A TOUR OF THE SOCCERSPHERE WITH COACH BLACK

Maci Gian

Tonight was the night Coach Black was giving a tour of the Soccersphere.

At least, that’s what I was told.

But I had been waiting on the main floor for about half an hour now.

I pressed my lips together and pulled my phone out of the pocket of my black suit to check the time again.

7:15 PM.

I felt a lump start to form in my throat.

I expected to be surrounded by a bunch of eager fans, but instead I stood in the middle of an empty party floor.

The decor from the other night was still hanging on the ceiling, and the tables and bar were still set up, but they were all cleared out, probably so they’d be ready to use again for the next social gathering.

Whatever they used to make the lights colorful the other night had been taken off, and I was left with metallic-blue walls and a dull, white floor.

I feel like I wasn’t supposed to be here, even though the doors were unlocked and there was a sign outside saying ‘WELCOME VISITORS’ attached to the front doors. I checked Orion’s official website and I thought it said the first tour would be happening at 6:30 PM.

When I arrived early, I expected the place to be empty. Maybe one or two other fans hanging around at most, but obviously as we’d get closer to the tour’s time, more people would arrive.

But as 6:30 came and went, and I still saw no signs of anyone else, I started to worry.

I should’ve texted Val to stick around the parking lot for a bit just in case, but I already felt bad for taking time out of her afternoon to drop me off here in the first place. She was already busy packing our stuff and making sure our trip to the Fortress tomorrow would go smoothly, and now I’d have to waste more of her time by having her pick me back up. And what would I tell her when she asks me why I left so early?

That I messed up and got the time wrong? That we wasted at least two hours of our afternoon for nothing?

I felt like such a jerk, and I hadn’t even texted her yet.

I stared at my reflection on my darkened phone screen.

I hope I’m not late.

If it turns out I arrived way too early, then—as much as it’d suck—I could tell Val to reach out to Andre and let him know I don’t have enough time to wait a couple of hours for a tour. I wish I did, though.

But if it already passed?

I’d feel worse than I already do. I told Andre and Phinus I’d be there, and they might’ve told Coach Black I was going to be there too, and then they probably waited for me to show up, only for me to not, then they probably went on thinking I wasn’t interested or lied not to hurt their feelings—

The sound of a door opening echoed through the room.

I whipped my head back to the front, only to see no one.

“Hm? Hello there?” A rough voice with a thick, french accent called out to me.

I faced the main area again and jumped when I saw Coach Black standing between a set of gray double doors, one hand on the push-bar as he looked at me with curiosity.

“Coach Black—!“ I frantically fixed my posture and shoved my phone back into the pocket where my voice recorder was, “Hi, hi—good afternoon, hi! I was, uh—“

I watched as he let go of the door and approached me, his hands held behind his back. He was wearing his usual attire he had on during games: A blue collared t-shirt, a dusty purple vest with Orion’s logo sewn into the upper left, gray jeans with a black belt secured around it, and black oxford shoes.

I felt shame creep across my face as he drew closer.

“I was here for the tour,” I finally said ,”but I missed it. I wanted to stick around anyways, just in case, but, yeah…” My voice trailed off.

“The tour?” He tilted his head slightly, his thick, gray aviator glasses slid down his nose a tad, “You are quite early, the tour doesn’t start for for at least another two hours.”

“It doesn’t?”

I have never felt so relieved yet somehow so crushed from hearing such news. I didn’t miss it. Andre and Phinus won’t think I’m a liar. I got to speak with the Coach Black, he was my eye witness, which was as relieving as it was embarrassing. But that meant I wouldn’t be able to see anything at all.

Did I misread the time on the website?

Did I look at it too fast? Did I mistake an ‘8’ for a ‘6’?

“I mean, I am delighted to see someone else as eager for this tour as I am.” He chuckled, “You are more than welcome to wait until we start! Or if you would like to come back later, there are many great places to explore around the cit—“

“I’m sorry, I don’t think I’ll be able to come back—“

I swore I saw the spark leave his eyes when I said that.

“I want to though! I really do, trust me, I’d love to. Your captain was telling me about how we’d get to see all the behind-the-scenes stuff, we’d get to talk with you and—and we’d see the stars, and I was looking forward to reporting it for my website—“ I pointed to the pocket where my recorder was, not like he could see it, “—and I—but I mixed up the times.”

He stared at me for a moment, his head tipped down.

He pushed his glasses back up, “How… Long have you been waiting?”

“Like, maybe 30-ish minutes? 40?” My embarrassment grew.

“You were waiting that long?”

I nodded, “I really wanted to see your tour.”

He raised his head and scanned the room I stood in, then he took a step closer to the double doors, pressed the back of his body against the one closest to him before he extended an arm into the hallway on the other side.

“Well,” He said, “We have a little bit of time before the actual tour, I wouldn’t mind, perhaps, giving you an informal one? Who am I to turn down someone so eager to learn.”

I shot up, “Really—?! You mean it—I mean! If it’s not a hassle, I’d love to see what you have to share!”

He shook his head with a grin, “I wouldn’t be offering if it was a hassle…” He gestured towards me.

“Maci! Maci Gian.”

“Maci!” His grin widened, “Though I will apologize in advance, not everything has been finished setting up, and unfortunately, we won’t be able to see the stars, but ah, my observatory!” He raised a finger, “That has some fantastic models of our planets, maps of our solar systems, charts of stars, and free snacks, I hope that will be enough.”

“Oh, it’s more than enough! Thank you so much, seriously!”

Coach Black motioned for me to follow him, and I did.

He held the door open for me, I slipped past and entered a hallway much bigger than the one that lead to the VIP room the other night. It was wide enough for at least multiple people to stand side by side to one another as they walked, and it looked like it stretched on for a good while.

“This is where most of our staff members and players pass through to get where they need to…” Coach Black’s voice bounced through off the walls as he walked past me, his pace slow to make sure I wasn’t left behind.

I trailed behind, looking around. The floor didn’t have that fun galaxy-pattern that the hall leading to the VIP room did, instead there was a light, metallic-teal tiled floor. The walls, however, was covered in paintings that seemed to stretch to the very end. The base color of the walls were a dark, rich purple, but scattered throughout them were illustrations of planets, stars, comets, among other various space-related objects like satellites and blackholes.

“…This has multiple branching halls that lead to: our power room, the control panel where our lighting and sound crew reside, offices, one of our smaller storage rooms, our lounge room…”

“Is the lounge room the same place as the VIP room?” I asked as we started passing by some doors, each one decorated with paintings vastly different from the next. One was black with a close-up shot of Saturn and it’s rings, gray blotches which I assumed were meant to represent rocks were sprinkled throughout, while the next door had pinks, blues, and purples swirled together with a painted headshot of an astronaut raising it’s hands to cup the planets.

“Ah, while that is another lounge room, it’s more for the public—and for the events we host—while this one is specifically for my staff and players!” He answered. “Nice, spacious, plenty of food for them, it is one of the rooms farthest from the field in case you need a break from all the noise.”

I noticed how each painting we passed had a distinctly different style than the last, and I’d catch a glimpse of tiny names written under planets, rockets, stars, and wherever else I happened to find them, which made me wonder if those belonged to the Soccersphere staff, and if they were the ones who made all of this.

I was able to peek through the narrow, vertical windows of the office doors to get a brief look at the interiors. One room looked like it had hundreds of books and maps piled on the desk and floor, another room had fairy lights hung across the ceiling and a lava lamp left next to an open computer, and another room had a fish tank! I waved at the fish.

He pointed straight ahead to the end of the hall where another set of double doors stood, “We also have stairs that lead to the press box, my observatory, the upper training room—which we’ll be taking a look at soon—but if you’d prefer, we can take the elevator.” He stopped in between the branching paths and motioned to the one on his left side, which I assumed lead to the elevator.

While I was a little intrigued at what other paintings were in that portion of the hall, I didn’t want to hurry through the tour and miss out on speaking with Coach Black more—

Though he did mention this was going to be a shorter tour since the actual tour was going to be starting in probably an hour or so from now, and I’d hate for him to be late, but if I didn’t say anything while standing next to him in the elevator it’d be an insanely awkward two minutes—

I made up my mind.

“Stairs, please! If that’s okay.”

“Of course.”

We continued.

“What do the people in the office do?” I asked, “Help prepare your team for the next games? Study the oppositions? The stars?”

“A little bit of everything.” He said, “I prefer to do all the strategizing myself—I love it! Truly, I do. I could lock myself in a room for hours looking at football formations the same way I do with star constellations, but—“ He raised a finger, “It is important to work with other people, get various perspectives; sometimes they will spot something I might have completely missed, or they discover something I haven’t even considered.”

When we got close enough to the double doors, he propped one open and allowed me through.

“They help me greatly when I want to keep track of new space phenomenons, tell me about the latest football tricks I have to be prepared for. Truly, I could not ask for better people to work alongside with.”

I waited at the beginning of the dusty blue, rubber steps, my hands curled around the cold, black railing as Coach Black passed me with his hands behind his back again.

“Have you guys ever discovered life outside of Earth? Or, have you ever found signs of it? Do you think it’s out there?”

I heard a ’Hm’ escape his lips, one of slight amusement. I’m sure he’s heard this question plenty of times before.

“Perhaps.” He told me. Strangely, there was no echo to his voice nor his steps, as if all the noise was perfectly contained within this space. It was a little jarring. “I find myself more fascinated with what is already out there, though, and what has barely been delved into. The planets, what they’re made of, how they got to where they are, the comets that fly by, the solar flares from the sun, the many, many moons…” I heard the amusement in his tone turn to eagerness, “To some, so much of space can look the same.” He started to gesture lightly with his hands, “To some, every moon, every comet, every planet is ‘just a rock’, or every star is ‘just a ball of gas’, but I have never disagreed with such a mindset more.”

Small, round lights poked out at the bottom of the walls by the back corners of each step, along with equally small spotlights just a couple feet above the railings, leaving this place rather dim. The spotlights were placed every several steps, and shone down on framed photos hung directly below them. When I looked up, I raised my brows and smiled when I saw several glow in the dark stars scattered across.

“Every comet leaves a unique trail, every moon has it’s own wondrous surface, and every planet; it’s own stunning, complex environment. While there is no way to truly know how everything came to be—much less life on Earth—nor how we got the universe we have today, a part of me believes each, beautiful part of our galaxy deserves to be explored. I don’t disagree that finding life outside of our planet is exciting, but there is already so much to delve into.” Despite not being able to see his face, I could hear the smile on it. “Oh, but to answer your question: There might be. It wouldn’t surprise me if there was—or if there wasn’t—life outside of us. Either possibility would give me so much more to speculate about our galaxy.”

As we approached a couple of the photos, I slowed myself down to get a better look at them. One of them contained a group photo of Orion; members I met at the autograph table, and those who weren’t. They were all standing in the middle of their field, a night sky hanging over them and rows upon rows of seats full of people behind them. They were all smiling, arms wrapped around one another, hands on each other. Neil was moving so much that he was the only blurry figure out of everyone, and Coach Black stood in the middle of them, beaming proudly.

“Do you have a favorite piece of space out there, then?” I asked him, “Favorite planet? Star?”

“That’s like asking me to pick a favorite player!” He laughed, “Io has a gorgeous golden color with hundreds of volcanos on it, the Orion Nebula—perhaps a little biased of me—is one of the most brilliant, brightest, nebulas we know of, blackholes are absolutely fascinating, oh, you expect me to pick just one? When they all provide their own beauty?” His chuckle trailed off before he finally peered past his shoulder to look at me.

We passed another photo, one with a younger-looking Coach Black sitting at a control panel with a cup of coffee in one of his hands. He wore smaller, rectangular framed glasses, no noticeable creases on his forehead, but still no hair. Two other people I didn’t recognize sat beside him, a man and a woman roughly his age. They all wore the same buttoned up shirts with a logo on them I couldn’t make out, as the way their bodies were positioned obscured it too much. Off to the right was what looked to be a portion of a large screen that was showing… Something space related, I think I could make out stars. Two signatures were on the bottom left of the photo, one had a note reading ‘Never stop shooting for the stars!’ written below it.

“If there is life, do you think they play some sorta space version of soccer?”

That question made Coach Black fully turn his head around to give me a puzzled look, “Hm?” Was the sound he made, a small smirk across his lips. That made my cheeks get hot.

“I—well, you see, I run a soccer news site. I wanted to tie this into soccer a little for the readers. Just in case.”

“Is that so?” His smirk got wider, and that familiar, warm laugh echoed through the stairway again, “Well, if that’s the case, then yes, I suppose they would.”

The last few photos we passed by before making it to the top of the stairs were more of Coach Black and his players. Shots of them training, in the observatory, celebrating… And there was one particular photo that got a chuckle out of me.

I heard Coach Black open one of the double doors ahead, but I lingered before for a few more moments to appreciate the scene.

Andre, Phinus, Vega, Neil, and Ben were all asleep on a purple coach that seemed to be within Coach Black’s observatory. Andre slept sitting up in the middle, his head leaned all the way back and his arms spread out. Phinus was to the right of him, his body faced the captain while his arms were folded and on top of the cushions, his head resting against them. Vega laid across Phinus legs, despite the absolute exhaustion on his face and his wrinkled attire, his hair still looked great, and laying on top of Vega was Neil, with the lower half of his body dangling off the couch. That couldn’t have been comfortable for anyone, especially Phinus and his poor legs. Ben slept at the far right side of the coach, sitting just like his captain, his posture straight, and papers held to his stomach. It looked like a blanket was originally tossed over then, but it must’ve slid down at some point, as it barely covered Andre’s knees.

“They had a game the day after that picture was taken.” I heard Coach Black say.

I jumped when I saw he was right beside me—I gripped onto the railings as I nearly slipped off the steps.

I put a hand to my chest and exhaled.

“Sorry, sorry!” Coach Black put a comforting hand on my shoulder, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

We looked back at the photo together.

“Who were they going up against? Had to be some team if they stayed up all night strategizing.” I said.

“Oh no, they weren’t strategizing, I wish they had though.” He brought himself closer to the photo, “We had a game against Barka coming up, but there was also an asteroid that was predicted to pass by our planet the night before, Asteroid 193030 Cosmique. I fell sick that week and couldn’t be there for the asteroid or the game, and they apparently felt so bad they wanted to surprise me by documenting and photographing the passing of Cosmique and win the game the next day. One of my staff members caught them like this.”

“Aw, that’s sweet!”

“It was, and at first I was touched, but then I was furious!” He exclaimed, getting a surprised look from me, “They didn’t train, they didn’t get good rest, they stayed up all night and could barely kick a ball straight the morning after! We only got one goal against Barka while they got five.”

“Oh no.” I slapped a hand over my mouth, “What happened after that?!”

“I stayed furious for a few minutes after our game, I told them how ridiculous their choices were! But…” His body relaxed as he looked back to the photo, “They told me they felt terrible about messing up the game, they only wanted to do something nice for me, Ben—he especially took it hard, and I knew they meant well.”

He sighed.

“They documented the asteroid well, they did their best during the game, and I appreciated it. I still do, it was so thoughtful of them.” He turned ever so slightly towards me, “I’m sure you hear this a lot, but I think I have the best team in the Super League.”

Suddenly, the double doors swung open, letting in a flood of white light that nearly blinded me.

“Hey, is everything alright down here?“ I heard a familiar voice call out, a shadow stood in the middle of the doorframe, “Saw you open this for a minute but you didn’t come thr—oh, Maci? How’s it going!”

I cracked an eye open to see Andre Meda standing there in his soccer uniform, a puzzled expression on his face. I gave him a wave.

“Yes, we’re fine.” Coach Black put his arms behind his back and made his way through the doors, “I was just telling them about the time you stayed up all night looking at a rock instead of preparing for a game.”

Andre scoffed, “Oh, right, that ‘rock’ you spent an entire week crying over because you wouldn’t be able to see it.”

I hurried through the doors. Andre let go of them and joined his coach’s side as we made our way through the upper training room. It was quite spacious, maybe a little bit smaller than the main floor above—or maybe it was the multiple large contraptions, assorted equipment, and control panels throughout that made it feel smaller.

“Shifting the blame on me yet again, I see. I coach such ungrateful players.”

“Phinus, back me up!” Andre faced the left side of the room where a large, cylindrical structure stood. In front of it was Orion’s goalkeeper with his arms full of soccer balls.

“Over what?” Phinus poked his head past the soccer balls.

“Remember that asteroid we watched the night before that Barka game?”

“That rock you made us stay up late over?” Phinus hid behind them again—most likely to hide the smirk across his face as Andre let out a groan.

“You two suck!”

Coach Black and I exchanged stifled laughter as we walked across the white tilted floor.

I looked back over to Phinus and watched as he approached the cylinder structure. It was… Intimidating, honestly.

It was completely transparent—made of some sort of sturdy glass, I’m sure—and looked to be nearly a story or so high, stretching all the way to the white tiled ceiling. Thick metal wrapped itself around it’s top and bottom with four ‘legs’ similar to those outside of the Soccersphere sprouting from the sides and clamping down to both the floor and ceiling, securing it.

On the bottom was an elevated, rectangular door with a set of stairs leading to it. There was a keypad on the right side of it’s frame, and beside that, a control panel with multiple screens, an array of colorful buttons, and one of Orion’s staff members sitting there with their back hunched as they continuously fiddled with a few levers

“What’s that for?” I asked as I watched Phinus approach the worker. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but I saw the worker nod before they pressed a button and the door opened.

Phinus carried the balls over and rolled them into the contraption, allowing me to catch a glimpse of the strange, gridded floor inside. It reminded me of a vent cover.

“Ah, that! That is our vertical wind tunnel.” Coach Black said, “It’s—“

Andre slid in, “There’s a huge fan right under there—“ He pointed to the metal bottom, “—That blows wind strong enough to get us up in the air!”

“We wear a wing-suit!” Phinus hollered as he threw the last of the balls inside.

“I was getting there!” Andre said, “But when the rest of the guests come in, a couple of the guys and I will be in there showing off. Say, why’d you get here so early anyways?”

“I got my times mixed up, but your coach was real sweet and offered a quick tour for me!” I heard Coach Black chuckle.

“Oh, the same sweet coach who just called me ungrateful?” He folded his arms and gave his coach a look, to which Coach Black laughed this time and put a hand on Andre’s shoulder.

“I can also give you a quick tour after you finish setting up the rest of the machines, hm?”

Andre lightly rolled his eyes, “Glad you could make it, though. How long are you staying?”

“Yeah, yeah! I’m super happy to see you as well—I’m happy to be here! And, uh—depends on how far along we are with the tour.” I shrugged.

“We’re nearly done.” Coach Black said, “We’ve got this room, then my observatory.”

“Shoot, you won’t get to see us in action or the comets. They’re gonna be flying overhead tonight.” Andre frowned.

I bounced in place, “I know, I know! I’m really bummed about it too! Hopefully whenever the universe decides to have another big, cool thing happen I can actually make it on time. But while we’re here…”

Phinus walked over and joined our group.

“…Is that the machine where you guys learned how to do that gravity-defying jump? The move you used against Supa Strikas?” I pointed at the cylinder contraption.

Phinus left our group.

Andre sharply inhaled.

The captain’s eyes darted over to his coach.

For a moment—I felt panic rise within me.

The image of Coach Black’s upset—disappointed—disgusted—any and every negative expression my brain could come up with was more than enough stress for me, but to turn around and actually see him upset? A part of me was tempted to take my words back and change the subject, but the other part wanted those answers. I tensed and stayed silent.

“No.” Coach Black finally said, his voice flat, “What we used for that is on one of our stadium’s special floors. One that is not for the public to see—let alone use.”

“Really?” I hesitantly asked, peering over, “Cause I thought—but the Supa Strikas used your own move against you guys during the rematch, which—“

“Wasn’t supposed to happen.” Andre folded his arms. He pressed his lips together and shifted his weight from side to side, as if uncertain on what to—or how to—say his next words. I saw Phinus poke past his shoulder, even when several feet away, I could make out the discomfort on his face.

“I mean—it was my fault—“ Andre started, but was immediately cut off.

“No, it wasn’t!” Both Phinus and Coach Black exclaimed. Coach Black’s expression turned more sour, while Phinus rubbed his temples.

“Dude, you just forgot about the ID-tab. That thing’s tiny! Anyone would’ve forgotten about it!” Phinus shot an arm out.

“It was important, though.” Andre said, “C’mon, I can remember nearly every constellation, several asteroids and the dates they flew past us, but not something that’s constantly on me?”

I tried to speak, “Wait, an identif—“

“That was a new thing, it’s still new!” Phinus stepped closer, “Something like this was probably going to happen no matter what or who caused it. Would you tell Neil or Ben—or me that it was my fault if either of us had caused it?”

“Shakes should have left the moment he understood he was not supposed to be on that floor, regardless.” Their coach growled.

I tried again, “So did Shakes break in—“

“No, course I wouldn’t! But I’m the captain—“

“And I’m the goalkeeper, what’s your point? Our coach is right anyways,” Phinus gestured towards their coach, “Shakes should’ve left anyways—man, you’re not even this upset at Shakes over this!”

“I am so lost!” I yelled, making everyone stop and look at me.

A beat of silence.

Coach Black and I opened our mouths at the same time—

When we locked eyes, he closed his and motioned for me to go first.

I fixed my posture, “I know about the gravity-defying jumps,” I looked to Andre and Phinus, “I saw it happen on TV, I also saw Supa Strikas do it as well.” I turned to Coach Black, “I also remember you saying you used—you made—an anti-gravity chamber to help train your players. I even mentioned it in an article of mine a while back. I was under the assumption this chamber was accessible for any player, since the Strikas used your own move against you.”

Coach Black’s brow twitched at the mention of the team. He pushed up his glasses and exhaled.

“It wasn’t originally for training. It was for myself,” He started, “That was the intention, at least, when construction began, but as it went on, and my players showed interest—“

He brought his head up to the two before him, who glanced away in embarrassment.

“—I decided to make the contraption bigger to fit more than just one person. Once it was done, I allowed them to use it if they needed to unwind. It came with multiple VR headsets to help stimulate what it would be like to fly through space. Then, one evening, Neil brought a football inside—which he was not allowed to do.” He lowered his brows, “I was about to discipline him for being reckless—kicking around a football inside such delicate machinery, but then my other players—“

He looked at Phinus and Andre again. They were fully facing the machinery behind them at this point.

“—Defended him, telling me they’ve been sneaking footballs into the chamber for some time when they wanted to ‘mix things up’, as they’ve told me.” He used air-quotes, “And after some thinking, I decided: Who am I to stop them from being curious? Then I started to ponder about all the possibilities and new skills they could learn if they practiced within it, so I upgraded it!” He pointed a finger into the air, “Sturdier walls, stronger support beams, it was now the perfect combination for us to enjoy space and football.” He clasped his hands together and brought them to his face. There was a glimmer of enthusiasm in his voice.

He slowly lowered his hands.

“And it was meant to stay as something for us.”

The enthusiasm left.

“Then comes the day when we went against Supa Strikas.” He began to pace back and forth, “The day when Shakes had found our training room.”

“If you don’t mind me asking—“ I said, “How protected is the private training room?”

“Quite!” Coach Black stated, “At least, that’s what I thought.”

“Check it.” I heard Phinus say.

I turned around. He approached me, pulling at the bottom of his jersey. I stepped closer and noticed a light gray clip attached to the fabric, the tip of it squared with Orion’s logo in the center.

“Our coach and his crew made it themselves. It’s…” He hesitated, eyes flickering to his coach before they went back to the clip, “…For verification purposes.”

“You need it to gain access to the special floor?” I kept my focus on the clip, but saw Phinus nod, “Is it easy to remove? Does it fall off often?”

“No, no it’s basically a part of the shirt itself. It’s washing-machine safe too.” He chuckled.

I knitted my brows, “So how did Shakes get a hold of Andre’s?”

All attention shifted to Andre. He stood still, one arm across his chest, the other scratching the back of his head. He kept his head turned towards a wall.

“We traded jerseys.” He finally said.

“And wherever the entrance to that training room is, Shakes found it because of your clip?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. Andre’s nod only further confirmed it. “And he didn’t leave.” I mumbled to myself, but coach Black responded to my comment.

“He wasn’t caught until it was too late. A former security guard of mine had failed to notice.“ He said those words with such bitterness, “I had discovered his boot floating within our anti-gravity chamber.”

I heard Andre inhale, ready to speak—but Coach Black raised a hand. Andre closed it and held his hands behind his back.

“Don’t you dare apologize again.” He pointed to me, “If he ever tells you this whole mess was his fault during an interview, I’m giving you special permission to fling him into space.”

Andre forced out a laugh. There was no smile to accompany it.

“But it was Shakes—“ The coach resumed his pacing, “Oh, that boy.” He spoke his words through a sharp exhale, “I do not like to hold grudges, and much worse could have come from that situation had it been a player from another team such as United or Technicali, but to learn of everything that had unraveled that day, and to learn Shakes chose to stay. Oh, how it frustrates me.”

His pacing got faster.

He looked at us again, still pacing, “Believe me when I tell you: I do not hate Supa Strikas. Far from it. I respect Coach, he is a hard working man, and his players are dedicated, I even appreciate their curiosity, but the amount of times they prioritize their own training above anything else—“ He raised his hand up high in the air before curling it into a fist, “Oh, and that rocket!”

Phinus let out a quiet ‘Oh no.’

“Do you remember how the Strikas went to space?!” He pointed at me. Now I was starting to feel bad again from prompting all of this.

“Uh—yeah, Lena Long covered it during one of your interviews.” I answered.

“Do you want to know what they did in outer space? On a rocket?”

“What’d they do?”

“Practice football!” He shot his arms out, a wild look in his eyes.

I stopped.

“Wh—that’s it?” I asked.

“Exactly! That’s it?!” He threw his head back, “They go on a once in a lifetime trip, they got a chance to see the world and all they did was kick a football around!?” He made a kicking motion.

As Coach Black continued his rant, I felt Phinus put a hand on my shoulder and he breathed in.

“Yeah, y’see—don’t get us wrong, we love football.” He pointed to himself and Andre, “But I think I’d be able to put a game aside for one day if I got to go to outer space.”

“I mean, I think that’s a super reasonable opinion to have.” I said.

“Right, we thought so too, but we had a couple of reporters come our way and get mad at us when we said we hadn’t trained in space yet.” Phinus rolled his eyes.

“No kidding?”

Andre rested a shoulder on Phinus’ back, “It was stupid. I felt bad cause—“ He stopped himself. He glanced back at his coach before carrying on in a whisper, “He already felt real down about not being the first coach in space, so that really didn’t help.”

I stared at Coach Black and lowered my brows, “Now that isn’t fair. I can’t believe something he loves got ruined by them.”

Coach Black overheard me and stopped in his tracks.

“What? Nonsense!” He exclaimed, his frustration now replaced with hurt, “I may be upset at them from time to time, but they didn’t ruin anything for me! I lose the occasional match from them, but you still see me sending my boys out, no?”

When I nodded, he made his way over to me, “Exactly, and just like football, the Strikas could never do away with my love for space. Why, I’ve got the best team in the Super League to remind me of my love for both of these things.”

He motioned at ‘his boys’. Phinus grinned proudly and teasingly nudged Andre, who looked a tad more sheepish, but still smirked.

“And I don’t need just my gravity contraption nor a rocket to show my love, look around.”

I did just as he said, taking in the room we stood in. The white, pristine tiles that covered the floor and ceiling, the built in spotlights above that shone down on us and the machinery, the lights strong enough to make any metallic surface glisten.

“I’ve dedicated so much of my heart into everything you see throughout this stadium…”

Across from the towering contraption we stood in front of was a large, rectangular box about the size of a small house. At it’s corners were four sturdy, black, steel pillars that were a few feet taller than the box itself, and the walls appeared to be some sort of thick, gray metal with yellow and black caution tape along the top rims. To the right of it was a control panel with staff members talking amongst themselves, and strangely enough, behind the panel, was a white, rolling ladder with what looked to be… Belts? Hanging off the railings.

“…My passion has been burning for decades. Everything I’ve studied, every game I’ve won, every game I’ve lost, they only fuel that fire more.” He said. When he locked eyes with one of the staff members, they nodded and hit a button on the panel.

A loud whirring sound came from the box—I jumped.

Andre, Phinus, their coach, and I—with my hands covering my ears—watched as the walls slowly started to descend and disappear into the base of the structure. A blue light from the top slowly began to spread across the room.

Only I realized—it wasn’t light within the box, it was water.

As the walls descended further, I could make out the little waves that’d rock back and forth within the tank. Whatever glass they used was impressively sturdy, and once the walls were fully down, I could see a soccer net attached to the very bottom of the tank’s floor. I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself; a fish tank for soccer players.

The gentle blue color of the chlorine water nearly coated the entire room and our bodies, thin white lines occasionally breaking it up as the water continued to slosh around.

“I don’t always have to make something big and grand either. Even the tiniest of details can contain so much love.” He directed my attention to the far right corner of the room where benches, training mats, shelves, and familiar exercise machines were at, but what stuck out to me most were several odd… Machines? Structure?

They were almost entirely made out of white rings wide enough to fit a single person in the center of them. The base was a singular ring, on it’s sides were two poles which stretched up for a couple of feet and connected to another large ring, which had two slightly smaller rings within and angled in different directions. It looked like they were able to be rotated?

I narrowed my eyes and was able to make out straps and handlebars aligning the inner-most circle.

‘So I guess they get strapped in there and spun around?’ I thought, ‘It’s gotta be training for something specific, but don’t they get super dizzy in—‘

“Speaking of tiny, here’s a little behind-the-scenes detail for you!” Andre swooped in and wrapped an arm around his coach, catching us both by surprise, “This guy over here likes to put those glow in the dark stars on any ceiling he can reach! So if you’re in an actual, normal sized room, be sure to look up.”

He smiled cheekily as his coach pushed him off and tried to swat him away, making the captain hop back as he giggled—then the goalkeeper came from the other side and wrapped his arm around their coach.

“And he does this real fun thing where he’ll toss stuff in the air expecting it to float because he’s so used to that no-gravity chamber! So if you see a lot of stuff all over the observatory’s ground, now you know why!”

“Bah! You two—shoo! You’re supposed to be helping my staff set up before—“

His eyes widened.

“Oh! Oh, that’s right. We need to finish this soon.” He hurriedly walked across the room and towards another set of double doors, these being a lighter, pastel blue as opposed to the usual metallic hue, “I promised to show Maci our observatory, we’ll only be a moment!”

“Enjoy the rest of the tour!” Phinus waved at me as he made his way over to the tank.

“Thanks for poppin’ by, Maci, and tell Val I said hi!” I heard Andre say after.

I waved back, “Byyyeee, great seeing you two again!”

When I joined Coach Black on the metal stairs leading to his observatory—it much shorter but certainly much louder compared to the last set we were on, I heard him clear his throat.

“Apologies for keeping you for so long back there.” He turned his head slightly, “And for my outburst.”

“What—? No, no, it’s fine, you’re completely fine!” My voice echoed, “If it helps any, I didn’t think it was an ‘outburst’, more of… ‘Informed rant’? I really like hearing these sorta things, personal thoughts and opinions from figures in the Super League—especially a coach. And, well, I think I would’ve also gotten frustrated if I were in your shoes too.”

He faced ahead again and let out a content sigh.

We stopped at the last set of doors, a sign reading ‘Please knock!’ with stars and planets sprinkled around it. When Coach Black put his hand on the push bar, he looked at me again.

“Believe it or not, I’ve made a script for myself for this tour.”

“Really now?”

“Yes, if I were to give a tour without one, people would be stuck in my stadium for hours listening to me talk. I had to rewrite it so many times because Vega and Ben kept telling me they were still ‘too lengthy’.” He chuckled, “But by this point, I would turn around—like I’m doing now—and I would tell everyone: ‘If you’re only here for my team, then you’ve seen everything already! You’re free to leave.’ Since so many only come for my boys—“

I spun around and took a step down, “Well, guess that’s my cue to leave!”

“Now wait a moment!” He grabbed my shoulder and laughed, “You’re not getting away that easily.”

“Kidding, kidding!” I grinned cheekily, “I’m excited—I think this was one of the biggest things I was looking forward to when I first read about this.”

His smile grew a bit warmer, and he let me inside.

I was so used to the photos of his observatory, a dome with computers, telescopes, ladders, books, and an assortment of supplies scattered about—not as a mess, but as ‘organized chaos’, yet still enough room on the floor for viewers to make out the giant Orion logo on the carpet. The overwhelming indigo hue that’d completely dowse the entire area, the twinkling stars in the sky that always appeared so bright even in newspapers, and the top of the dome always being cut off because it was too big to fit in one photo.

I expected the mess, I expected the tech. I expected the large, dome room. I expected the long, silver desk that was pressed against the large windows and went completely around the observatory. I expected the tens of computers, monitors, printers, charts, and papers all across the desks, the rolling chairs in wildly different places with more papers stacked on top of them, the large telescopes pointing towards the sky and the ladders right beside them.

What I wasn’t expecting, though, was how bright and pink it was when I stepped in.

I shielded my eyes with my arm, peeking past it to see the sun was setting right before us, and the entire city had been tinted by this pleasant, warm color. The sky, while predominantly pink, had a striking orange at the very end of the horizon, and—

I realized I could actually see the top of the Soccersphere’s own observatory now—and I did. I looked up and saw a soft purple slowly creep across the skin, and big, fluffy clouds tinted lavender with their edges lined with a golden orange.

I kept staring up.

In the center of the dome, where the long, silver window frames met and created a circular frame, was a plane of glass divided into 12 triangular pieces. I worked my way down to the tip of the largest telescope in this room—nearly three times my height. It was white, sleek, with black buttons and knobs at the very end, and it sat atop a dark gray mount. Impressively, this huge, wondrous yet scary mechanical device had it’s weight supported by a round, gentle pastel blue platforms with stairs leading to it. Though a part of me worried that one day, this giant thing could lose balance and tip over, if it’s been in Coach Black’s observatory for this long without a scratch, surely it was a sturdy platform.

I looked across. As I expected, there were desks completely surrounding the room. Computers were still on and showing different footage of rockets, images of space, and I even caught one playing a rerun of an Orion game against Azul. I saw a model of our solar system held up by a pole, another one of the coach’s telescopes—the same colors as the other one, but half it’s size—and a couple of framed photos of his team… And I think one of them had a picture of Asteroid 193030 Cosmique! There were—

I froze when my eyes landed on a set of folding tables with white cloth draped over them. On top of them were a bunch of snacks, drinks, and those cookies I reeealllllyyy liked. A mix of chocolate dough and vanilla dough swirled together filled to the brim with chocolate chips.

Coach Black must’ve caught me staring, as I heard him say: “Please, help yourself! I’ve made plenty.”

I rushed over nabbed one “I’ll just take one! Thank you!”

“Ah, have you had tho—“

“I’ll take two.” I grabbed another.

He chuckled, “I’m glad to see you like them, I made them myself.”

I jumped, half a cookie already in my mouth.

I quickly finished chewing, “Y’did? These are amazing!”

“Ah, thank you.” He swatted at the air, “My grandmother taught it to me, as did her grandmother. It seems to be popular wherever I bring them.”

I was debating getting a third, but something from the corner of my eye, back at the door, caught my attention. I brought my head up and saw multiple black cabinets just a little past my height, and a small, dark brown shelf sitting at the end of them. With it’s height being barely past my waist, I wondered if it was a nightstand.

The furniture wasn’t what interested me, though, it was what was on top of them that did.

The tops of the cabinets were overcrowded with tons of framed pictures, many of them being of Coach Black and his players, what looked to be old friends and former coworkers, and a picture of an older man in the middle of them. Placed between these frames were miniature models of space crafts, satellites, rockets, and I could see folded notes as well. I stepped closer—

Then stopped when I felt my foot hit something below.

I glanced down to see a book—tons of books and pens, actually—scattered across the floor. I mouthed a ’Sorry’, I wasn’t sure if it was to the book or to Coach Black, before stepping over them and getting closer.

I got a better look at the pictures, of the happy people within them, of the different stars, comets, and zoomed in photos of different celestial object surfaces. I took a second to skim one of the notes tucked between them that was opened just enough. A fan letter from a kid talking about how they want to watch an Orion’s game from the moon one day, alongside a drawing of an astronaut watching TV. I grinned.

I scanned the labels on each cabinet drawer. The names of each Orion player were written on them. I couldn’t help but snort when I saw the Spacex brothers’ cabinets were farthest away from each other.

“That’s for my players to put their fan mail, or if they have anything important they need to stash away safely. It gives me an excuse to talk with them too whenever they’re up here.” He hummed.

“Wow.” I whispered, “Who’s that?” I pointed to the picture of the older man, “Was he one of the first members of Orion? Or—or was he the founder of the Soccersphere?”

I could hear the way Coach Black’s face lit up as he let out an ‘Ah!’

“My grandfather.” He replied.

The picture frame was a flat, cool gray rectangle with sharp looking corners, while the photo itself was tattered and worn. The edges of this slightly crinkled picture had a light—but still noticeable—brown hue to them, most likely from how many people must’ve handled it in the past, and the colors on the left were far less vibrant than the rest, with a blurry, white spot in the center of it. Wherever this used to be resulted in the sun’s light eventually bleaching it.

Despite the faded colors, the joy on his grandfather’s face could be felt through the aged paper, even after all these years. The deep wrinkles around his mouth that could only be gained from someone smiling so much for so many years—a big, bright smile that’d put the very star that tried to bleach him away to shame. His eyes were closed with crinkles at their corners, and he wore round-framed glasses with scotch tape holding them together in the center as they were mid-slip on his nose, and on him was a vest similar to Coach Black’s.

Strangely enough, there was a pattern on his vest that reminded me of the floor in that one hallway Val had taken me through to get to the VIP room. Dots of various sizes—and most likely, various colors which would have been more noticeable if they weren’t so washed out—meant to represent planets, tiny dashes in place of the stars, and thin strings woven about in a way that was probably meant to represent the ‘swirls’ one would see in photographs of space.

It looked handmade, a gift by someone who loved him, and a gift that was loved, seeing how he chose to wore it for the day he had this photo taken.

He also had some hair.

Not a lot of it, just enough to go around the bottom half of his head with fluffy sideburns to trail down past his cheekbones.

For a moment, I tried to imagine Coach Black with this hair, but I genuinely couldn’t. Still, I tried to get creative with my imagery, and couldn’t help but crack a smile at anything that appeared in my head.

“And in a way…” The coach in question spoke, “I suppose he did help find the Soccersphere. I don’t think it would have existed without him.”

“Why’s that?” I asked, my eyes flickering to him before going back to the photo.

“Hm-hm, you see…” He grabbed two nearby, purple office chair and rolled it close to him before sitting down on one of them, “Years before I had started coaching for Orion, I didn’t care for football. Far from it, actually!”

“Really?” The surprise in my tone amused him.

He nodded as he pushed the other chair closer to me, “Yes, I thought it was boring, a waste of time! My aunt’s side of the family, they would sit down with him and watch it on the television, and they would always convince me to join them, and I would try to, but I always thought to myself: Pah! They are just kicking the ball back and forth, how can anyone be entertained by such a thing?” He then looked at the photo, “As soon as the game was over, I would immediately ask my grandfather if we could use his telescope.”

“He was a fan of space too? Is he also the reason you enjoy it?” I asked.

“I was already fond of our universe when I was young, but my grandfather truly ignited it further, and fueled my desire to know more.” He waved a hand across his observatory, showcasing the various machinery, the tools, the technology he had that ranged across the decades, “He used to help design rockets, and when he wasn’t doing that? He would be staring at the stars for hours, or he would bring his work home no matter how big ’work’ was.” He stretched an arm out to give a gentle pat to a nearby computer that looked older than me.

He continued, “And I’d always run over to him to ask if I could help, and he would always say yes.” His head slowly drifted towards the nearby window, “And we’d talk all night. He’d tell me about his tools, how to use them, that the astronauts said ‘hello’ to me, and we would keep talking until I’d fall asleep and wake back up in my bedroom.”

It was my turn to shift my chair around. I repositioned the seat so I was facing Coach Black’s direction as it creaked under my weight.

“So what happened that lead to you loving soccer so much?” I asked him, “Did they finally indoctrinate you with the TV?”

A hearty laugh escaped his lips, and I couldn’t help but smile as he enjoyed my joke.

I went on.

“Okay, okay, but seriously, it sounded like you were deeply in love with space. How did soccer eventually end up in your life when you seemed so disinterested? I mean—“ I gestured towards him, “A lot of fans consider you one of the top strategists in the Super League, on par with Supa Strikas’ own coach. You have such a grasp on how to handle your opponents, how to utilize each player on your team—what changed?”

“Once again, my grandfather.” He shrugged, “On one of his birthdays, he asked if I could watch a live football game with him. His favorite team was playing, and he was gifted two tickets. I dreaded it,” He put a hand to his chest, a touch dramatic, “But I agreed.”

I watched as he rolled himself over to a small, silver cabinet that was so modernistic in it’s appearance, I thought it was another one of his many devices before he popped one of the drawers open.

He sorted through the contents inside before he pulled out a cut-up piece of newspaper that had been slipped inside a protective sleeve.

He made his way towards me again, extending his arms out so I could get a better look.

It was a picture of a soccer team with jerseys I didn’t recognize, and a logo that didn’t ring a bell. The fact the paper was only black and white didn’t help any.

The uniform itself didn’t stick out too much; a solid color with thin stripes running down the sides and looped around the sleeves, and the logo appeared to be…

It almost looked like a few rings overlapping? It was hard to tell given how small and blurry the photo was.

My eyes went to the headline below.

“CASINNI WINS 4 - 0”

“They were a local team,” Coach Black’s voice filled my ears again, “I believe they stopped playing nearly 15 years ago, but this game.” He pointed to the headline, “This was the game I saw with him.”

“Four to zero, dang.” I said, “Man, what a game that must’ve been!”

I saw Coach Black’s warped reflection appear on the surface of the sleeve.

“It was exciting! And—and maybe it was because it was evening when we had watched that game…” He brought the paper towards him and stared, “…But when I saw the way Casinni worked together, how thoughtful and careful each move was, that’s when it clicked with me. I found myself not enjoying the game—but being truly invested in it. Never once had a football given me the same fascination as a passing comet would, never had players sparked such excitement within me the same way each ring of Saturn did—“ He squeezed his eyes shut and held the paper close to his chest as a bright smile spread across his face, as if he were reliving the very game he was describing, “But that night, watching two teams so beautifully—so—so passionately play against each other, giving it their all…”

He slowly exhaled, “It was as if I was discovering the galaxy all over again.” As he rolled his chair back to the cabinet, he went on, “It was after that that I had thrown myself into the world of football! I started attending more games, I’d watch old recordings for hours on end, I even played it for a brief time to truly understand everything I could.”

When he slipped the paper back inside, he spun the chair around to face me once more, “A lot of people gave me a hard time in the beginning, when I told them I strived to bring both my passion for space and football together, and I thought it would let up after I finally got accepted by the Board, but some people still thought I was ’crazy’ for trying to combine them!”

“But look where you are now! Best astronomer and one of the best coaches in the Super League.” I said.

“Exactly, you don’t need other people to tell you what to do with the things you love.”

“Your grandpa must’ve felt pretty proud knowing he basically kickstarted all of this.” I smirked, “He probably got real excited watching you too—how many games of yours did he see?”

The energy in his movement, the smile on his face, both started to fade after I had said that. There was a chill in the air.

“You see, unfortunately he—he didn’t get to see any of my games.” His voice wavered for a moment.

My eyes widened, “What—what happened?”

“It’s…” His voice faded, “It’s not related to football all too much, I must be honest with you.”

I lowered my brows, “Well, you’re a soccer coach. I think whatever you share counts as being soccer-related.” I gave him a reassuring smile.

For once, he hesitated before he spoke.

“Very well.”

He shifted around in his seat, trying to get comfortable. The smile on his face had weakened, yet the attempt to keep it persisted.

He pushed his glasses back up.

“The unfortunate truth is, ah,” He clasped his hands together, “he had passed before he had ever gotten the chance to see any of my games.”

“Oh—“ I put a hand over my mouth, “Oh, I’m sorry. That’s a—I didn’t mean to bring up anything sad, I—I’m very sorry to hear.”

He raised a hand, “You’re fine, I promise you. It has been years, and I wouldn’t bring it up if I didn’t want to talk about it, no?” He tilted his head towards me.

I pressed my lips together and nodded.

“And by the time I had started my training, he was already placed within a nursing home, so I had known our time was running out.” He placed one elbow on an armrest and rested his head on the palm of his hand, “But I would visit him whenever I could, and whenever my family asked me to. We took turns checking in on him, and we would spend holidays with him. He had a telescope in his room.”

A flicker of genuine joy went across his face at the recollection.

“Did you tell him about your practice, then? What you were doing?”

“Yes, though he didn’t respond much. I had assumed he was too tired most of the time, but he had—“ His pacing slowed as he recalled his past, “—He seemed happy that we were around. He would always ask us to bring the telescope closer, and he would mess with it as he nodded to what we were saying.” He recreated a twisting motion with his fingers as if a telescope was in his grasp, “But then there was one day—“

He lifted up a finger.

“One day, not too long before he had passed, where he suddenly became much more talkative. Those cookies—“ He pointed to the other one in my hand, untouched, “It was one of the few recipes I could bake without burning them too much.” He said with a bittersweet chuckle, “And my grandfather loved them.”

What little smile remained on his face slowly faded away.

“But one day, my family and I had gathered at the nursing home for dinner, and we had all brought something we made. I brought the cookies, we laid them all out…” He slowly gestured his arm in a steady, straight line, pretending there was a table right before us, “And we talked, we ate, and my grandfather kept eating the cookies, but then he suddenly stopped.”

“We have to save these.” I remembered him saying, “I can’t eat anymore. We have to save these.”

And I had to go on.

I couldn’t read Coach Black’s expression with how far he had turned his head away from me. Silence lingered between us, I allowed it to, as I felt he wanted to say more.

And eventually, he did.

“When I had been told about loss by my family…” Coach Black began, “It felt definite. A conclusion. That once someone you knew had passed, you could never see them again. You could never—you would never make more memories with them again, they were gone.”

He readjusted his position. He crossed his legs and faced the sky again, the sun had set deeper. Both of his arms were now propped up on the arm rests, and he placed his chin where his fingers interlocked.

“But ever since he had passed, I feel I have never seen him so much more in my life. I see him when I study the stars,” He motioned towards the sky, “I see him in every space-patterned sweater I catch someone wearing, I see him when my team runs through the fields, and in the beginning, it made me miss him all over again, but now…” He stood up, “Now, I see him when I look at our galaxy, and it feels a little less lonely.”

He tilted his head towards the window, towards the rich pink sky with dull hues of purple that slowly bled into it from the top. He slowly stood and made his way to a window. He motioned for me to follow.

“The universe is so big, Maci. It goes on forever, when we’ve tried to look for the end of it, all we saw were lightyears upon lightyears worth of stars, a size that is so…” He curled his hands into fists, his grasp gentle, “…Amazing, yet terrifying, and it keeps going. The planets keep spinning, the stars keep shining, even when it feels like your own world has come crashing down. It moves when you lose a game, it moves when you’ve fallen ill, it moves when someone you love goes.”

We stopped in front of one of the large window planes that wasn’t blocked off by desks nor control panels. I looked over the city skylines as the purple took over more of the sky.

“And it’s important that we keep moving with it, even if we can’t always keep up. There are people waiting for us ahead, wonderful things waiting to happen, undiscovered beauties within our galaxy waiting to be explored, and Maci,” He put a hand on my shoulder, “Don’t let anyone ever tell you that you have to do it alone.”

I faced him. I saw the wavering joy across his face, and what little was left of the Sun had just enough light to leave a glare on his glasses that hid his eyes.

I lifted my head higher to meet his gaze and spoke quietly, “Thank you.”

His hand lingered on my shoulder for a moment longer before he let go and held his hands behind his back.

We both watched the sky for a few minutes, but it felt much longer than that.

The Sun fully dipped into the horizon, leaving only a thin, faded pink line nearly hidden behind the city. Gentle hues of purple had washed over the city with small clouds scattered about, their lower edges basked in a dusty pink.

The reflection of headlights from passing cars pulled my eyes to the bottom of the window, where more and more vehicles started to enter the stadium’s parking lot.

Coach Black cleared his throat, “Ah, I keep forgetting I have the actual tour still.” A brittle laugh left him.

I blinked, “Right—oh, that’s right! I don’t want to keep you or the fans waiting.” I spun over to fully face him, “Thank you so much again for all of this, and for letting me document and—and interview you, and—ah, shoot, I really don’t want to keep you, but it was great to see what happens at the Soccersphere and getting to hear so much from you, I mean it. I really enjoyed it all. Thank you so much.”

“And I have to thank you as well, it isn’t often I get to speak with a reporter who doesn’t mind my long ramblings. You were a delight to have.” His grin faltered when his eyes flickered to the windows again, “My only regret is that we didn’t get a chance to use the telescope—or see any stars tonight. I fear it is still too bright for them.”

I looked at the sky one last time.

Though they were faint, I was able to catch the glistening of small stars in the distance. My face lit up, “Well, I think we can see a few out there.” I motioned in their direction.

Coach Black narrowed his eyes, and once he had spotted them, he smiled, “And aren’t they lovely?”