Under the bed

He dove for the small space under the bed. It was a tight squeeze, but he scratched and scraped until he managed to wedge himself under. From the darkness, he watched Tanya's feet race across the room to the door, her makeshift bedsheet-robe trailing behind her.

She opened it. "Hi, Coach! What do you need?"

"What was all that racket?" he heard Vanessa ask, "Is there someone else here?"

"No," Tanya wheezed, "I was just in the shower, uh, singing to myself."

"Oh, sorry to interrupt. Do you need a towel? Here, let me get you one."

"No, that's okay. They're all wet anyway. I'll just use this. Did you need something?"

"Yes, actually. I wanted to strategize with you a bit before we head over to the gym. Let's have a seat."

The two padded over in his direction, and John felt the bed above him creak as Tanya sat down on it. Her feet rested on the floor just inches from his face, followed by the dangling front edge of her sheet, which obstructed his view of anything else.

"First, I want to say that I think we have a really great team this year," came Vanessa's voice from what he assumed was the far bed. "You guys have all done great to get this far. No matter what happens, you're all winners to me..."

Oh great---a Vanessa pep-talk. This might take a while. John steeled himself for a long camp-out. He picked at the carpet for a while with his fingers, wavering between boredom and terror of discovery. In front of him, Tanya's feet dangled, toes just touching the carpet, heels facing him. They were pretty tempting. On the other hand, it was an awful risk.