treacherous • alan bosley

sidelines

after a particularly challenging day at school, all maisie wanted to do was crawl into her bed and sleep until the next week. everyone was on her case about the article she had written, and no one seemed to understand the message she was trying to send. it was exhausting.

she was about to leave the school, when coach boone caught her in the hallway. he had been meaning to speak to the girl before school officially started, but certain things had come up that hindered the task.

"sanning, do you have a minute?" he asked, stopping the girl just as she was about to hit the front doors.

she turned, surprised to hear from the coach. she figured they were sort of done and dusted. they didn't seem to having anything to talk about, but that didn't mean she wasn't willing to speak to him at all.

"sure, coach," she replied, letting her hand leave the push bar, "how can i help you?"

within the last few days, the coach had learned that his days were essentially numbered. nobody was on board with their integrated football team, and even less so about a black head coach. he had been informed that if a game was lost, his job would be too. despite a first instinct to go to the school board with fists ready to swing, boone thought it might be better to try a different approach.

"your article was great." he told her, truly meaning the words that were coming out of his mouth. had people been willing to listen, it would've done amazing things.

"glad somebody thinks so." she said spitefully, knowing this had been one of the most divisive days of her life.

boone's hard gaze softened as he begun to realize what the girl had been going through. creating the school had been controversial enough, but publishing an article in favor of integration would be hard to combat. maisie had signed and sealed her stance. while she may have been on the right side of history, she still needed to survive the present.

"you're doing a good thing, sanning." boone replied, causing the girl to look at him with curious eyes. she hadn't been expecting the coach to say anything to her about her writing, let alone praise it. it was something she wasn't sure how to respond to.

"thank you, coach." she replied with a small smile, knowing that was all she could muster. she truly appreciated the words, but had never been good at fully expressing herself.

he nodded, finally gathering the courage to bring up why he had run into her in the first place, "do you think you could write more?"

maisie knit her brows, taken aback by the coach's words. she was glad he approved of the article, but wasn't expecting him to be that happy. if she remembered correctly, she had written something in there about him having 'unconventional methods border lining on maniacal'. of course she ended up correcting herself, but it was still something she mentioned.

"what do you mean?" she asked. at the very least she was interested in the offer. she wasn't exactly sure what it entailed, but the thought of working with everyone again was hard to pass up.

"on the sidelines with me," he explained, holding up a titan's windbreaker for the girl, "i want you to be our exclusive reporter."

boone figured that if anyone could write the titan's in a promising light, it would be maisie. he needed school board approval, adoring fans, and a winning title. maisie would be able to generate buzz, and get their story out. it seemed like a standout idea.

"me?" she questioned in disbelief. of all the things she had been anticipating from the release of her paper, this was probably the last possibility she could've imagined. the titans were about to become the talk of the town, and maisie knew it would be in her best interest to capitalize off of that.