Mixed Doubles by John Feinstein

Author:John Feinstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

* * *

Since he knew he wouldn’t be at lunch on time, Jeff sent Andi an early morning text to let her know he was going to see Coach Foster and Coach O’Grady at the start of lunch, so he’d be a little late.

Her response was brief: You sure about this?

His response was briefer: Yes.

He didn’t hear much that was being said during his morning classes. He was going over what he wanted to say again and again. At one point he reminded himself that he wasn’t writing the Gettysburg Address, that he needed to get to the point quickly and not ramble. And then he remembered that the Gettysburg Address was only 272 words long and it had taken Abraham Lincoln under four minutes to deliver it.

So maybe he should be thinking about the Gettysburg Address.

When the fourth-period bell finally rang, he bolted for the door. Then he realized he didn’t want to rush, and he didn’t want anyone to see him rushing to the stairs and up to the third floor. So, he deliberately slowed his pace.

He arrived at room 304 at the same time as Coach O’Grady. They exchanged awkward greetings and walked inside. Coach Foster was sitting at his desk. It appeared that he was grading papers.

“Joan, Jeff, come on in,” he said.

He stood up, rolled his chair around the desk and said, “Let’s all of us grab chairs and talk.” He nodded in the direction of two chairs that weren’t attached to writing desks. They all sat. “Jeff, I’m pretty sure Coach O’Grady and I know what this is about, but why don’t you go ahead and tell us and we can go from there?”

Jeff nodded. For a moment he was distracted deciding whether to keep both feet on the floor or cross his legs to look more casual. He decided to keep his feet on the floor. There was nothing casual about this meeting—certainly not as far as he was concerned.

“First, thank you both for taking the time to meet with me,” he said. “I know this is the one time all day you get a chance to catch your breath.”

“And to eat,” Coach O’Grady said with a smile to let Jeff know she wasn’t complaining.

“Right,” he said. “Me too.”

Her comment distracted him for a moment from his prepared speech. He took a deep breath to stall and regroup mentally.

“What I wanted, really, is to ask if you could explain to me why I got dropped from number one to number two when no one else has been dropped anywhere in the lineup except after a loss?” He held up a hand when Coach Foster started to say something. “Sorry, Coach, can I finish please? I don’t mean to be rude but…”

“I understand, Jeff, my bad,” Coach Foster said. “Go ahead.”

“Anyway, like I said, I got the notion of experimenting a little when you did it since Gary and I are pretty evenly matched, but since then, he’s struggled in every match and I’m

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