The Gift of a Coach: A Novel of Baseball and Friendship

Chapter Three: The First Day

The white lines, the smell of the food stands, the clanking of bats. Jake Wolff loved it all. From the moment he fell in love with baseball, he knew that it had to be a part of his life forever. And that thought, the first he had when he woke up, was only the beginning.

Jake was a very active kid when he was younger. His favorite class in school was gym and a close second was lunch. He never really liked playing any sport in particular; he just liked to keep moving. His dad always said he had a hard time making Jake sit still when he was younger; his mother as well. Jake didn't really like to talk about his home life because it made him uncomfortable. As much as he preached that being different and being proud of where you came from was an asset to your life, this coach kept his own silent.

Nick was really the only person who knew everything. He knew how guilty Jake felt about his dad's death and how disheartened and confused he felt when his mom left when he was 9. Nick understood why Jake was so nervous to show these kids his true colors- because when he did, it didn't work out so well.
Jake didn't really understand( still) what had really happened to his real dad. And honestly, now, as an adult, he didn't really want to find out because he had his best friend by his side, his dream job, and the best support system of other friends, including Mackenzie.

With these thoughts in mind, Jake rolled out of bed and got dressed in his long-sleeve coaches jacket, because it was quite chilly. He put his sweatpants on and tucked the ends over his sneakers and put his hat on. He checked the time on his clock that sat on his wall. Jake had a digital one but he honestly liked the other one better; unpopular opinion, but he did.

He made sure to grab his pad of paper off his desk. Before he went to bed last night, he had spent an hour or so collecting drills and cool exercises for his team to start with today. Jake thought or rather knew, he should make today fun before he started laying down the law and getting them ready for their first game.

Today was a big day and Jake wanted to make sure he didn't forget anything. He walked in circles around his house at least three times before leaving. Nick would have teased him about it but Jake wasn't just holding the first practice today... It would be the first time he would be shown his office and be seen inside Brennan High School as varsity coach and president of baseball operations. And he wanted to get there as early as he could. It was 6:45 now, nearing 7 and school started at 7:30 but punctuality had always been Jake's pet peeve and he would kick himself if he was late on one of the biggest days of his life. He started his car and pulled out of his driveway as his phone rang. He hooked it up to his car and pressed the answer button.

"This is Wolff"

"Oh, you're so official now," Nick's voice laughed at him from the speaker. Jake smiled and nodded his head as he turned the wheel towards a corner.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, tease me all you want but for all I knew you could have been Principal Adair"

"You're meeting him today, huh?"

"Yep. And I got some work to do before today's practice so that's why I want to get there early and get my office ready. Well, one of the many reasons," Jake chuckled nervously. And he didn't try to hide it because he knew Nick would catch it.

"You gotta stop this nonsense," he heard Nick say, as the click of a door followed.

"You gotta stop thinking you're not good enough for this. Jake, I have never met anyone else who would fit this job as well as you do, buddy. Even Connor Poylo couldn't fit this job like a glove even if he tried"

Wow. That made Jake's heart rate go even higher. Connor Poylo was a friend of Nick and Jake's. They played college ball together and sometimes Connor even joined Nick and Jake for their annual outings at Dizzy's. Connor was a pitcher and an outfielder. The awards Jake won, Connor was nominated for and vice versa. There were no hard feelings between them but they all definitely had some ups and downs. But like all good friends, they figured it out. Jake and Nick were always closer anyway.