Run into Maddie

During your commute, you thought about the discontent you saw from the cheer squad. Sure, there was some anger from you just handing Miss Marlow head cheerleader. More so, it was the apparent disrespect that they were given by the principal. And honestly, you couldn't blame them.

You know that anger and resentment would fester so long as you were seen as an insult to them. Pulling into the parking lot, you had 40 minutes before class. You decided to introduce yourself around the Athletics Department. If nothing else, get some information on the cheer squad; if nothing else, knowing all the squads' names would be a start.

Locking your car, you cross the parking lot heading to the gymnasium. Entering the building, you didn't see anyone, but you could hear some music coming from an open door.

Walking over to the door, you glanced in, seeing what looked to be a dozen guys lifting weights. "Can I help you, sir?" One of the young men asked when you appeared in the doorway.

"I'm looking for the office for the cheer squad?" You reply.

"If you go up the stairs, Sir, take a left. It's just past the girls' locker room."

Thanking the young man, you head up the stairs and turn left. After walking about 5 yards, you see Maddie Smalley come out of the locker room.

Seeing you standing there, she says resentfully, "Oh, it's you."

"Maddie, I," you say before getting cut off.

"It's Jason, right?" You nod. "I already heard from my mother. I'm just a student teacher, so she dumped all this on you."

She pauses before launching into her diatribe, "But those girls on the team are real athletes who work damn hard."

"I'm sure they do." You say, not realizing you should have kept your mouth shut.

"You will not patronize them." She growls, "For these girls, cheerleading is a sport that can get them through college without a hundred thousand dollars in debt. And we coaches do far more for these girls than teach them to wiggle their asses," she almost shouts.

Putting your hands up, you say, "What idiot said that?"

Maddie stops what she was going to say, taking a deep breath. "You haven't heard, have you?"

Shaking your head, she visibly wilts wearily, telling you, "Last night, Mom talked to the superintendent. He said, "There is no money in the budget for someone to train a bunch of sluts to wiggle their asses for the football team."

Not wanting to step on another landmine, you say, "What an asshole."

Maddie laughs hopelessly, her eyes red with unshed tears. "That's right, Jason, you're stuck with a job you didn't want and don't know how to do."

Reaching you, hug the woman who whispers, "It's not fair to them or me."

Comforting her, you murmur, "I know, I know."

Before things got uncomfortable, you stepped back, telling her, "Maddie, I didn't ask for this, but I'm not going to run from it, nor shirk it either. What I need you to do is gather the files we have on the team, and I'll look them over this weekend. I'm also going to reach out to coaches at the other schools for help."

"If you're up for it, I'll take you to dinner tomorrow night." You raise your hands. "It's not a date but a working meal for us to hash out how we're going to right this ship."

An exhausted Maddie says, "I'll bring the files by, and," she shrugs, "why not dinner tomorrow night, and we're going Dutch."

Plans made you head over to the main office. Entering the office, you could see Alice at her desk.

"Is Barbara in?" you ask the secretary.

"She had an early meeting and won't be in till 8," she replied.

Grabbing a post-it, you scribble that you heard from Maddie about everything. You also say you're calling coaches at other schools for help, and you'll make it work.

Handing Alice the note, you head to your classroom.