Chapter 7

“LANA, I WANT to check your ankle before we get started. You’ve got it taped,” Pat said before they started practicing.

“Yes, ma’am. Last spring, I had a bad high jump and it twisted a little. I felt it getting weak today and asked Dennis to tape it for me. It really helped stabilize it and he’s given me some exercises to strengthen it more,” Lana said. Pat examined the ankle and the taping job. She couldn’t find a fault with it. The tape was smooth and tight enough to hold the ankle steady without cutting off the circulation.

“You should take a break without the tape between activities and get retaped before practice. It’s not good to just wear it all day,” Pat said.

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll ask Dennis to tape me just before practice.”

Pat looked around at the team, waiting to start practice and then zeroed in on her managers.

“Do you know how to tape like this?” she asked.

“No, ma’am. But we’re learning. Dennis gave us each a couple of rolls of tape and a video, so we’ve practiced on each other a couple of times,” Shelby said. “He’s going to test us tomorrow morning before the race.”

Dennis again. Pat wondered if he wanted to take over coaching the volleyball team the way he coached the basketball girls. Even she recognized that thought as being catty and probably the result of her being new and trying to establish herself at this school. Ardith had embraced his assistance with the basketball team. Perhaps she should do the same.

“After warmups I want to get straight into drills. I expect you all to get your conditioning exercises in with the cross country team tonight. Strength and endurance are key elements in volleyball. Some of you think volleyball is lazy compared to basketball. Wait until you’ve played six matches in an afternoon. You’ll find out how taxing the game can be. Now, team managers, lead warmups,” she barked.

Shelby and Thoms were shocked to be called upon for this task. They’d been attending the workouts in the evening and always warmed up with the team, but didn’t expect to be called on to lead anything. They gamely got in front of the team and started them in on the loosening up exercises and stretching. Thoms couldn’t do some things with the brace on their right leg, but they could do most of the stretching exercises.

Natalie, Lana, and the twins stepped to the front of the formation and helped Shelby and Thoms with the sequence and what was next. Before long, they were all moving with confidence.

Pat had a quick conference with Renée and divided the roster for their scrimmage, while all the time watching how the team responded to the team managers. Yes. Perhaps she’d had too narrow a view of team management responsibilities. She’d try to be more inclusive.

Nearly everyone from the three teams—cross country, volleyball, and cheerleading—along with their six coaches attended the Friday night workout. Friday was a full workout with a light run. In the morning was the big Bartley 5k Challenge with the cross country team against the football team. And all comers, apparently.

Ardith had long since adopted the team’s mode of dress for workouts. It was pretty much the same as she’d worn in college and she didn’t need to go shopping to get spandex sports bras and short shorts. Frankly, she felt she looked better in the outfit now at twenty-five than she had at eighteen. She had a trim athletic figure and mature breasts and hips—something lacking on many of the high school girls. She only wished the school had hired at least one single male for the staff.

Renée and Janet were similarly attired. Pat was slightly more conservative, opting for more full-cut shorts. She looked good, though. What amused Ardith was seeing Andy and Neil in tight shorts and singlets like Dennis wore. And they looked pretty good, too.

The cheerleaders were appreciated by the other teams. The new conditioning routine was set to music, piped over four or five mini-speakers set around the group. The music lightened people’s spirits as they worked out. Nonetheless, by the end of an hour the entire sixty-plus athletes were practically passed out on the turf next to the track. Andy got up and started them moving again.

“That was a heck of a workout!” he shouted. As tired as they were, they all started clapping. “We have almost a third of the school here? Combined with the football team tomorrow morning, half the student body will be on the track to run. The other half is going to be envious of the condition you’re all in. We’re going to have the fittest student body in the state. Good work and thank you, Dennis and the cheerleaders.” There was more clapping and Ardith stood up with Andy.

“We’re not done yet,” she said. “You all need to experience the course since it has been freshly mowed. So, we’re going to run. And walk. You all know the course markers now. We’ll do interval training today, but none of it is going to be super strenuous. This is to make sure your muscles know what they are going to do in the morning. We’ll start at a walk until we reach the 500-meter marker. Then it will be an easy lope from there to the 1k marker. Walk again to the fifteen-hundred marker and run to the 2k marker.”

Surprisingly, nearly everyone who had worked out joined in the five-kilometer run/walk.

“I can’t believe you’re taking me out tonight!” Leanne said when Dennis knocked at her door. She was ready and waiting. Her sister had shouted to her as soon as she saw Dennis leave his house for the walk across the street.

“I suppose I should have driven to your door instead of making you walk across the street to get in the car,” he laughed.

“Drive carefully out there,” Drake Vining said from behind Leanne.

“I will, Mr. Vining. And we won’t be late tonight. We’ve got a big day ahead of us tomorrow,” Dennis said.

“So I’ve heard. I think we’ll come over to watch the festivities.”

“Oh. It’s not a very thrilling sport to watch. Really,” Dennis stammered. Leanne pushed him out the door before he could get caught up in a long conversation with her father. They walked to his mother’s car and he opened the door to seat her before rushing around the car to the driver’s seat. He checked seatbelts and mirrors, then started the car and carefully backed out of the drive. He could see Drake Vining still watching from Leanne’s doorway.

“I was sure you’d take Natalie or Brenda or Amy or Judith or Tori out on your first date you get to drive on,” Leanne continued. She reached across to touch his leg, but Dennis didn’t take a hand off the steering wheel.

“Um ... I kind of see them a lot. Amy just shows up whenever she wants. Diane and Judith go out with me when they want. Natalie, Brenda, and Tori all drive. I thought I’d like to take out a girlfriend I don’t get to spend as much time with. You were at the top of my list.”

“I love it! I’ve never been out on a real live date before!”

“See? It’s a first for both of us.”

It wasn’t a super romantic date, nor one that would be considered memorable by most people. They went into County Seat for a burger and played a round of miniature golf. The evening was memorable because they held hands and talked a lot—mostly about mundane things, like school schedules, and sports. But it was important to both of them. Their attention was focused on each other, not on other members of their group.

Dennis did nothing to hurry things along in their relationship. It was fun to just relax with his girlfriend and devote his attention to her. When they got back home, a little after ten o’clock, he parked in his drive and walked her across the street to her door. There, they had their first real kiss of the evening, letting it go longer and deeper than they might have under other circumstances. He waited until she was inside before he crossed the street back to his own house.

The Bartley 5k Challenge was well-attended. The Boosters had developed the idea into a festival. Several older runners ranging from nineteen to sixty registered for the event as they arrived. The sports teams were already registered by the coaches, including the volleyball team and the cheerleaders.

“This event was set up as a challenge between the cross country team and the football team. We welcome all the other runners this morning,” Coach Byers said over the football field address system. “The course begins and finishes here in the stadium, but there are other places where you’ll see them on the course and they’ll finish here in the stadium. Food and beverage stands have been set up at both ends of the bleachers and proceeds go to support the Wolverine and Angeline Boosters clubs. We want to thank our sponsors, AgCentral, Dietz Chevrolet, and Bartley County Co-op, for providing the timing devices and promoting the event.”

There was a cheer from the crowd and by ten o’clock, some 150 runners were lined up on the track.

“Dennis, you need to pay attention to the field and run a good race. We know you can run the course under eighteen minutes. That should be enough to beat any of the competition out here, but a sixteen-minute time would be a slam dunk,” Ardith said as she walked across the field with him.

“There’s so many!” he said. “I’ll get lost in the crowd.”

“You just need to think of them all as feral hogs. They have your scent and are chasing you. Just stay ahead of them.”

“Thanks, Coach. That was real encouraging,” he laughed.

“Strip out of your sweats and give them a show,” she said walking him up to the front of the starters. The guys on the cross country team had held a place for him on the line next to Dave Overman and Donnie Oswald, who had emerged as the team’s other best runners. Close to them, Janice Goodman looked over and smiled at Dennis. Diane, Judith, and Tori completed their side of the track. On the other side of the track, the football team snarled. Dennis pulled off his sweatpants and shirt, leaving him in the spandex running shorts and singlet with the number ‘1’ displayed on his chest. There were a few hushed exclamations as people tried to work out who he was. He didn’t look anything at all like the Dennis Enders they’d seen last spring. Several of the football guys were wondering if the cross country team had brought in a ringer.