hear a familiar cackle fill the corridor and soon Lydia—the first friend I made when I joined the faculty two and a half years ago—comes through the open doorway, looking hungover and totally exhausted as usual.

“I swear I am never going out again,” she exclaims while falling into one of the chairs opposite my desk, making me shake my head. She starts scraping at her blonde hair to get it into a tie but it’s lopsided and she’s missed bits.

“Why did you go out on a Sunday? You know you have to get up for work. I swear you are the unhealthiest Coach I have ever met.”

She smiles—well smirks, and lifts her shirt, showing off her abs. “Tell that to these.”

My eyes roll and I laugh. “You know that isn’t what I meant. You need to start taking better care of yourself.”

“The trifecta is complete,” our school librarian, Farrah, announces as she walks in. These girls are my work tribe and get me through my hectic days, but they are also both a little nutty.

I’m sure it’s why we all gravitate toward each other.

“Is she hungover again?” Farrah asks, pointing to the mess that is the assistant athletic director.

“Yep,” I answer, crossing my legs and leaning back. Farrah undoes the lid from her pink and sparkly plastic tumbler and thrusts it into Lydia’s hand.

“You can have this. It’s fortified with vitamins and there’s some ginseng in there to perk you up while you tell us about last night.”

“Honestly it was a waste of time. We went to one of those trendy hipster places that serve the fancy cocktails, the ones that foam and smoke, but it was full of, well, trendy hipsters,” she says, screwing up her face making me and Farrah laugh.

“I should have just curled up with a good book or Netflix, like you two and—what was that?” she says abruptly, looking directly at me.

Her stare practically burns but I shrug innocently. “What was what?”

“Did you see that, Farrah? She twitched.”

“I did,” Farrah answers and they both move closer to me. “Coralie did not curl up with a book last night. Spill it, lady, now.”

I close my eyes and take a breath. “Ugh, you two are so annoying.”

“We’re not, you love us. Now tell us your secret,” Lydia orders.

“My divorce was finalized yesterday.”

“Ah, that’s amazing,” Lydia squeals, as they both jump up and down clapping. Now

that’samazing, considering she could hardly hold herself upright a minute ago.

“There’s more though, I can tell. Did you get the notification and then rip all your clothes off and jump Gunner Grey? Finally?”

I choke on the sip of latte I just took. “What? Are you insane? No, I did not do that.”

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