The Coach, Part 1

The Coach
by CallieKoe

Chapter 1: Kathy Tayler

It was early August and my turn to register for classes my senior year was
today.  I had plans of finishing high school after winter semester so I could
start college early and perhaps join the first love of my life, Caitlen, at
Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah.  I had signed up for
Shakespeare and was moving toward the math table to register for a
pre-Calculus course when I saw her.  Oh, I'd seen her a hundred times before,
but I'd never really SEEN her before.  She had long, raven-black hair with a
Barbie-doll like figure. She looked like a younger Connie Selleca. 

Kathy was a shy, very religious girl who proved to be a real dichotomy for me.
She went to church every Sunday and Wednesday yet wore the shortest skirts and
sexiest sweaters I'd ever seen. High heels, make up and 4.0 average throughout
high school.  I'd see her making out with her boyfriend, Rick Pierce, between
every class, every day of our junior year, so I knew she was definitely
'spoken for.'  

This was okay, because I, too, was 'spoken for.'  As I said, I was dating an
"older girl", now a college freshman, named Caitlen Morris who was also a
sweater-clad beauty with whom I was totally infatuated.  Karen and I met at a
church dance rehearsal.  Did I mention we were both Mormons?  We didn't
"smoke, drink or chew, and we didn't date those who do?"  

Caitlen did it all for me. Well, except for smoking, but we'll get back to
that.  She was gorgeous. Smart, thin, well-endowed and totally 'in love' with
me.  For an entire year, we vacillated between being the ideal couple at
church and the kids "flirting with disaster" as we kissed, petted and headed
for perdition.  I never revealed to her my love of women who smoke.  Why not?
Well, with her, it just seemed so impossible and at seventeen, I was content
to just sort of "go with the flow."

At the end of my junior year, she made ready to go to BYU to become a
registered nurse.  A month before she left, we were at a drive-in movie in
Tacoma and she turned to me and said "Honey, I've been thinking how much I
love you and I've decided that I'm willing do ANYthing for you."  Looking
back, I wish I had told her the truth and asked her not to go to school but to
start smoking and make love with me but I couldn't think with my "big" head.
All I could say was "Honey, I'm so glad to hear you say that.  Does that mean
we can make love?"  I was only too happy to hear her say, "Ummm, yes. I want
you SO bad."  And one late December night, not long before she left, we did.
It was as awkward as most of us remember.  Dark, in my dad's car and trying to
find all the right places.  Eventually we did, but I now know how kind she was
to tell me it had been 'great.' 

We had sex a few more times before she left.  Not enough to make me an
accomplished lover but enough to teach me the ropes and learn what a woman
enjoys. I knew we had both enjoyed it but it placed a great burden on her as
her real goal in life was to find a good Mormon man to marry for "all of
eternity" while mine was to find a girl who loved to smoke as much as she
loved me.  It's just we were both too young to know what we really wanted back
then. 

Caitlen left a couple of days after the last time we made love and I recall
feeling so alone and empty; wanting to cry but never doing so. We wrote to
each other furiously and called often but it wasn't long before she found
someone a little closer to her ideal of the perfect husband and I found myself
single again.  Well, not exactly.  I had actually met someone right around the
same she had-Kathy Tayler. And my hurt over losing Caitlen was mitigated by
the possibilities I felt with a potential relationship with her.

This brings us back to the math table my senior year of high school when I
really NOTICED Kathy Tayler.  I turned to my left and saw a girl with long,
black hair who could be no more than a size 4.  She was wearing a
sort-sleeved, red turtleneck rib-knit sweater and black shorts. We'd passed
each other a thousand times in the hall but hardly spoken two words to each
other.  I don't know where it came from, but I walked right up to her and
said, "Hi, Kathy, what are you taking this semester?"  She smiled and said,
"HI, how ARE you?? I'm signing up for pre-Calculus. What about you?"
"The
same," I said, and we both signed up for the same class then followed one
another through the rest of the registration process making small talk the
entire time. It was then that I learned that she and Rick had recently broken
up. I was still technically dating Caitlen but that relationship was on its
final legs.

After registration was over we walked to the front of the gym and turned to
each other.  I looked at her and blurted out, "I really enjoyed talking with
you, Kathy.  Ahh, listen, I was wondering if you'd like to go to homecoming
with me."  While I was praying she would say 'yes' I have to admit I thought I
would either get turned down outright or she would say 'yes' but I would never
be able to share my deepest secret with her; and even if I could share it, it
certainly could never come true.  But much like with Caitlen, I still wanted
to go out with beautiful girls and at seventeen, maybe my "fantasy" would just
have to wait.  My first surprise was when she answered, "I'd love to go to
homecoming with you. In fact, I've been hoping for some time you'd ask me out.
I even wanted to ask you, but I'm just way too shy and was afraid you would
say 'no'." 

It was then I first thought, "maybe, just maybe?"

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