| Easy Love by Tiffany Chapter Nine:The Winds of Change... The next day� Andie strolled up to the soccer field and stopped in surprise when she found Pacey already there talking to the teammates. She cocked her head to one side and watched as he threw out instructions and kept them in line all at the same time. Looking over his shoulder he saw her approach and smile. �I got here early and they wanted to start practice. Is that all right?� He asked pulling the brim of his baseball cap further down onto his head. She nodded quickly. �Yeah� it�s fine.� Letting her bag come to rest onto the bench he followed her as they watched them play. �They�re doing great.� �Yeah� see look at this. I was checking out the players and I thought that if we switched them up a bit we might have some advantages that we didn�t notice before.� �Like what?� �Well if we took Jake off of Goalie and put him on the front line and took Serena and placed her as Goalie we could have a stronger defense. Because if you notice, Jake is great when it comes to driving the ball in hard he�s not afraid as long as he�s on the offensive side. He likes playing with the team more� he seems more comfortable. And David� we can put him toward the center so we have a stronger hold within the team. Everyone seems to like him and they listen to him more when he�s on the field.� He had pulled out a sheet of paper and a marker and started to draw sketchy diagrams for her before her eyes. �And then if we take her out during the third quarter and switch her and Jake up in the final play� I think we might beat this team on Friday.� She stared up at him in amazement. �I� agree.� She whispered somewhat in awe of his ability. �I completely agree with everything that you said� I trust your judgment.� She remarked with a smile. �Yeah?� He asked scratching the back of his head through the baseball cap. �I wasn�t sure if you would want to try it. I mean the way Jack has things set up and all it�s great but I think that you could use something different with this new team that we�re up against.� She nodded. �Okay� let�s try it.� She said with a brand new enthusiasm. He smiled as he turned and called them in about to take a journey he never expected. Tuesday Night� Joey sighed as she sat across from Pacey at the dinner table. All the guests had gone to bed except for Ms. Withers who was still in the den watching the late show. She looked up briefly as she heard another round of applause come from the television before going back to the Humanities book in front of her. She now wished she had taken Andie up on her offer to be study buddies. She had so many dates to remember that they were starting to cloud her brain. And for the life of her she couldn�t remember if Renoir specialized in nudes or was the father of Cubism. It was just starting to get to her and she needed some kind of outlet. She looked over at her boyfriend who seemed thoroughly engrossed in his notebook and raised her eyebrows. �Pacey? Do you need some help?� She asked. He scratched the back of his head as he balanced one pencil behind his ear another between his teeth. �No.� He managed. �Are you sure? We�ve been going at this for over an hour. I think that maybe we should switch and you should see if you can make heads or tails of my midterm notes while I try to decipher yours.� She remarked trying to help. He only shook his head. �No help.� He muttered. She rolled her eyes. �Would you stop trying to be Mr. Macho and let me help you�� She reached out and grabbed the book before he could stop her and stared at what looked like a mess on his paper. �What are you doing?� She asked. He sighed as he raised his eyes to the ceiling. �It�s the soccer play book.� He replied. She looked up and stared at him. �Pacey are you crazy? We have mid-terms in three days and instead of studying you�re fiddling with that soccer stuff?� She asked. �I�m not fiddling. I�m organizing. This upcoming game is really important.� �No Pacey your academic career is important!� She sighed. �I know that. I�m not disagreeing with you but this right here� these kids are counting on me. You don�t understand. They look at me and they� they believe in me. They have this unyielding faith in me� do you know what that�s like? Because I�ve never had that before. This is new to me and it�s important to me.� �But you can�t put this before your mid-terms. I mean I�m glad that you have this little hobby and everything but�� She began when he cut in. �Why do you have to say it like that? My little hobby? This is more then a little hobby. This is something that I care about and that I�m passionate about! Why don�t you see that?� �Why are you attacking me? I�m glad that you�ve found something that you�re passionate about. Something that really matters to you, but that shouldn�t hinder your academic status! I�m not saying that you can�t do this soccer thing but�� �Soccer thing? I�m coaching! I am a coach for these kids! It�s not a soccer thing. That�s as if I refer to your art as just some little hobby or thing that you do to pass the time. Your art is a craft� something that you�re proud of, and this right here. This soccer thing it�s my craft� it�s important to me. I just want your support.� �And you have it! I am more then willing to support you Pacey but I�m also here to be honest with you. You are being reckless and irresponsible right now!� �You call that support?� �I call it honesty! Why can�t you see that? I�m trying to help you!� She argued back not understanding how they got to this point. �Well how about you stop trying to help me and just let me do this on my own!� He shot back grabbing his jacket and his notebook and leaving. She stood there for moments knowing that she should call after him but couldn�t quite understand why. She didn�t think that she was wrong. He was being irresponsible. He was neglecting his studying for a soccer game. Didn�t he understand how ridiculous that was? He could hurt himself critically in the long run and he wasn�t even considering that. She sighed as she slumped back into her chair and let her head fall into her hands as she groaned. What was happening between them? She turned and saw that Ms. Withers hadn�t looked up from her television and all she could do was roll her eyes and pack up her books for the night. She knew she wouldn�t get any studying down now. Two days later� Pacey stood on the field going over their last practice. It was growing darker outside as he sat on the bench making sure that everything was set for their game tomorrow. �What are you still doing out here?� He turned and watched Andie make her way across the field. She grabbed a seat beside him. �Just going over some last minute plays.� She nodded. �You know coaches need their rest too Pacey. The last thing that we need is for you to fall asleep right in the middle of one of your aspiring pep talks. He laughed slightly. �Trust me. There is no way that I could fall asleep. I am so wired right now.� He remarked. She furrowed her brow sensing something in his tone. �Are you nervous?� She asked. He sighed. �Nervous? Me nervous? Why would I be nervous? Just that there are about sixteen kids all under the age of ten having the utmost faith in me? They�re trusting me to lead them to a victory tomorrow� what could I have to be nervous about?� He asked shakily. She gave him a crooked smile. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out a rectangular black velvet box and placed it on the bench between them. �Here.� She remarked. �What is it?� �I was going to wait and give it to you tomorrow but I think that you should open it now. Go ahead!� She coaxed when she saw his hesitation. Reaching out he opened the box and smiled at the contents. Pulling out the silver chain he stared at the whistle that dangled at the end. He laughed softly. �Oh Andie�� �Read the inscription.� She said. Turning it on its underside he read the words. �Coach Witter.� He smiled as he looked up at her. �You see Pacey these kids already trust you and they already see you as their coach� regardless of whether or not we win tomorrow. They have faith in you because you care and you let them have fun not because they think they�re going to win. Now I�m sure they would like to win but even if we don�t win tomorrow the point is that you�re there rooting for them and just standing there on the sidelines no matter what the outcome is. I don�t think half of them will care whether or not they walk away tomorrow winning this game because you make them all feel like winners just because they try.� She remarked staring at him intensely. �I thought you said you couldn�t do inspiring pep talks.� She shrugged. �It must be something in the weather. Not to mention I have my speech mid-term tomorrow morning� so you were good practice.� She quipped with a smile. He laughed softly somewhat nervously at the mention of mid-terms. He hadn�t done a lot of studying since he�d been so engrossed in the game. He shifted in his seat and sighed. �Yeah� well I better get home and get a good night�s sleep. We have a long day tomorrow.� He remarked beginning to pack up. �Yeah you�re right.� Shoving her hands in her pockets she bristled as a cold wind blew over them. �I can�t tell you how excited Jack is about tomorrow. He�s been taking so much flu medicine I think he�s overdosed. He refuses to miss this game.� She remarked as they began the walk towards her house. Looking over at her briefly he laughed softly. �Yeah? This is important to him?� She looked at him like he had grown a second hand. �This team is like Jack�s own personal project. He�s invested a lot in these kids. They mean a lot to him. And if they win this game then they get one step closer to the championship game. And with Thanksgiving coming up this gives Jack enough time to get well and be back on the field with them for the next practice!� She smiled. He didn�t respond at first. He wanted to be happy for Jack. This was Jack�s team. He did just step in at the last moment and help out. These kids probably wouldn�t even miss him. Hell� if anything they were just passing the time and waiting for their real coach to come back and take over. Bowing his head he tried to mask his doubts and fears. �Yeah� well, let�s hope we win tomorrow then!� �It won�t matter if they win or not though. Dawson and Jen are already making these huge banners and little flags with our team�s colors on it. It�s crazy! I can�t believe it. And if that wasn�t bad enough my dad and Gale are throwing this after-game party for them� You know Mitch actually has two cakes on hold one saying Congrats! The other saying something like Who cares� in the event that they lose. You know he�s covering the bases.� She looked up and smiled at his laughter. �So Joey is coming tomorrow right?� She asked innocently. He shrugged. �Yeah� she�ll be there. Unless she�s working at the B&B tomorrow� which is likely to happen. You know how busy they get around this time.� He threw out with a deep sigh letting her know that he didn�t want to get into it. She took the silent warning and dropped it. They came to a cross stop and she looked up at him. �Guess this is where we go our separate ways.� Looking down the street that she would be going down and then his own he nodded. �Yeah� seems that way. I�ll see you tomorrow.� �Yes you will. Bright and early ready for a long day of mid-term anxiety.� �And then onto the field to do battle.� He replied somewhat nervously. She stood there for a moment looking at him before closing the gap between them. Leaning in he thought briefly that she was going to kiss him but instead she reached into his pocket and pulled out his whistle. Draping the chain around his neck she smoothed it out and looked up into his eyes. �There is no one that I would rather have lead me into battle then you. I have all the faith in the world in you. Enough for both of us.� She remarked softly with a slight nod. And then she backed away, waved and was gone into the night. |
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