Song for the start of the chapter!!!

Darla H

"Nora, are you ready in there?" Dad asked as he tapped on my door the next Monday.

"Of course, I am," I called out as I slipped on a pair of khakis, then opened the door to see Dad also wearing a pair of khakis to match his OSU red polo.

He grinned as he looked at my outfit. "Why look at that! We're two peas in a pod."

I glanced at my outfit as I wondered if I really thought like him. "Is that a good thing?"

"You bet your bottom buck it is! We're so cool, a real father daughter team! Now, let's get out of here."

He was right about that. We were a team.

I followed him down the stairs to see Mom standing by the door with hair and makeup done for the day, ready to see us off.

"Why don't you look stunning? Come here, do a little turn for me," Dad said as he spun Mom around.

She laughed as she turned, allowing her diamond earrings to sparkle in the sunlight. "I have a breakfast date with a few of the wives on the athletic board."

"Please say something good about me."

"I always do. Why do you think I go to these things?"

With a simple kiss, he left and got into his SUV with me on his tail.

As he backed out of the driveway, he shook his head and said, "I feel lucky waking up beside her every day. She's like a diamond next to a block of coal. The coal is me if you didn't get it."

I smiled. "I got you."

He returned the smile as he drove down the road. "I always knew you were a smarty pants."

I chuckled as I shook my head, switching my attention out the windshield as the campus neared.

"So, what are my jobs today?" I asked.

Dad shrugged. "Have no clue, but I can promise you, it'll be fun." He finger gunned me with a wink.

I nodded. I should have expected that. Dad was always keeping me on my toes. Whatever I would be doing might not be fun, but it would be at least memorable.

___________________

I stood on the sidelines of the practice field next to the stadium locals called "the shoe" as Dad gave the team some preppy talk. They all listened intently as he told them about teamwork and giving it their all. As the talk ended, the team dispersed into different groups, ready for training. They had such determination in their eyes, making me wonder what they were thinking. Was football really their life? Were they doing this because they loved the sport?

"No no no Nora! There you are," Dad said as he walked up to me with a smile.

"Here I am."

"Can you do a coffee run for me?"

I nodded. At least that was something for me to do. Hopefully that would make me feel useful because so far, I hadn't done much. "Sure, what do you want?"

"Just whatever you're getting."

I shook my head. "I would, but rather get boba tea. That's my jam, not coffee."

"Can it be caffeinated?"

I nodded.

"Then I want that. Do you think they have it in the athletic center cafeteria?" he asked as his gaze turned towards the center's direction.

I shook my head with a chuckle. "I hardly doubt they would be offering boba for the athletes."

He nodded. "Good point. Well, get whatever you normally buy," he said as he pulled out his credit card from his worn-out leather wallet.

I smiled, happy with any excuse to buy boba. "No need for the card. I have an app," I said as I pulled out my iPhone.

"You and your apps. I find that there are apps for everything nowadays. Who knew it would turn into that."

"I know. Crazy times we live in."

________________

Within thirty minutes, I was back with two cups of boba tea in my hands, walking towards Dad as he blew his whistle.

"Hey Nojo!" Dad said as he threw me a tube of sunscreen which I failed to catch and landed on the ground beside me. "You should get some sunscreen on today. We all know how you burn and turn red like a tomato."

A few of the players stopped practicing to look at me. One chuckled which was enough to bring heat to my cheeks and my hands to feel sticky.

I handed him a boba tea when rubbed sunscreen on my nose.

"Good choice. You don't want to be my age and have skin cancer," he stated as he took a sipped of the boba tea. His excited face slowly turned to horror as he coughed, spitting up some of the tea onto the ground.

"There are tapioca balls in it," I said casually.

"What the split bananas is this? Are they trying to choke someone?" He looked at one player who got a cup of water from the sidelines. "Do you like boba tea, Rick?"

The play shrugged as he drank water. "It's not bad. I like the little bubbles in it."

"Little, these things are not little. I could only imagine them getting lodged down my windpipe, like a clog in a drain. You know, one time I got a wad of toilet paper stuck down in the shower. That was just as clogging as these 'little' bubbles."

I shook my head. "It's called boba tea for a reason."

Dad sipped the tea again. "It tastes fantastic though. Just not the bubbles."

"Well, drink the tea and I'll have your bubbles."

Suddenly, his attention turned to some players arguing and shoving each other. One of which was Everett.

Dad blew his whistle loudly, then shouted with a preppy tone. If you didn't know him well, you wouldn't think he was mad, but I knew that tone. "Whoa now, what the flippy flip flop is going on here?" he asked as he walked over to them to give them some kind of lesson on teamwork.

I watched as I continued to drink my boba.

Not knowing what to do next, I looked around to find an answer. Although since this was only my second day on the job, I had no idea what I could do. In my attempt to find something, I made eye contact with a thin lanky guy around my age dressed in a black OSU shirt.

He smiled lightly, then swung a towel over his shoulder and walked up to me.

For a second, I panicked, unsure why he was approaching. He looked official, making me worried I was doing something wrong. I wiped my sweaty hands on my pants as I took a step back.

"Hey, I'm Tad," he said as he held out his hand.

"Nora," I replied as I shook it, hoping he didn't notice my damp hands.

"So, what's your job here, Nora?"

This was my first time running into him, so he must have missed the other introductions. But that meant he didn't know the coach was my father. As much as I liked that, I knew it wouldn't last forever.

I shrugged as my attention switched to Dad as he gave a lecture to Everett with disappointment in his eyes.

"Intern. But I do pretty much anything the head coach wants. You?" I said as nodded towards Dad.

"Sounds fancy. I'm just the towel boy."

"Don't sell yourself short Tad. You're not just the towel boy. The team isn't the same without you. You're a pinnacle part of this team," Dad said as he walked past us.

Tad thumbed to my dad then smiled. "He's one of the only people here that remembers my name."

"He's a good guy," I said as I watched Dad talk to another group. My insides felt warm as thought about how I was lucky enough to have him as my father.

"Hey, towel boy, come here and bring water," Everett said with a chuckle as his posy laughed around him.

Tad sighed and grabbed a cup of water from the nearest table and mumbled, "I'll be back."

I nodded as Tad went to give water to Everett, who dumped it on his head then crushed the cup and tossed it on the ground, making Tad pick it up. He laughed then turned his back towards him.

Tad looked like he hated every minute of this encounter, which made me hate Everett. He gave the most problems and cared for only himself. Football was a team sport, but he was not a team player. I didn't understand how Everett managed to stay on the team. Everett was a dick. period.

Tad came back to me and wiped a sheen of sweat from his forehead.

"How long has Everett been giving you a hard time?"

Tad chuckled as he shook his head, as if there was something I didn't get. "Practically since I started. But he gives everyone a hard time. That's just Everett."

I glared at Everett even though he was paying no attention to us as he threw a ball in the air and caught it, as if too good to play with anyone else.

"Hey, towel boy, can you get me a Band Aid?" another player asked as he held up his bloodied finger.

"Sure thing, Shelly!" Tad said as he pulled out a band aide from his pocket and ran to help him.

Within a minute Tad was back to talking with me. But in the small conversation we had, he was called by at least two other players. Tad didn't seem to mind. Tad remembered every player's name even though no one seemed to remember his. I wondered if it bothered him as much as it bothered me.

"The pay isn't bad for getting the opportunity to look at men in spandex every day." He winked at me before adding, "Just don't tell my girlfriend that."

I nodded, although I was shocked at his honesty even after I just met him. "Your secret is safe with me."

"Great. Thanks."

"Hey, Tad, could you run these notes to the dean? I want him to look them over," Dad said as he walked up to us with a stack of papers in his hands.

"Oh, yeah, sure, I can do that." Tad took the papers and gave one more smile towards me before walking off the field.

"So, I see you've met Tad," Dad said as he watched the players practice flipping large tires around.

I nodded. "He's nice."

"I love that kid. He's the best."

"You think everyone is the best," I pointed out.

He chuckled as he put his sunglasses on. "You better believe it! Because everyone can be the best. They just need to be reminded of this."

I chuckled as I shook my head. "Who's going to remind you?"

"Well, you can I guess."

I nodded as Tyler came up to us. "Hey Tyler," I said with a wave.

He smiled. "Hey, you remembered my name this time. I was worried I would have to introduce myself again."

My cheeks burned as my hands grew sweaty again. "I won't forget again. Promise." I promised myself it would never happen again. Maybe I wouldn't know every player's name, but I would at least know the coaches.

He nodded with a smile. "So, what do you think of running some plays today, Paul?"

Paul pulled out his phone to check the time. "Nah, these kids are tired. We don't want to keep them all day long. I say have them work on passes and we can be done for the day."

"Ok. I'll tell the rest of the assistant coaches."

"Great, you are a rock star."