**FYI, this is only a teaser chapter. Just the first two chapters will be posted here on BC**

CHAPTER ONE

Have you ever thought about what it’d be like to just be sure of yourself? To be able to look ahead at your life and think, ‘yeah, I like where this is headed’.

My name is Caleb Weaver and I should really be further ahead in life by now. I graduated college two years ago with an English degree that I’ve done absolutely nothing with. All it means is that I’m pretty good at reading and writing. But what use is that? It doesn’t translate into a career. No employers are out there clamoring for hot takes on a centuries-old Charles Dickens novel.

The only thing I’ve found even sort of enjoyable is coaching volleyball. Though I’m a mostly skill-less person, the one thing I’m surprisingly decent at is getting the most out of other people’s potential. And that’s what coaching is all about: here’s a rock, now make a diamond.

So that’s why I’m still coaching two years out of college. As a 25-year old living on his own in the sleepy town of Batavia, Illinois, it’s hard to get motivated. My family doesn’t live nearby. I don’t have a ton of friends. I don’t have a lot of prospects in the dating world being a thin, fair-skinned man with straight-ish, long blonde hair. My nickname in college was ‘Rail-Thin Thor’ and shockingly, that wasn’t something the ladies flocked to.

But despite not always loving my job, when the evenings and the weekends come, I get just a little bit of that much-needed inspiration. And that’s especially true today.

You see, I work for one of the most successful youth volleyball clubs in the nation. Yes, the nation. And that club is called Fiery Force Volleyball Club, or FFVC for short.

FFVC is an enormous, well-oiled machine. Hundreds of kids fill the rosters of more than five dozen volleyball teams ranging from ages 7 to 18. The club owns two practice facilities where they organize daily practices and host weekly tournaments and events. Each team has an adult coach who instructs, mentors and, depending on the age, babysits.

I’ve bounced around team assignments over the last few years, but currently my team is ‘Boys 12 Silver’ — meaning the max age is 12 years old, and the ‘Silver’ referring to the second best team at that age level. Now, before you get impressed, there are only two boys teams at that age group. So if you wanna be cynical about it, we’re the worst of our age.

And don’t get me wrong, I really like most of the kids as people, but they’re not good at the sport. Some of that is no fault of their own since the gender norms insist that boys at that age play every sport except volleyball. Every year, we lose our most athletic kids to basketball or football. Usually by the time they get to the 18’s age group, the number of boys still playing can barely fill a (half decent) team.

So that means it’s really the girls program that shines. Typically there are four to six teams per age group for the girls, and the Gold team is always stellar. In fact, by the time they graduate high school (and finish their 18’s year), every single Gold girl has accepted a scholarship at a nationally-ranked D1 volleyball program. Stanford, Texas, Wisconsin, Penn State, you name it. Sometimes even the Silver girls get into these programs.

But let me tell you why today of all days is uniquely motivating. Boys’ club season ends at the start of the calendar year, which means we start the girls’ club season in February, after January tryouts. The past few seasons, since I’m younger, I’ve been given coaching assignments to the 8’s, 9’s and 10’s, as well as helping run training camps (either for boys and girls who are trying to move up teams, or just trying to make a roster). But this season I’ve been assigned assistant coach for ‘Girls 16 Gold’!

YES! This team of girls is genuinely special. Last year they placed 12th at Nationals and won several local and regional tournaments.

The only problem is that the 15 Gold team last year was heavily reliant on this girl named Meredith Goro, who was unfortunately poached by another local club. So we had our work cut out for us. But maybe, just maybe, being the assistant coach of a possibly top-tier team will be the jumpstart to self-motivation and direction in my life. Things could finally be turning around!

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“Blondie!” I heard someone yell from across the gym. I arrived 30 minutes early for my first practice. Seemed like a smart idea, since clearly some people didn’t know my name.

The source turned out to be Dottie Klein. I knew her. She was one of the most senior coaches at FFVC, and with a name like ‘Dottie’, you knew she was old. In her late 60’s at least.

“Normally the girls will get the nets set up, but since you decided to show up a half hour early and beat ‘em all here, you might as well get started,” she grumbled.

“Sure,” I complied, “but just so you know, my name’s Caleb. In case you…uh…forgot.”

Dottie paused, as if she were deciding whether or not to honor my request to be called by my own name. “Caleb. Okay. Your hair’s just so shiny it was blinding me from across the gym.”

I managed to eke out a laugh, assuming she was kidding. But just to be safe, I put my past-shoulder-length, ‘shiny’ blonde hair up into a bun. I wouldn’t want to ‘blind’ anyone else…

Per Dottie’s request, I retrieved the poles, nets, and antennae and got the majority of it set up before the first few girls trickled in and took over.

The practice was held in our ‘North Facility’ in Naperville, Illinois. It’s 20 minutes from where I live, and a lot more vibrant and interesting suburb than Batavia – one of the many reasons I found it invigorating to work here.

Within 10 minutes, almost every team had arrived. Each of the eight courts filled with coaches, players, and the incessant sound of bouncing volleyballs. Dottie blew her whistle and called in the girls and myself to start practice.

“Good to see you girls again,” she said, lightening her tone almost immediately with them. “Remember what I said at registration? How do I want to start every practice?”

Dottie pointed at the first girl, Macy, who spoke immediately. “Uhh…hmmm… today I learned about y=mx+b slope-intercept form in Algebra class.”

“You stole mine!!” shouted Kelsey, the girl next to her. The two girls laughed and shoved each other.

“Two of you can have the same thing, but no more,” Dottie shouted over the mess.

“Yes!” Kelsey fist pumped. “Then I also learned y=mx+b.”

This was totally unlike anything I would’ve expected from a Gold team. They were kicking things off by talking about what they learned in school? No hard drilling or anything like that right from the beginning? Especially with Dottie’s personality…

They continued around the circle, with a few hiccups, but eventually got through the school recap. It was a refreshing way to get introduced to the girls. Strangely, Dottie saved her introduction of me until after the school talk.

“And Gold,” she began. Dottie often referred to them collectively as ‘Gold’. “This is Coach Caleb. He’s going to be our assistant coach for the season.”

“Hi guys,” I said with a confident wave.

I was returned with a sampling of half-interested ‘Hi’s’ and ‘Hey’s’. Cold shoulder much? But there wasn’t time to further introduce myself, apparently, because Dottie got right into practice.

A typical warmup of tossing, hitting, then ‘pepper’ (essentially two-person volleyball), hitting lines, and a ladder drill took up most of the first 45 minutes. As assistant coach, my job was to be an extra set of hands, though I’d critique and correct form and strategy when needed.

But my notes weren’t immediately welcomed. Though the girls didn’t have a significant prior relationship with Dottie (as she didn’t coach them last year), they respected and worked hard for her. I suppose that’s understandable. Maybe I just needed to earn their respect.

Regardless, it was a tricky first day. I didn’t love not being immediately welcomed by Dottie or the girls. Was it because I was young? Or because I’m a man? Or maybe… I’m just so unqualified and unworthy to coach such a top-tier team. Was this all such a waste of time?

Dottie called in a final meeting before ending practice, recapping our drills and encouraging the girls to stick to it. “Good first practice. Great first practice. You all worked hard,” Dottie complimented. “ Listen, I understand the dynamic has shifted from last season. Meredith leaving is… tough. She was a rockstar and a great girl, and I’m she’ll do well with her new squad. But hey, without her leaving we wouldn’t have the addition of the wonderful Remi Leung.”

Dottie gestured to Remi, a tall brunette girl that plays Middle Blocker. I guess she’s got big shoes to fill with this Meredith girl gone… as well as fitting in with the new team.

I wasn’t expecting Dottie to reference me or ask for my opinion in the breakdown. So, while she was still talking to the girl, I took my hair out of my bun to re-tie it.

…and to my absolute shock, I got the attention I never thought I’d get. All eight girls whipped their heads around to me and stared at my head in awe.

“No way!” Harley said.

“So pretty!” Meghan jumped in.

It felt like a bombardment of compliments as the girls noticed the length and maintenance of my blonde hair for the first time.

Dottie smirked. “You girls like that? Coach Caleb’s hair nearly blinded me walking in today.”

I laughed quietly in agreement at each of the statements. “Well, uh, what can I say? I take good care of my hair.”

“It’s gorgeous! And so full!” Macy exclaimed. “What salon do you go to? I have to try it.”

“Oh, nowhere special. I just… well, I use oils and conditioners is all…”

I couldn’t believe the attention this was getting. Yeah, I have a unique appearance. It’s not like nobody’s pointed it out to me before. I’m a thin, 5’10” guy with long blonde hair usually seen on women.

Though I’d be lying if I said nobody’s ever pointed out my, umm… feminine qualities before. In college I used to get roasted for having a nighttime skincare routine. Same for shaving my underarms… a habit I kept up after doing a year of swim team in high school. And sometimes guys would give me shit for having a ‘girly butt’. But that was only because my workouts heavily featured squats, needed for jumping in volleyball.

After a few more questions about my hair, Dottie put a stop to the distractions and officially ended practice. But it was an undoubtedly odd way to wrap up my first day. Zero attention due to merit… all due to my hair.

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The entire 23 chapter story is live on Kindle! Super excited about this one. Hope you guys like it! :)

Link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BTMNTTGK