COACH!

Devon Layne

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Design by Nathan Everett

Cover image by Kulichok ID: 781186462 licensed from Shutterstock.com

Storytime quotes from Old Mother West Wind by Thornton Burgess, 1910, courtesy of
Project Gutenberg, www.gutenberg.org

ISBN 978-1-955874-31-1

Cast

The Crew

Dennis Enders. Primary protagonist, 16yo junior. 5'10" about 155 pounds. Formerly very near-sighted with thick glasses but has recently had corrective surgery. Former runt geek, had a growth spurt, has been working out hard with the team and on the farm and is now pretty ripped. Ragged brown hair over his ears and blue eyes.

Natalie Armor (Number One). 16yo junior. 5'11" about 145#. Moderately large breasts. Straight brown hair below shoulder-length and brown eyes.

Amy Unger (Number Two). 15yo sophomore. 5'5" about 120#. Smallish but developing breasts. Straight brown shoulder-length hair and brown eyes.

Leanne Vining (Number Three). 16yo junior. 5'4" about 135#. Dark complected, full breasts. Wavy brown below the shoulder hair and brown eyes.

Brenda Grant (Number Four). 18yo graduate. 5'0" about 105#. Fair skinned, large breasts. Straight yellow blonde hair, nearly waist length, and blue eyes.

Diane Long (Number Five). 16yo junior. 5'8" about 155#. Huskily built with large breasts. Dirty blonde wavy hair below the shoulder and brown eyes.

Rosie Barnes (Number Six). 15yo sophomore. 6'2" about 155#. Thin build with smallish breasts. Straight light brown hair below shoulders and brown eyes.

Judith Long (Number Seven). 15yo sophomore. 5'5" 130#. Medium-sized breasts (might still be growing). Dirty blonde wavy hair breast length with brown eyes.

Daniella Armor (Number Eight). 17yo senior. 6'1" 160#. Powerfully built with prominent breasts. Straight, navel-length brown hair and brown eyes. Natalie and Roberta’s sister. Roberta’s twin.

Roberta Armor (Number Nine). 17yo senior. 6'1" 160#. Powerfully built with prominent breasts. Straight, navel-length brown hair and brown eyes. Natalie and Daniella’s sister. Daniella’s twin.

Lana Brown (Number Ten). 15yo sophomore. 5'5" 125#. Stacked and athletic. Pale, almost white blonde breast-length hair and skin with pale blue eyes. Scandinavian heritage.

Tori McDonald (Number Eleven). 16yo junior. 5'6" 130#. Full breasts on a trim frame. Some Latin American features and skin tone. Straight dark (almost black) hair below shoulders with dark brown eyes.

Debbie Stackhouse (Number Twelve). 16yo junior. 5'10" 130#. Thin build with noticeable breasts appropriate for frame. Straight blonde breast-length hair and blue eyes. Former goth girl.

Others

Dorothy ‘Dot’ ‘Ms. Dottie’ Enders. 37yo widowed mother of Dennis.

Margaret ‘Peg’ Enders. 19yo Down Syndrome sister of Dennis.

Coach Ardith Graves. 25yo girls’ basketball and track coach. Teaches Latin and PE.

Coach Jim Byers. 45yo boys’ wrestling coach and athletic director.

Coach Andy Anderson. 28yo boys’ track and JV basketball coach.

Coach Neil Griffith. 33yo boys’ varsity basketball coach. Teaches science.

Coach Grant Torvalds. 29yo varsity football coach. Teaches social studies and government.

Coach Pat Fisher. 35yo volleyball coach. Teaches history.

Coach Janet Mills. 27yo cheerleading coach and possibly softball. Teaches Family and Consumer Science.

Renée Lambert. 32yo Jr. High PE teacher and assistant volleyball coach.

Liz Larson. 14yo freshman. 5'7" 115#. Red hair and teacup breasts (probably growing). Green eyes.

Daphne Fisher. 14yo freshman. 6'2" 110#. Tall thin, flat-chested. Chest-length light brown hair and hazel eyes. Coach Pat’s daughter.

Karen Scott. 14yo freshman. 5'8" 125#. Bustier than her two friends but still not huge. Short brown hair and brown eyes.

John and Lily Armor. Natalie’s parents. John is a lawyer. Lily is on the school board. Five daughters. Mid-forties.

Renda and Mark Long. Diane and Judith’s parents. Renda is on the school board.

Randy and Elsa Brown. Lana’s parents.

Trooper Thomas Moran. State police running for Bartley County Sheriff.

Various other students, farmers, teachers, and parents.

Chapter 1

WAKING UP to make love to a girlfriend or two was almost commonplace for Dennis now. But waking up to make love to Amy Unger was still a brand new experience. He was sure she must be getting sore by now; they’d made love so many times in the past two nights. He cradled her in his arms and kissed her over and over again.

“I have to get going,” he said at last. “I should be able to get Mr. Abernathy’s field mowed by noon or one o’clock. Then I need to mow the cross country course. And you’ve got volleyball practice before dinner today. Three-thirty? If we do this any more, you won’t be able to move for practice.”

“Oh, Dennis, you make me feel so good. I want to do this all the time,” Amy said. “Of course, I heard the same thing from Natalie and Brenda and Judith and Tori. Don’t worry, though. We’ll share and try not to use you all up.” They giggled and Dennis swatted her bottom lightly as she ran across the hall to get a shower. He dressed and went to the kitchen to make breakfast. Before long, Amy, Dot, and Peg were all sitting to eat and leave for work. “I promised Gransy I’d help do a complete deep cleaning of the house this week so it’s all fresh before school starts. Mom and Dad are coming to dinner on Sunday and Gransy doesn’t want to give them any excuse to change our arrangement.”

“Well, dear, come by whenever you can. You know our house is always open to you,” Dot said.

“Sister!” Peg shouted. Everyone headed off, Dennis walking across town to Mr. Abernathy’s farm.

Mr. Abernathy’s equipment mostly looked familiar from his work with Randy Brown, but there were a few different pieces. He’d deal with them later. The mower was identical to the one he’d used and he quickly had it hooked up to the tractor. He rechecked all the connections and started the tractor.

Mr. Abernathy was standing in the door of the equipment barn and motioned him down, so Dennis shut things off and joined the old farmer.

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Dennis, but I talked to Randy after church yesterday and we agreed that it doesn’t hurt to have a second check on equipment. I see you got it hooked up properly. You know how to raise and lower the blades?” He asked as he checked things over.

“Yes, sir. I think I’ve got it set at the same height for hay as we used on Mr. Brown’s field. I’d like to set it two notches lower when I mow the cross country course,” he said.

“You can do that. Everything here looks fine. I want you to be sure to tell me if there is any of the equipment you don’t quite get. Some of it is a little different.”

“I’ve not worked with a baler that’s rigged like yours. Is this a conveyor belt?” Dennis asked.

“Yes. Farm help is rare these days. Used to be able to hire half a dozen boys to walk along behind the baler and load the wagon. This arrangement lets two people bale and load at the same time. Instead of dropping the bales on the ground, you tow the wagon along behind and the conveyor drops the bales on the wagon. That way, one person can drive the tractor and the other can stack the bales as they arrive on the wagon.”

“I’m pretty sure I can get a helper when I’m ready to bale,” Dennis said. “I’ll ask you to check out the connections before we start.”

“Good lad. I’ll let you get to it now.” Mr. Abernathy retreated and Dennis again mounted the tractor and started it up. He drove into the field and set the mower, then began the slow process of cutting the thick hay. Mr. Abernathy had not taken an early cutting, so it was thicker and more tangled than what he’d cut at the Browns’ farm. About once every fifteen minutes, he had to shut down and clear the buildup from the mower blades. The job was going to take longer than he initially estimated.

He was only about two-thirds done with the field by noon and when he approached the turn at the far end, he saw a lovely apparition waving to him. He shut down and walked over to where Natalie was waiting with a picnic spread out on the mown hay.

“Putting a blanket over this cut grass is almost like making a bed!” She exclaimed. “Want to come to bed with me?”

“Oh, yes, lover. I’m afraid we’re in for a quickie, though. This is taking much longer than I planned. With luck, I’ll be done about the time you start volleyball practice this afternoon. Then I still need to mow the cross country course. That should go a little faster, though.” He sat down on the blanket with Natalie and she gave him a sandwich and a bottle of water.

“Lana told me that before you go back to work, I have to coat all your exposed skin with sunblock,” Natalie giggled. “So, if you expose it, I’m going to stroke it.”

“Um… Don’t think that’s what Lana and I did,” Dennis stumbled. “I mean, my chest and legs, sure. But nothing else was exposed.” As he finished, Natalie pulled her T-shirt off and bared her breasts.

“Nothing else exposed?” She teased.

“Um… Well… I mean, Lana likes to wear her bikini top and that exposes quite a lot.”

“Built like she is, it really exposes a lot.” Natalie kissed Dennis and he held her as he caressed her breasts. He was shortly out of his shirt and shorts. Natalie shimmied out of her shorts and panties as Dennis put a condom on. She pushed him back and straddled him in one of their favorite positions. “There. Now that is no longer exposed. But I still need to work on the rest of you.” She squirted sunblock into her hands and started massaging Dennis’s chest and arms as she rocked back and forth on his cock.

“I love you, Natalie.”

“Did you love making love to Amy?” She asked. “Don’t bother answering. Of course you did. I love making love to Amy. Why wouldn’t you? I just wanted to be there, too. I’m not jealous, but I was a little envious of the time she got to spend with you. Do you really love me, too?”

“Natalie, the sun rises and sets in your eyes. I would give up all the other girls to be with you.”

“Shh! Don’t say that. You’d hurt them terribly. We might quibble a little about who has the next turn being with you, but we aren’t going to fight over you and we aren’t going to try to get you exclusively. You love them all, don’t you?” She asked.

“Yes, I do. But you know you are my Number One.”

“It’s a position I cherish. But it comes with great responsibility, too. I need to be sure each girlfriend is cared for and loved at the level she wants and needs. When you aren’t available to do the loving, then the other girls have to take over. We never let a girl go unloved who wants to be with someone.”

“You are all remarkable women,” he said. “Oh, Natalie. That is so… I’m not going to last… I love you so much!” She’d been rhythmically squeezing him as they talked and he finally reached the point of no return, spewing into the condom. Nat rolled off and disposed of the condom. She pushed him over and rubbed sunblock into his shoulders and back, then into his butt and legs.

“Now get dressed and get back to work,” Natalie said, slapping his bottom lightly.

“But you didn’t… I should…”

“Hush. It’s never something you do because you should. This time happened to be a time that I just wanted to love you and let you know how much we love you. You have to go to work now. I have a date with Tori,” she giggled. Dennis pulled his clothes together, amazed at how much he loved his women. He kissed Nat one more time and headed to the tractor as she pulled her shorts and T-shirt on. Dennis didn’t bother with his shirt for the afternoon.

He was done with the mowing before he knew it and had an hour before he could join his volleyball girlfriends for the walk home, dinner, and the return to the course for warmups. He stretched his legs and back muscles and looked at the track, wondering how it really was to run on. The packed sawdust had looked good when he drove the tractor over it to get to the second stretch of grass. But he felt good and thought a run before the end of volleyball practice might be just right for him.

He took his place at the starting line, gave himself a one-two-three-go, and took off running.

The first section of the course was down the track where the football players were about finished with their practice. This section opened onto the parking lot and out to the county road for a hundred meters before he cut back up along the access lane next to Abernathy’s hay field. They’d rolled the ground after seeding and the track felt good and comfortable. At the end of the hay field, he cut left around the big meadow before he hit the wooded section next to the river. It felt good to run on the packed woodchips. He was feeling good, so he stretched out and ran harder toward the road, around the cemetery, across the big meadow behind the school, and he ran hard onto the track around the football field to the finish line. He raised his arms in the air in exuberance, simply because it felt so good to really stretch himself and run. He walked around the track and did some stretching before meeting his girlfriends coming out of the gym after volleyball.

“It will be brutal,” Roberta said. “It’s run run run like basketball, except you can only run ten to fifteen feet. I think I’d rather run the full length of the court.”

“I feel like I wouldn’t be there at all if I wasn’t so tall,” Rosie said. “I didn’t get one serve over the net.”

“She had you playing already?” Dennis asked.

“There were twenty-five there for tryouts. She’s trying to figure out if she has enough depth to field both varsity and junior varsity teams,” Natalie said.

“I’m thinking I’ll come to cross country tryouts, too,” Leanne said. “I might decide to run my ass off rather than jump it off.”

Each girl got a kiss from all the others and from Dennis as they turned into their own homes. Dennis’s was the last house on the route. He went in to be met by a happy Peg and a tired mother. When Dennis was showered and dressed in workout clothes again, he headed back across town to school with a promise that he’d be home in time to read to Peg. Leanne joined him.

The coaches were happy to see an even mix of ten girls and ten boys trying for the cross country team. If they had just a couple more runners, they could participate in both the varsity and JV events. Ardith and Andy got everyone lined up on the track where they’d often warmed up in the spring. Dennis didn’t know everyone who was there, but he was happy to see redheaded freshman Liz Larson among the girls, even though her friends Daphne and Karen were trying for the volleyball team.

“Welcome to the first season of the Bartley High School Cross Country Team,” Coach Andy said. “We’ll be doing most of our work for the next couple of days here on the track and on the football field. That’s to give us a little variety in surfaces. Unlike track and field, cross country is not all on smooth pavement or special composite surfaces. I think you’ll all like the new course that’s been marked out and I understand that tomorrow the lawn tractors will be out to mow the grass to regulation length for our first run on the course. Today, after you’ve gotten warmed up and had a good workout, we’ll be looking at your gait and running style. We won’t be working on seeing who is fastest for a few days. Coach Graves?”

“Thanks, Andy. Cross country is considered a co-ed sport and is sanctioned by both the Iowa High School Athletic Association—iahsaa—and by the Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union—IGHSAU. That means we can train together and even have friendly competitions with each other. It doesn’t mean you’ll be racing boys against girls. We go to the same meets but boys race boys and girls race girls. All the races this year are five kilometers. That’s 3.2 miles. Times for girls’ elite can get down to about eighteen minutes and the state meet last year saw times up to about twenty-six minutes. There’s quite a lot of range in the sport, so never feel like it’s beyond you. The same is true for the boys with the range being from about fifteen and a half minutes to about twenty-one minutes. This year we are classed as a 2A school and our meet schedule has been set according to that classification. What I’m saying is that it’s fine to compete with each other in practice, but don’t think that just because you can’t beat the fastest boy on our team, girls, that you can’t win a girls’ race.”

“Okay. Most of you who participated in basketball and track have an idea of what comes next,” Andy said. “Line up for conditioning and warmups. Dennis, the team is yours.” There were a few groans from athletes who knew from experience that the warmups and conditioning exercises would tax them to the max when Dennis led them. He got right into the workout. In thirty minutes, everyone was sweating and panting, gasping for breath. One had even leaned over a trash barrel to heave. The coaches made sure everyone had water and kept moving.

“Why do you have us doing so much upper body work?” One of the guys complained. “We’re supposed to be running.”

“The most common cause of injury in most sports is uneven development of the body. You overwork your legs because you are running, but your arms aren’t strong enough to keep up,” Dennis said.

“Is that really common?” Janice asked. She was probably the best long-distance runner in the school and during the summer had participated in two marathons.

“Here’s a frightening statistic,” Dennis answered. “One out of three high school runners in the state—that’s here in Iowa—suffered an injury last year. Some of them were minor, like a charley horse. They ranged upward through shin splints, pulled hamstring, wrenched back, and twisted ankle. I think last year a runner stumbled and fell, breaking his arm. What’s worse is that the majority of those who are injured are injured more than once so that there were two injuries for every three runners last year. Yes, this is a real risk, and as your trainer, I’m going to be looking especially closely at your form and strength to determine where you might be vulnerable to injury. Expect that many of you will get your ankles taped before meets and even before practice. Guys, you might want to take a look at your legs and imagine tape around your ankles up about six inches from the floor. You might think only girls shave their legs, but it’s not a bad idea.”

“Geez! Are you going to work the football team this hard, Coach?” Dave Overman asked. Dennis was a little surprised by Dave addressing him as ‘Coach.’ He laughed.

“Let me tell you, Dave. Football is for those guys who can’t keep up with cross country.” There were a lot of whistles.

“Does that go for volleyball, too?” Liz asked.

“Oh, I’ve got a lot of girlfriends who play volleyball. I’d never say that about them.”

“Break’s over,” Ardith said. “We’re going to do some fifty-meter running next. We don’t expect you to be sprinting flat out. We’ll be videotaping each runner from the front so we can observe your foot, leg, arm, and hand positions. This will help us design a running program that will be most effective for each of you. Coach Andy will be at the start line and will watch you run from behind. I’ll be watching and making notes from in front. Dennis will be video recording. Dennis, I’ll run the camera for the first one. Show them what we’re looking for by running the first fifty.”

Dennis ran, though he couldn’t figure out why the team needed a demo for such a simple exercise. Nonetheless, he gave it his best shot as Ardith taped him and Andy watched from behind. Then they started calling the runners forward one at a time to run the fifty and then continue around the track to the starting line again. There were enough other exercises that everyone went home with instructions to take a nice warm bath.

Judith got her warm bath with Dennis after he’d read to Peg and gotten her off to bed. Diane and Leanne were a little envious that she was spending the night with him, but both got a thorough kissing before they went home.

“Will cross country help my sprinting in the spring?” Judith asked as she settled back in Dennis’s arms in the tub. He gently washed and massaged her shoulders.

“The biggest problem most runners have isn’t how fast they can move their legs, but how well they can stay oxygenated. Building lung capacity will help with both basketball and sprinting,” he said as he washed her generous boobs. “You’ve really grown this summer,” he whispered as he changed from washing to caressing and lightly playing with her nipples.

“Yes,” she squeaked. “I’m a full C-cup now. Not quite as big as Diane’s, but I’m not as round as she is.”

“Diane isn’t overweight,” Dennis said, quickly defending his girlfriend.

“No, but she’s bigger around. It’s just the way she’s built—structurally. She has a big chest, even without her boobs.”

“I really don’t want to think of her without her boobs,” Dennis chuckled.

“Oh, you. Sometimes you are such a boy.” Judith reached behind her and stroked the erect cock trapped between their wet bodies. Dennis immediately jumped to his conversation with Amy about how many girls had turned away from boys because they were becoming gross and too sexual.

“Am I doing too much when I appreciate your bodies?” He asked worriedly. “I don’t want you to think that all I think about is your boobs. I mean, I do think about them and I like them, but that isn’t the only thing I’m interested in.”

“Shh. Don’t worry about that. I love to have you caressing my breasts and making me feel so good. We’d tell you if you were becoming one of ‘those boys.’ You always let us know that you appreciate us for more than our bodies. And we’re the ones who started flaunting them at you. Can we go to bed and make love now?”

That was an easy request for Dennis to accommodate. They dried themselves and went next door to his bedroom. Dennis laid Judith back against the pillows and went directly to work on her fresh, clean pudenda. She hadn’t had time to use any flavored lube. What he tasted was sweet and pure Judith. She totally relaxed into his loving and took a leisurely journey up the mountain to her peak, then she encouraged him to wrap his cock in a sheath and enter her. The stimulation of his cock pumping in and out of her brought her to another orgasm before Dennis filled the condom. They went to sleep breathing each other’s air as they kissed.

Chapter 2

“I DON’T THINK you’ll need to ted the hay after it’s raked,” Mr. Abernathy said the next morning. “One thing about cutting so late in the season is that the grass is already drier than new mown spring grass. Give it a day’s rest tomorrow and you should be ready to bale on Thursday.”

“Will do, Mr. Abernathy. Do we have all the supplies needed for baling? I mean, like, twine?” Dennis asked.

“Check the store room over there. I believe I put in a new twin pack last year.”

“Yes, sir,” Dennis said, coming from the store room. “There are two 10,000-foot rolls back there. I see a partial still on the baler. As dense as the hay pack is, we might need a third full spool. I can run in to County Seat tomorrow and pick up a couple of spools at Tractor Supply.”

“Not necessary. I need to take Lila to the doctor this afternoon. I’ll pick up extra twine while we’re out. That’s good thinking. You’ll do fine out here. I need to get inside and fix Lila her breakfast now. Have a good working day.”

Dennis mounted the tractor and headed to the field to rake the hay.

By noon, Dennis was washing down the rake and making sure the equipment was clean and maintained. He left the barn to walk over to the school and met Lana walking up the road. She set her pack down and welcomed Dennis’s embrace and kiss.

“I didn’t expect you to be done so soon!” She said. “I was bringing lunch to you. Natalie told me what a nice picnic you had yesterday.” The picnic had been nice, but Dennis didn’t think Lana wanted quite the same kind of treatment Natalie had.

“Raking went pretty quickly. Mr. Abernathy has a cool setup for his baler. He tows a wagon and loads the hay as it’s baled. The problem is it takes two people to make it work: one to drive and one to stack bales. Could I interest you in helping me out Thursday?” He asked as they walked back toward the school.

“I’m bribable. Of course, most of the girls are, but they don’t have the experience driving a tractor. Except Tori. I’m sure she’d come out to help you and she’s probably a good lunch, too. I mean lunch companion. You know,” Lana giggled.

“I know exactly what you mean, little minx,” he laughed. “The hay out there is so dense that with only two of us working, it might take two days of baling anyway.”

“How much do you think is out there?”

“I’m estimating 5,000 bales. Which means we’ll have to stop and unload the wagon after every four or five acres. It’s going to be a long day or two.” They found a place in the bleachers to have their picnic. The first football practice of the day was over and the second wouldn’t start until two.

“You know, all the girlfriends would come out to help,” Lana said. “Why don’t you just ask?”

“Well, this is different than when we baled on your property,” he said. “I’m not getting paid for this. I volunteered. I can’t just ask my girlfriends to volunteer for hard labor with no reward but my scintillating presence.”

“I didn’t know you were volunteering.”

“Mrs. Abernathy is really sick and Mr. Abernathy just hasn’t had the time or energy to tend the fields. This is the only one that was even planted. He’s been really good about providing access for our cross country trail on his property and I just wanted to help him out.”

The kiss Lana gave Dennis took him so much by surprise that he fell backwards with her straddling him. It was deep and sensual and passionate. It was very unlike Lana. He couldn’t help but get an erection as she kissed him thoroughly, and she ground herself against him. Finally, she pushed herself away and looked at him. Her almost white blonde hair was matted against her head from the sweat they had worked up in such a short time.

“I didn’t know you were doing this just to help out. Dennis, I’m so proud of you! Of course all the girlfriends will come out to help us bale and stack. We just love you more every day!”

“Do you know what I heard?” Coach Torvalds barked at the football team during their second day of practice. “I heard the conditioning trainer of the cross country team saying football players weren’t as good as cross country runners. He said you weren’t strong enough or fast enough. And what I’m seeing here today says he’s right! You have to be strong! You have to be fast! Are you strong?”

“Yes!” Answered the players.

“Are you fast?”

“Yes!” Answered the players.

“I’m going to have you prove it. A week from Saturday, we’re going to have a little challenge match. I don’t expect all the linemen to be long distance runners. Artie there can scarcely run from the sidelines into position. But he’s going to be a wall that defenders won’t be able to get around. But all backfield, the ends, and all defensive backs are going to run in a race against the cross country team. And I’m going to make it worth your while.”

The team straightened up to listen to the challenge. None of them were happy to be considered second rate to the wimps running cross country. Coach had a deal for them.

“Every player who beats the cross country team across the finish line will get a guaranteed playing slot in our first game the next week.”

“Beating their whole team?” Jake Larson asked. He had a good chance at the starting quarterback slot, but he knew there were some fast runners who were going out for cross country. He wasn’t sure he could beat Dave Overman in a footrace.

“Oh, is there a girl on that team you think might beat you?” Torvalds teased. “I tell you what. I’ll make the offer to any one of you who can beat their team manager. Will that do? Coach Byers, what’s that kid’s name?”

“Dennis Enders. He manages girls’ basketball, track, and cross country.” Coach Byers did his best to hide a smile. This was a clear setup. He was pretty sure none of the team had seen the new Dennis Enders who could outrun a pig for over half a mile. Andy said he was going to get him to race as well as manage.

“That little twerp?” Si Goodman snarked. “He couldn’t beat a fly.” Si had some evidence of that. He’d been one of the JV basketball team accused of abusing Dennis their freshman year. It was some fast work by Si’s father that got him and the other boys to testify against the gang of three in return for not being prosecuted themselves. He’d tried to extend a hand of friendship to Dennis during basketball season, but the dweeb had given him the cold shoulder.

“Okay. Here’s the deal. Any player, offense, defense, line, backfield, or special team who can beat ‘that little twerp,’ as Si called him, gets a guaranteed playing spot in our first game.” He wasn’t too worried about that. He intended to play every boy in the first game regardless. It was far more important for parents to see their babies play than to win the first game. This was just motivation to get them focused. “Let’s hit those calisthenics and speed drills. We’ve got a challenge to meet!”

Dennis worked all afternoon mowing the trail. Since there was cut grass on the trail from the big mower, it took longer for the garden mower to cut and mulch the grass down to the proper length. He was definitely not going to finish in one afternoon.

Dennis put up the tractor for the night and went home to shower, eat, and get ready for cross country practice. When he got back to the school, Coach Byers was waiting to talk to him.

“Dennis, how did the mowing go today? Is it going to take that long every week?”

“Hi, Coach. I don’t expect it will take as long in the future, but we’ll need to watch the growth pattern as we move into fall. The grass could grow faster. Right now, I’m mowing at a slower speed and I’m collecting the clippings. That’s because the grass was so long that leaving the clippings would smother what’s under it. In the future, I should be able to mow at about seven to ten miles per hour. But like I said, we might have to mow more than once a week when the grass starts growing strong again,” Dennis said.

“How long to do the football field and the infield?” Coach asked.

“Oh. Well, we could have the same problem with the first cutting. Our football field hasn’t been maintained aside from a twice a year chop job to keep the weeds down. It will probably take a few hours to get it all to playing length. Then about an hour per mowing, I’d guess. Maybe two.”

“You are quickly becoming our resident expert on mowing. George Samuels comes out in the spring and starts mowing the baseball diamond, just because he’s a fan. But when baseball season ends, he quits mowing,” Coach said.

“Well, there’s a lot of acreage around the school to get mowed,” Dennis speculated. “There are bigger and better mowers than this one Mr. Stackhouse is loaning us. He’ll need this back by the weekend to mow his mammoth yard. I’m not sure why he wants five acres of grass to mow, but it’s how he spends his Saturdays. Mr. Abernathy told me about an attachment for the regular tractor that could mow a lot faster and I know professional mowers for sports fields can run anywhere from $5,000-$10,000. It’s a big job.”

“Those are good numbers to have. We may have a booster who is willing to invest in a better tractor. But we really need to get at least one pass over the football field. Right now, everything is drills and exercises. When we start scrimmaging next week, we’ll need the field in playing condition. I’m pretty sure we’ll have a budget for getting it cut, if you are interested.”

“I might be, Coach. Right now, my plate’s pretty full.”

“I can imagine. We’ve been working you pretty hard. Now about the challenge you made to the football team…”

“What? What challenge? I didn’t challenge the football team to anything?”

“Hmm. That’s not what everyone heard. They distinctly heard you say the football team couldn’t keep up with the cross country team. So, we’ve decided to have a little contest,” Coach grinned.

“Oh, no. I don’t expect the team will be ready for a race for quite a while yet. We’ll be well into the season before everyone is ready.”

“I expect the same of the football team. But you have your first meet in two weeks. We have an extra four days before the first football game. But you should get your team prepared. The football boys are going to want to put you in your place.”

“Coach, would you object to us joining the cross country team for conditioning?” Amy asked Coach Fisher at volleyball practice.

“Why would you want to do that? They are doing running exercises. Volleyball is about agility and jumping. We have exercises for that,” she answered.

“That’s just it,” Natalie joined in. “The jumping and agility exercises will be great for volleyball, but I don’t want to be out of condition when basketball season starts.”

“Out of condition?” Coach Fisher was flabbergasted. She’d never had a team ask for more conditioning exercises. She had to admit, the basketball players were in better shape than the other fifteen girls she was working with. Except her daughter. But it was only the first week of practice.

“Coach, we’re used to following Dennis and he works us harder than anyone else,” Roberta said. “And not maliciously. Every exercise he puts us through has a specific purpose. And he does every exercise with us, so we know he’s not just piling stuff on us that he doesn’t want to do himself.”

“I see. I’m not going to lighten up on our conditioning for volleyball, but if you think you can take on another hour, I’ll talk to Coach Graves. I don’t want to see any of you too tired to do what’s necessary in our practice because you’re changing focus to hers.” Pat was definitely going to have a chat with Ardith. She couldn’t believe her girls wanted extra workouts. Sure, she worked Daphne extra, but she expected her daughter to be the best of the best.

Dennis was surprised to see his girlfriends show up for cross country practice.

“You’re not quitting volleyball, are you?” He asked Natalie.

“No way. It’s really fun,” Nat said. “We just want to work out with you, too. Amy kind of needled Coach Fisher about not working us hard enough.”

“Me? It’s you who told her we wouldn’t be in condition to play basketball,” Amy laughed.

“That’s not going to win me any friends,” Dennis said, shaking his head. “Well, if you’re here to work out, let’s get to it.”

With the addition of half the volleyball team to the cross country team during their conditioning, Dennis had almost as many people to lead as he’d had during track season.

“Okay, stay on your feet, guys,” Coach Andy said. “Good workout, Dennis. You all need to be walking and getting your water bottles. We’re going to do some running today. This is a slow day. We’re not trying to set a course record or anything. We’re going to do 3,000 meters at a jog and then walk the last 2,000 meters home. I’ll lead out to set the pace. Don’t pass me. Coach Graves will be in the middle of the pack, giving encouragement and passing on tips. Dennis, I’d like you to run drag and make sure no one gets left behind.”

“The first part of the course has been groomed and is in great running condition,” Ardith said. “The rest of the grass course is still a little rough, but Dennis plans to mow it tomorrow. That’s why we’re walking the second half. We want to make sure there are no hidden ankle-twisters. It won’t hurt you volleyballers to take this lap with us. Take one more swallow of water and let’s move out.”

Most of the run divided up pretty evenly with the boys clustering right behind Coach Andy along with a couple of the girls, like Janice Goodman. Janice had already run two marathons over the summer and was likely to lead the women’s team in the meets. If they were all racing today, she’d probably beat the guys. She would be a sophomore this year and Dennis was willing to bet she’d dominate the long races.

It was a pretty easy run. Dennis stayed at the end and encouraged runners who were behind. One guy was running back with the girls and seemed to be having a lot of problems breathing. He made it to the 3k gathering point but didn’t look good at all.

“Coach!” Dennis called. “We have a problem.”

Both Coach Andy and Coach Graves ran to where the boy was sagging on the ground gasping for breath.

“Inhaler. In my bag,” the boy gasped. “On the bleachers.”

“What color is your bag and does it have your name on it?” Dennis asked. He was standing next to the coaches.

“Red. Darrel King.”

“Go!” Ardith barked at Dennis. Dennis took off running. Almost the same route he’d taken when fleeing the hog. He didn’t look back and didn’t slow up. He ran to the bleachers where they’d all tossed their bags. He needed to figure out a better way to store the bags while they were all out on the track. He spotted Darrel’s bag and instead of opening it, simply took off running with it, back to where the coaches and rest of the team were waiting. Dennis didn’t have time to think. He just ran as hard as he could. In a few minutes, he slid to a stop beside where Darrel was still gasping. Ardith opened the bag, found the inhaler and handed it to the boy. He took two deep puffs from the device and began to relax.

“How did you do that?” Natalie whispered as she walked Dennis around getting his breath back. “It’s a long way back to the stadium. You were only gone five or six minutes.”

“I guess,” Dennis said. “I don’t know. It was like having the pig behind me. I just had to run it. From almost the same place, too,” he said.

“You’re amazing, boyfriend.”

An EMT from the fire station was waiting for them at the edge of the woods where the path ran parallel to the road. They checked Darrel out and made sure he was breathing okay. His parents arrived a few minutes later. Andy stayed with the boy as Ardith led the rest of the group around the path to the bleachers and dismissed them. Dennis and his girlfriends picked up their things and headed to their homes.

“You need to run in the meets,” Tori said as they walked through the parking lot. Diane and Judith were taking Debbie, Tori, and Lana home tonight.

“Don’t know if I could run that fast for the whole three miles,” he laughed. He had a deep and luscious kiss with each of the five girls piling in that car. The rest of them headed into town and each got a kiss at her door.

Wednesday afternoon, Dennis was headed toward the school to see about a portable cage to lock the cross country bags in while they were out on the course. That’s how Janet Mills happened upon him in the locker room hall.

“Dennis! I’m so glad I’ve run into you. I’d like you to work with the cheerleaders on their conditioning. We have a good group and I know they’d respond well to you. Do you have workout clothes you can change into?” She said. That wasn’t the way Dennis had planned to spend the afternoon, but he was curious about the newly revived cheerleader team.

“I can change. I’ve been working outside and brought all my different clothes for workouts in. I have a locker in the coaches’ locker room.”

“That’s great. We start in the gym in fifteen minutes.”

Dennis shrugged and unlocked the door of the coaches’ locker room. There was some sign that the football coaches were actually using the locker room. Torvalds was very much a hands-on coach and led most of the exercises himself. Dennis liked that about the man. Most of the coaches told the teams what to do, but didn’t do it themselves. Dennis sniffed himself when he pulled off his clothes and decided it would be a good idea to get a quick shower before meeting a new team of girls to lead in exercises.

Chapter 3

WHEN DENNIS WALKED into the gym Wednesday afternoon, Janet had the cheerleaders focused on her. He observed them as he approached. He was impressed that there were ten people in workout clothes and two of them were guys. He’d read up on the cheerleading rules after he first met Janet in June. He thought most high school sports allowed only six cheerleaders in uniform at a game or in competition. Maybe Janet was putting together a JV squad as well.

“So, I’ve asked our department conditioning trainer to work with you for a while so we can get a conditioning program established that will strengthen you and improve your flexibility. Some of you may already know Dennis Enders. Dennis? Can you give us an introduction?” Janet motioned him up in front of the cheerleaders and he realized that was his introduction. The cheerleaders turned to look at him and there were a few gasps.

“No way,” Sara Steinbeck whispered. Sara’s best friend was Debbie Stackhouse. Or had been Debbie. Their little clique had started falling apart when Debbie went gaga over Dennis Enders after the big drug bust last January. Then she shocked the girls when she bleached out her hair and gave up her goth clothes to join the track team. They were still friends, but had definitely grown apart. Sara knew who Dennis was, of course. He was just the four-eyed runt of her class and she couldn’t understand why Debbie was so taken with him.

The vision that stepped in front of the cheerleaders was nothing at all like she remembered Dennis Enders. She started seriously reconsidering her reaction to Debbie’s infatuation.

“Hi. I’m Dennis. I’m working with several teams on conditioning. I’m happy to work with you. I won’t be able to work with you every day, but you might decide you want to join my general conditioning classes at six o’clock. That’s when I work with the cross country team and several members of the volleyball team.” It was the first time Dennis had worn the workout clothes his girlfriends had chosen for him on their shopping expedition the previous weekend. The singlet hugged his torso like a second skin and the matching spandex running shorts left little to the imagination.

He got the group up and onto the gym floor and started them with general stretching and loosening exercises. As he observed the eight women and two men, he was surprised to find there were so many good-looking kids at the high school. And it wasn’t that they were all classic beauties or had the same body types. Somehow, Janet had attracted kids that simply looked fresh and wholesome. He knew a few of them. Sara Steinbeck, Claudia Jones, and Fred Reichert were all in his class. Sara had been a member of Debbie’s clique. Her assessment that everyone in their class wanted to fuck Sara was pretty accurate. Her face wasn’t exactly pretty, with teeth that seemed a little too big for her mouth, but she had a killer body. Five-five with an hourglass figure and substantial breasts. Yes, he admitted to a fantasy or two about her.

Claudia had the exact personality you would want in a cheerleader. She absolutely bubbled with enthusiasm and school spirit—so much so, that you were likely to overlook her being a little pear-shaped. And Fred—the guy was acknowledged gay and had aspirations of becoming a GQ model. His short black hair was always perfect, clothing perfect, and teeth perfect. He had a five o’clock shadow that was always perfectly shaped. Girls went crazy for him when they first met and then quickly backed off when they discovered he was gay. He’d be a good cheerleader.

Once the team was stretched and warmed up, he started working on conditioning exercises.

“In gymnastics, tumbling, and cheerleading, your best conditioning is in core strength. So, I’m going to start you with some core exercises,” he said. “First, stand comfortably and relax. Not slouched! Feet slightly apart, back straight, shoulders back. Don’t exaggerate it. It should be a position you could comfortably hold for an hour. Now, I want you to flex your pelvic floor muscles. If you don’t know exactly where these are or how to flex them, imagine you are trying to hold in a fart.”

The cheerleaders all started laughing and had to get back in order.

“Are you serious?” One cutie asked.

“Yes. I’m sorry, I don’t know your name. What is it and what year are you?”

“I’m Donna Parsons, a freshman.”

“Donna, the very basis of your core is the pelvic floor. We’re going to work our way up and do exercises for the lower back, abdominals, and upper torso. But core work starts down here. You can also locate these muscles as the ones that help you cut off the stream of urine. I can’t exactly point to it and say it’s right here. You have to find it yourself and tighten and release.”

“I thought Kegels were sex muscles,” Rae Dean said. Dennis knew the blonde sophomore because she was a friend of Lana’s. She wasn’t quite as stacked as his girlfriend, but she seemed to have a permanent smile etched on her face.

“You know about that? Oh, gee!” Dennis said in mock horror. They laughed. “Think about it. Flexing these muscles works the whole pelvic floor. For women, that includes vaginal muscles. For men, it’s the same muscles that cause the twitch in your penis. These are all the pelvic floor. Don’t confuse it with squeezing your buttocks together or tensing your quads. Just work on tensing and releasing those pelvic floor muscles. Now I’m giving you this exercise because you can do it anytime and all the time. You can be sitting in class and do a hundred pulses, flexing and relaxing the pelvic floor muscles. You’ll be surprised at how much learning to use those muscles helps your posture, your bladder control, and yes, Rae, your sex life.”

Dennis taught the group five more exercises that focused on the core, balance, and stability. Without going into any of his usual conditioning exercises, the ten cheerleaders were all lying on the floor panting by the time they’d finished the stationary flying exercise.

“Well, I’m going to turn this back to Coach Mills,” Dennis said. “Don’t worry about her giving you exercises you can’t do, because she’s been doing every exercise I’ve led you in, so she knows exactly how you feel. It’s really great that you set an example like that, Coach. Thank you for inviting me to work with your team. Remember, I lead a full routine of conditioning exercises at six-thirty out on the track. Cheer is a sport just like any of our other athletic endeavors. You’ll be the best cheerleaders when you’re in the best condition.”

“Thank you, Dennis,” Janet said.

“Thank you, Coach!” The cheerleaders all chorused. That was the second time he’d been called ‘Coach.’ Weird.

“I’ll see you all here on Monday,” he said. “I’m afraid I’ve got commitments the next two days. Good luck, everybody!”

As soon as Dennis was out of sight, the cheerleaders clustered together.

“My god! Did you see the body on that guy?” Rae asked. “My heart, my heart!”

“I’d do him in a heartbeat,” Fred said. “Where’s he been all my life?”

“Lana says she’s one of his girlfriends. He has, like, a dozen of them,” Rae said.

“That is not the same Dennis Enders we’ve been in school with for ten years!” Sara said. “Where are his Coke-bottle glasses? When did he get so tall?”

“When did he get hung like that?” Claudia asked. “Or have such command in his voice. I never once considered not doing what he told us to do.”

“All right, team. I think you’ve spent enough of our time discussing our trainer. Now it’s time to start working on the basic footwork for cheer. Cheer is more than just bouncing up and down so your boobs bounce or your junk flops around,” Janet said, calling them together. “When Dennis comes back to work with us on Monday, I want to be able to show him how far you’ve come as a team. Ready? Line up.”

It was only three o’clock and Dennis saw the football team filing into the locker room when he reached the coaches’ locker room. He quickly pulled on his outdoor shoes, shorts, and a T-shirt instead of his singlet and went out to the mower. He figured he could get a full pass done on the football field and it would be better for their practice. He drove the lawn tractor out to the field and began mowing it down. The full field, bounded by the 400-meter track, was about two acres. The grass on the field was too long to cut to proper length in one pass, but he could cover the full field in about an hour and get a second pass done Saturday.

He could get that done before his meeting with all the team managers. He’d gone over the schedule with Coach Byers, and the team managers were a little late in getting started. His responsibility was to get all the managers up to speed on their duties and then all the managers would work together on unpacking the new sports equipment and uniforms. Bartley hadn’t had a football team in at least a decade, so their equipment was in pretty bad shape and most had to be replaced. They’d never had a volleyball team, so uniforms and equipment had all been ordered new. And finally, he had new cross country uniforms that needed to be assigned. Saturday would be a busy work day for the team managers.

He finished up the mowing, cleaned and stored the tractor, and ran home for dinner. He grabbed a quick shower and returned to the track for 6:30 conditioning exercises.

Fifty people were on the track when Dennis arrived to begin conditioning. Surprising him even more, several were guys he recognized from the basketball teams. Dennis stopped for a moment to talk to Rick Probst, the center and captain of the varsity basketball squad.

“Hey, Rick. What brings you and the guys out this evening?” Dennis asked.

“Geez, Dennis. Coach Byers called a bunch of us to introduce us to Coach Griffith. They told us we couldn’t start any official practice until November, but if we wanted to have a better chance at getting a slot on the team, we should show up for cross country training, even if we never race. I’m guessing you’re the reason,” Rick said.

“Well, conditioning is certainly a part of the reason,” Dennis said.

“If it does for us what it looks like it’s done for you this year, it should be worth it.”

“Let’s hope.” Dennis took his position in front of the athletes. There were just over two hundred students in Bartley High and a quarter of them were in front of him to get in shape. Another thirty or so were working on the football team. It was mind-boggling to have so much interest in sports after barely having a girls’ basketball team last year. He started them off with some basic loosening exercises and stretches, then started seriously into conditioning.

“This is a heck of a tough workout,” Drew Darnell said about halfway through. He was commenting to Rick, but a different voice answered from just behind him.

“This is what it’s going to take to have a winning team this year.” The boys turned to look at the speaker. “I’m Neil Griffith. I met you by phone. I’m going to be assisting the cross country coaches because we now have such a large team.”

“Glad to meet you, Coach.”

Dennis noticed that Ardith and Andy had both joined in the conditioning exercises, too. Coaches who get in shape? What’s the world coming to?

“Cross country, basketball, cheerleading, volleyball,” he shouted. “What makes a Bartley team able to beat an opponent?”

“We outlast them!” His girlfriends responded, much to the surprise of the other athletes.

“And how do we do that?”

“Run, run, run!” They called.

“Now that you’ve all heard the correct responses, let me hear it from the rest of you. What makes us able to beat an opponent?”

“Outlast them!” The group all yelled.

“How do we do that?”

“Run, run, run!”

“Good!” Dennis said. “I want the cheerleaders up here in front with me.” The surprised cheerleaders rushed up beside him. “Half on either side,” he commanded. They quickly got into position. “The cheerleaders want to cheer winning teams. They’ve got a stake in this, so they are going to help lead the conditioning exercises. It’s time to get tough. Pushups build upper body strength and expand lung capacity. Ready? Everybody down. Count ’em out!”

The team called out the cadence of pushups. Not everyone could quite make twenty-five, but they all tried. Each time they switched exercises, Dennis called out what part of the body they were working on. He kept the pace moving from one to another so that by the time the workout was finished, every single person was exhausted and sweating.

“Grab your water bottles and walk a lap around the track,” Dennis called to them. “Good job. Men, who are we?” That one they knew the answer to.

“Wolverines!”

“Women, who are we?”

“Angelines!”

“Everybody, what do we do?”

“Run, run, run!”

They all grabbed their water bottles and walked a lap around the track. The cheerleaders and volleyball players had all had a workout for their sports already and either sat out the running portion of practice or went home. Several gathered in small groups to talk about their summers, what they were doing in their sport, and what their practice had been like this week.

The cross country team, including the new members from the basketball team who weren’t already on either that team or the football team, ran intervals. They ran hard for a hundred meters and then walked fifty meters. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Even though they weren’t running all out, they only managed two kilometers before everyone was sagging.

“Whew! That was a great workout!” Andy said as the three men showered and dressed in the coaches’ locker room. Dennis had been a little leery about joining the men, but he was really not ready to join all the guys in the boys’ locker room. And he certainly couldn’t go into the girls’ locker room with all the new girls there.

“I wouldn’t have believed it without experiencing it. Was all that in the course you took this summer, Dennis?” Neil asked.

“No, sir. Brenda and I put a lot of extra time in on researching workout routines for each of the sports. Believe me, we tried every one of them out before we added it to the cycle. Then when I started working with more than just the runners, I talked to her last night and we tried to balance the workout for all the sports,” Dennis said.

“I have to admit, I haven’t been doing enough this summer,” Andy said. “That workout whipped me. It looks like I’m going to need to do it every day with you.”

“What a great idea to get the cheerleaders out in front to help lead the exercises,” Neil said. “It gets them in front of the team and shows they are as athletic as the players. What inspired you to do that?”

“Well, I worked with them this afternoon and got the idea while I was out mowing afterward. If they’re going to cheer the team, they should be where the team can see them. I found them inspirational,” he laughed.

“Can’t fault you for that,” Andy said.

“Hey, Coach, I was thinking, we need some kind of mobile cage for outdoor sports. Players bring their equipment bags with them to the field, but I realized when I went to get Darrel’s inhaler yesterday, that all their stuff was just sitting out on the bleachers. I bet people’s wallets and other valuables were out there. We should have it secure when we’re all out running.”

“Good point, Dennis. I’ll check with Jim to see what we might have available.”

“Hey, lover. How goes the training?” Brenda asked when she got to Dennis’s house about nine that evening. “We need any new exercises?”

“I’m exhausted,” he said flatly.

“Poor baby. Come to bed and let me give you a nice relaxing massage.” They left Dot in the living room and headed to Dennis’s bedroom. With the work on Mr. Abernathy’s farm and the sports training starting this week, Brenda had not had much time with her lover of late. And before that, there was Amy becoming Dennis’s lover. After her weekend with Dennis, Amy had been with Brenda every available moment. Tonight, though, was Brenda’s night for a little loving attention with her boyfriend.

“I’m not worth much tonight,” Dennis said. “I need to be up early in the morning to get Mr. Abernathy’s hay baled.”

“We’re all going to be there,” Brenda said. “You don’t need to face the world alone.”

“I love you,” he sighed as he lay down on his stomach. Brenda straddled his buttocks and began massaging his back. Any other time, Dennis would have become aroused with the naked blonde bombshell pressing against him. It was a sign of his true exhaustion that he fell asleep under her ministration.

Dennis awoke in Brenda’s arms after a deep and dreamless sleep. At least, he assumed it was dreamless as he didn’t remember dreaming. He’d been told that dreaming was part of what made one’s sleep restful. Regardless, he felt refreshed and energized. And horny.

Brenda cradled his head against her breast and he simply started sucking on her nipple. Its small hard point made an excellent target for his tongue as his hand sought out her other large breast. Brenda moaned with the attention and humped her hips forward against his thigh. Dennis shifted to position himself between her legs and began kissing his way down her torso to the hot center of her sex. Brenda had given herself a bit of pleasure after Dennis fell asleep the night before, but his attention this morning brought her fully awake and ready for his assault. She pulled her legs back and apart to give him better access and luxuriated in the feeling of his tongue bathing her clit.

The rise to her first peak was slow and delicious. Her pussy was wet and slippery as Dennis worked his way back up her body. When he reached her lips with his, his cock touched her moist center and slid effortlessly into her. Both moaned through the kiss and thrust against the other.

“You fill me,” she sighed. “Not just my sex. You fill my life. My soul. Who would have guessed that when I tried out for basketball, the team manager would so capture my heart? I love you!”

“I love you, Brenda. A year ago, I was hurting and alone. I was betrayed by my team. Then the most wonderful women I’ve ever met came into my life. And you showed me, taught me, what love is all about.”

“Come with me, lover. Come with me.”

It took little more encouragement than that for both to skyrocket into their orgasms. They held each other and kissed as their bodies grew slippery with sweat and the come began to squeeze out of her, past his cock.

“Oh, my God! I came in you without a condom! We’d better get cleaned up!” Dennis almost shouted. Brenda reached for the box of tissues and began dabbing at the flood running from her pussy.

“I won’t say that’s never happened before, but it’s been a very long time,” she sighed. “Don’t panic, love. I’m on birth control and we are safe with our partners from disease. I think we can tolerate the risk from a single ejaculation. And it was worth it. I’ve never felt so close or so loved.”

“I… Still we… I mean…”

“Yes, we should get up and take a shower, then go make breakfast for Peg and Ms. Dottie before we head for the farm. Check to make sure the coast is clear.”

Dennis checked and both teens ran across the hall to get in the shower, where they lovingly washed each other and shared more kisses. They scampered across the hall and dressed for a day of baling hay.

Chapter 4

“YES. WE HAVE a rolling equipment cage out at the baseball diamond. I didn’t think about that. The football team is using the locker room. We’re requiring a shower after every practice. Otherwise, you’d smell the team from across town. We’re starting them with shoulder pads today and you know how that just builds up the smell,” Jim said. The boys were getting ready for the morning practice in the locker room and the coaches walked out to the field together.

“Look at that!” Torvalds said. “Somebody mowed our field. We need to get some striping done.”

“Probably our chief team manager,” Jim said. Andy nodded.

“He did it right after your afternoon practice yesterday,” Andy said.

“Have you noticed how the guys have picked up the level of their workouts?” Torvalds asked. “Putting the challenge of beating the team manager in a race for a guaranteed spot to play in the first game really lit a fire under them. Of course, now I’ll have to figure out how to get them all in the first game.”

“Oh, you won’t need to worry about that,” Andy said. “You might have one or two who can run faster than Dennis, but not for three miles.”

“You’re kidding. If the kid was that athletic, he’d be playing sports instead of managing the teams.”

“Money on it?” Andy said casually.

“You’ve got to be kidding. Fifty says at least ten of our backfield and ends beat the manager and all the cross country runners.”

“Hmm. Okay. I’ve got another fifty that says we’ve got a girl who’ll beat all but your fastest five,” Andy said.

“You’re on. You want in on this, Jim?”

“No. I’ll hold the money. I’ll be back in a few minutes after I show Andy where the baseball equipment cage is.” Jim and Andy walked on to the baseball field as Torvalds inspected the mowing job on the football field.

“He has no idea, has he?” Andy asked.

“None whatsoever. He promotes the idea that footballers are the best, the fastest, the strongest, the toughest in a school. He’ll figure it out. I think it’s just his enthusiasm for getting a new team up and running. And who knows? The team has buckled into their workouts more since he issued the challenge. Do you really think Dennis is up to it?” Jim asked. He opened the shed next to the diamond and they rolled the cage out. It took a few minutes to empty it of the remaining equipment and then relock the shed.

“Yes. The only thing Dennis lacks is confidence in himself. He’s doing everything he asks the rest of the team to do in conditioning, including running multiple sessions in a day. He’s running with the team and is a natural leader. I’ll tell you, Jim, he may be a fifteen-minute cross country runner when he’s fully trained. Maybe not at the start of the season, but he’ll be among the fastest in the state by the State Tournament in Fort Dodge,” Andy said. They rolled the portable cage with them to the bleachers in the stadium and left it there as Jim went to join Torvalds in getting football practice started.

By that time, of course, Dennis and all his girlfriends were at the Abernathy farm and had the hay baler moving. There was less lifting of the bales than there had been at the Browns’ farm, but there, all hay was loaded straight onto flatbed semi trailers for transport. As soon as they had the first wagonload, they pulled it over to the stacking area and hitched an empty wagon to return to the field. The crews split and half unloaded and stacked the bales so the trailer would be ready for the next transfer.

They were nearly halfway done when the volleyball crew had to leave to get ready for practice at four. Two hours later, Dennis and the remaining six girlfriends had to quit and eat before Cross Country. It would take a second full day.

“Okay, Lady Wolverines. We’re beginning to see a team come together. We’ll keep pushing through the next week and by the end of the week we should know who will dress for our first match on the 24th,” Pat said to her team.

“Um… Excuse me, Coach,” Amy said. “We’re the Angelines.”

Pat shook her head. “What? The school site says Wolverines.”

“That’s the boys’ team. A female wolverine is an Angeline. We’re just as fierce but we have angel in our name,” Daniella said.

“I… Hmm. I’ll check that out with the department chair. Did you hear about that, Renée?” She asked her assistant.

“Yes. I wasn’t sure if it only applied to the basketball team,” the other woman said. “The cheerleaders have been practicing both.” Renée was working with Janet Mills on cheer choreography as well as assisting Pat.

“Okay. I guess. I’m still going to check with the athletic director.” She looked at the team for a second. “So, how is working out with the cross country team working for you?”

“It’s great, Coach,” Natalie said. “Dennis works us hard, but he does every exercise with us. So do the other coaches. The cheerleaders have joined as well as boys who want to play basketball this winter.”

“I don’t want you injured. Don’t do ridiculous exercises designed for boys.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the girls responded. They headed outside to hang out until the XC team had gathered. Daphne approached her mother.

“I want to go work out with the team as well,” she said. “Can you pick me up after?”

“No. Not tonight. Grace and Zeke have a Little League game tonight. We need to get home. You can shower at home.”

“I can get a ride. It’s no problem,” Daphne persisted.

“Are you saying you would rather go do another hour of exercises than watch your brother and sister play ball?”

“Um… Yes, ma’am. They never notice if I’m there or not anyway,” Daphne said.

“I don’t like this. I don’t like a boy taking over conditioning my athletes and I don’t like my daughter missing family events in order to participate in it.” Pat glared at her daughter. Daphne stood solidly staring her down. “Fine. I expect a call when you are leaving to tell me who you are riding with. No boys!”

“Everything is no boys,” Daphne grumbled. “Yes, ma’am.” Daphne turned to go join the other teammates who were working out with Dennis. There were only five volleyballers who weren’t joining his workouts now.

Pat watched her daughter go and wondered if she’d made a good decision leaving a girls’ school to move to this little town in the middle of Iowa. Well, this moved her one step closer to the college position she really wanted. She just needed to turn out a winning team.

Tomorrow, I’ll go observe this workout for myself. An extra workout just can’t be good for my team.

“Okay, people, we’re getting hot and sweaty, but you don’t look like you’re having fun!” Dennis yelled at nearly sixty kids and coaches who were in his workout that evening.

“How can we have fun when you’re working us this hard?” Dave called out. “I can barely stand up.”

“You can do it. Cheerleaders, what’s the first rule that a cheerleader must obey?”

“Um… No means no?” Sara suggested. Dennis was happy the cheerleaders had that driven home.

“That’s a good one, but I mean while you are cheering,” he laughed.

“Oh, I know,” Fred said. “Smile!”

“Right! Let’s see if we can all help you wear that smile. Let’s get some rhythm on this next one. We’ll do a four-count lunge. Watch once and then we’ll practice. Lunge, clap, pivot, close! Lunge, clap, pivot, close!” He demonstrated the lunge step that began to look almost like a dance routine. “Ready? Right foot. Lunge, clap, pivot, close. Other direction. Lunge, clap, pivot, close.” The first few were a little ragged, but the cheerleaders took over the count and encouraged their people to follow along and smile. A few thought smiling was more work than the exercise.

“Everybody grab your water bottles and walk a lap to cool down. Harriers and those who just want a little extra, stow your gear in the cage. We’re going to do a full five-k run today. It’s a slow one, but we’re going to run all the way. Cool down and get ready,” Andy called to everyone.

“Dennis, you have point tonight,” Ardith said. “We want a nice easy lope. Andy will take the middle of the pack and call out to you if it’s too slow or too fast. I run drag on this one. We’ll shoot for about a five-minute kilometer pace. I think everyone can keep up with that. Check your time with your stopwatch.”

When they’d finished their cool-down lap and had another drink of water, they locked their personal gear in the cage and followed Dennis out on their first full run of the course. Dennis was pleased with the condition of the course as it was his first time on it since he’d mown and swept it the day before.

Andy checked his cadence with a stopwatch and was pleased with the pace. They finished the course in just over twenty-five minutes. It took a few more minutes before the last stragglers came in, encouraged by Ardith. As Andy watched the runners, he was pleased to see three of the cheerleaders and five of the volleyball players took the full run with them.

He was pretty sure that even at the easy pace Dennis set for this jog, he’d beat most of the football players. Running steady five-minute kilometers was nothing to sneeze at. He was still sure Dennis could cut nearly a minute and a half or two minutes a kilometer off that.

Amy linked arms with Dennis to walk home and Brenda joined them in the parking lot.

“Are you as tired tonight as you were last night?” Brenda asked.

“Not quite. I had this fantastic massage last night and slept like a baby,” Dennis said.

“And woke up like a baby, sucking on my tit,” Brenda laughed. “Well, Numbers Two and Four would like a piece of you tonight, but we promise not to keep you up too late. We worked hard today, too.”

“No kidding,” Amy said. “It was hard to go from working in the field to volleyball practice to conditioning, to a three-mile run! I might not be able to do the run every day if Coach Pat decides to work us harder. I think she might be upset that we told her we needed more conditioning so we wouldn’t be out of shape when basketball comes around. But really, volleyball just isn’t as taxing as basketball. We don’t run more than a couple of steps and then jump. We’re all feeling it will improve our jumping, though.”

“Every sport uses different muscles,” Dennis said. “I’m trying to condition players for four different sports at once. If the basketball guys stick it out, they’ll be in a lot better shape in November than they were last year.”

When they arrived at Dennis’s house, it was nearly time for reading with Peg. She loved having her sisters Brenda and Amy there. Once she had happily skipped down the hall to bed, the three teens fixed a snack and a cup of tea. Dot joined them at the kitchen table.

“Are you all getting enough to eat with the calories you’re burning?” She asked. She set a plateful of celery sticks stuffed with peanut butter on the table.

“Mmm. These are good,” Amy said. “It might be too soon to tell, but I do feel like I’ve lost weight this week.”

“Dennis, we should set up a chart for people that shows their calorie burn from the workout and their practices. Everyone should be sure to eat near the same number of calories,” Brenda said. “You need a website. And a blog with tips and directions for injury prevention and conditioning exercises.”

“When and where am I going to do that?” Dennis laughed. “Not that it isn’t a good idea.”

“Why don’t you talk to your coach about getting a page and blog on the athletic department page in the school website. About the only thing that gets posted there now is the schedule for events and seasons,” Dot said.

“Mom? How do you know that?”

“I visit the page to get information.”

“You do?”

“Kids, I was pretty out of touch last year. Things just spiraled out of control with the attacks on you and Amy, the girls suddenly wanting to ‘help,’ and then with Dad being injured and then killed. I know it all affected you, but I don’t think I was being a very good mother. I’m still not sure how it came about that you have a girlfriend or two over to sleep with you whenever you want. That’s not normal,” Dot said.