Author's Notes: Everyone in this story is 18 years or older. This is a longer format, slow-burn story. Read it however you see fit, but I'd encourage you to start from Chapter 1 and work your way through. My opinion is that bigger is better, I make no apologies for that, but I understand that's not everyone's cup of tea. I hope you enjoy it all the same.
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Monday
Returning to school on Monday Noah hoped for a more normal week. Unfortunately, his hopes were almost immediately torpedoed when he came across the various water polo girls. During the course of the day, he'd run into most of them, and they'd all acted strangely towards him.
Where they would normally be friendly and approachable, they were shy and whispered things to their friends as he walked past. Noah became increasingly stressed as the day wore on.
However, after a visit to the bathroom at the end of the day, cold water liberally applied to his face, Noah convinced himself it was all in his head and that he was projecting his own anxiety onto them. However, despite his thoughts being clear, there was still an uneasy feeling sitting in his gut as he drove home.
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Tuesday
Noah had spent the last 12 hours in a daze, recent events occupying the free space in his mind. Despite that, his thoughts kept circling back to Miss Reed.
Sitting in her class now, waiting for her arrival, Noah was on edge.
When she finally entered the classroom, Noah felt the familiar pull of her presence. She wore a navy wrap dress that hugged her curves in an undeniably alluring way. The fabric flowed gently around her hips as she moved, and the subtle bow detailing on her navy platforms added a playful, feminine touch. It was impossible not to notice how the dress accentuated her hourglass figure. Today her long jet-black hair was tied in a tight single braid that tumbled down her back. She wore the usual amount of minimal makeup, probably on account of her natural beauty. She'd chosen long silver thread earrings that looked like waterfalls.
She began the lesson with her usual poise, her voice steady and melodic as she outlined the day's work. Noah watched as she turned to write on the board, the braid swinging against her back. He could feel his heart race despite himself. She was perfect, balancing professionalism with a quiet sultriness that made it impossible for him to focus entirely on the lesson.
But what struck him the most was her composure. Not a single glance lingered his way, not a hint of recognition beyond the polite acknowledgment she gave to every student. It was a maddening way to endure the class. The stark contrast to the intimate moments they'd shared a few days past made him question if she felt even a fraction of what he did.
Practice arrived all too slowly, given how much he was looking forward to it. He made sure to arrive early partly to make sure his gear stayed put and partly because he wanted to have a moment alone with Miss Reed. Unfortunately, she wasn't there when he arrived, so he got changed in the quiet and waited on the side of the pool for everyone to arrive. Miss Reed turned up amongst the dribs and drabs of the rest of the team. She had the usual track pants on but traded the now-busted tracksuit jacket for a school-branded hoodie. Which like all her other clothes struggled with her unique shape. Given how hot and humid the pool complex was, Noah wondered how long she'd be able to bear the extra heat of the hoodie, but quickly set all other thoughts aside when the attractive coach immediately put the team through intense drills.
Brooke on the other hand was completely distracted. The normally unflappable beauty was barely focussed on the drills, missing passes and forgetting basic technique.
"Miss North, you're away with the faeries today, everything OK?" Miss Reed asked.
"Yes coach, sorry coach," Brooke replied, clearly struggling with some basic ball skills.
Andy swam up to her and whispered: "Yeah Brooke, you good?" his voice dripping in sarcasm.
With a strike so quick, that no one else noticed, Brooke lashed out with the heel of her foot, connecting with Andy's upper thigh, efficiently and effectively giving Andy a dead leg.
"UUUUGH, FUCK" Andy shouted doing a lame duck version of treading water as he made his way to the side of the pool.
"You OK Mr Nichols?" the coach enquired.
"Yup, cramp," Andy said through gritted teeth, exiting the water with difficulty.
The team were distracted by the commotion at this point as Miss Reed made her way towards Andy.
"Hey, keep focused, keep drilling!" Miss Reed declared in an authoritative voice.
The team snapped out of it and kept practising while Miss Reed attended to Andy.
While Andy wasn't what you'd consider traditionally handsome, he wasn't bad-looking. He was one of the stockier players and what he lacked in speed, he made up for in strength. He carried a bit of extra weight and had zero tact when it came to women, but he was ultimately a good guy and a good friend. He was, however, a borderline deviant.
"Where's the cramp, Mr Nichols?" Miss Reed asked.
Andy sat, both legs stretched out in front of him, leaning back on his hand wincing in pain as Miss Reed approached, kneeling down next to him.
"Left quadricep," Andy said, pointing in the general direction.
"May I?" Coach asked, fingers hovering above the offending muscle.
Andy nodded and Miss Reed proceeded to gently massage his thigh.
Andy made a big song and dance about the pain, drawing attention to himself, but Noah had a suspicion that there was no cramp at all and he was pulling a classic Andy prank. This was confirmed when while Miss Reed was focused on his leg, Andy shot Noah a shit-eating grin. Meanwhile, Brooke had swum up to Andy and declared: "It's not a cramp, I kicked him for being a smart ass."
"If anything, it looks like you did him a favour. Look at that smug bastard getting rubbed down by Miss Reed." Noah said, shaking his head.
"You jealous?" Brooke asked.
Choking on the water he'd swallowed out of shock, Noah said: "Of what?"
"Of Andy being massaged by Miss Reed. I see the way you look at her." Brooke said coldly.
"Ugh no, she's our coach, she's just doing her job. Hell, Franks used to massage our cramps." Noah said, shivering at the memory of coach Frank's ham hocks abusing his muscles.
"I guess, so you don't like her?" Brooke asked tentatively.
"Who, Coach Reed? Of course I do, she's awesome!" Noah replied.
"You know what I mean Noah," Brooke said, annoyed.
"She's our coach and teacher, that's all there is to it," Noah said, hoping that would be the end of it.
"I see, then what about me? Brooke enquired.
"What about you?" asked Noah.
"Do you like me?" Brooke asked sweetly.
"Of course, I like all the girls on the team," Noah replied, wishing this line of questioning would end.
"Stop playing dumb with me Noah!" Brooke said exasperated.
"I don't know what to say here Brooke, you've kinda put me on the spot," Noah said
"Too much chit-chat. LAPS. Five of each." Coach declared.
With a considerable amount of moaning from the team, everybody lined up and begrudgingly started doing laps, 5 of each style. Laps were, without question, the most boring, exhausting and painful part of practice, but they were necessary for general fitness and an essential part of training. Noah worked through his laps dutifully, without complaint.
About halfway through Andy returned to the pool and finished off the set of laps with the team, obviously having recovered from his 'cramp'. Training concluded following the laps and Coach Reed brought the team in for a team discussion about the upcoming game versus the Old Bailey Otters, a competitive, but mid-level team.
Following the team chat, the coach dismissed the players allowing them to shower and get changed before heading home. Noah followed the boys, but not 3 steps towards the changing room, Coach piped up: "Not you Mr. Bennet. We have further team development to discuss."
Stopping dead and dodging some sideways glances from the team, he waited until everyone was in their respective changing rooms before heading to sit on a bench next to Miss Reed.
True to her word, the coach talked about team development, focussing on who they thought should play and who should be reserved. The conversation went on for quite some time and as they talked, they packed up, said their goodbyes to the rest of the team and checked changing rooms for errant students/gear.
They returned to the bench confident they were alone in the stuffy complex. Not exactly knowing what to do next, Noah, just sat staring at the water.
"You must be tired from all that training." Miss Reed said, breaking the tension.
"Yeah, you sure know how to put us through our paces," Noah replied.
"Oh and you haven't even had a chance to shower, I kept you busy chatting and tidying up. I'm sorry, please go do what you need to." Miss Reed said apologetically.
"It's OK, I can shower at home," Noah said.
"No, I think you'd want to shower here." Miss Reed said quite definitively.
"Huh. Oh. Yeah, yeah I really should. Be right back." Noah said taking the hint and his leave by making his way to the boys changing rooms.