Taint Of Innocence

Mr Duffel and Ms Hughston

Walking into the warm office, I noticed Mr. Duffel wasn’t alone in the office. The cheerleading coach was leaning against the farthest wall, sneering at me and Chris as we came in. Apparently Satan’s mistress has taken up shack in Ohio. 

“Ah, Charlotte, Christopher.” He greeted, gesturing me to sit in the one chair. I smiled back slightly, somehow nervous. 

“Hey Coach,” Chris greeted nicely. “You sent for us?” 

“Yes, Christopher. Charlotte, I’ve called you here to present you with an ultimatum.” He said, looking only at me with those beady little eyes inside that red, swollen face. My brow furrowed in confusion. 

“Well, Coach, if you only need to talk to me, then why is Chris--?” I started, but Ms Hughston interrupted. 

“Because Mr. Reeves here is the captain of this school’s lovely basketball team,” she said snidely, eyeing me weirdly. What did this have anything to do with him being captain? 

“One of the captains, the other one still hasn’t shown.” Mr. Duffel said sternly to Ms Hughston, who was now leaning on the desk, leaning toward me. I looked to my hands on my wet lap. 

“Why are you two wet?” She asked condescendingly to Chris and me. I looked at him, then he laughed lightly while he went to explain to Coach. 

“It’s pouring out and we had to cross the court--” 

“No cheerleader of mine will have pneumonia!” She slammed her fist onto the table forcefully, looking daggers at me. I scoffed incredulously, confused as hell. Chris stood closer to me, his fingers brushing my shoulders. 

“But I’m not one of your--” I started nastily, but Chris poked me in the shoulder. 

“You haven’t even heard the rest of the deal yet.” Coach Duffel looked at me, and I looked back, still confused. I looked up at Chris and he just shrugged; just as confused as I was.

“Charlotte, you obviously didn't recieve a grade in my Gym class this semester--” I crossed my arms over my chest and sunk into my chair, staring at him hardly. 

“So Charlotte, you haven’t received the full credits for this class. So myself, Ms Hughston, and Principle Harris have come up with this little compromise.” I waved my hand impatiently to tell him to get on with it, and Chris’s finger poked me. I looked up at him and he gave me a careful look. I sighed roughly and turned my attention back to Coach. 

“The compromise is, you play basketball for this school or you join my cheer squad.” Ms Hughston’s voice grated into my mind. 

“And you can call those credit’s a gift.” I felt my fists clench. Never before had I ever been so mad in a the presence of a teacher. 

“Ah, Mr Jones. Now that I have my captains here, Charlotte here can make her decision.” Mr. Duffel said, motioning to my brother. 

“There is no way in heck I am ever joining your stupid cheerleaders, they have no morals!. I've seen how they treat other students... ”She looked surprised at my reaction. 

“Well then, Ms Walkers. Looks like you’ll be dislocating more than knees on this one’s end of the deal.” She jutted her thumb at Mr Duffel. I fumed even more. I wasn't really sure why I was this angry but just the idea of me joining those bubble headed barbies made me fume.

“You can’t force her to do something she doesn’t want to do!” Chris was looking from Mr Duffel to Ms Hughston in disbelief. She backed away from the desk, hands up in surrender. I felt Will's eyes on my face, but I was running my hands through my wet hair, looking at the wall. I paced the little length of the office.

“Play on my team, and you can get back all of the credits you didn’t receive.” Coach said softly, clearly unfazed by my obvious rage. Now it was Will’s turn to yell. 

“What?! Are you kidding me! She’s a girl! The guys we play against nearly dislocated Michael's shoulder and most are twice my size!” He was by my side, leaning into Mr Duffel’s desk on his fists. Any other time I would have kicked him for the way he said it, but he had a point. 

“Will, we've won the big games already. Charlotte doesn't even need to play the games since we're already a full team. All she'll need to do is come to the training sessions and be at the games sitting on the bench. I may be just a gym teacher but I thought this one through” I slowly turned to face Noah, pushing his hand off my shoulder, murder in my gaze. 

"Exactly." Chris said.

“Did you know about this?” I asked softly.

“Well, Coach asked me hypothetically if he were to recruit you. Charlie, I thought he was joking.”  

“Can't I just get a bad grade in Gym?” I asked softly, not looking at anyone. 

“I’m afraid not, Charlie. Unless you want to get left back a whole year” Coach said, with slight annoyance this time. 

I took a deep breath, not really sure what I was getting myself into. I was super aware of both boys’ intense gaze on me, boring holes into the sides of my face. Looking straight at Mr Duffel,  I said: “I’m in.” with a slight smile.