Daily Writing 2021: January 31st - Gridiron Physics part 5
Read it on AO3. Parts 1 & 2. Part 3. Part 4.
Submit a prompt for me to write! (I mostly do sapphic ships, especially Catradora, Supercorp, Harlivy, Pertrapta, and Dansen)
It was mid-afternoon, and school had just let out for the day. There was an hour between the end of the school day and the start of practice. Kara was spending that time in her office, going over paperwork for her players. The game was massively important to Kara, and she instilled that in her players, which is why had made the state tournament two years in a row for the first time in school history, with all signs pointing to a third straight appearance. It wasn’t just the game that was important to her, though. She prided herself on her team’s grade point average, not because they were smarter than students of the past, nor was it that her players cared about it more than players of the past, it was because Kara cared so damn much about it, and put the time in. Setting up tutoring sessions, hosting group study sessions. Their education was part of the game, the part she cared most about them winning.
Kara was scanning through one of her players’, Kenny Rogers, report, smiling at his string of As in Physics, when she heard a knocking at her door. The coach quickly popped her head up, shaken from the focus of what she was doing. Her first thought was that it could be one of her players, or, with any hope, it could be Lena, although she knew Lena was supposed to be on her way to yoga class. Curious, Kara beckoned her guest to enter.
It wasn’t a player that opened her door, nor was it Lena. Instead, it was a young redheaded woman, taller than average and a build that could be best described as ‘lanky’ with a tied-up ponytail that had lost a couple of strands of hair that now dangled around the edges of her face, framing it. Despite her backpack looking absolutely stuffed, she was still carrying a couple of books in her arms. Kara vaguely recognized her as one of Lena’s students. She was pretty sure she’s the star one that Lena had mentioned a few times.
“Hi,” Kara exclaimed, rising from her seat and extending a hand. “Lisa, was it?”
The young redhead closed the door behind her, shifted the books in her arms to one side, and shook Kara’s hand. “Lisa Bower,” she responded, with an uneasy expression on her face. “Um, Coach, do you have a few minutes?”
“Of course,” Kara responded immediately, gesturing towards one of the chairs across from her desk. Lisa looked back and fell into the chair, backpack still on. “What can I do for you?” Kara asked, sitting upright in her chair, her hands clasped together as they rested on her desk.
Lisa remained quiet for a moment. It seemed as if she was avoiding Kara’s gaze, and instead focused on fidgeting with the books that were sitting in her lap.
Patience wasn’t one of Kara’s natural virtues, although she had learned a lot of it in the years of working as a high school football coach, especially as a woman in a field that was still 99.9% male-dominated. She gave Lisa as long as the girl needed to muster up whatever she came here for and funneled that natural impatience into fidgeting with her hands.
“I, um,” Lisa finally began, her voice quiet, sounding as if it hadn’t found its footing for the conversation yet. “I was wondering… That is, I was hoping… that maybe you could teach me your style,” Lisa mumbled.
It took a moment for Kara to respond. She was sure she had misheard. After turning it over in her head a few times, Kara realized that she did in fact hear Lisa correctly, which made the bridge of her nose scrunch up.
“Um, I’m afraid I don’t exactly follow,” Kara earnestly admitted.
The response made Lisa blush slightly. She dared make eye contact with the coach for a brief second and gestured in her direction. “You know. Like, your fashion style. Like, your--your presentation. I was hoping you could teach me how to look like you.”
One of Kara’s eyebrows raised. She looked down, glancing at herself. Today’s selection had been a dark navy polo shirt with the school’s logo embroidered over her chest on the left side that was tucked into a skinny-cut pair of beige khakis.
Everything about how Lisa was treating the situation signaled to Kara that this was very, very important. Dire, even. But as Kara looked down at herself, she couldn’t help but chuckle.
“Like this?” Kara asked, a bemused smile on her face. “A simple trip to Target should do,” she chuckled. Kara then drew in a breath, trying to regain the serious composure to match the vibe that Lisa was still giving off. Then, she leaned back in her chair, a question that she didn’t want to ask at the tip of her tongue, demanding attention no matter how uncomfortable it was.
“Is this a prank?” Kara asked point-blank, her voice still cheery, despite the accusation.
“What?” Lisa stammered, her face snapping up to make continued eye contact with Kara for the first time. There was a look of shock and horror on the redhead’s face. “No, Coach Danvers!”
“Then what’s going on?” Kara asked, settling back into a comfortable position, leaning slightly into the desk, attention firmly on Lisa. “Talk to me, kid, what’s on your mind? Because I have a hard time believing this is about fashion.
“I mean,” Kara gestured at herself with one hand, “I don’t exactly have Versace beating down my door or anything.”
Lisa went still again, her gaze dropping down to her hands as they absently tried to twist the spine of one of the books in her lap.
“It’s just… she—I mean, a lot of people, notice you whenever you’re around. And I… I want to learn how to do that,” Lisa practically whispered, a slight quiver in her voice.
The admission made Kara think back. She had run into Lisa a few times, including just last week when she and Lena almost literally ran into Lisa and that friend of hers at the library.
After a moment, a knowing smile formed on Kara’s face. She leaned forward, shooting Lisa as soft an expression as she could.
“You know,” Kara began, her voice gentle. “I don’t think that just copying me is the key to getting anyone to notice you. Especially particular anyones.”
At that, Lisa’s entire face turned beet red. “W—what? I wasn’t talking… about…”
“Hey, it’s okay, kid!” Kara assured her. “There’s nothing to be ashamed of. We can talk about it, if you want. We don’t have to though.”
Everything was still for a moment. Then, suddenly, Lisa jumped to her feet. She wobbled for a second, partially from the giant backpack on her back, and partially as a manifestation of how she was currently feeling.
“Actually,” Lisa croaked, “you were right, this is a prank,” she hurriedly added. Lisa gave Kara an awkward, forced smile. “Good on you for not falling for it.
“I have to go,” Lisa exclaimed. She didn’t give Kara any time to react. The young redhead spun on her heel and rushed out of Kara’s office.
“Hey kid, wait” Kara yelled after her. Kara followed as quickly as she could. She darted out of her office and into the hallway that was completely empty.
“Lisa!” she called, getting no response.
Kara jogged to the nearest intersection, but Lisa was nowhere to be found. Standing there, Kara cursed at herself, wishing she had handled that better. To lighten her own mood, she let herself focus on a lighter idea, one inspired by how quickly Lisa was able to flee the scene, even while carrying that massive backpack.
“I wonder how she’d do at running jet sweeps,” the coach mused to herself.
Part 6.
