When working for a small school, you often have to fill extra-curricular positions regardless of experience or ability. There are some perks to the situation. Some schools can afford to pay a fairly decent amount of money for the time. There are often opportunities to spend time in bigger cities attending coaching clinics, which is really just an excuse to be near people of a similar background while drinking for free. And sometimes, you unexpectedly get rewarded for your work.
John Walter had not planned on being the girls' basketball coach. No one else had either. As the low man on the totem pole, it fell to John. He was a fairly good looking man, a little above average in height at 5'11". His dark brown hair was cut short, mostly just because it was easier to throw a hat on and not have to style it. That fit well with his preference for his beard, perpetually looking like he had a few days' growth but not unruly. His hazel eyes changed shades with the clothes he wore, but many a girlfriend in college had gotten lost in them. He was reasonably fit from the many hours spent hiking in his free time. As the high school Spanish teacher in the small school, he had most of the students in class. At 26, he was still the youngest teacher in the school.
John wasn't asked to be coach; he was basically just told to do it. For a small school, there was a decent amount of talent on the team. Lots of juniors and seniors, and a total of fifteen players. He could work with that, if they wanted to work hard. After a few practices, he knew they would. The seniors were strong willed, and they had not experienced much failure. They were not world beaters by any measure, but they were above average. They were led by the twin towers, who were truly twins. At 6' tall, Marie and Melissa were usually more talented than the other team's best post players. They weren't quite identical, but most strangers could not tell them apart. They both preferred to keep their long, dirty blonde hair tied in a ponytail as it was much less work. They had long muscular legs and perky but small breasts. Melissa was a bit more outgoing, but Marie was the one always in a relationship. Marie had never gone longer than a few weeks without a boyfriend since her freshman year. Soon to be 19, the girls were often considered leaders in their class because they were just a bit older than the rest of the students.
The other senior starter was Jessica. She was a terrifically skilled point guard, and at this level, she influenced the game as much as anyone on the court. She rarely went to the bench, and her ball handling was good enough to keep the team out of trouble against pressure. Most games she could get the ball into the hands of the twins, and they could score pretty easily. If not, she was good enough to take over. At just over 5'1", she was a touch shorter than her peers. But she had a killer smile, and her body caused many of the boys in school to drool. She kept her dark brown hair about shoulder length. Her brown eyes could get her most anything she wanted if she was that type of person. She wasn't. If her eyes did not do it, her curves would have. She hid her large chest well on the court, but she struggled to do so off it. She made modern fashion look obscene, finding it difficult to buy something that was cute yet did not show off an inappropriate amount of cleavage. She worked out consistently in the weight room, and that was apparent in her well-developed rear end. She did squats, and lunges, and all kinds of other exercises to develop strength in her legs. It made her un-guardable on the court, giving her a good combination of speed and power. It made her ass look like an Instagram model, large and firm. With a skinny waist that led into rippling abs, she was built like an 18-year-old sex goddess.
She was 18, having turned that a few months into her senior year, but she was not a sex goddess. At least not in her mind. In fact, she had a hard time with the idea of sex. She didn't know if she was a lesbian. Or bisexual. Or curious. She had only developed up top in the last six months, and she had not quite gotten used to the leers and lewd comments from older males. Maybe that is why she preferred being around the girls on the team instead. Most of the boys in her school would tell you that she was too damn intimidating for them to push the issue of sex with her, and she was too nice to everyone for anyone to know whether she was interested in them in the same way. It made for some awkward interactions, of which she never really thought anything herself. This was typical stuff in a small school as far as John Walter was concerned.
John, known as Coach Walter to the girls, quickly developed a good relationship with the whole team. He pushed them. He knew they were working hard. He held everyone accountable, but gave them enough of a chance to learn from their mistakes. There was no screaming, or belittling. He explained what he wanted from them, they tried their best to do it, and that was it. Everything felt good for both John and the team. They had spent a few weeks going at each other in practice, and in two days they would have the chance to scrimmage another team. They'd be going to Carroll High School, a much larger school on the outskirts of the big city. They had never been to the recently opened school but were looking forward to the opportunity. They were going to be leaving a little earlier than they probably needed because of the threat of traffic as they got towards the city. Normally the hour drive was pretty easy, but the Friday scrimmage at 6pm might lead to some traffic issues.
"Coach?" Jessica quietly asked at the end of practice.
"Yeah, Jessica. What's up?" responded John.
"I'm sorry, but is there any way I can meet the team at the scrimmage? I have a visit planned to a college in the city, and I am not sure I can make it back to the school on time for the bus. If that's not okay, I can reschedule my visit or cut it short." Jessica was nervous as she talked to Coach Walter, not wanting to cause an issue with him or the team.
She really didn't need to worry about either. John was happy that she had taken the initiative to start the conversation with him, and her team knew she was a hard worker who did not make excuses. "Of course, Jessica. It doesn't make sense for you to do anything but meet us there. We'll see you there." He knew he was blessed as a coach to have her skills and commitment on the team, and he did not want to make her feel bad about the situation.
Friday came quick. John had put the seniors in charge of making sure the equipment got packed and put on the bus. Melissa and Marie took charge without Jessica there. John was as nervous as he had ever been. Even though he had played sports in high school, and this was just a scrimmage, he had tremendous butterflies building in his stomach. The ride over did nothing to help that. The closer they got to the new school, the more he felt it. He nervously sipped his bottle of water. In fact, he did so until it was gone. This presented a new problem for the coach. He now had to empty his bladder. And soon.
