On Your Side

1

"That was perfect Collins!" Boston High's Head Track Coach Max Harper called over, eyes wide with amazement as he watched the young girl slow to a stop from her 100m sprint. He knew the girl was good last year, but if he was honest, he'd expected her to drift off with training over the summer break and slack on the practice. But it appeared she'd done the complete opposite.

"There's always room for improvement" The young sprinter shrugged as she walked towards him, twisting the cap off her Gatorade and draining the bottle.

"You're unbelievable sometimes Collins. Every single one of those sprints you did just then was faster than your best last year" Coach Harper clicked his tongue at her, shaking his head in disbelief as he scrawled her final time down on the clipboard he was holding. “Right, before you head off home, I want to introduce you to someone. So go get changed and meet me in my office in 5”

Collins nodded, picking up her discarded varsity track hoody and flinging it over her shoulder. She headed back to the girls changing rooms silently; trying to guess who it was that Coach wanted her to meet. As she slipped her legs back into her sweatpants, she prayed it wasn’t just some new freshman who ‘showed potential’ like the last bunch of dweebs she’d had following her around. That did absolutely nothing for her image. And the O’Donoghue image was something she needed to uphold.

Picking up her track and school bags, Collins checked her phone and frowned seeing a text from her mom saying Cory was picking her up; meaning she’d probably end up waiting for at least half an hour after he was due to arrive. Texting back a quick ‘Ok’, she pocketed her phone and headed to Coach Harper’s office, walking in without knocking.

On her arrival, Coach Harper looked towards the door and grinned; stopping mid-conversation. And it was only then that Collins realised he wasn’t alone. Her eyes widened slightly as she took in the man sat on the couch in the corner of the large office.

His dark brown hair was gelled back elegantly and his piercing brown eyes were staring back at her, showing a hint of something that Collins couldn’t quite figure out. He was naturally tan and the white vest top he was wearing clung to his muscles perfectly. He wouldn’t look out of place on a runway, Collins thought as she pulled her eyes away to look back at Coach Harper.

“Collins, this is our new gym teacher, Luiz Rodriguez. He’s specialised in coaching track, like me, so you’ll be seeing a lot of him around in our next few training sessions.”

“Nice to meet you at last Collins, I’ve seen and heard a lot about you” Luiz nodded, his accent confirming Collins suspicions that he was at least part-Hispanic.

“I’ve shown Coach Rodriguez a few of your videos, and he’s already come up with a few ways to improve upon your technique” Coach Harper explained and Collins raised an eyebrow.

“Okay…” Collins frowned slightly, beginning to grow bored with the conversation. As much as she loved track, and she really did love it more than anything else, her attention span for any conversation, no matter the topic, was an average of a minute and that minute had come and gone already.

“I won’t keep you any longer Collins; I can see you want to go. We’ll talk tomorrow” Coach Harper smiled, dismissing her and Collins turned on her heel, waving goodbye. However, she slowed her pace as she waited for the door to close behind her; hearing Coach Rodriguez speaking.

“Do you really let her get away with not listening to you like that?”

“She has ADHD Luiz; when you’ve known a kid that long, you can pick up the signs”

“Oh so she’s---” Collins frowned as the door clicked shut before she could hear Luiz speak any more on the subject. She knew it was only a matter of time before he found out about her condition but the fact he knew riled her. Kicking the door open, Collins stormed out into the parking lot and sat down on the nearest bench, huffing angrily. There was nothing worse than being labelled.