"KISTIN!"
"OFFICE!"
"NOW!"
Coach Jones' voice echoes through the locker room over the hiss of the showers and the staccato chatter.
"Ah fuck, what now?" I grind out to myself as I gather up soggy towels and slap empty lockers shut, threading my way between girls in all sorts of undress, trying not to stare, but making mental notes of hickies, tats, and telling glances.
I am coach's gofer. I am allowed to skip actual participation in PE for this honor, which was bestowed on me at her request. This is because she wanted me. Not in a sexual way that I can tell, though I know her taste is for women, but because she wanted me on her teams. I was already six feet tall by my freshman year, thin and strong, with fast, agile hands, so she hounded me. I told her I have no interest in her sort of sports. I find all of them boring, preferring to expend my energy hiking and rock climbing. I tried to explain my dislike of team competition and my need for the personal solitude of these pastimes, but she refused to accept it. So I became her dash-about, the grunt to her whim, as she tried to convert me into a player. It didn't work, but now, in my senior year, she has just become used to having me as her puppet and that, for reasons of my own, is fine with me.
"There you are. Here, take this to Nurse Charles," she grumbles, handing me a plain envelope.
"Anything else, coach?"
"Yeah, get me a diet coke. And don't take all day."
As I cross the courtyard, I hold the envelope up to the sun, but all I can make out is blurry handwriting. I find Mrs. Charles sitting at her desk in the small health office where she passes out band-aides and counsels students about the evils of STDs. She is a small, pale woman with mousy brown hair screwed up in a bun that always looks like it's about to unravel. She is married to a big deal doctor and doesn't need to work, but hasn't anything else to do.
"Good morning, Kistin, what brings you here? Headaches again?"
"No, ma'am. Coach Jones told me to give you this," passing over the letter. I turn to go, but she tells me to wait in case there's a reply to carry back.
She puts on her glasses and opens the folded sheet from the envelope. As she reads, she lets out a quiet "Oh!" then looks up, her cheeks flushing pink.
"Wait here, dear, I'll be right back," she murmurs with a nervous smile and crosses to the small exam room, closing the door behind her. After a couple of minutes, she comes back in and hands me a manila interoffice envelope, taped shut.