Undercover Basketball Ch. 03

Author's Note: The author apologizes for the looooong delay in chapter 3 being posted. I plan to stay on top of the series now! Undercover Basketball is a multi-chapter work. Readers are encouraged to start from the first chapter, as the story contains a significant plot that cannot possibly be summarized in one or two paragraphs. I am confident that you will find the plot intriguing, as it is full of twists, and the sex exciting. Hope you enjoy!

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Daniel made his way to the Martin household that evening. He had so much running through his mind. He had no idea what he was going to tell Carol and Mark. Carol was expecting him to reveal the girl that he had found an interest in. Daniel knew he had to tell them that he was interested in their daughter, Katie. He just did not know if the best time was now.

As he walked in the front door, he saw Carol stirring taco seasoning over browned hamburger. It was obviously taco night at the Martin house. Katie was sitting at the kitchen table, trying to do her pre-calculus homework, but was not having much luck. As Daniel walked toward Katie, he could see a tentative look in her face. He was hoping that it was just from the homework, but figured that it was there for a different reason.

"Can I be of any help?" Daniel began as he reached the table.

At first, Katie just sat as if she had not even seen Daniel. She stared off into space, lost in thought. Katie also knew that she would have to tell her parents about her newfound relationship with Daniel. However, she did not know that Daniel was planning to tell her parents tonight. As Daniel pulled out a chair next to Katie, it startled her slightly, bringing her back to reality.

"Oh, hi, Daniel. Yes, you could definitely help me with number four. I just can't seem to get the problem started correctly."

As Daniel leaned in to get a closer view of the problem, he caught a whiff of Katie's wonderful aroma. She had recently showered after practicing her jump shots for almost an hour. The scent was sweet, yet not to 'girly,' as that was not Katie. The smell took Daniel back to the day before. Katie had recently showered when they discovered their intimate feelings for one another. An image of Katie's beautiful body was snatched from Daniel's thoughts as Carol broke the silence.

"Daniel, how did your meeting go with Coach Barker?"

This question took Katie by surprise. She had just told Daniel about her problems with the basketball coach the day before. She assumed that Daniel had told her parents about the problems after she ran out of the room crying. But, she had no idea that Daniel had met with her disgusting coach earlier that day.

Daniel noticed the bewildered look on Katie's face as he began to answer Carol's question.

"Well, I think it went alright. He is going to give me a chance at the assistant coach position. I am supposed to be in practice on Monday."

As Daniel finished his answer, he saw Katie's expression turn from confused to ecstatic. The idea of Daniel becoming the assistant coach of her basketball team made her quite excited. First, she would have a close friend working with her everyday after school. Second, Daniel could be an ally for her in her troubles with Coach Barker. Since he already knew about everything going on with the team, she thought he would be a great addition.

"I didn't know you were interested in the assistant coach's position," Katie said.

"Well, I had been thinking about it when I heard that the old coach decided not to go through with it. I talked with your parents last night about the troubles you've been having, and we all agreed that it might be a good idea to get an inside view of the situation."

"I am sure you will make a great coach, Daniel," Carol began. "Now, about this girl you were telling me about. . . ."

Immediately, Katie and Daniel turned to one another. They both knew that Mark and Carol would have to know if they wanted to continue their relationship. Daniel could see the nervousness in Katie's eyes. She could not keep eye contact with Daniel. Every time their eyes met, hers would dart out of the way, trying to avoid the situation.

"I think we should wait till after supper," Daniel said. "I want Mark to hear all about it too, so I don't have to tell the story twice."

This took the pressure off the two secret lovebirds for the moment. But, they both knew that supper would not take long, and their moment of truth would quickly arrive. Daniel continued to help Katie with her homework. After Katie had finished a couple of problems, Mark arrived with Katie's two younger siblings and the family sat at the table to enjoy supper.

The meal was awkward for Daniel and Katie. The most popular conversation at the table was Daniel's new position at the school. Quite often, this conversation would turn to Coach Barker. This made Katie nervous, as she detested the man and made her think of her intimate conversation with Daniel the other night.

"So, is Coach Barker really as bad as some say he is?" Mark inquired.

"He has the biggest ego I have ever seen," Daniel said. "He is a true prick that hides behind a big smile and a great coaching record."

Daniel had not told Mark and Carol about Coach Barker having sex with players the night Katie was so upset. He knew that if he told them that part of the story that they would make a huge scene at school, which would do Katie no good whatsoever.

"I just hope that I can knock some sense into him. Maybe my presence will force him to treat his players more fairly."

It did not take long for the Martin family to finish their meal. Before Daniel and Katie knew it, they were sitting in the living room with Mark and Carol. Daniel was starting to get nervous. He was having second thoughts about making his relationship with Katie known. However, any chance he had to back out was washed away when Carol spoke up.

"Mark, Daniel told me that he has found a new girlfriend. He thinks it might be someone he holds onto for a while."

"Oh, really? Well, Daniel who is she? Is it someone Carol knows at school?"

Daniel felt like he had something stuck in his throat. He wanted so desperately to just tell Mark and Carol to get it over with. But, he could not find the words. There was an awkward pause as Mark and Carol waited to here Daniel speak. Katie had left the room to finish her homework. Daniel knew that Katie did not want to be the first to confront her parents about the situation, so Daniel thought it was a good thing that she had avoided her parents for the time being.

"Well," Daniel began, "the girl I am kind of seeing is quite a bit like me, and I think you two might know her. She plays the saxophone and is very athletic. She might be the most gorgeous woman I have ever met, and we are close friends already. I really think this might be something that turns in to a long relationship."

Mark and Carol were getting anxious. They just wanted to find out who the girl was. Unknown to Mark and Carol, Katie had entered the living room from the hallway. Daniel had seen her as he was describing the "mystery girl," but Mark and Carol had their backs turned toward the hallway. Daniel decided he just had to continue, as he could no longer hold it in.

"The girl I am seeing now is someone you both know very well. In fact, she is standing behind you right now."

Katie was in shock, she did not expect Daniel to tell her parents when she was right there. Mark and Carol were a little confused at first. They did not understand how Daniel's new girlfriend had snuck in the house. Then, they turned around, and saw their own daughter standing in their presence.

As Mark and Carol turned toward Katie, Katie's eyes seemed to pop out of her head. She felt like a deer being drowned in two sets of car headlights. There was nowhere for her to go.

"You're joking, right?" asked Mark. "I mean, for a second there, I thought you meant that you and Katie were in a relationship."

Carol did not say anything. She realized immediately what Daniel was trying to tell them. She had always thought that Daniel would make a great boyfriend and husband someday. She had even thought that it would be nice if the lucky girl would end up being her daughter, although, she was surprised to hear that it was happening now.

Daniel knew he needed to explain. He did not want to leave this up in the air.

"Katie, would you come here, please?" Daniel asked.

Katie really wished she just could have disappeared at the moment, but she knew that she could not. She made her way to Daniel, sitting beside him on the sofa.

Katie could not look at her parents. She was very nervous, and thought that they would be very mad at both of them. Daniel knew this, so he spoke up.

"Last night, before the two of you were home, Katie and I talked about her problems with Coach Barker. She was very upset, and was in obvious need of a friend. Eventually, we were talking about other things, and we kind of stumbled on to some new feelings for both of us."

The reactions from Carol and Mark were quite different. In a way, Carol had kind of expected this to happen. Mark, on the other hand, was having a hard time believing that all of this happened so quickly. He felt there was something fishy going on. Katie had managed to look at her parents while Daniel was speaking. She had also gained a little confidence.

"Mom...Dad...we just realized how good our friendship was and that we had become attracted to each other in another way. It is not like we have kept this a secret. We just discovered this. I wouldn't even say we are in a relationship...yet."

Daniel was impressed with Katie's confidence. He thought that she would shy away from the subject.

"Katie is right. We have not kept anything a secret. It was just the other night that we discussed this for the first time together. As she said, I don't even know that we are in a relationship, or if it is even logical to pursue one."

Mark had heard enough. He wasn't about to have both of the women in his life involved with Daniel. "How can this be, Katie and Daniel? How could this ever work? It's not only awkward, but flat out wrong," Mark offered, his anger very apparent to Katie and Daniel

Daniel could see that Katie had gone back into her shell. She did not want to be in front of her parents any more. If Daniel were honest with himself, he would not have wanted to be there either. He had to be strong though. If he did not stand up to Mark, he and Katie would never have a chance. He did not know if there was a true relationship there, but he at least wanted to give it a chance if there was.

While Carol was not completely surprised like her husband, she had her concerns too. First, Daniel was four years older than Katie. He would be her assistant basketball coach for the rest of the season and would be a student teacher in her school as well. There were obviously some ethical and moral issues that had to be considered. Even though Katie was 18, she was a high school student, and Daniel would be her teacher and coach. Carol knew that it was wrong and so did Daniel. Yet, there was something that seemed so natural about Daniel and Katie being together.

Carol thought she had a good idea of how to approach this.

"Listen, I don't think that anyone should jump to conclusions or decisions just yet. There are definitely some issues that need to be worked out if anything is going to come of this. It is not going to do us any good to sit here and argue about it."

Katie was glad that her mom had defused the situation a little. She did not want this to turn into a battle. All of a sudden, she was having second thoughts about telling her parents. Maybe, it was not such a good idea even to consider having Daniel in her life. The last thing she wanted to do was cause a major family feud. Now, she wished she could have taken back the evening she spent with Daniel. If she had approached that differently, none of this would have happened.

The four sat in silence. All of them were trying to come up with an ingenious idea without stepping on anyone else's feelings. Tonight, though, there would be no solution. The more Daniel sat in the Martin house, the more frustrated he became with the whole situation. He felt that he needed to get away to clear his head. A lot had happened in the last two days. He needed to try to sort some of it out.

"Carol, Mark, I think I am going to go. I am not trying to avoid the situation. I just have to think about some of this. I cannot do that here. Thanks for dinner. It was good as always. I'll probably come by sometime next weekend."

As Daniel made his way to the door, Katie would not look at him. Daniel could not tell if Katie was mad at him or her parents. The last thing he wanted to do was lose his relationship with the entire Martin family over this. He would just have to take a chance for now. As he stepped out the door, he saw Katie motion for him to stop. Katie ducked her head back into the living room, said something to her parents, and was out the door with Daniel.

"I just needed to talk to you before you left. I don't know how you thought telling my parents would go, but that was almost a complete disaster. I hope my dad won't give me too much trouble over all of this. Thank you for being here for me Daniel. And I am not just talking about tonight. Thanks again for being such a good friend."

Katie put her arms around Daniel, embracing her good friend and potential boyfriend. She wanted him to be a special part of her life so badly, even though she knew it was probably wrong.

"Katie, I need to do a lot of thinking. I need to try to make sense of the last couple of days, and so should you. Besides, it's getting kind of late, and I have class early tomorrow morning. Oh, and I guess I will see you at practice tomorrow!"

In all of the commotion, Katie had forgotten that Daniel was going to be the new assistant coach for her basketball team. She was very excited about this, thinking that it might make Coach Barker reconsider his requirements to get playing time. She would have to wait and see about that, however.

"Okay, I will see you at practice tomorrow. Have a good night, Daniel."

*************

Daniel was sitting in his dorm room later that night, thinking about Katie, her parents, the evil coach Barker, and anything else that had to do with the last two days. The more he thought about it, the more he was looking forward to getting to know Coach Barker more. He was intrigued by how someone could be so vile and lewd. He was also looking forward to spending more time with Katie. He was hoping that spending time with her in practice would help him reveal his true feelings.

It was about 10:15, and Daniel was getting pretty tired. After brushing his teeth and doing some quick studying for a quiz he had the next day, he was climbing into bed when he received a text message. When he got to his phone, he did not recognize the number that it came from. The message read:

meet me outside admin bldg 1045 urgent

Daniel was a little confused by this. He knew the number was from the area, because of the local prefix, but he had no idea who it was from. The administration building also housed the admissions office, but he knew that the message was not from Carol. The two never "saw" each other on Sunday, because that was family night for the Martin's.

Daniel arrived at the administration building at 10:46. When he walked to the door, he did not see anyone around. As he began looking, he saw a lone vehicle in the parking lot next to the building. It appeared to be running, so he thought that that might be his mystery messenger. As he approached the car, he could see a figure in the driver's seat. He did not want to approach the person if he/she was not the one beckoning him. He began to slow as he was close enough for the person in the car to see him. He stopped and turned around, thinking that he might have missed something. When he turned back to the car, the lights flashed on and off, indicating that he was in fact in the right place.

Daniel made his way to the driver's side door. He still could not make out the face because the windows of the car were heavily tinted. The window began to open a crack, and a voice came from the car...

"Daniel, is that you?" asked a woman's voice.

Daniel did not recognize the voice

"Yes, who are you, and why did you want to meet me here?"

The window rolled all the way to down, and Daniel was very surprised to see Jenni, the newest admission officer, at the wheel. Daniel and Carol had seen Jenni taking care of some personal needs in her office the night before. The two thought that Jenni did not know they were in the office together.

"We need to talk, Daniel. Get in the car."

At first, Daniel wanted to refuse. He was not in the mood for any more deep conversations, plus, he had a big day the next day and wanted to get some rest. As he began to protest the demand, he saw the look on Jenni's face. She was deadly serious and did not look like she would take no for an answer. Daniel thought twice about this, and decided that he was interested in finding out why Jenni needed to talk to him so badly.

Daniel made his way to the other side of the car. While he was opening the passenger door, he realized that Jenni was driving a brand new Chrysler 300. Daniel thought this was an awfully nice car for a new admissions counselor to be driving. As far as Daniel knew, Jenni was single and did not have great wealth before taking the job. Daniel got in the car and Jenni quickly backed out of the lot and drove towards downtown. Daniel found this situation to be a little odd. He had only met Jenni once or twice, just in passing in the admissions office.

"Jenni, I really don't have a lot of time tonight. What did you want to talk to me about?" Daniel asked as if he did not know what this was about.

"Just wait," said Jenni, "we will be to my apartment soon."

Jenni drove through the streets of Preston quickly, as there was little traffic on this Sunday night. She made a turn that had her going towards the country club. Daniel did not understand this. He knew there were no apartments on this road. The only thing left on this road was the golf course and high dollar real estate. In fact, the more Jenni drove, the closer she got to "The Hill," the place where only the wealthiest of Preston lived. Finally, Jenni pulled onto a long driveway and stopped at a large white Victorian house.

"Okay, we're home," said Jenni.

"Some apartment," is all that Daniel could manage.

Jenni unlocked the massive front door and let Daniel in. Until now, Daniel had not really gotten a good look at Jenni, as he had only seen her shadowed face. He saw that Jenni was looking very professional tonight, wearing a black pants suit with a dark red blouse that really accented her dark red hair. Daniel wasn't sure why she would be in such business-like attire on a Sunday night. When Daniel stepped inside, he felt like he needed an invitation and a tie to be there. Not only was the place massive, but it was lavishly decorated too.

Jenni made her way to the kitchen with Daniel right behind her. She opened a large wine cabinet and pulled out a large bottle of white wine. She poured two large glasses, handing one to Daniel. Daniel was not a big fan of wine, but he appreciated the gesture nonetheless. Jenni set her glass down on the island counter in the middle of the kitchen and took her suit jacket off. Placing it over a bar stool, Jenni took a seat and pulled her hair tie out, letting her hair down, running her hands through her red hair. As she did this, Daniel could not help but think that she looked very familiar, but he was not sure why. He knew that he had just met her for the first time a couple of months ago and had only seen her a couple of times since.