pinky promise - jamie tartt

‟ BYE, JAMIE „

˗ˏˋ 'ˎ˗

Tatum Green was squished into the coaches office between Sam and Isaac, listening to Nate freak out, thinking that the had been fired.

She was grinning, and had to clamp a hand over her and Isaac's mouth when Nate made a comment that he was getting fired because he called Colin a pussy.

"You know my name?" Nate asked Rebecca, directly after calling her a shrew. An elbow dug into her back, one of the boys growing restless from being cramped in the office, and Tate could only hope that Ted would give them the signal soon.

"Well, I had to spell it correctly for your contract," Rebecca's voice sounded faintly through the office door.

"Nate-dawg, you haven't been fired. It's worse." Ted began, voice oddly serious. Beard held the blinds on the door while Tate grabbed the ones for the window, preparing for the big reveal. "You've been promoted!"

She and Beard pulled the blinds open at the same moment, revealing themselves and the rest of team cheering from the office. Nate looked shocked and relieved at the same time, though she knew he probably wished to take back the shrew comment.

Dani was the first one through the door and into the locker room, and Tate let the rest of the boys file about before she made an attempt to leave, finding them all surrounding Nate and cheering. They lifted him into the air, chanting his name, and whichever boys had been designated confetti controllers, as Ted had called it, shot the strips of paper into the air.

Tate stood on the periphery, clapping, knowing enough about her boys to stand back.

Then it was time for phase two.

Harmonizing, Ted and Beard walked down the aisle made by the players, two rows on each side, while Nate stood at the end on the platform, still in awe of the recent news. When the coaches reached him, Beard opened the box he was holding to reveal a whistle.

A coach's whistle.

"Nathan Shelley," Ted began, picking up the whistle from the box as if it was priceless finery. Tate grinned, looping her arm around Colin's as he stood beside her. "I present to you this whistle. But it is sad, do you know why?"

"No," Nate whispered, his joy a tangible thing.

"Because it has never been blown."

"Is that the same reason why Colin's sad?" Nate fired back instantly, and Tate had to smother her giggles in Colin's shoulder while the rest of the team shook him playfully, cheering at the quick joke.

"By the power vested in me by the Associative Football Club of Richmond, I now pronounce you Coach Nate." Ted placed the whistle around Nate's head, the locker room devolving into cheers and clapping that Tate readily joined in on.

But then Nate blew the whistle, the shrill sound piercing her ears.

"No!" She heard Beard shout. "Not inside."

"Christ, Nate," Tate rubbed her ears, the echo of the whistle still in her head. "You can't coach the team if they can't hear you."

"Sorry."

「☺ ☺ ☺ 」

"Alright gang, here's the unskinny bop." Ted began as Tate found herself sitting in on one of the team's meetings, her own schedule freed at the last minute by a conference getting canceled. "Manchester City is coming into our house for the final match."

She tried not to think too much about it, what with how close they were to relegation. She shifted uncomfortably in her chair, beside Roy at the end of the row, brought in hastily when she asked Ted if she could stay.