It was June in Fort Lauderdale. If you've ever been there, then you know that June in Florida means the weather is hot, humid, and sweaty. It was Friday, the day after my eighteenth birthday. I didn't know it then, but that Friday was the turning point of my life. Everything is different now.
My name is Aaron Paul. I had just finished my junior year of high school, and I thought life was looking pretty good. I was one of the star players on my high school's varsity baseball team. I was getting straight A's in all of my classes. I even knew that Rachel Ross, the hottest girl in my grade, had a huge crush on me.
My original plan for that Friday night was to go grab a bite to eat at Coach Michael's house and then head over to my buddy Nick's party, where everyone popular in school was going that night -- including Rachel. My mom had just left to go on a two-week vacation in Europe, and I was planning on having a fun two weeks without any parents around to tell me what to do or when to be home.
Coach Michael is basically the father I never had. I lived with my Mom ever since I was ten years old, right after my father left. Not shortly after, we both met Coach. My mom had me going to play on a little league team two days a week after school, and Coach Michael was the team's coach. He was the best coach I could have ever asked for. After a while, he started coming around the house more often and helped my mom out with chores and played a role in raising me. When I started high school, he was the coach for the baseball team. I always asked my mom why she never tried to date him, but she said that they were always just friends.
Michael was forty-seven years old, but he looked really great for his age. He had a nice, short, trim beard, with defined facial features, big blue eyes, and salt-and-pepper hair. Some of the senior girls at school sometimes called him a "silver fox." I don't blame them -- he was a good-looking guy. It always confounded me that he didn't have a wife, or even a girlfriend. I always assumed he just liked to live alone or wasn't into any serious relationships, and went on tons of dates with hot girls on the side. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up.
Coach asked me to come over to his place for dinner that Friday night so that we could celebrate my birthday. I'd been over to his place for dinner a countless number of times, so I didn't even think twice about it. He lived alone in an awesome house. He was also a great cook, so I was excited to see what would be for dinner. Since I just turned eighteen, I figured he might have bought me a cool present, too. He was usually pretty generous.
I got to his house around six o'clock in the evening. It was hot and humid outside, and I was a little sweaty having walked all the way there in the heat from my Mom's house about a mile away.
I knocked on the door. After a few moments, the door opened and I saw Coach Michael in the doorway. He was wearing gym shorts and a muscle tank top. I could see his chest hair poking up from underneath his shirt, and I could see the sweat glistening on his shoulders. I could tell he had just been working out.
"Hey, there's the birthday boy!" He said as he reached in for a hug. I hugged him back, reluctantly, because I could smell the fresh sweat evaporating off his body into the air I was breathing. I didn't have any hard feelings, though; he was like a father figure to me, after all. To be honest, his scent was kind of comforting in a paternal way.
"Hey, Coach." I said as he led me inside his house and closed the door and locked it behind us. "Good to see you."
We walked into the kitchen together and I took a seat on one of his barstools. I could smell something delicious coming from the oven.
"What did you make tonight, 'Chef' Michael?" I teased.
He smiled. "Pot roast. You'll love it." He walked over to the fridge and grabbed two beers. "Want a beer?"
I was shocked. In all of the time that I knew Coach, he never once offered me an alcoholic drink.
"Uh, sure," I said, "are you sure?"
"Yeah! You're eighteen now, in my eyes you should be old enough to enjoy a drink from time to time." He opened up the beer bottle and handed it to me.
"But before you take a sip," he added quickly, "I need to ask you an important question."
He looked pretty serious. "What's up, Coach?" I asked as I put down the bottle on the table.
"Do you trust me?" He said as he looked directly into my eyes.
I was caught pretty off-guard by this question. It just seemed so out of the blue. I started to chuckle, but he didn't join in on the laughter.
"I'm serious, Aaron." He said, not removing his eyes from mine. "Do you trust me, with all your might?"
"Of course I do, Coach." I said. "You're like a father to me."
He smiled. "Good. That's good. There's something I want to show you. Something that I think you'll enjoy a lot, but you have to be open-minded." He paused for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Do you trust me and my judgment enough to let me show you?" he continued.
I laughed. "Of course."
He smiled, but then his smile quickly faded and he looked down at the floor.
"Well..." he tried to find the right words. "I have one more question. Will you forgive me if I show it to you and you don't like it?" He seemed really serious.
"Of course, Coach," I said, not knowing what I was about to get myself into. "You'll always be good ol' Coach Michael to me."
He smiled a very warm and proud smile. "Okay," he said, "drink up your beer."
I grabbed my beer bottle and clinked it against Coach's bottle. Then I took a very large gulp.
"So what is it that you wanted to show me, Coach?" I asked.
His smile was fading. "I'm sorry for what's about to happen," he said grimly, "but I wasn't sure how else to open up your world without being a little mischievous at first."
I was very confused. I wanted to ask him what he meant, but all of a sudden, my head started to feel very light.
"Coach, I don't...feel so...good." I started to slip off of the barstool. Coach was behind me. What was going on?