I'm A What?!

How Could He?

     "He already sent us a message about Nate." Joel said as the guys made their way towards the locker rooms. "What do you think the coach wants with us now?"

     "Who knows?" Tim said at the front of the group. Tim tried to stay positive, but his voice gave a hint that he was nervous. Something was wrong. Something was very wrong with all of this.

     The group piled into the locker room and found the coach standing in his office. His back was to them. He was gripping his clipboard tightly and seemed to be nervously looking back and forth at his small room. He didn't see the boys walk in. They waited and watched his movements for a moment. Finally, Tim cleared his throat loudly to get his attention.

     "Oh!" The coach gasped and turned quickly. The color in his face was drained and he gulped hard. "Oh," His voice changed. The first 'oh' was scared. The second one was recognition and maybe relief.

     "You wanted to see us?" Asher asked.

     "Yes... right." The grip on his clipboard never loosened as he walked out of the office and into the locker room with them. "There are some things we need to discuss before the big game next month." There was a slight groan from a few of the guys. If this was about next month, then why call them in now? Surely this could have waited til after classes or even the weekend. He seemed to not hear them and continued on. "I'm sure by now you've, um... all seen the article about Nate. And I know I already, um... um... sent a text out about him being cut." He looked around and over his shoulder back into the office. You could tell he was distracted.

     'Why call us here to not really want to talk to us?' Tim thought. His feeling of dread growing.

     "We... there's..." There was the faint sound of footsteps somewhere down the hall. His attention now went to the door. Tim could swear he saw fear in the man's eyes. "You're going to hear things." He said quickly. "And none of them are true." This sounded like a plea instead of the truth. "Your training will continue, and we'll be holding try-outs next week to fill in Nate's spot." As the footsteps got closer, he talked faster. "If you know of anyone who would make a good replacement, make sure and let them know about the... um... try-outs. For the rest of this week..." He cut himself off and ran into his office. He picked up a bag that was sitting on his desk and quickly threw it onto his shoulder. "I think we should just rest. Take time to recuperate from the shock of losing a team member."

     "Shock?" Jake and Reed said at the same time. "We didn't lose anyone." Reed said. "He's just in different classes now." Jake added.

     "Um... yeah... Now, off you go. All training from this week is cancelled. That's all."

     He started to back away from the boys but wasn't heading for his office. Now he looked like he was heading for an emergency door. Tim was about to say something when the door to the locker room opened. There stood the Principal, the gym teacher for the Subs, and... two policemen? His stomach dropped.

     "Mr. Corbin?" The voice was firm and commanding.

     The coach's face had gone the same pale it had been when they first came into the room. Did he know they were coming? Is that why he was so jumpy? What was going on?

     Mr. Corbin acted before anyone realized what he was doing. He gripped his bag tight and ran for the emergency exit. The two policemen ran past the stunned boys and reached him just before his hand landed on the big red handle.

     "What is the meaning of this?!" Mr. Corbin screamed with a voice full of rage. "What do you think you're doing?!" His voice started to shrill, and his eyes were wild. His hair, what he had left of it, was sticking out all over the place. Tim couldn't help but think of a trapped wild animal.