Rebound: A 2nd Chance

After walking out of the frame of the video Coach Swendel walked up to the person holding his cellphone as he disconnected the video call.

The person that had been acting as his camera man was actually a pimple faced teenager with oily hair and baggy clothes.

Coach Swendel pulled out his wallet and took out a five dollar bill "Here you go. Thanks for being my camera guy Clark.

But what was with the speech? Don't you think it was too emotional? I feel like we should have gone for something more sophisticated and smart sounding."

The teenager named Clark pushed his oily hair away from his forehead to wipe some of the sweat off "Hey you gave me an hour and ten bucks. That was the best I could come up with.

Now where's the rest of the money? You said I would get another ten for being your camera guy for the interview."

Coach Swendel nervously chuckled before pulling his wallet back out. He flipped it upside down and all that fell out was some lint.

"You know that I'm good for it. I'm just a little tight on cash right now. Just give me a couple days alright?

And besides it's not like I'll try and pull a fast one on you. We literally live in the same apartment complex."

Clark put the five dollar bill into his pocket before staring back at Coach Swendel "You have three days."

After Clark walked out of his studio apartment Coach Swendel went over to his bed in the corner and fell back into it.

After letting out a sigh of relief he unbuttoned the white dress shirt he had underneath his suit jacket and loosened up the tie around his neck.

"Damn this thing is uncomfortable. The last time I wore this was back when I was job hunting.

Back when I had just graduated college and still had the energy and dreams that a young person would have."

As he was reminiscing about his younger self and how he had larger than life goals and dreams Jason's face popped up in his mind.

When he had first met Jason he had only seen him as an opportunity to finally get out of his repetitive and mundane life.

But after spending so much time with him and being exposed to his genuine unfiltered love for the game Coach Swendel's view on Jason had changed.

He smiled to himself 'The ability to not think about the hows and whys is really the best part of being a kid.

Those kids are going to be perfectly fine without me. They could probably win a national title with a monkey for a coach as long as Jason and Udonis are there.

I guess there's nothing wrong with sacrificing a useless person like me if it means protecting those kids from any problems.'

- - -

The next day. Monday morning was slightly chilly for California standards as the temperatures began to lower indicating winter's arrival.

Jason and Kyle both had on Jefferson Middle School hoodies as they mindlessly made their way through their classes.

It wasn't that they didn't want to pay attention in their classes. Their minds were just too preoccupied with everything that had happened on the news.

Everyone on the team had tried to get in contact with Coach Swendel after seeing him on the news but no one was able to get a hold of him.

This morning all of the guys came to the school early to try and see Coach Swendel in his office but the lights were off and the door was locked.

Normally Coach Swendel would be in his office leaning back in his chair with his feet on top of his desk as he ate a sandwich for breakfast while browsing the internet on his phone.

Jason and the rest of the guys from the team left in low spirits after seeing that Coach Swendel wasn't there.

- - -

After Ms. Yuller's English class Samantha ran up to Jason and Kyle as they were walking to their next class in the hallways.

Samantha had a worried expression on her face as she looked at the two of them "You guys are still bummed about the whole thing with the news huh?"

Jason turned around and saw her "Oh hey Sammy. Yeah, and it's not just me and Kyle. The whole team is kinda running on low right now.

Everyone's been trying to call Coach Swendel's phone since yesterday but no one has been able to get a hold of him.

And we went to Coach Swendel's office this morning but there was no one there. Coach never shows up late. "

Kyle sadly nodded his head "Normally Coach is there first thing in the morning watching our highlights on his phone and smiling his face off. It felt so weird to see the door locked and the lights off."

Samantha patted the both of them on their backs "That really sucks guys, I'm sorry to hear that. But I'm sure things will turn out alright.

There hasn't been any news yet about Coach Swendel losing his job so at least there's that. We just need to keep a positive mindset and put out some good energy into the universe.

I'm sure Coach Swendel wouldn't want to see you guys moping around all day." Jason nodded his head in agreement with Samantha.

"You're right Sammy. Coach wouldn't want to see us acting like this. No matter what the situation is like we gotta get our heads ready for this week's games.

And like you said we haven't gotten any bad news about Coach Swendel. We should have a positive mindset."

Just as Jason had finished talking the intercoms of the school turned on as Jason heard Principal Morris' voice while they were out in the hallways.

"Hello student's of Jefferson Middle School. This is Principal Morris speaking. If you are a part of the school's basketball team please come to the gym after school. Thank you."

The intercoms turned off as everyone in the hallways turned around and began to look at Jason and Kyle as they all whispered among themselves.

Jason gulped 'I don't have a good feeling about this.'

- - -

The entire day everyone on the team was on pins and needles as they waited for school to finish so that they could finally go to the gym.

Everyone had worried expressions on their faces as they all took a seat on the bleachers. It was as though no one dared to talk as they all just waited in silence.

Finally after about five long minutes of silently sitting around they heard the doors open. Everyone hurriedly turned their faces in the direction of the doors.

But their excitement died down after seeing that it was only Principal Morris by himself. Coach Swendel was nowhere to be seen.

Sweat could be seen rolling down his round dark brown face as he walked over to the bleachers.

"Good afternoon children. I know that the past few days must have been hard on you all. But I can assure you that things will be getting better."

Jason ignored the principal's pleasantries as he raised his hand and got straight to the point "What's going to happen to Coach Swendel?"

Principal Morris was shocked by Jason's blunt approach. After an awkward pause he coughed to clear his throat.

"Hmmm yes Coach Swendel. He was an admirable coach and his years of service will always be something that the school will be thankful for.

His fiery spirit and his never back down attitude was commendable and he did a wonderful job protecting the reputation of his players and his team.

Unfortunately after claiming that it was his idea to have you not shake hands with Tustin Middle School as well as the incident with Vista Heights we had to make a decision that was not easy to come to.

This morning I received a call from the Middle School's Basketball Committee. They told me that despite their own unwillingness to bring down any disciplinary actions they had to punish us in some way.

Because it is part of their rules that teams must shake hands before and after each game. If they were to turn a blind eye to us then they would be under scrutiny by all the other schools.

Luckily since they themselves didn't feel that we should be punished too harshly they kept their hands light with the punishment.

Coach Swendel will be suspended from his duties as coach for Jefferson's basketball team for the remainder of the team's activities for this season.

He will not have his name attached to any achievements the team produces during the time of his suspension and he will not be allowed to attend any of the games.

Now I know that you have all grown fond of Mr. Swendel and that some of you have known him for years now but I guarantee you that I am trying my best to find the most suitable candidate to take the role of interim coach. The school will spare no expense to-"

After they heard that Coach Swendel would be suspended for the rest of the season the heart's of all the players sank.

Everyone had grown accustomed to seeing Coach Swendel's goofy smile and hearing him celebrate proudly whenever they did even the smallest of things.

To all of a sudden hear that he would no longer be involved with the team felt like they were having the rug pulled out from underneath them.