26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Winnie

I take a breath as I push the door of the staff room open to get inside. Given the time of the day, Telke should be there. I don't think it will be a good idea to talk to him about what happened here, yet...

Maybe I should stay in the library until the day is over before I look for him, but at the same time, I don't want him to think that I'm trying to dodge him. I don't mean to.

It was a long night of rolling around and planning what to tell him. He might be a nice guy, but I can't take the risk.

What if something goes wrong again?

I'll need another life to recover from that, which I don't have. Ossa's the one with nine lives, not me. I'm just a human trying to survive the world.

The staff room is humming with lazy energy when the bell hasn't rung and everyone's trying to treasure the moment of tranquility before the clock will shove us all to the kids and a busy day ahead.

I turn a corner to a shadow in front of me. I halt just in time. I think something has to change when it feels like I keep running into beings and almost bumping into them.

Corners at the corridors to be damned.

"Um... Good morning, Winnie."

I nod. "Morning, Jackel."

He smiles. "Happy to see you here. Hope you had a nice night's sleep."

"I tried my best." I chuckle. Jackel is a nice guy. Most of the beings who I met here are nice and pleasant to work with.

Jackel peeks in the direction of our row of seats. He is probably tall enough to see past the partition boards. I'm not, and I don't like that. The school should make the partitions transparent, so I don't keep running into others, even though that would defeat the purpose of partitions.

He says, "Telke's back from morning training a bit earlier."

Okay? What does that mean?

He winks as if he is giving me a hint or telling me that he's helping. "Maybe the practice for the teaching staff floatball tournament will start soon."

Oh, fuck... Now I remember that and I'm hardly excited.

Floatball...

I didn't figure out what my ex wasted my money on, but it could be bets on floatball matches.

It makes no sense for me to dislike floatball just because, but...

I shrug. "Maybe." I continue to my seat and Jackel continues on his way to somewhere.

Sports betting is the dumb thing, not floatball. I've never cared about sports anyway. It's not floatball's fault for me ending up in this situation.

"Winnie, where're you going?"

I look up from the floor to Telke watching me with a frown. He is... behind me... but my seat is... I've walked past my seat without knowing. Maybe staring at the floor all the time is the reason that I keep running into others.

I clear my throat as my cheeks heat up. "Nothing. I was just..."

"Trying to get coffee?" He smiles, even though the frown lingers on his handsome face. Is he worried about me?

He gestures at his desk. "I got you coffee already."

Except where I was heading wasn't even in the direction of the pantry. He's just looking for things to say. I don't mind, but...

I ask, "So, you got me coffee, even though morning training was just over moments ago?"

He winks and fixes his cap. "There's always time for coffee, and we'll always need it. I was planning to head to the library to give it to you, but I saw you... In short, let's enjoy coffee together?"

There's something in his eyes that screams about the actual topic of the day. But... like me, his words are stuck in his throat, and they will stay there until the end of the school day.

And maybe longer. I have to be with Kime in the library for a bit longer before her card for Telke will be completed. Hopefully, we can finish it today, but who knows?

I head to my seat and put my backpack under the desk. "Thank you. Next time, you can buy me tacos."

He chuckles and takes a sip of his coffee. "Taco's for the winner."

"So, I'll have to find something to win at."

He winks again, which sends my heart racing. "I suppose."

I lift the lid of the coffee cup as I take a deep breath, enjoying the freshly brewed coffee. Telke seemingly knows which type of coffee I like. I wish I could have coffee more, but until I resolve my debt, that's not happening. Soon, when the money hits the bank.

I take a sip of my coffee, letting its warmth spread in me. "We'll see. You'll be the one paying for all my meals in no time."

He laughs. "Ambitious, aren't we?" He sets his cup to the desk and flexes his arms. "I'm not going to make it easy for you."

I pat one of his arms. "Trust me, there are things you can't win just because you have all these hands."

He blinks and something in his eyes shifts. The air between us shifts, too.

Maybe I've said the wrong thing again.

Like... could that be read as how he could have the arms, but I still wouldn't care about him? And... he won't "win" me with the arms?

I take a sip of the coffee, trying to come up with something else to say. "How was your evening?"

He blinks some more and stares at me again.

Fuck... Now he's going to think that I'm getting to what happened after I ignored him and left him behind before he was done with his sentence last night. I don't mean to be mean to him at all...

He says, "My evening was fine. Ate a lot."

I lift my brows at him. "Ate what? Tacos? Imagining that you've won something?"

"Well..." He leans close to my ear and looks around. "I'd want to win you, but I know you aren't interested."

He moves away quickly, but he already leaves me sitting with my eyes wide. So... he has decided that...

What am I thinking? That would be good for both of us. We can be friends and just that. He's a good guy after all.

He takes another sip of his coffee and clicks his mouse, looking at something on his screen. I'm curious, but that's none of my business.

Maybe this is the end of our conversation, at least for now.

I have another sip of my coffee too. Maybe it is time to have a last check on the material for the lesson I will be having with the kids.

I turn on the computer when Telke asks, "So... Do you have time after school?"

Is he asking me out? I thought...

He continues, "I think it is almost time for us to prepare for the floatball competition. I hope you'd grow to like floatball, but I understand if it's not your thing. But since we're doing it on the Sports Day this year anyway, I think we can practice."

Um... Just he and I?

He seems to see my confusion, so he adds. "Our whole team will be going. It will be after the floatball team training session. I've already asked everyone else on the team. All of them can come. It will be great if you can also come. We can go through the rules so everyone will be on the same page for the sport."

So there will be someone else with us. I'm not sure whether it's a good thing or not. I don't mind learning floatball with Telke and spending some time with him, but given what happened, maybe it will be better for there to be others around.

I'm not a fan of any sport that requires outdoor activity. Floatball can be played both indoors and outdoors, but the field in the school is outside, so it's going to be hot...

But I think I should go so that the team will like me. I'm the newest teaching staff here after all, and it will be better to get along with everyone.

"Sure, I can join. I think I can have everything done within the after-school period."

He grins. I love his grin a lot more than a frown. "Great, we'll meet in the sports field by then. The floatball team will have the equipment out and ready, so it will save us set-up time. Depending on our progress, maybe we can have a friendly match."

It sounds like quite a bit when I've never played the game before. But he's a coach after all, so he should know what he's doing.

I say, "Sounds good. Hopefully, everything goes well. But I don't get it. Is it a tradition of the school to have a floatball match between teaching staff every year? Or is it a new thing?"

He chuckles. "Floatball is the new one, but staff matches aren't new. Every year, we do something different. Usually, it's for simple sports that most already know. Last year, we had relays. The year before, we did spear-throwing. I think there was a year we did axe-throwing. The principal loves to encourage us to stay healthy, so.. Or say, he loves to watch us struggle in front of kids."

I roll my eyes. "Seriously? Even axe-throwing is on the list?"

"Yeah. It was wild."

"Who won that year?"

Telke sits up and looks over the partition. So... It sounds like he didn't make it up. "That one over there. I'm not sure whether you know him though. His aim is golden."

"How did you do in the match?"

He blinks. "Well..."

"Sounds like that's something you can't win just because you have more hands."

"Yeah... That's such a bummer. I tossed the axe, and it... Well, let's say we used a backup pillar that day..."

I snort a laugh. "Geez, who were you trying to murder? You're supposed to hit the target, not the pillar. Not to mention the axe couldn't be that sharp, yet you broke things."

He spreads his hands to the side. "Look, I know that, but... Let's say all I did was miss that inch, and..."

"You didn't even scratch the target."

He rolls his eyes and huffs. "Yeah, you can say that."

Axe-throwing is like archery. There are no rules on how to throw the axe as long as it hits. The closer it hits the target, the more points one gets.

I say, "Apparently, you were not good at aiming at the right thing."

He blinks, seemingly deep in thought. Maybe I made him think of something else again. When can I be smarter with my words?

He says, "I think I've gotten better at aiming at the right thing. Knowing what to aim at is half the battle. Even though I may not hit, if I don't try, I won't stand a chance."

A heat surges in my stomach. I'm about to ask him something else when the bell rings.

He finishes his coffee and stands. It is time for silly assembly again. I understand it's good for students to have time to learn about topics outside the school curriculum from guests. But I'm still not interested enough to be attending with joy.

I don't think Telke likes that either. But it is what it is. After assembly, I'll be off to do my work, which will be a lot better.

And... The floatball practice after the day is over. It almost feels like I'm back at school as a student myself.