Past
I jogged over to the cheerleaders who were stretching and getting ready for tonight’s game. “I need a hair tie. Does anybody have a hair tie?”
“What?” Missy asked.
I was trying not to panic. “My elastic broke. I need a hair tie. Doesn’t anybody have one? If I don’t put my hair back, those assholes on the other team are going to rip it out.”
“You can use mine. I have another one.” Her voice was quiet, but her words spiked my pulse. It was the new girl, Parker something. She was shy, and pretty, and people flocked to her. She was the All-American girl with stunning blue eyes, long blond hair, and straight, white teeth.
When I saw her in my dad’s office on the first day of school, I normally would’ve introduced myself, but there was something about her that made me want to both run away and be near her. It was perplexing. I watched as she slid the tie from her long ponytail. She didn’t hand it to me but told me to get on my knees and turn around. “A ponytail is fine,” I said.
“Nope. We’re not going to give them any reason to get their hands on you.”
I could tell she was French braiding my hair. Her fingers felt amazing and it was hard not to lean back or relax into her. All eyes were on us. I stayed on my knees and waited for her to finish. I wanted to say something clever and fun, but I was tongue-tied. The rest of the cheerleaders were walking through cheers, but Parker was focused on me. She quickly wrapped the end of my braid in the elastic and tucked the part that would’ve stuck out of the helmet up into the braid.
She patted my shoulder. “That should get you through the game.”
I jumped up and took a step forward before turning to thank her. “You saved me tonight. I owe you big.” I adjusted my helmet and ran over to the sidelines where my teammates stood.
“McCoy, you’re out there with Max,” Coach Larson barked. Max and I jogged to the Puma logo in the center of the field. We nodded at the right times and deferred the ball to the visiting team when we won the toss. It wasn’t hard to miss Parker on the sidelines with her long blond hair. I almost wiped out on the run back to the sidelines because Max slowed down and I was looking elsewhere. My cleat scraped the back of his ankle.
“Ow. Sutton, pay attention,” Max said.
“Fuck. Sorry!” I helped him with his shoe when we got over to the bench.
“Where’s your head at?” He followed my glance. “Oh, I get it. The new girl.” He shrugged. “I think there’s a long list so you might want to get in line.”
“McCoy! Johnson! Up for the kickoff,” Larson yelled.
“Sutton’s helping me with my shoe. Be right there.”
Max made a big production of checking the laces and the fit before finding an opening for us on the sidelines. Special teams stopped them on the twenty-one-yard line. The Fort Range Pioneers were a tough team. We lost to them last year. I was ready for them this year though. They were heavy on offense, but light on defense. And they played dirty. They put late hits on players, especially quarterbacks.
We cheered when they missed the field goal. I grabbed my helmet and jogged out. I saw Parker and gave her a quick head nod. We got into position and I started the game by handing off the ball to our running back.
“Blue thirty-two, blue thirty-two.” My offense set up. “Independence.” Two seconds. “Independence,” I yelled. The team pushed off the line and I stepped back in the pocket and delivered a beautiful spiral that Max caught twenty-eight yards down the field. We got another fifteen yards when their middle linebacker nailed me well after the pass was thrown. I was rattled but I bounced up and called the huddle like it didn’t matter.
“Fuck, that looked rough. Are you okay?” Max asked.
“I need somebody to stay back in case that shit keeps happening.” I was angry and slightly dizzy. I was probably concussed but didn’t want to stop. By halftime, most of us were bloody. We were ahead because we kept our cool, whereas they kept getting penalties.
I wanted to collapse on the locker room floor but managed to stay upright by leaning against a locker while we listened to Coach Larson’s changes. When he was done, I ran across the hall to the women’s locker room to put on better pads that protected more of my body. I pushed open the door and startled Parker. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Her eyes were wild and her chest heaved. “I’m not used to running into other girls down here.”
She held up a broken hair tie and laughed. “I needed to redo my hair,” she said. Looking into her blue eyes and at her perfect mouth, I suddenly felt no pain. “You’re very tall,” she said.
I took a step back because I didn’t want to intimidate her. In full football gear, I was supposed to intimidate. I placed my helmet and the better pads on the counter. “I’m getting beat up out there. I’ve got to change my pads.” I started to tug at the neck of my jersey.
She playfully rolled her eyes at me and rested her hands on her hips. “Can I help?” she asked.
“That would be amazing. Can you grab my jersey around the neck and pull it off? If you don’t mind.”
“Of course, bend over,” she said.
I bent over so she could pull off my jersey. I quickly untied my pads and pulled them off. I was sweaty and still tasted blood in my mouth, but Parker didn’t seem put off.
“Do you need help putting it back on?” she asked.
“Yes, but let me just rinse out my mouthguard real quick.” It unnerved me that she was watching me and when I felt her hand on the back of my neck I almost crumpled. Her touch was amazing.
“Your hair is holding up nicely,” she said.
I nodded and discreetly spit the water into the sink. It wasn’t bloody so I didn’t have to be embarrassed by that. “Thank you so much. You seem to be rescuing me a lot today.” She helped me wrestle into my new pads and watched me intently as I laced up.
“Ready for the jersey?”
“Yeah. I’m sorry it’s so dirty. Tough game.”
“It’s okay. This is what we do. We cheer, braid hair, and even help dress players.” We both blushed at her words.
“Wow. I mean, I knew cheerleaders were helpful.”
She giggled and pushed my shoulder playfully. “Not like that.” She gathered up my jersey and held it in front of her.
It was a struggle, but we got it on just in time. The banging on the locker room door startled us both.
“Let’s go, McCoy.”
“Yes, Coach.” I smiled at Parker and grabbed my helmet.
“Go get ’em, McCoy.” She growled and made a little fist.
“I will.” I opened the door and trailed my team back to the field. A few moments later I saw Parker slip into formation with the cheer team.
“What are you smiling about? This game is killing me.” Max adjusted his helmet and stretched. He was getting pounded out there. He was used to it. I wasn’t.
I nodded at Parker. “Her. She’s so nice. She helped me in the locker room with my pads.”
“She’s hot, too.” He smacked my knee and pointed at the field. “But let’s get back to the game. We’re up.”
We won by three points. The crowd was wild, the coaches almost fought, and I was exhausted. We downed Gatorade and listened to Coach tell us all the good we did. I peeled off my uniform and sprawled out on one of the benches in the women’s locker room wearing my compression shirt.
“We meet again.”
I looked up and smiled when I saw Parker, but dropped it when two other cheerleaders, Missy and Amberlynn, walked up behind her.
“Good game, Sutton,” Amberlynn said.
I waved thanks to her, too tired to speak.
“I don’t know how you do it or why you do it. You probably have a million bruises.” Missy always spoke her mind, and nine times out of ten, she was a bitch.
When it was apparent they were going to undress right in front of me, I sat up and grabbed my clothes to take a hot shower. I wanted to rest longer, but I didn’t want them to feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I thought Missy did it on purpose just to see me squirm. When I came out to my dad, he told me to never be alone in a locker room with only one other person. At least there were three private showers. I grabbed one and hurried up. I could soak my sore muscles tonight when I got home.
“Hey, Sutton. Are you going to Tom’s?” Amberlynn yelled.
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
“Okay, you’re here alone. We’re leaving and we’ll see you soon,” she said.
The private stall had a lock, but I was still vulnerable, so I rinsed out my hair and quickly dried off. I wondered if Parker was going to Tom’s. Just in case, I took extra time to style my hair and put on a tiny bit of makeup.
The parking lot at Tom’s Pizza was full, but I found a spot on the side of the road. It was the place to be because not only did it serve cheap, mediocre pizza, it also had a bowling alley, an arcade with games from the nineties, and dance-off machines. I high-fived several people on my way inside. “Great game, McCoy!” and “Awesome win!” followed me until I found a spot in my booth.
“I called you,” Hayley said. She scooted over closer to Harrison to make room for me.
“I haven’t even looked at my phone,” I said. I grabbed a slice of pizza and ate it in four bites. That game took all my energy and I needed to replenish ASAP.
“Max has been asking a lot of questions,” Harrison said.
I looked at him. “What kind of questions?” He looked innocent, but I knew what he meant.
“You know, about a certain cheerleader,” Hayley said.
I shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal and grabbed another slice. “Yeah, so?” I gave her the now is not the time look.
She caught on and changed the subject. “Your lip is a little swollen,” she said.
“My whole body is banged up so I’m not worried about a little cut.” Honestly, I was more worried about my ankle that I rolled at the end of the game. I needed to ice it.
Over Harrison’s shoulder, I saw Parker walk in. She looked amazing. Her blond hair was down and flowed around her shoulders. She was wearing jeans and a thin blue sweater. A jacket hung over her forearm, and she clutched her purse to her side to prevent it from hitting people. The place was packed and loud. When our eyes met across the restaurant, I felt something stir inside me. We didn’t know each other, but we weren’t strangers. We were friends waiting to happen. Maybe it was because she was the first girl who had literally made me forget about everything, or maybe it was because I wanted us to be something. Either way, I knew it wasn’t just me, because she gave me a small wave and kept eye contact before getting pulled in a different direction.