[2009 – October]
"Girls, come on! Let's start practice, put away your phones! We are already behind the clock!", Sophia called out loudly while clapping, trying to get the attention of the full attention of the teenage girls under her command as the coach of the Cheerleading team.
She had been busy with some administrative work before the training and had not managed to crawl out of the mountain of paperwork in time for the training session, which caused her to be a few minutes late.
Having a strict work ethic, Sophia naturally wanted to make up for the lost time so she had no choice but to urge the girls under her charge to skip the chatter and directly start the training.
Normally, she would have loved to take a few minutes and engage the girls in a conversation, giving advice where needed or just listening while they opened up to her about their troubles.
She had been a teenage girl once after all, and knew very well how important an open ear and a shoulder to cry on could be sometimes.
At their age, life was messy as they had to juggle their studies and physical changes, all the while trying to fit in. The popularity contest was brutal and it was often fought at the price of individualism and personal happiness.
Sophia took her position as a coach very seriously, having done this job for over a decade, but she also tried to be a friend and confidant to these young girls who had no idea yet what it meant to be an adult woman and the challenges that awaited them in the future.
For her, this wasn't about instilling some victimized feminist ideology into the minds of those vulnerable girls but helping them understand their own value.
She knew that at their age, chasing boys and 'falling in love' was exciting and seemed much more important than school or their future even.
But the fact was that if they didn't learn to value themselves enough to not just throw away their modesty for any boy that came around early on, they would sooner or later be faced with the bitter truth that no man, or woman if that was what they were into, would ever see in them that same value.
As such, this wasn't about chauvinism but about self-respect and self-worth.
If they didn't learn to respect themselves, how could they expect their future partners to respect them? And without mutual respect as a basis, how could they build a strong relationship with possible future partners?
Sadly, such simple and traditional concepts seemed to become more novel and outlandish as time passed, which truly was a source of serious concern for her.
Still, she usually only voiced out these thoughts and worries so clearly to her husband and friends as there was no use in lecturing the girls about things that they could not yet grasp at their age with their limited life experiences.
Being a friend and mentor was enough to gently nudge those little chatterboxes in the right direction or at least help them find their way easier.
Today though the girls didn't seem to listen to her as well as they usually did as they reluctantly stared at their phones and hesitated to put them away, which made her furrow her brows as they all knew how strictly she liked to keep the training separate from the bonding in their leisure time to instill a sense of discipline in them.
This included that no one was allowed to check on their phones during breaks, in fact, their phones were to be placed in a box at the side so they wouldn't be tempted in the first place.
"Come one, girls! No dilly-dallying, we have a big game coming up and a lot of work to do!", Sophia called out again.
"Sorry Coach, we were just watching a video of the basketball one-on-one between two seniors from the school that happened during the lunch break.", Ashley, the captain called out apologetically while skipping towards her, intending to place her phone in the box by her side.
Raising a brow, Sophia couldn't help but scold with a smile: "Wouldn't it be more productive to watch recordings of some Cheerleading practices than a sparring match between two basketball players?"
"It wasn't a sparring match, Coach Delgado. One of them isn't even on the basketball team.", Isabel added, her cheeks a bit red.
A bit intrigued now since she was sure a simple match wouldn't have made them so engrossed, she couldn't help but ask laugh: "Mhm? So which two seniors should I blame for leading you little vixens astray then?"
The answer to this question though had even her take a step back inwardly.
Giggling amongst themselves for a moment, Ashley answered: "It was Flash Thompson and Elijah Frost."
"Flash Thompson? And Elijah Frost?", Sophia repeated with surprise, having some impression of these two teens, especially the latter who was a very charming young man, his mild personality and serene yet collected presence leaving an impression on anyone who came across him.
Doubly so for her since she had just invited Jean Grey to join the Cheerleading team after doing some gymnastics with the female seniors for P.E. and finding out that the gorgeous girl had some great talent and experience in that area.
And from what she had heard through the gossip channel and seen with her own eyes, Jean and Elijah were a couple. In fact, when Sophia had seen them together, she had been nothing short of shocked by the aura of intimacy and devotion between the two.
That dark-haired young man was certainly someone special and it caused Sophia to forget about the training for the moment as curiosity bubbled up in her heart.
"Well, spill the beans already, who won?", she asked Ashley with a smile, traces of anticipation and curiosity in her tone.
Ashley though didn't reply like she had expected, instead, her eyes seemed to flash with a fair bit of excitement as she picked up her phone again and said: "You have to see for yourself, Coach, or you will surely regret it! Don't worry, we will just extend the training a bit for the time we waste but you have to watch!"
Saying so the young girls crowded around her as Ashley held out her phone and played the video, their excitement visible.
Sophia originally wanted to protest but couldn't overcome her own curiosity, nor overlook the excitement and urging from the girls. Compromising internally by silently agreeing to extend today's training for a few minutes, she eventually looked at the screen of the phone.
It took her a few seconds to adjust and recognize the moving pictures and what they represented but when it finally happened, her eyes widened in shock and her jaw dropped, so surreal was the recording.
She had seen Flash play and knew that he was very good for his age group, among the top even.
With her husband being a recently retired professional basketball player that had played in the league for nearly two decades, Sophia knew that Flash might even have what it took to take that step and make a carrier out of his ballgame.
And yet, the young blonde was absolutely crushed by the dark-haired teen.
The more she watched it, the more Sophia realized how unbelievably good Elijah was, so good in fact, that she seriously started to doubt what she was seeing.
Flash's defensive play was good, almost perfect actually considering the sheer difference in ability, but nothing seemed to be able to stop his opponent.
The raw focus and utterly immaculate movements, Sophia had never seen anything like this in all the years that she had spent watching her husband play from the sidelines. And she was half-sure that the rest of the world had likewise never seen a young man with this level of ability.
Talented? Prodigious? No.
The effortless flow with which he moved and handled the ball, there was a unique rhythm to it, a silent harmony to his play that gave her a feeling as if Elijah just transcended the game.
Anyone watching this video would undoubtedly ask why he wasn't playing for the school team or if he planned to do this professionally, but Sophia felt something different when she watched the video. She realized that the dark-haired young man had no passion for the game at all, his unrivaled skill a curse that made any competition meaningless.
There was no joy or satisfaction after he scored as if this was simply how should be. As if the outcome of this game was never a question, to begin with. His play was pure technical perfection but lacked heart.
The girls around her were awed and infatuated, being attracted by Elijah's athleticism and dominance over the school's former star player, his handsome appearance and unique charm causing them to develop a crush without fail.
But as she watched him calmly place the ball on the floor and leave the court, uncaring for the exclamations and cheering of the other students as if the victory over his opponent was but an inconsequential matter and meant nothing to him, Sophia only had one thought in her mind.
'What a terrifying young man.'