My day took a different turn after lunch than anticipated. I didn't care though; I was grateful for any distraction from the weirdness of needing to avoid Lynn's questions and bumping into Adrian at all costs.

Reagan was our class president as well as student council vice-president, so she was tied up prepping for homecoming votes. Mr. McClendon had stopped me in the band hall and asked that I take the drill team's measurements to Mrs. Tandy. She was in the girls' athletic wing meeting with the cheer sponsor, he informed me. Principal Sabella was making them order the drill team's uniforms through the cheerleading program. A sign we had been impressive enough to invest in.

All the band money came from the band booster parents that held fundraisers, and that usually went to instruments and the band trips. Passing us off to the cheer sponsor meant Mrs. Tandy got us some more money. As much as I was going to loath walking into the cheerleader's room, I was proud of the task at hand.

The athletic wing of school was quite amazing. Instead of the high school gym separating the girls' locker room and the boys' on either side, the gym was flush against one wall with an arena of stadium seating upstairs that surrounded the basketball court. The double doors in and out of the gym led to one huge athletic department. It was only the two separate staircases upstairs that gave the illusion that the athletic department was separated into a girls one side and a boys on the other. Walking down the stairs on either side would take you to your destination. The weight room was the only divider. It separated everything in the middle, and simply walking across or passed it, or swinging a left in front of it from the girls' staircase, would lead you to the girls' locker room. There were some small dividers in between, such as cheer P.E., "the cheerleaders" room. It was mostly just for changing their clothes after practice or meetings as everything they did took place on the field or gym floor. Then there were a few coaches' offices and the shop teacher's office in between and further down the hall.

That said, I had never in my experience seen any sort of path crossing to the point I thought it was set up odd or unsafe. The girls' locker room was appropriately spaced away from the guys, and even with the glass walls making the interior of the offices visible throughout the entire area, the locker rooms and the cheer P.E. room were not transparent, and there was never a reason for the coaches to pass by that little carved out girls' section. Of course, we could all see the guys no matter where you stood. They had more rooms, more stuff and bigger locker rooms for football pads. Mapping all of this out still doesn't quite help me understand what I saw, much less experienced, but it is how it happened that Monday.

I ran down the boy's athletic steps and beelined across toward the cheer P.E. room. Anyone down in the area would have been in the locker rooms changing back for class. We had a good ten or fifteen minutes before the bell. I passed the weight room, and before I knocked on the cheer room door, one of the glass window offices two down from it caught my eye. It was a scene I recognized, only this time Principal Sabella was not included. Adrian sat across from the assistant coach and Coach Craig. Coach Timpson, my freshman English teacher, was standing above them all with his arms folded. Adrian's face was redder than I had ever seen it, and he was working hard to explain himself. I couldn't hear anything, but I could see it. I saw enough to know Coach Craig was screaming at the top of his lungs when he interrupted Adrian and lunged toward his face from across the desk.

In complete self-preservation, I had stepped back toward the cheerleading door and my fist was knocking before I consciously ordered it to.

"We're changing in here!" I heard Hanna announce. The old me would have barged in and said, "nothing I haven't seen before." A sentiment that would have been appropriate now, but I'm not sure welcomed, as I no longer felt welcome with my former friends. Friends. I should apply Lynn's joke and use that term loosely when referring to this bunch.

Mrs. Palmer, my old cheer sponsor opened the door to let me in. "Well, hello, July. It is so wonderful to see you."

"Thanks, you too."

"I saw you ladies knock 'em dead last week, it's a shame our boys didn't do the same."

"Well, then again it could be because you're not their coach!" We shared a laugh, but the joke more than hit home for me. I couldn't get Adrian's red face out of my head, or the way that vulture was lunging at him.

"Ladies, we have a visiting friend of yours."

"Oh, no, I'm here for Mrs. Tandy. I've got the new uniform measurements for her." I looked over at the varsity cheerleaders listening intently as they changed for our next period. I hoped to God they didn't think I thought I was working my way back in through this little drill team charade. Some of their faces certainly suggested it.

"Oh, she just left. Here, let me grab the order sheets and we'll put all of these together. I'll give you a copy of what we worked on for Mr. McClendon and you can leave me a copy of the measurements. Deal?"

I smiled and nodded. I couldn't help but notice the cabinets on the back wall across the room. They had our drawers for our things, and you could still see part of the J where mine used to be labeled. I guess mine and last year's graduating seniors were the only ones that had to change. I tried not to stare when I read Natalie Hilliard's name across my drawer. She was a sophomore who had made varsity this year. She could tumble well and was a very sweet girl. I sounded like my grandmother complementing someone in my head as I tried to justify my way out of feeling the sting.

Wendy Tomlin, one of the Tomlin twins and a senior on the squad raced by me, buckling her platform sandals as she ran. She leaned up at me on her way out the door and pecked me on the cheek, "You'll be there Saturday, yes?"

"If I make it through this week!" She took that as a yes and bolted out the door without closing it.

"Oh, come on, I'm half naked here." Devin screamed from the back of the room by the cabinets."

"Sorry! I'm late for Chem lab!" Whitney shouted back running full speed up the boy's stair well.

I was still waiting for Mrs. Palmer to return with the order forms, so I politely moved toward the door to shut it. I was only five or so feet away, but it had swung all the way open wide exposing all the girls changing in the room. I walked up and heard male's voices coming out of the weight room. It wasn't our guys, it was Coach Bartlett's voice I think, and I could see Coach Dodge coming towards me. Wait, what? If I could see Coach Dodge then he could see... As I raced around to reach the open door my eyes met Coach Dodge. His eyes were glazed over and starring straight into the room of changing girls.

They were too far away to hear their voices and had been gabbing since Wendy's exit, so I don't think they noticed. I'm sure Devin naturally assumed I had moved to shut the door as planned. A cold chill ran through me as Coach Dodge finally brought his eyes up to mine and realized I was standing there and saw the whole thing. How incredibly creepy. There was nothing normal or even TV sitcom funny about it. It was strategic and something I'm certain he'd stepped into before as I noticed he was careful to walk directly down the path to put him in eyeline with the inside of the room.

Whereas, Coach Barlett, whom I hadn't even seen yet, only recognized his voice, continued to walk and talk veering off toward the offices. I shook my mind clear of what I'd just seen, and as I heard Coach Barlett's voice trail away from the area something came over me. I thought of the office Adrian was held hostage in and how it was perfect timing for him to walk by, only he wouldn't see it. At first, I think I ran out to feel safe and normal, to confirm that was in fact Coach Barlett out there. He was a good guy. I had him for history and he set a clearer precedence of making us all feel he put our wellbeing first both on and off the field. Coach Bartlett was older, more distinguished, and far more intelligent than Coach Craig and Coach Timpson, and apparently young "Chester Molester" Coach Dodge. I say young... he must have been thirty-two or so, but he had a youthfulness about him, and most of the girls swooned and talked about how hot they thought he was. He certainly just lost my vote.

Coach Bartlett was also the track coach. Even though our school was run by football, there was no question that Bartlett had more invested tenure, esteem, and the literal track record to show for it above Coach Craig. He took us to state last year in track, and he's the one that made Adrian fast by giving him his workouts last summer. At least that's what Lynn told us when she would joke and call Adrian Forest Gump for an entire summer of seeing him running down their street back and forth every time she looked out her window.

When I shut the door behind me, I realized I had committed to walking out of the cheer room and standing directly in front of Coach Dodge. My eyes were sharply fixed on his caught expression, but what I had in mind to do next took far more guts. I looked away from Coach Dodge, letting him off the hook so I could chase Coach Bartlett. It was him. A small sigh of relief went off in my head, and I am certain I grabbed his arm a little more dramatically than necessary because I was so glad to see him. He was short cutting to head straight down to the offices on the other side of the weight room, and if he had just taken two steps forward and looked up he would have seen Adrian with Coach Craig and the others.

"Coach Bartlett!"

"July. Is there a fire somewhere?"

"No. I-I'm just glad to see you." I tried not to look too crazy, but there was something about my desperate energy in this moment that seemed like it would get his attention quicker. At this point I didn't care if I embarrassed myself. How could I, after Coach Dodge. I think he won the award. My hand still tugging on his arm, I looked back toward the cheer room and the glass office a few doors down. Adrian's red face was still there and Coach Timpson pacing while Coach Craig continued ranting. It could have been incredibly awkward for me had they not all still been there.

"July! What is going on... are you okay?"

That's what I meant about him, he asked if I was okay first instead of demanding I let go of his arm.

"Um, I am, Coach Bartlett, but I stumbled on someone or something that I think is not okay." God, I wished in the back of my mind that fucker Coach Dodge was still standing in ear shot, wondering if I was throwing him under the bus. That would have been priceless.

I stepped backwards pulling him with me with the same arm I grabbed. "I just think there is a conversation happening that you should be a part of." I looked back toward the office and saw Adrian looking up at me through the window. I can only imagine what he saw until Coach Bartlett came into view... me pleading and pulling an arm of a grown man. The look on Adrian's face was a combination of déjà vu, confusion, and horror. Coach Bartlett looked at me and then in the direction I was insisting on, and he immediately got it. He stood up straight, releasing his arm from my grip and took two over six-foot-tall man strides toward the football office. He and I were standing to the side of it at that point, and anyone in the office who looked up would have seen us. From what I could tell, Coach Craig and the assistant were talking to Coach Timpson, and Adrian was shaking his head in disbelief. He looked back over at me. His eyes changed instantly when he saw Coach Bartlett standing there. I could only hope at that moment it was a good thing. Coach Bartlett looked down at me.

"Well, why didn't you just say so, July? It looks like I'm late for a very important meeting." He looked at me and nodded as if to confirm I did the right thing. "I better get in there." He walked past me and straight into the office. I wanted to hang out and see Coach Craig's face when Bartlett laid down the law, but I didn't want to make Adrian nervous. I had one thousand percent crossed a line and felt I should leave well enough alone while I could. If I could. Let's see, so far superhero July caught a peeping tom and sent in relief for Adrian that he did not ask for and potentially did not need. Wow. For somebody with no real business to speak of, I was certainly in everyone else's.

The bell rang and I flew up the girls' athletic steps. I would have to go back for Mrs. Palmer's order sheet later. I needed to get out of everyone's way. It was time for Superman to find a phone booth and change back to Clark Kent. What the hell was wrong with me, what did I just do? The very worst part about it was that I couldn't even over analyze why I did it.

Standing there terrified of potential problems it might have caused, I inherently knew it was the right thing to do, and I would do it again no matter how crazy it was. I didn't know what they were talking about, but I knew it had to do with his quitting football by his own accord, and I knew Coach Craig had already mistreated him for it. Anything past what already went down in the office that day, would have been abusive. Principal Sabella was little to no help. I just brought in the only person left who could be. Right place, right time... right?