June:What game?
Amelia:Brian’s
June:What are you talking about?
Amelia:My brother, remember? Five-nine, green eyes. Kind of a pain in the ass. What do you say?
June:What sport are we talking about?
Amelia:Football, June. At St. Mary we don’t play, talk about, or get off our ass for any other damn thing except football
Football wasn’t a sport that I had ever really been a fan of. Maybe because it was too violent for my taste. But this evening, I would’ve done anything to take a break.
June:Okay, will you come pick me up?
Amelia:Yeah, get ready; we’ll be there in a few minutes
I put on jean shorts and a hoodie, then told my mom I was going out. She was sitting on the couch staring at her phone. She mumbled, “Okay” and didn’t ask me any more questions.
Amelia pulled up in Brian’s car, and as I got in I noticed that someone was missing. “Where’s Blaze?”
Amelia smiled, pleased.
Maybe I should’ve told her that Blaze was only a friend. Or maybe I should’ve told her that I’d seen him hugging a guy in the mall parking lot that afternoon. More precisely, that he was in Jackson’s arms, James Hunter’s friend.
I turned to her and then realized how she was dressed—in a light-blue top withst. maryon it and a white pleated miniskirt.
“Wait, let me get this straight, are you a cheerleader?”
“Is that too clichéd for you, Miss White?” she teased me confidently.
“No. I didn’t know, that’s all.”
Actually, I thought it made a lot of sense for her, but I couldn’t help wondering if I’d ever feel comfortable with my body like all the other girls at school did with theirs.
We got to the football field ten minutes later. The bleachers were already full.
“Football’s a big deal here, huh?” I asked.
“Yeah, June, we’re the best team in all of Orange County.”
The crowd of spectators was made up of parents, male classmates, and most of all, girls. I recognized Sammy, the short blond girl who was always talking to James in class, sitting in the first row.
“June, these are my best friends, Poppy and Ari.”
Amelia introduced me to two girls.
“Hey, June . . . White, right?” Ari was the first one to talk. She was delicate with long dark hair and legs that were slender and solid, and her eyeliner was perfectly drawn on her lids.
Oh, yeah, she was the one I saw making out with Brian at the skate park.
“That’s Poppy.”
Ari pointed out the tall, slender girl with her hair in tiny braids standing next to her.
“Hey, June, did you just move here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before. Where’d you live before you moved?”
I waited a few seconds too long to open my mouth, and she started talking again.
