I think you’ve got this covered.’
My team have already wandered off towards the
other oval, leaving me behind. I nod.
‘Sure thing. Thanks Todd.’
‘Catch you later,’ he says, running off to join
his rugby boys.
I don’t bother trying to catch up with the team.
Instead, I take my time, running over in my mind the plan for today’s session. I
don’t want to be too hard on them in this first meeting. But I am going to
mention the race in May, see who’s interested. Off to my right Todd’s whistle
blows and the rugby boys crowd into a scrum. They are all yelling at each other
– ‘Get in there, Willis’, ‘Watch it, watch it’, ‘Move. MOVE.’
From behind I hear some loud puffing and next
thing Paul Beckett pulls up beside me. He is wearing black shorts and a red House
T-shirt. His trainers are smeared with dirt and grass stains.
‘Hey, Miss. What are you doing here? Are you
taking us for running? Where’s Mr Witton?’
He is looking me up and down with those
wandering eyes. So his crush hasn’t abated just yet. I force myself not to
groan. Of course he’s in the running squad. That’s what Matt was smirking
about. I take a deep breath and plaster on a smile. I turn to face him.
‘Hello Paul,’ I say. ‘You’re late.’
He is still puffing but he manages a wide smile;
his eyes never move from my face. They are questioning me, as though he can’t
quite believe I am walking right next to him.
‘Umm. Yeah. Got held up. So are you our new
coach or something?’
I turn away, looking directly out in front. It’s
harder for me to assume my ‘boring teacher’ persona outside of class, so I’ll
have to take a different approach. I shake my head tersely and click my tongue
to signal disapproval.
‘Not ‘or something’’ I say. ‘I am your
new running coach. And I don’t care for tardiness, Paul. You’ll be on time next
session, or it’ll be detention.’
I can tell he is fumbling for words. I step up
my pace and walk away from him. I’ve got to see to it that this crush doesn’t
last the day.
***
Matt is elbowing me when I sidle up to join the
rest of the team.
‘If I’d known she’s taking us for running I
wouldn’t have wasted so much time having a smoke,’ I whisper to him.
‘I reckon.’
‘What’s happened to Witton?’
‘Stop that whispering, you two,’ she says to us,
crossing her arms. ‘Mr Witton has kindly given this squad over to me, and as I
have many years running experience, you can assume I am here to whip you all
into shape, so to speak.’
‘What running have you done, Miss? Like
marathons or what?’ asks Melanie.
When she turns to answer, I dig my elbow into
Matt’s ribs and lean into his ear.
‘She can whip me anytime, anywhere,’ I
say in my best Reggie impersonation.
Matt snorts. She turns back to us.
‘That’s it, you two. Show me what you’ve got,’
she says, pointing off towards the running lanes. ‘Start running. I’ll let you
know when you can stop.’
I shrug. ‘No worries, Miss.’
I take off, with Matt right beside me. We jog
over to the lanes and turn left to begin circling the oval. I’ve always been
faster than Matt, but I slow my pace so we can run together.
‘So what do you really think about this?’ he
asks.
‘I’m like a pig in shit.’
‘Really?’ Matt asks, looking back towards the
group. ‘You reckon she’s that great?’
I follow his gaze. She’s got them all doing
stretches. From where I’m running I get a clear view of her arse as she bends
to stretch the backs of her legs. I watch as she rubs her hands over her thighs
to show where the muscle should pull tight.
‘Yeah. Look at that. Miss Hot Bod,’ I say,
pulling out another Reggie line. ‘Twice a week we’re going to get a show like
this.’
We continue to jog round and round, circling the
group. I keep my eyes on her, watching as she stretches her arms behind her,
making her tits stick out. Whenever she bends some of her
My team have already wandered off towards the
other oval, leaving me behind. I nod.
‘Sure thing. Thanks Todd.’
‘Catch you later,’ he says, running off to join
his rugby boys.
I don’t bother trying to catch up with the team.
Instead, I take my time, running over in my mind the plan for today’s session. I
don’t want to be too hard on them in this first meeting. But I am going to
mention the race in May, see who’s interested. Off to my right Todd’s whistle
blows and the rugby boys crowd into a scrum. They are all yelling at each other
– ‘Get in there, Willis’, ‘Watch it, watch it’, ‘Move. MOVE.’
From behind I hear some loud puffing and next
thing Paul Beckett pulls up beside me. He is wearing black shorts and a red House
T-shirt. His trainers are smeared with dirt and grass stains.
‘Hey, Miss. What are you doing here? Are you
taking us for running? Where’s Mr Witton?’
He is looking me up and down with those
wandering eyes. So his crush hasn’t abated just yet. I force myself not to
groan. Of course he’s in the running squad. That’s what Matt was smirking
about. I take a deep breath and plaster on a smile. I turn to face him.
‘Hello Paul,’ I say. ‘You’re late.’
He is still puffing but he manages a wide smile;
his eyes never move from my face. They are questioning me, as though he can’t
quite believe I am walking right next to him.
‘Umm. Yeah. Got held up. So are you our new
coach or something?’
I turn away, looking directly out in front. It’s
harder for me to assume my ‘boring teacher’ persona outside of class, so I’ll
have to take a different approach. I shake my head tersely and click my tongue
to signal disapproval.
‘Not ‘or something’’ I say. ‘I am your
new running coach. And I don’t care for tardiness, Paul. You’ll be on time next
session, or it’ll be detention.’
I can tell he is fumbling for words. I step up
my pace and walk away from him. I’ve got to see to it that this crush doesn’t
last the day.
***
Matt is elbowing me when I sidle up to join the
rest of the team.
‘If I’d known she’s taking us for running I
wouldn’t have wasted so much time having a smoke,’ I whisper to him.
‘I reckon.’
‘What’s happened to Witton?’
‘Stop that whispering, you two,’ she says to us,
crossing her arms. ‘Mr Witton has kindly given this squad over to me, and as I
have many years running experience, you can assume I am here to whip you all
into shape, so to speak.’
‘What running have you done, Miss? Like
marathons or what?’ asks Melanie.
When she turns to answer, I dig my elbow into
Matt’s ribs and lean into his ear.
‘She can whip me anytime, anywhere,’ I
say in my best Reggie impersonation.
Matt snorts. She turns back to us.
‘That’s it, you two. Show me what you’ve got,’
she says, pointing off towards the running lanes. ‘Start running. I’ll let you
know when you can stop.’
I shrug. ‘No worries, Miss.’
I take off, with Matt right beside me. We jog
over to the lanes and turn left to begin circling the oval. I’ve always been
faster than Matt, but I slow my pace so we can run together.
‘So what do you really think about this?’ he
asks.
‘I’m like a pig in shit.’
‘Really?’ Matt asks, looking back towards the
group. ‘You reckon she’s that great?’
I follow his gaze. She’s got them all doing
stretches. From where I’m running I get a clear view of her arse as she bends
to stretch the backs of her legs. I watch as she rubs her hands over her thighs
to show where the muscle should pull tight.
‘Yeah. Look at that. Miss Hot Bod,’ I say,
pulling out another Reggie line. ‘Twice a week we’re going to get a show like
this.’
We continue to jog round and round, circling the
group. I keep my eyes on her, watching as she stretches her arms behind her,
making her tits stick out. Whenever she bends some of her
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