Rebound: A 2nd Chance

As soon as Jason heard the voice his mind starting racing at a hundred miles per hour \'It can\'t be her right? Please tell me that my head is playing tricks on me.\'

Unfortunately for Jason the voice belonged to exactly who he thought it did. Ms. Yuller stepped into the gym with a bright smile on her face.

Her 5\'8 frame was dressed in an all black dress that went down to a little over her knees. Her lips were colored a dark shade of red that complimented her paler skin tone and her long black hair was tied into a bun.

Ms. Yuller waved at Kyle and Jason before stopping in front of the team "Hello gentlemen. Some of you have had me in the past.

And some of you I have yet to have the pleasure of instructing. But I feel like I should introduce myself regardless.

My name is Ms. Yuller and I teach seventh and eight grade English. I am also in charge of the drama club.

But since we don\'t have any productions currently in the works I thought I would lend a helping hand."

Trell leaned in and whispered to Jason "Yo, ain\'t she the crazy ass teacher in charge of those weirdo theater kids?"

Jason was about to nod his head when Ms. Yuller suddenly turned in their direction. She began to wave her finger.

"No no no monsieur Trell. I am not crazy. Eccentric is the more apt description. And yes a majority of my theater children are weirdos.

But in order to pursue an art such as theater one must have the same sliver of insanity that is found in geniuses and revolutionaries!" She threw her hands up into the air as she finished speaking.

Everyone stared at her in silence as their mouths dropped into big O shapes. Including Principal Morris.

But he was the first one to recover. He coughed and cleared his throat "Uh-yes. I was in the teachers lounge looking for someone to take up the position of coach.

Unfortunately all of the faculty seemed to have their hands full as all I received were rejections.

Luckily enough Ms. Yuller was walking in the hallways and overheard me asking one of the teachers.

She promptly jumped into the room and asked for the details." Ms. Yuller began to nod her head after Principal Morris was done talking.

"Luck is just the right word. I was so busy grading all of the papers that I had just gotten that I have practically been living under a rock the past few days.

Thankfully I overheard Principal Morris during his search for a new director. Otherwise I would have never known that you guys were in need of an adult such as myself."

Principal Morris wiped his face one last time with his handkerchief before leaving the gym. There was an awkward silence as the guys on the team just looked at Ms. Yuller.

Jason was the first to say something "Not that we don\'t appreciate you applying for the coaching position Ms. Yuller.

But why exactly did you? I\'ve heard you say it yourself that you have absolutely no interest in sports."

Ms. Yuller took a seat on the bleachers before smiling as she answered Jason\'s question "You\'re right Jason. I have no interest in sports. None what so ever.

However I do have a deep interest in my students. An interest that makes me want to make sure that they achieve everything that they are capable of.

And that interest is what lead me to applying for the position. In fact I feel as though I should be the one asking questions here Mr. Yang.

I do believe I told you and Kyle to let me know if there was anything I could help you with. Honestly speaking I was slightly hurt to find out that none of you brought this up to me."

Jason saw Ms. Yuller in a new light now. He had met many people who would say similar things and provide the same lip service but when it came down to actually doing something those people were usually hard to find.

Jason apologized "Sorry Ms. Yuller. Too be honest I wasn\'t all too sure if you were just saying that to be nice or if you actually meant it.

Adults tend to say a lot of things that they don\'t mean. And besides, I kinda thought that the principal would find an actual coach.

Like someone that went to school for it or someone that had some previous experience. If I had known that he would end up asking the teachers then your name would have been my first suggestion."

Ms. Yuller smiled after hearing Jason say that "Thank you Jason. I whole hardheartedly accept your apology.

And now I hope you know that I am a hundred percent serious when I tell you that I am always available if you need help.

Whether it be about your next paper on the second book of one of the most impactful series of novels of all time or simply life."

She then scanned over the team as she looked everyone in the eyes "And that goes to all of you fine young men.

Ms. Yuller\'s doors are always open to those who are trying to be the best version of themselves."

Ms. Yuller instructed the boys to proceed with practice as they normally would. Once they got the equipment out of the storage and started practicing she left the gym.

Trell looked over at Udonis "Yo did Ms. Whatsherface really just dip as soon as Principal Morris was outta here?"

Udonis shook his head "You can\'t really blame her bruh. She probably has a shit ton of work to do. We should be grateful that she applied to be our coach even if it\'s just on paper.

Besides we already know what we need to do during practice. It ain\'t like we really need her here anyways. As long as she shows up to the games that\'s all we need."

After about five minutes Ms. Yuller came back to the gym. She had brought a stack of papers with her and her bag had even more inside.

She took a seat in the plastic folding chair that Coach Swendel normally used and began going over the papers.

Jason smiled as he got some warm up shots up \'I don\'t know how well she\'ll do as a coach but at least her heart seems to be in the right place.

I\'m kind of surprised. This second trip on life has really given me a new perspective on people that I didn\'t really know much about before.\'

- - -

Later that day. The sun was just beginning to set as Ms. yuller opened the door to her apartment.

There wasn\'t much furniture or other decorative items. The biggest thing in the living room was a book shelf that occupied a whole wall.

It was filled with books of every genre from all sorts of different authors. Ms. Yuller went straight to her bedroom.

She placed her bag against the side of her desk before falling backwards into her bed. She moaned in comfort.

For the past few hours she had been reading and grading papers while sitting down in a plastic folding chair.

Her back was happy at the opportunity for a well earned rest. Just as she was beginning to doze off she heard her phone ringing from inside her bag.

She begrudgingly got up and opened up her bag. After pulling her cellphone out and seeing that it was a number she didn\'t know she tossed it back into her bag and fell back into her bed. 

After a couple more seconds of her phone ringing she sighed and got back up. She took her phone out again but this time she answered the call.

"Hello? May I ask who I have the privilege of speaking with tonight?" On the other end of the phone was a very familiar voice.

"Oh hey Tess. I was just calling in to see if you\'ve stopped by to see the boys." Ms. Yuller sighed before responding.

"I would prefer it if you referred to me as Ms. Yuller Mr. Swendel. And to answer your question yes.

I check in on them today. And just so you know I didn\'t do it for you. Jason and Kyle are some of my brightest students.

I would have checked in to make sure that they were doing fine even without you calling and asking me to."

Coach Swendel chuckled "Thanks Ms. Yuller. Although I would like it if we could go back to calling each other James and Tess."

Ms. Yuller\'s eyes moistened up a bit "Yeah well that\'s too bad. I don\'t let assholes call me by my first name.

By the way you are incredibly Lucky that I bumped into Principal Morris at a good time and overheard about the situation.

Why didn\'t you tell me the team was so desperate for a coach? The boys almost got disqualified from playing in tomorrow\'s game."

Coach Swendel was surprised "Disqualified?!" He had only asked Ms. Yuller to stop by and check on the boys to see how well they were doing with their new coach.

He didn\'t know that they had been struggling to find someone to replace him after he had gotten suspended.

Ms. Yuller added "Yeah. They haven\'t been able to find anyone to take over your role ever since you got suspended. And why do you have a new number?"

Coach Swendel replied "Don\'t worry about my number. Give me some info. I\'ve been out of the loop ever since I got suspended."

Ms. Yuller told him about how hard Principal Morris had worked to try and find a good coach to replace him.

She also told him why no one wanted to take over his role and how she ended up becoming the new coach.

Coach Swendel sighed "Thanks again Te- I mean Ms. Yuller. I owe you one. You went further than you had to. I appreciate you taking care of my boys like that."

Ms. Yuller sighed "You don\'t need to thank me. I was just doing what any teacher would do by making sure that my students have the right tools to reach their full potential."

- - -

After hanging up on the call Coach Swendel walked to the kitchen portion of his studio apartment. On the table next to his bed you could see overdue phone and rent bills.

"Now that I know that the boys are in good hands it\'s time for some grub. I\'m definitely going to need the energy. Got a early day of job hunting ahead of me."

He opened up his cabinets but they were all empty "Damn, guess I ate the last pack of ramen yesterday."

He then went to his fridge. As soon as he opened it he could see that there was hardly anything in there.

Just a few bottles of water that he had refilled from the sink, a pack of bologna with two pieces in it, and some cheese and pepper packets that were probably from last week\'s pizza. 

He paused to think for a couple seconds "Maybe I can fry these all together? Or maybe I can make a soup."