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I walked down the hall of the gym with my bag hanging off my shoulder

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I walked down the hall of the gym with my bag hanging off my shoulder. The locker room was empty and very quiet. I shove my bag into the locker and made my way out onto the court. I sit on the bleachers covering my face and rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"You're a bit earlier."

I quickly sit up straight and my eyes trace up the body of Coach Payne. He chuckles, dropping his bag on the floor and raises his hands.

"C-coach Payne, sorry." I apologize for no apparent reason. "I di-didn't know you were here."

"It's okay." he says, looking down at the hall. "I'm just helping Coach Styles prepare you girls for playoffs."

"You're going with us?"

"He'll need some help watching after you crazy girls." he jokes. "We'll explain more later, but why are you here so early?" he asks, sitting next to me.

I shift uncomfortably and let out a small laugh, so it wasn't noticeable. "My brother had to work early this morning, so he just decided to drop me off on his way."

"How is your brother?" he continues.

"He's- he's doing fine. We're doing fine." I say, feeling very awkward.

"Yeah, he's quite the flirt, isn't he?" he looks at me with his eyebrows raised and I'm sure he can see my confused expression because he goes on. "First, I seen him with Leslie and he's moved on to Abby."

I let out a soft laugh. "That's my brother, alright."

"I'm just worried he's going to cause something between the girls if he continues to go down the line."

"Coach Payne, if your hinting at something here, I can't do anything because he won't listen to me."

"I'm sorry, I don't mean to overstep, but can you at least try because playoffs are coming and we don't need our players to fight about some boy." he pushes. "Acting as captain, you could do something like having him off limits-"

"Coach," I force out a laugh. "I-I know you're worried about the girls and playoffs and I do understand because as captain I want to win so badly, but I'm also the girl no one listens to. I am that girl who stands in the back and watches everything happen, which probably makes me the worst captain ever."

"I think you're a great captain." he encourages me. "Since I've gotten here, I've seen you become this strong leader from this person hiding in the crowd."

"Mon- Monique has taken over most of the lead though."

"Isn't that what a co-captain for?" he shrugs. "You two make decisions together and I've learned that most of the decisions come from you, but she speaks up about it. That's what being a co-captain is."

I sigh, standing up and rub my head. "I will- I will talk to him, but I'm not keeping any promises." I tell him and he smiles. "Where is, um, coach Styles?"

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