Coach's Daughter

Chapter 3: New Friends.

Mia Carters

Gage lead me into the school by my wrist. The only thought I had was please let this day go easy. He helped me find my first class which was room 216a, Honors Calc.

"Geez, you must be really smart at math" he says eyes widely opened.

"I guess you can say that" I say smiling up at him.

"That's the number 1 subject I suck at" Gage says with disappointment. He then looks at clock and rushes the process of helping me find my classes for my schedule.

"Hey, I gotta go. I got a meeting" he says rushing down the stairs.

I tried to say bye but he left before I can say anything. I made my way into my Honors Calc class and sat in the back. I sat in the back and put my head leaning on my arm. I listened to the teacher a slight bit but then I suddenly started thinking about Gage. His dimples when he smiled. His brown short hair. His ocean blue eyes. I started grinning at the thought of this boy. why? I have no idea.

I snapped out of my deep thoughts when a girl beside me tapped me and said "Hey, do you understand any of this?"

"Um I just got here" I paused and leaned over to look at the sheet on her desk. "Yeah trigonometry and then graphing, easy" I said looking over at the girl.

"Do you mind helping me? I'm Lily" she says holding her hand out waiting for a shake.

"I'm Mia. And sure" I say reassuringly. I began to show Lily how to do graphing correctly. We came closer to the bell and Lily asked for my number in case she doesn't understand the homework. I gave her my number and smiled.

"What lunch are you?" she asks curiously.

"I think I'm in B"

"No Way! You can sit at my table if you want." she says with a warming smile.

"Sure, that'd be great!"

The bell rang and we exited the classroom. She waved goodbye and walked down the hall. I looked at my schedule. I went to gym and then I finally went to AP Psychology. The next few periods were slow until I approached lunch.

I headed to the cafeteria and search for Lily's familiar face. I finally spot her walking out of the check out line. I approach and make small chat with her.

We both sat down at a circular table that could easily seat 12 people. But only 7 were filled. These 7 people were looking down at their phones and moving thumbs faster than light. Lily introduced me to everyone, the 7 teens looked up and then back down.

"I don't think they like me" I whisper quietly.

"Oh, please they do at least looked at you because they never take their eyes off of the phones" she said pouring her dressing on the green filled bowl.

"Oh, alright." I say a little unsure if I believe her.

"So tell me about yourself!" she says chomping the green salad.

"Um I moved from Tennessee. My dad is the new football coach. And I'm the only child"

"Oh what's your mom do?" Lily still eating but stops to speak.

"Umm.. well she passed away. She had cancer" I said quietly.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry. I didn't me-" she says wiping her mouth and looking at me with empathy.

"No you're totally fine." I interrupt her apology.

We kept talking the rest of the lunch period and she shared about her life. She has 2 brothers and 3 parents. 2 dads and one mom. She played volleyball and golf. The bell suddenly rang for dismissal of lunch and we parted ways.

I walked to my last period which was study hall in the library. It was nice to just sit and do homework. After sitting in the library for 45 minutes, the bell rang for the whole school to dismiss. I walked to my locker and waited til the halls cleared before I started heading to football field.

I got to the green-turfed field and looked around. I sat on the bottom bleachers waiting for my dad to come out and practice. It took them longer than expected so I brought out my homework and began to fill in the answers. I look over and see a pack of teens with helmets, pads and helmets that lead out onto the field. My father slowly walking behind them in his blue polo and khaki shorts. I jumped up on my feet and started walking towards my father on the field.

I stood there waiting for him to notice. He didn't notice until he heard a few whistles here and there. He look at the boys and yells for the team captain. A helmet and padded tall teen rushed over and took his helmet off. It was Gage. He was team captain? oh gosh and he plays football.

My father tells him to get the boys focused and then during the conversation he glanced over at me here and there. I just smiled and waited til Gage left. I soon approached my dad asking for the roster to know the first stringers.

I look at the list and see that Gage is qb 1 which is unusual for a freshman. I began to question why he was captain too. My father told me to go wait up by faculty parking. I walked up there and then sat on railing.

I saw the tall brown hair blue kid I met this morning. He was talking to another teammate before he looked up and noticed me. He ended the convo with the other teammate and walked up to me.