AR - Normality

Kayla emerges into the kitchen the same as she always has: a mess. She’s always been comfortable walking around looking like a disaster, and that hasn’t changed while you have been away. She obviously just rolled out of bed. Her hair is everywhere and she looks bleary. Her rumpled undershirt has slipped off one shoulder and she yawns loudly as she shuffles into the kitchen like a zombie, drawn to the smell of breakfast.

“Morning, Sweetie,” your mom says, handing her the plate.

“Coffee,” she mumbles, carrying the plate to the table.

Your mom smiles patiently and gets a mug.

“Nice to see you too,” you say to Kayla’s back.

“Hi, Riley,” she replies with another yawn, sitting down. “I need a fork.”

You get her one, and your mom puts coffee beside her. After a few bites and a few sips of coffee, Kayla becomes more alert. She probably has class today. You want to hang out with her and catch up, but you have class too. Your work is all online, but still. Neither one of you can slack off.

But you and mom join her for breakfast.

“What’s going on with the indoor soccer?” you ask. “Have you heard anything? Adella says that she’s going to coach the team.”

“She agreed to that? Interesting,” your mom says, holding her coffee mug in both hands. “I told Stef to ask her.”

“Why are they bringing it back? I heard they stopped,” you say.

“Some teacher wanted to, but then she got sick. A bunch of parents had signed up, but there was no coach because she was out. Someone from the biker gang jumped in and said they’d sponsor it,” Kayla says with her mouth full.

You suddenly remember. “That’s right. They stopped doing it because the church team was getting too small. They didn’t have enough kids.”

Your mom nods. “Right. So they were going to just do something else, something not competitive this year, but the church said they wanted in.”

“Where are they getting the kids? Hasn’t the church just like shrunk and shrunk?” Kayla asks.

“I don’t know. But they’re saying that they’ll field a team,” your mom adds.

“Well, what the heck is going on, then?”

“It gets better. The teacher that kicked it off has a sister-in-law married to the preacher,” Kayla goes on, mouth full again.

“Huh.” You frown and think about it. Ten years ago there was a lot less to do in Gurlberg, especially for girls. The indoor soccer thing was cool back then. But it’s no surprise that they stopped doing it after a while. Why bring it back? There must be… something that someone wants to gain from it. It’s not just a pissing contest between the schools anymore. Nobody cares about that, and frankly… the church and its little school are small and pitiful enough that there is no contest. At one time, you had two someone competitive little teams. Now? Can the church even find ten girls the right age who like soccer?