We Come Alive 5

To Cheat Or Not To Cheat

Monday morning, Mateo was doing his usual work in his office while the sun outside was hiding behind the clouds. He already knew Sam and Victor were running late because of a car accident on the expressway and Danny went to the school to teach his gym class.

Mateo heard footsteps entering the athletic building, but heels clicking against the floors of the hallway. Interested, he got up to go investigate, but he was stopped short before he could move from around his desk when he saw a brunette woman walk in. A white dress complimenting her curves and a file in her hand.

It was Ms. Miller, the guidance counselor. She was also Jacob's mom. And tripled as Mateo's ex-girlfriend.

"Coach Sanchez." She breathed. "May we talk?"

Mateo sighed, sitting back down in his chair. "About?" He asked, going back to his work.

He could hear her footsteps come closer before she sat down in the chair across from his desk. She crossed her legs and cocked her head to the side.

"About the baseball team." She answered.

Mateo lifted his head up and stoped writing. "Wrong person. I'm not the coach of the baseball team. Go talk to Danny Williams, he's the coach. He should be teaching a gym class right now." He waved her off and went back to his work.

She scoffed, uncrossing her legs and sitting on the edge of her seat. "You're the head of the sports department, so this concerns you. We need to speak on the tournament the baseball team was signed up for."

Mateo stopped what he was doing and looked up at her to talk. "What do you want to talk about, Nicole? They were invited to play in this tournament since they're undefeated and playing a great season. We already sent out a permission slip and waiver. The players who are going signed them and we sent them to you for documentation."

"You need to go through the office to do things like this." Nicole pointed out. "You can't just go off signing your players up for tournaments and telling us after the fact."

Mateo folded his hands together and stared at her for a moment. When he got his thoughts together, he spoke.

"Why're you being so difficult? You had no problem with this last year."

"Last year, the pitcher came back with a broken nose and all the players were nearly dehydrated." She argued.

"Sports accident, nothing we could do other than provide her medical attention which she denied. And they were tired from playing all day. I told them stay hydrated and to keep fluids in them at all times. This year it's a four day weekend event. Don't worry, I've figured it out already." Mateo assured her.

"Yeah, without me." Nicole scoffed, dropping her file on the table. "I get these forms and I'm suppose to just sign off on it without knowing anything about it?"

"What do you want to do about this, Nicole? They were invited to compete, I took the offer, they're going." Mateo pointed out. "I sent you everything you needed to know. If you need anything else, let me know."

Nicole glared at him. "You think this is funny or something. Anything happens to those kids, it's both me and your asses on the line. You know your athletes don't like to stay on the safe side of these things."

"Including your son?" Mateo asked, leaning back in his chair. "Jacob's going on this trip too. Is that where this all roots from? Cause the tennis team is going to some conference thing, you ain't come in here yelling at me about that. What is it? That your son ran away from you and had his dad sign the paper, or is it really about the trip?"