“That wasn’t so bad when there was a whole team of assistant coaches, but only a week after I started every single other assistant coach quit. I heard that some other team halfway across the country had offered them a juicy deal to move there and join them. God the parents were angry at that. And my boss too. While the head coach does all the real training so that wasn’t an issue, there is some sort of rule that says there has to be at least two assistant coaches. And the deadline to meet that requirement is coming up fast before the team has to pull out of contests for the season. So we are looking for anyone that we can find to fill that slot. My boss is so desperate that she’s even told me that if it’s someone I know she wouldn’t even require an interview or any sort of qualifications. She’d just hire them on my recommendation alone so that they don’t get penalized.” As she got to this point in her story I began to sense a motive beyond just wanting to share an interesting tale. Tori had from time to time attempted to convince me to join her in whatever wild scheme she was part of right then, but she had never managed to bring me on board with any of them. So now when I was at my most desperate she was trying again.
I didn’t challenge her on that though. For one I couldn’t be entirely sure that she was trying to recruit me into this crazy idea, and since I was at quite a low point I wasn’t as adverse to trying something wild as I normally was. “So I’ve been asking around and seeing if anyone might want to help out. You’d think it would be easy since it comes with a huge paycheck and there is hardly much real work. I mean the head coach does all the real training, so all I and whoever would join me would do is just make sure the girls are ready by the time she arrives. And it’s not like these are all some wild children. This academy actually only lets athletes who are at least 18 join, so they are all adults, and actually act fairly mature in most regards.” She informed me, leaning in a bit closer and making solid eye contact.
“All this person would need is to fill one of the several open assistant coach roles. I mean they could even just be the nutrition specialist, who’s only real role is to make sample meal plans that show how to get a good balanced diet.” Tori said as she looked away and off to the side before letting out an exasperated sigh.
I now knew for certain exactly where she was going with this, and she definitely knew I had figured it out as well. But we went through the ritual of having her actually say it out loud. “And hey, you took a couple nutrition classes back in college to help you get more ripped, didn’t you? I mean that alone would make you more than qualified to get this job, especially with how I could vouch for you.” Tori proposed, trying to pass it off as a casual idea she had only just thought of.
Instead of quickly dismissing her idea like I might have if I actually still had some idea of what I was doing with my life I thought it over. It did seem like quite an easy gig, but for someone like Tori things always turned out easier than they did for anyone else in the same situation. While her workload might be easy and mostly carefree the second I signed on my luck might have me saddled with much rougher conditions. “I just don’t know Tori, I mean I really don’t think I’m cut out for trying to deal with all the drama that comes with so many girls that age.” I asserted, thinking that was probably the safest complaint to make that even Tori would find hard to refute.
Tori surprised me though and only smiled wider and shook her head at my protest. “That won’t be a problem at all, I promise. I mean, when I first started there was plenty of bickering between them all. But once it was just me getting them ready every practice and handling them afterwards I found some very good solutions. I started doing some guided meditation with them before we did anything else which has done wonders for the group dynamic. And ever since I started to lecture them on the virtues of being proud and open with their own beauty and to stop comparing themselves to each other, they went from hiding in bathrooms so they could change clothes to being totally comfortable around each other no matter what. And now that they can look at each other without judgment they’ve started to compliment one another freely and it’s really boosted morale. They even started using the showers at the academy, instead of waiting to do that at home!” She insisted, making it seem like her work had changed a bunch of unruly young women into a harmonious commune of free love hippies. Which to be fair wasn’t the most wild idea for Tori. She had a habit of growing networks of positivity all around her, at least whenever she stayed in one place long enough for that to happen. I was struck a bit by the mention of using the showers. Though gym showers often could be awkward to use, Tori made it seem like for some reason the biggest achievement of all for them to use the ones at the academy.
But despite the obstacle of working with squabbling girls cleared I still had plenty of doubts. “Even so, there is no way those girls would want to listen to someone like me. Your boss might not care since you’re only trying to fill a slot in order to maintain competition eligibility, but I don’t want a job where I’d be just ignored the whole time. I am looking for a bit of purpose in my life right now.” I insisted, though I didn’t know how much I even believed that.
Once again Tori shook her head and giggled, appearing to have an answer already prepared for this. “That’s another thing. The team would absolutely listen to whatever you told them, and they’d find it important if you said it was. For whatever reason every single one of these girls seems to be so easily convinced by just about anything, especially if it comes from an authority figure. I don’t know if it’s because of how much time they spend on social media studying the latest trends, or if it’s partly because of how sheltered they are from the outside world by their protective parents, but once they start believing something it takes a lot to make them start believing something else. So if I tell them that you’re the real deal and are there to help them, they’ll hang on your every word.” Tori promised, grinning from ear to ear.
It was my turn to laugh then, not quite believing what Tori said even though I had never known her to lie or even embellish. “That can’t be true, I just don’t believe it. Not with how online people are now and how many resources of information are out there. I’m sure that right after I gave my first lesson on nutrition half of the girls would have already found dozens of sources on the internet claiming what I said was wrong.” I argued, leaning back and finishing off my first beer.
As I reached for another beer Tori just smirked at me with a self-assured expression. “Then listen to this. I’ll give you an example of just how impressionable these young ladies are. But first I want to make it interesting. I bet you to test if what I say is true. If I’m telling the truth then you have to take the job and continue to coach with me for at least two months. If you prove me wrong then I’ll get a tattoo that you can pick out.” Tori said, looking me straight in the eyes and holding out her pinky.