Pulling At The Red Thread Of Fate - Chapter 9 - No Guts, No Glory free porn video

Pulling at the Red Thread of Fate - Chapter 9 - No Guts, No Glory "You heard me right. My name is Allen and I'm a guy." Mike looked up at me in disbelief, trying to digest what I had just told him as he shuffled awkwardly on his bed. So how did I end up spending the morning in Mike's room, telling him my entire story? After the big cafeteria fight and even more rumours began to fly around school - I think the wildest version that I heard was that Mike now had a harem of me, Jen, and Anna to worry about - there wasn't much opportunity for me to speak to Mike until the weekend after the game. Even with the distraction of waiting to speak to me, Mike was able to cruise through the game without too much difficulty. Unless something drastic happened, it seemed like we were destined to face Brightman after all. After the game, I had asked Mom to let me have a sleepover with Britney again and Mrs. Taylor worked her magic on her and somehow convinced her that it would be a good idea. I could only imagine how annoyed Mom would have been when she was driving home with Dad and Steve, but that would have been a problem for 'future me' to deal with. Jen hated the fact that I was going to sleep over as well, although her problem wasn't with Britney anymore. She was still angry at Mike for not standing up for me with Anna and angry at me because I had forgiven him so quickly, but when I told her that I was going to tell him everything she seemed to at least accept the fact that I needed some time alone with Mike. I don't think she was petty enough to hope that Mike would outright reject me, but I'm sure it must have crossed her mind. It certainly crossed my mind, and while I didn't want to potentially ruin Ally's chance to be with the man of her fantasies, it felt like something I needed to do. The fact that I couldn't feel Ally's pull on me to try to stop me at least made me believe that she seemed to accept this fact as well. As for the whole Anna situation, whatever Violet seemed to tell her was enough to at least keep the team together to get through our routines. I tried to speak to her, but she just shot daggers at me with her eyes and I knew to leave her alone. That brought me to this moment, alone in Mike's room, door firmly shut to keep out nosy little step-sisters, as I told him exactly what I thought was happening to me over these last two months. I could see his brain working overtime, steam practically coming out of his ears, as he tried to process the yarn I spun. That, as far as I knew, I was an uninvited guest in Ally's body and came from a reality where I was a guy and his best friend. I sat down in front of him as he continued to search for a response. I guess I should be glad that he didn't immediately recoil from me like I was some kind of freak anyway. He finally broken the silence when he asked, "You... you really believe what you're saying?" I had a few aces up my sleeves for Mike because I knew him so well. Or at least I thought so. I was about to test the limits of my beliefs by dropping a few tidbits of his life that I believed would be impossible for Ally to know about. I nodded at him, "I do. Let me tell you a few things I know about you from my life as Allen and you tell me if I'm wrong." He looked at me expectantly as I continued, "If your life isn't dramatically different here, then your first crush would have been on Ms. Salazar. You took a bad fall one day and scraped the hell out of your knees, and she took care of you by cleaning your wound. You had your first... nocturnal dream soon after." I watched as his eyes widened and he scurried away from me as he heard my words. He looked like he wanted to protest, to deny it, which was more than enough for me to realize that I had hit the nail on the head. Before he could compose himself, I continued, "You have a birthmark on your left butt cheek that you don't want anyone to notice because it's shaped like a heart and you're afraid the guys will make fun of you over it." I leaned in closer to him and gently added, "Your mom... your biological mom. When you were young, her pet name for you was 'cheeky little monkey'. She'd call you that whenever you were feeling sad and she tried to comfort you." He collapsed on his bed and let out a big sigh. I moved over to sit on the bed and laid down beside him, turning to face him to try to read his emotions. He was understandably confused and asked, "You're telling me that you're actually a guy in Ally's body... not that you think you are a guy?" I nodded at him. "That's what I believe, although it's getting harder to convince myself that's true as time passes. But what about the things I know about you? I'm guessing that they're all true, so that means that either my memories of you are real or my mind somehow made- up things about you that are coincidentally true." He shook his head incredulously. "Or you're telepathic and you read my mind." I wasn't sure if he was making fun of me, but then again, that wouldn't be all that different from what had already told him. I tried to humour him by talking about the things I knew again, "What about football? Did Ally ever talk to you about your game before I appeared?" He sighed as it was clear that I wasn't going to drop it. I suppose it's not every day your potential girlfriend tells you that she's actually a boy from a different universe. He tried to search his memory as he answered me, "I guess not... but maybe Ally - YOU - could have learned about football after we lost, so you could help coach me and we could get closer together." "Tell me Mikey, do you actually believe that?" "You're telling me that I'm the one being unreasonable here?!" I was starting to get a little annoyed, "I don't understand why you're getting upset when it's not you who has to deal with living a completely different life in a body that's not yours." "Sorry, I just don't know how you want me to respond!" "I don't need anything from you right now. I just wanted you to know what's been going on." It was his turn to grow a little frustrated. "But what am I supposed to do with that information? Do you want me to be supportive?" "I'm giving you the information you need to make your own choices..." I hesitated, as this time I felt Ally's pull on me as I tried to form the words that would make up my next sentence. "I don't know when I'll be ready to... well, to do whatever it is we're supposed to do next if we wanted to move our relationship forward. I can't even be sure if you like Ally or if you like 'me'." "I know that I like YOU. Hell, I think I love you!" He stopped as he realized what he had just blurted out and turned his head away in embarrassment and continued. "My feelings for you are real. If that means I fell in love with you because you were my best friend in a different life, then why is that even a problem?" I reached over and gently grabbed his shoulder, turning his body so that I could face him. To my surprise, he was practically on the verge of tears. Softly I asked, "What do you mean?" "I'll be honest, I've never felt anything like what I've felt with you these last couple of months. The guys on the team talk about their girlfriends or who they'd want to be their girlfriends, but I never really had that... that desire. I thought I might be... well, I thought it might be because I didn't like girls. That was until you came up to me on the field, and my whole world changed. These few weeks we've spent together, even if all we do is talk about football... it's felt like I've known you for years." Oh god. Was Mike... maybe that would explain why he never had any interest in girls and would patiently let me dribble on about Violet whenever we were alone together. But it could really just be that he didn't have an 'Ally' in his life for him to have fallen in love with back in my reality. I was simply left speechless as he turned away from me again. Seeing him so vulnerable again reminded me of the night of our first kiss, and I could definitely feel a desire to comfort him coming from Ally. It didn't feel right for me to touch him in that moment, so I laid back down on the bed beside him and said, "For what it's worth, being able to spend time with you makes Ally really happy. I know she feels the same way about you." "You're talking about 'her' as if she's a completely different person." "I know it's hard to believe, but right now that's still how I feel. Even if... if I'm here for the long term, I don't know if I can make any choices that would impact her life." He turned around and grabbed me, this time with a hint of desperation in his voice. "If you know Ally feels the same way about me, then... then what's the problem?" "Did you like Ally before that day I told you to work on your footing? If you said you didn't have any feelings for anyone before me, then you must mean before I was forced to take over Ally's life then?" He remained quiet, but I insisted. "Please... tell me the truth." Clenching my hand, he slowly nodded at me. "You're not wrong. But that doesn't mean that my feelings for you now aren't real." "But if there isn't actually something wrong with me and everything from these past two months is actually real, it's possible that you might have never fallen for me - or for Ally - at all." He was humouring me, but I could tell he also didn't want to believe me either. "Or maybe we would have connected some other way." I had to acknowledge this possibility at least and added, "Learning more about Ally, I know we have some similar hobbies. I don't know if that would have been reason enough for you and Ally to have had a meaningful conversation, particularly since Ally was so afraid to talk to you." Shaking his head at me, he rebuked. "I wanted to talk to you... to her... when I saw that we had started high school together. But it just got awkward because the only icebreaker we had was the fact that I saved you - her - from drowning. Maybe most guys would see that as an open receiver in the endzone, but I didn't want that to be the one thing that brought us together." "I guess we'll never know." I looked at him again and steeled myself, recognizing that I needed to tell him the whole truth. "There's also someone else." The shock of my words caused him to release my hand. I could tell that I hurt him, but he tried his best to maintain his composure and he responded through gritted teeth. "Is that the real reason you're telling me this? Because you're in love with someone else?" He paused as he presumably went through the possibilities in his mind. "It's not actually Shane, is it?" I sighed, a little disappointed that he immediately went there. "No, it's not Shane." I hesitated for a moment as I thought about what I would say next. He deserved to know the truth, didn't he? And no matter what happened between us, the Mike I knew wouldn't do anything rash with what I wanted to tell him. At least that's what I wanted to believe. I swallowed down my anxiety, feeling my body shake a little as the words came out of my mouth. "It's Jen." He seemed more flabbergasted that before and let out a frustrated laugh. "So you're a lesbian now? Or what, you as a guy, living in Ally's body, happened to fall for the girl next door?" I remained as calm as I could and simply added, "It's as complicated as my feelings for you." I stood up and looked down at him, sensing the torment of anger and confusion in him as he tried to understand what I had just told him. "I told her the same thing I'm telling you now. That until I figure out where I'm supposed to be... or even who I am, I can't make a big decision about who to be with. If I'm actually not crazy and this is all real, then Ally should be the one to make that decision." He quickly sat up in his bed, grabbing one of my hands and pulling me toward him. "And what if this is actually your life? And Allen and this stuff about being from a different world isn't... isn't real?" I wanted to give him an answer. As much as I wanted to give Jen an answer. It would only be fair to the both of them if I could make a choice so that they weren't both left clinging to something that might not even be there. I shook my head and gave him the only answer that I could. "I don't know." He squeezed my hand tightly and with renewed determination added, "Well, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me that you're not interested anymore. I wasn't exaggerating when I said these last few weeks I've spent with you have been the happiest I've been since... since ever." He was more confident and bolder when he added, "I love you and that won't change." When he felt me flinch, he snorted in response and added, "Let me guess, Jen told you the same thing?" "Not quite word for word, but yes..." "Well, I think I understand why she got so mad at me the other day. Or why she's always around us now." He gave me a sheepish look and said, "Tell her, 'challenge accepted'". I was a little surprised by his response, pulling my hand way from him and asked, "Wait, what does that mean?" "If what you're saying is true, and even if you decide that you don't want to be together with me, then I'm sure the 'best friend' version of me would be doing all he could to help you out." I gave him a look of skepticism and playfully punched him. "You're not secretly hoping that I 'change my mind' or something?" He shrugged. "I'm not going to deny the fact that I want to be there for you in case... well..." I punched him again, a little harder this time. "Cheeky little monkey!" I could feel the tension in the room slowly release, and while I knew it wasn't settled, it was a big weight lifted off of my shoulders. He laughed and got up from his bed, jabbing me in return. "Don't think I glossed over the fact that you apparently know what my ass looks like." I blushed and bit my lip to try to hide my reaction as he quickly realized that if I was really 'Allen' then I would have seen much more than just his ass. We awkwardly broke eye contact as I tried to laugh it off. "You can't unsee things that happen in the locker room, am I right?" "Right..." He trailed off and perhaps smartly decided to drop the subject entirely. He tried to steer the conversation toward a less risqu? topic and asked, "Can I ask you about my mother? I mean..." I wasn't sure if I was opening any wounds by telling him about his life where I'm from, but I didn't want to hold back either. I nodded at him and he quietly asked, "Is she happy? Do you know why she stayed?" I had a theory, and short of being able to ask my Mom - the one from my world - that was about the best I could do. I motioned for him to sit on the bed again and I joined him. "I had been trying to work that out because I thought... well, I thought maybe I was here to try to do some 'Parent Trap' type matchmaking. I think what happened was that my Mom helped your Mom become partner in the firm she works at. I think it's the one big difference in our lives that comes from the fact that we didn't grow up being best friends. Our mothers never met, so she wouldn't have gotten that job offer." I leaned over to give him a hug. "But I think things are fine the way they are now too." "I'm trying to imagine what my life would be like without Rose and Britney in it and it's strange. I miss my Mom, but... I like having them here, you know?" I nodded at him. "I'd like to think that if there are actually many different worlds, it just means that you're happy in all of them." He gave me a shy smile and asked, "Is there one where I'm happy with you?" I nudged him with my shoulder and laughed. "I'm sure there is one. Hell, maybe it's this one and all of this stuff I told you is from an overactive imagination or I've been secretly stalking you in my sleep or something." I gave him a serious look and added, "But listen... our goal is still to get the team to State. No matter what's going on with me, I want that... no, I need that to happen." "It's the one connection you have to your old life, I suppose..." "Yes, but I also want you to have it if I can't. The 'you' from my world had the opportunity to be the champion. There's no reason that the 'you' that I know now can't have the same thing." His smart-ass instincts must have kicked in, because he quickly added, "Even if it means beating your new friend Shane?" I rolled my eyes at him and gave him another punch. He grimaced and began rubbing his shoulder and was about to say something, but at that moment we both noticed a little shuffling outside of Mike's door. I gave him an evil look before I practically shouted at him. "Oh wow Mike! It's just SO BIG. I don't know how it will fit!" It was his turn to blush and he gave me a dumbfounded look before I nudged him to play along. "Don't worry, I, uhh..." I encouraged him by giving him another nudge and he continued. "I'll go slow so it won't hurt!" To our horror when the door opened it was Mrs. Taylor, looking a little flustered and definitely very relieved when she saw that we weren't actually doing anything 'improper'. After a pregnant pause that seemed to last an eternity, the tension in the room must have gotten to me because I started to laugh and soon Mike and Mrs. Taylor joined me. Britney quickly popped into the room to see what the commotion was, which only caused me to become hysterical and laugh even more. She became annoyed with us as we all continued to laugh at her expense and began to sulk, a big pout forming on her face. I quickly went over to give her a hug and said, "Never change, Britney." After a little practice with Mike and some breakfast with the Taylors, Mrs. Taylor decided to drive me home again so she could drop in on Mom. I couldn't tell if they were actually developing a friendship of sorts or what, but the fact that she could throw Mom off so easily definitely worked to my advantage and allowed me to escape yet another interrogation from her. That didn't stop Jen from coming into my room minutes later to check in on me. She went straight to the chase. "So, he knows everything then?" "Everything... including us." She crossed her arms and gave me a stern look. "Oh really?" I laughed a bit at the absurdity of this love triangle and nodded. "He said 'challenge accepted'." She snorted at me in response and threw one of my old stuffed toys at me. "Oh you'd just love that wouldn't you? The two of us dueling with pistols at dawn for the right to be with you?" I shook my head. "Trust me, it's making me anxious just thinking about the two of you fighting each other... over me of all people. It's hard enough trying to deal with being Ally without having to worry about causing collateral damage to the people in her life." She switched to a more serious tone as she tried to comfort me. "I think... well, I think Ally would appreciate how you've lived her life. It's certainly gotten more interesting..." It was nice of her to make the effort to treat me like I was a distinct person, although I wonder if someone else would accuse her of enabling me. I considered her words and remembered Shelly's offer from earlier in the week. "There are things I feel like doing that I'm not sure if Ally would want to do." She gave me a look of concern, so I quickly added some context to my admittedly cryptic statement. "I'm thinking of joining the basketball team." "I guess I've never heard Ally talk about basketball before, but I don't know if that's the end of the world..." I shrugged my shoulders. "There are already people on the team who think I'm not fully committed." "Anna," Jen said as she practically spat out her name. "Among others, but maybe they're not wrong. I like cheerleading and I want to take it as far as I can, not only for Ally but for the team as well. Although, I'd also be lying if I said that I loved it as much as her. I know that if I start making decisions on behalf of Ally though, particularly ones that could impact her future... well, it just makes this seem more real." She gave me a shy look and whispered. "Including who you'd want to go to the Formal with?" I groaned and buried a head in my pillow but giving her a muffled response. "How about you go with Mike and I stay home?" She laughed at the mere suggestion before brushing it off entirely. "There are rumours about me floating around school now because of that witch Anna. I can't even imagine what people would say if that happened." She gave me a thoughtful look and added, "By the time the winter Formal comes along, it'll have been a semester... I'm not trying to suggest anything, but what if..." I nodded at her to encourage her to continue. "Go on..." "There's another possibility that I'm not sure you've wanted to think about. But what if you ARE Allen, but also Dr. Rowan is right and there's no way for you to go back to wherever you're from? At some point you'll have to make some life-changing decisions... even if it's not who you'll go to the Formal with, things like College applications, what you want to do as a career, where you'll want to live... you'll have to start living the life you have now even if you don't think it's yours." Damnit. She wasn't wrong. It was a possibility that was always in the back of my mind, but one I didn't want to consider. I think I would be happier if I'm just a manifestation of some psychosis in Ally's head and therapy or drugs could make me disappear so that she could live her life again. There were other things she didn't mention. If I stayed, I honestly didn't know what my sexuality or my gender identity would be at that point. And even if I figured that out, what if I wanted to get married and have a child? It was certainly my male privilege rearing its ugly head, but the realization that I would have to make sacrifices to my own life if I did have a child made that decision much harder now than it was when I was in my own world as a man. "Honestly Jen, I don't know what I'd do if that was how this story ended." Realizing that she may have opened a wound, she rushed over to comfort me. "I'll be there for you, no matter what happens between us. I promise." I awkwardly leaned my head against her shoulder, trying to account for our difference in height, feeling comforted having her at my side. It was nice knowing that I would have Jen and Mike to support me, even if they might have had their own reasons for doing so. But the thought of living the rest of Ally's life frightened me. It wasn't long after that I heard Mom call up to me to let me know that Mrs. Taylor was about to leave, and I ambled downstairs with Jen behind me in order to say goodbye to her. "You know Stella, this one has got a little bit of a firecracker in her. She nearly caused me a heart attack this morning." Mom gave me a questioning look and I shrugged to cover up the truth. "Just a bit of an inside joke." "I'm sure..." I hid my grimace because I knew Mom would start prying again. I'm sure seeing her daughter building a rapport with another woman, let alone her potential in-law as several people have joked about now, was not sitting all too well with her. She decided to make a pincer move in case we had any plans and offered. "Next time your daughter can spend the evening over here." I gave them both a conspiratorial glance and whispered. "Steve might like that actually." Mrs. Taylor laughed, but Mom was definitely not amused. I'm sure she didn't expect us to be single for the rest of time, but she was clearly having a hard time seeing the both of us as more than her 'babies'. I felt Jen give me a hug from behind as she said, "I'll make sure everyone behaves themselves." Knowing that Jen was a potential threat too, Mom coughed and said, "Well, we'll work something out. It might be a while anyway since these two have their SATs to worry about too." She was right, but oddly it was the last thing that I was worried about. Studying for the SAT was something that helped take my mind off of everything going on around me and I actually did pretty well on the prep test I took. Mrs. Taylor gave each of us a hug before she took her leave, with Jen leaving soon after. Mom looked at me and, perhaps due to her mental exhaustion said, "I need a drink." I laughed and said, "At least you don't have to deal with her 'mini me' version." She gave me a confused look and I shook my head. "If Britney does sleep over, I'll let you spend some time with her." I left her to her own thoughts as I ambled up the stairs to my room, hoping to escape an interrogation about my evening at the Taylors. If telling Mike everything was supposed to make my life easier, it certainly had the opposite effect. The love triangle vibe, if you wanted to call it that, was just so evident now despite the fact that I was still insistent on not starting a relationship for the time being. If I wasn't spending time alone with Mike trying to prepare for his games, then I was with Jen as she insisted that we do our homework together even though we were in different classes. And if I wasn't with one of them, then I was inevitably with the both of them, as they each passive-aggressively jostled with each other for my attention. I don't know if my cheerleading life was necessarily any better, whatever conversation Violet had with Anna and the rest of her 'retainers' seemed to be enough to get them to at least be cordial to me. Maybe it was reminding them of the bigger goal of the team, or maybe it was simply promising Anna that I wasn't a part of her life. Whatever the case, I didn't see Violet all that much after that day when I entered Shane's number into her phone. If anything, I probably learned more about Violet from my subsequent conversations with Shane at the group meetings more than anything else. I came to enjoy my time there, even though I still felt a little guilty because I didn't feel like I belonged. But then again, I imagine I'd be considered queer by anyone who didn't know my story. I wasn't sure if I should be offended that people were starting to get bored of my melodrama or not. Being caught in the middle of Jen and Mike's affections were suffocating to me, although the fact that I wasn't ready to make a choice meant that I actually had no updates to give anyone. But having that outsider perspective did point out to me how ridiculous I was being to any sane person, considering I technically wasn't dating either of them. Stacy was the first to offer me a solution. "It sounds like you're into the both of them... and it's not like you're keeping it secret from either, so what's the big deal?" I shook my head at her. "You make it sound so easy." Stacy rolled her eyes in response. "Something I learned along the way is to not waste time with niceties. It's fine to be polite, but at some point you just need to come out and say what you want because you can't afford to wait. Relationships are the same way. It's better that everyone is clear about the expectations, or you just end up wasting a lot of time. The question is, if you don't want to choose, would you be happy with the both of them? And if the answer is yes, why not ask?" "But what if..." "What? They don't want that? They force you to choose? Fact of the matter is, you don't have anything now either, so the worst-case scenario is you end up where you are now." I let out a short, exasperated laugh. "I wish you could live my life for me." I wasn't even sure if I was joking... I'd imagine Stacy would be great at managing Ally's life. She giggled. "No thanks, I love the life I have." She leaned into me and whispered. "Although if things don't work out with Mike, do you mind giving me his number?" I shoved her away from me and laughed. "Wow, you move pretty fast." She beamed at me in response. "Like I said, I've learned not to waste time." There was a lot unsaid in her advice, and it was a bit sad that she had so much wisdom at such a young age, but I was glad that she seemed stronger for it. I thought about what would happen if she did start dating Mike and laughed to myself, musing out loud. "You'd eat him alive." "He's a fine slab of meat, so bring me the knife and fork!" She laughed, but it sounded serious to me. It certainly made me feel a little jealous, but even before I became Ally, I knew Mike was fairly popular... She smiled and put on a more serious tone. "Do they like each other?" "Mike and Jen? I don't know... the only time they're even together is when they're with me." She laughed again. "Self-centered much?" I blushed. "No, that's not what I meant..." She nudged me with her elbow. "I was joking! It's still cute how you take everything at face value though. But that might be the first step before you even broach the bigger subject. I don't know much about 'thruples', but I have to imagine that everyone has to like each other for it to work..." Life was already complicated enough with me having to worry about breaking social dating conventions. Sensing my reticence, she leaned in close to me and asked, "Wait, are you out?" I looked at her as I considered the question. Jen was still worried about coming out herself, but what about me... or Ally? It was getting hard to remember where I ended and Ally began and it was clear that everyone seemed to think it was natural for me to be with Mike even if I was still hung up by the thought of being with a man. And despite being more comfortable with Jen, my parents have been a little standoffish whenever Jen or the prospect of me dating her came up. I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not out I guess, but I'm also not 'in' either. I just don't know who or what I am." It was a half-truth, but close enough to how I was feeling at least. She playfully jabbed me. "You're still thinking in absolutes." I sighed in response. "I know... it's hard not to see things as black and white even when I know it's all a 'social construct'." She leaned back in her chair and gave me a sympathetic smile. "It's good to talk this out with people here, particularly since we're friendly voices who can understand what you're going through, but you may want to talk this through with the people in your life." I nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I know. I thought the answers would come to me but it's starting to feel like I'm in this for the long haul." A serious look crossed her face. "It's your life, we can only hope it's for the long haul." I grimaced but was perhaps thankful that she took it not as I had intended. "Sorry, I just thought I would have had this all figured out by now." "Honestly, most people spend their entire lives trying to figure out who they are and how they fit into the world. I wouldn't put too much pressure on yourself." She was right, except I don't think anyone else was dealing with what I was going through at the moment. And the prospect of spending the rest of my life here, growing old as Ally... well, it wasn't something I wanted to consider as even a possibility. I took a deep breath and thanked her, even if it wasn't quite genuine. If she picked up on it, she chose to keep it to herself and decided to change the subject. "So are you and Shane going on another 'date' after the meeting tonight?" I laughed. "You're more than welcome to come." "Well, if you're not talking about Violet, all you two gab about is football," she joked. I suppose she wasn't wrong and it's almost funny that my relationship with Shane here would be very similar to the one I remember having with Mike in my other life. But maybe we really did need to diversify our conversations. "If you come, we'll talk about whatever you want." "Are you two conspiring with each other again?" We both looked up and saw Shane standing above us. I quickly quipped. "Just that you'd buy us dinner!" Stacy grinned. "What man could turn down an opportunity to spend time with two beautiful women?" Shane pretended to protest and remarked. "No offense, but you two aren't really my idea of a dream date. But I suppose I could do worse than you too." I gave him a playful kick in the shin and laughed. "Actually, I'm hoping Stacy can help shake up our conversations a little." He shook his head in agreement. "Actually, since it looks like we are going to play each other in a couple of weeks, that might be a good idea." As the season neared the end, everything played out as Shane had predicted and our two teams were bound to face off against each other. Neither of us said anything about it, but I think we both would have agreed that it was starting to become a little awkward. I imagine this would be like being friends with someone who was dating your ex. You want to be nice, of course, but you can't help but have ulterior motives. And honestly, I didn't want to even come close to cheating... or accidentally giving up a secret that would give him an advantage. Stacy leaned in to ask, "Well, you two have been watching Drag Race, right?" She gave me a knowing smile. "Tell me you started watching like you said you would!" "I can't believe what happened last week!" I blurted out without thinking. My life's drama was nothing compared to what the people on that show went through! I still remember getting quite mad as I was watching the episode and the Untucked episode certainly didn't help matters. Shane gave us a stern look. "You know, I don't appreciate being labeled with a preconceived monolithic gay identity." I gave him another playful kick and he laughed, breaking character. "Jeez Ally, you're the only one who doesn't take my shit." We chatted some more before the group formally ended and the three of us made plans to meet up at the French restaurant he had been teasing me about for the past few weeks. As I pulled in after Shane and Stacy, I wasn't quite 'bumpkin' enough to be wildly impressed at how fancy the place looked, but I for the first time since I woke up as Ally, I immediately did feel self-conscious wearing one Dad's shirts and a pair of jeans. I wanted to ask Shane if we could go somewhere else, but he was already schmoozing with the maitre d' and being directed to a table. "Your waiter will be right with you, Mr. Dearborn." Stacy and I both had the same glint in our eyes and we pretended to swoon. "Ooooo, Mr. Dearborn." He chuckled before scoffing at us in a mock parental tone, "I can't take you kids anywhere." Now, it's not that we lived like savages, but give me a burger and maybe a piece of pie and I'm happy as a clam. But this really was a whole new experience for me and it certainly felt like I was Eliza and Shane was Henry in our own strange version of Pygmalion as he tried to explain to us the finer points of French dining. For our part, Stacy and I tried not to be too obnoxious, because we appreciated the chance to even have the experience for ourselves and didn't want embarrass Shane too much, but I think we must have called each other 'madam' a hundred times throughout the meal. Our dinner went quite pleasantly as we discussed comparatively mundane things like Drag Race and things we were doing. As much as I cared about - maybe even loved - Jen and Mike, it was a little bit exhausting being in the middle of that... drama right now. It was nice being with friends, forgetting all of my problems at least for an hour. That was until Shane and I both noticed a couple walking into the restaurant. The man was handsome and sharply dressed in a fancy suit, and I could almost sense Stacy gawking at him behind me. But it was the woman he was with that had caught my eye. If I felt underdressed, she looked perfect wearing an evening gown that she carried as if it was just a pair of pajamas for her. It took me a moment to recognize her in her finery, but it was unmistakable. I turned to Shane and we both whispered to each other, "Violet!" Stacy moved in close to us. "I thought we promised not to talk about her tonight!" I pulled Stacy closer to me. "That's her!" I could feel her body shift as she turned her head to get a better view, but I tugged on her arm to stop her. "Don't look!" She was a bit annoyed. "Did you two know she'd be here or something?" I shook my head and Shane looked a little aghast. "No way! We've texted a few times but didn't make any arrangements to meet or anything." "Maybe we should go..." I quietly offered. Stacy was quick to protest. "Shucks to that! I'm having my cr?me brulee and I'm not letting some girl I've never met take that away from me." I couldn't help but laugh at her honesty, and I must have been too loud because Shane tried to shush me before trying to hide. I heard the telltale sign of heels clacking against the floor approaching us and I knew what had happened even if I didn't want it to be true. Seconds later, I heard Violet clear her throat as she coolly said, "I thought I recognized that cackle." I turned sheepishly to face her. "Hi Violet..." Placing her hands on her hips she snorted. "How is it that you find a way to insert yourself into my life all the time? I'm honestly starting to think you are one of my father's lackeys after all." She glanced up and her body language softened when she saw Shane. I could tell from her face she seemed a little flustered as she searched for the right words. "Shane..." "Violet..." he replied awkwardly. Stacy, bless her, didn't really care about any of us and waved seductively at Violet's date before saying. "Forget the cr?me brulee, I think I found another dessert I'd rather try." A laugh escaped my lips again and I slapped my hands over my mouth to try to stop it. That was enough to break the awkward atmosphere as Violet snapped back to her usual self and purposefully moved in front of Stacy to block her view of her date. She then turned to me and said, "I expect you to be discreet." "Of course!" I yelped like an admonished child. "Shane, I'm happy for you and maybe we can find a better time to talk to each other when you're not with your 'interesting' companions." If Stacy was bothered by Violet's veiled insult, she paid no mind as she tried to arch her head to take another look at Violet's date. Violet let out a big 'hmph!' before storming off back to her table. When she was out of earshot, Stacy turned to us and said, "It's always so easy to get under the skin of the self-important haughty girls." Instinctively I felt the need to defend her. "She's not always like that... I think for some reason she wants her boyfriend to be a secret." Stacy shrugged. "I guess if I was dating someone in their twenties, I'd probably not make a big show about it either. Or maybe I'd go around telling everyone if I was trying to piss off my parents." I gave Shane a look and he half shrugged. Stacy was already bored with Violet though and started a chant. "Cr?me brulee, cr?me brulee!" Knowing that I'd likely never come here again myself, I decided to join in much to Shane's chagrin. I'm sure Violet's eye would have been twitching if I could see her reaction to our nonsense, but at least it seemed to amuse some of the other diners around us. Our waiter probably wanted to kick us out, but I guess Shane's money was more than enough to suffer through our indignities. And besides, we might have been annoying but we weren't animals! At least I didn't think so... As we enjoyed our dessert and were genuinely impressed by how good it tasted, I turned my gaze to Shane and smiled. "I'm glad I got a chance to know you. I mean, as more than one of the 'Brightman Bastards'. I hope whatever happens at the game, we'll still be friends." He returned a quizzical look and mused, "You're speaking like you're going to suit up and be in the game yourself." I grimaced and looked away, partly out of embarrassment and partly to hide my anxiety at potentially revealing too much about myself. I coughed out an excuse. "I'm just really invested..." Stacy jumped in. "Her man is going to play against you after all!" She giggled before finishing her last bite of the dessert and added, "This would be so much more fun if you two were into each other. It's too bad you're not a guy Ally." I flinched again as she nudged me in the side, causing me to nervously laugh. She thought I was being sensitive around her, so she kindly added, "Oh don't worry, I think I've taken enough hormones now that I get to make that joke." "Right, joke..." I looked at her, and then turned to face Shane, trying to search for more words to move the conversation along. She nudged me and take a spoonful of my dessert. "I don't need you two to be sensitive on my behalf, you know?" As if she read my mind, she continued. "And don't apologize!" Not knowing what else to say, I shoved her away and greedily ate the rest of my dessert before she could pilfer some more from me. "Oh Ally, you really are cute as a button." I made a face and stuck my tongue out at her as I finished my last bite. I really did admire her confidence though. I feel like I'm just skating on by and I'm sure I don't have nearly anywhere as much pressure that she does in her life. A stray thought did enter my mind though. "So is Violet's date really your type?" She flashed me a toothy grin and was happy I was feeling comfortable around her again. "Honestly, I don't think so. I probably would want a sensitive, arty type and he just reeks of a grade A asshole with a silver spoon in his mouth and stick up his ass." Shane coughed loudly and we both turned to see a stern look on his face and Stacy was quick to add. "Oh don't worry, I'd say you're a grade C asshole at best. Besides, you put up with a couple of ruffians like us after all." "I'd say 'tolerate' more than anything else," he quipped. "But glad to know that I haven't completely offended the Ms. Drama Queen's sensibilities." As they turned to face me, I shook my head. "The library is definitely not open!" Stacy gave me a wry look. "Well, you're so vanilla that reading you would be like reading blank pages anyway." We shared a laugh before Shane waved over the waiter and handed over his credit card. Stacy and I made a loud "oooo" sound at his extravagance which only made him roll his eyes at us. The waiter was polite when he returned, although I'm sure the tip Shane must have left a big tip in order to leave a good impression. When we stood up, I couldn't help but have one last laugh and clung to Shane's arm, acting as if he was some billionaire playboy and I was yet another one of his trophies. Stacy was quick to join in and attached herself to her other arm, the both of us looking at him expectantly to lead us out of the restaurant. Exasperated, he chose not to fight us and tried to lead us out with some measure of dignity, trying not to flinch when we passed by Violet's table her cool, icy glare. The maitre d' looked at us and I could tell he was doing all he could not to roll his eyes at us as we passed him and finally left the restaurant behind us. I burst into laughter as we walked back to our cars. "Sorry Shane, but that was just too fun." "I'm sure I find some way to get back at you somehow," he said with a playfully menacing tone. "Well, I think it'll have to be after the game at least. I hope you both don't mind that I'm going to skip our next meeting." Stacy shrugged in response. "I really don't get this sports thing but I understand." She gave Shane and I a thoughtful look and mused. "I still think you two have some weird chemistry going on. I'd come watch the game if there was a love triangle behind all the borrowing football stuff." Shane grinned. "You know Ally, Stacy's school puts on a couple of musicals each year. There has to be one before the end of the semester that we could crash." I chimed in. "Speaking of relationship drama, I can only imagine what goes on between the drama kids..." Stacy blushed and put up her hands to shield herself from our conspiratorial glances. "Okay, okay! I surrender!" Before we got into our cars, I gave Shane a firm handshake and said, "Good luck." I'm not sure if it was the tone of my voice or the look of determination on my face, but he nodded as he returned the shake. "Let's leave it out all on the field." Stacy shook her head at us and headed toward her car. "I can't take this weird energy between the two of you anymore. I'll see you both in a couple of weeks. Thanks for dinner Shane!" I waved goodbye to the both of them and glanced back at the restaurant before I stepped into my car. I could see Violet through the window, made even more stunning by her dress, but seemingly saw a side of her that I didn't expect. She seemed so... demure, almost trying extra hard to please her date and to show him her affection. Maybe the detached cheer captain persona was just a fa?ade? Nonetheless, it was a bit... unsettling for me to see. Mom was a little concerned because our dinner made me later than usual, but Dad was quick to intervene by saying how good it was I had friends to talk to about "things". Mom didn't say anything more, but I could tell it weighed on her mind as I said good night to the both of them and made my way to my room. The big game was a welcome distraction for me, not that I had any leads to pursue at the moment. I was a little worried about how routine my life had become and how I was starting to settle in - I was even prepping for Ally's SATs with the clear intention of acing them - but it's not like there was anything else I could do while Ally's life continued to truck along. It also helped to put the conversation I had with Jen about being here for the long haul aside. It was hard to believe that it was coming up on three months... If, and I suppose this is a big if, there was a life for me to go back to... what would that be like? Would I have lost three months of my old life? Or would I somehow wake up as if nothing had happened? Yet another thing I didn't want to think about. As the week progressed, the impending game had another pleasant effect in that I could also put off the whole Mike-Jen thing for a while. Mike was focused entirely on the game and I could honestly say all the time we spent together was strictly professional. Not that Jen would let us be 'unprofessional' even if we had wanted to be anyway. This felt so familiar to me, reminded me of the days that Mike and I would cram plays, watch footage, read newspaper highlights of other team's games, that I didn't give it much thought when I asked my parents if Mike could spend the weekend at home with me. I think I saw Mom's eye twitch, but she was quick to agree - perhaps to avoid giving Dad yet another opportunity to be 'good cop'. Of course, when Britney found out Mike was staying over, she couldn't help but include herself as well. Although I'm not sure if that was because she wanted to spy on the two of us or if it'd give her a chance to see Steve 'in his element' as well. When Jen found out, she insisted on staying over as well. And so, on Friday night, my parents had three extra teenagers to deal with for the weekend. When we got home, Steve began to slink off to his room forcing Britney to choose between spending time with us or being alone with Steve. Seeing that I was really serious about talking about football, she quickly and gleefully bounded up the stairs to give Steve some hell. If I wasn't so invested in next week's game, I might have had some time to feel sorry for him... I didn?t notice Dad sizing up Mike as I focused on setting up my laptop in the living room, although if I was paying attention, I would have seen Jen snicker before Dad gave her a once over as well. "I expect you both to be on your best behaviour around Ally, am I clear?" he tried to command with some authority. Mike was nervous, but Jen could see through his facade and tried her best not to make fun of him. "Yes sir," they both replied in unison. Before he could react, I shouted back at them as I typed on my laptop?s keyboard. "Dad! Come here for a second!" The three of them looked over at me and made their way over to the couch. "What is it, princess?" "I remembered you talking about an old team from like 50 years ago that had this amazing no huddle offense, is this them?" I had pulled up a video montage of a team from Buffalo and I was watching in awe at their no huddle offense. I felt a bop on my head as Dad leaned in and said, "30 years, honey, but yes... the K-Gun!" He was starting to reminisce about that team as he was watching the footage when he looked at me and asked, "Wait, when did I tell you about these guys?" I ignored Dad?s question and waved Mike over. "Listen, we need to work on this just in case they?re able to read our offense again like they did last year." Mike sat down beside me and watched the grainy video for a few minutes in silence. Jen, feeling a little left out, sat down on my other side and tried to understand what we were watching. After a drive, Mike turned to me and said, "I don?t know if I can call my plays that fast..." I tried to reassure him. "You and the guys have been drilling the plays over and over and you?ll see things that we won?t be able to see on the sidelines." I think Dad was surprised that we were actually talking about football. He probably had more questions for me, but perhaps thought it was best to save them. Instead, he tried to contribute as well. "Depending on their defense, it can be a great way to disrupt them. Like you can catch them before they can switch formations or make substitutions." I felt like he was leaving something out about the team, but I didn?t want to press him on it because he was trying to help me convince Mike. Jen chimed in. "So the idea is that they wouldn?t do the huddle thing?" "Right, Mike makes the call on the fly and starts the play as soon as possible so the defense won?t have time to think." "Except I won?t have time to think either." I turned to face Mike and grabbed his shoulders. "Blue 33 U Shift Trips!" "Midfield slant play to the wide receiver." "See, it?s all in your head. You just need to read their defense." Mike still wasn?t sure of his own abilities though. "Well, maybe we won?t need it at least." Well, I still had another week to help him through it. The evening progressed with the four of us watching more footage and scouring our playbooks. We watched the footage of the game against Shane again, and while I could tell Mike was still feeling skittish, at least he had a successful season behind him to boost his confidence. I paid special attention to Shane, acknowledging that he was every much the star quarterback that everyone thought he was even if he saw football more of a hobby than a serious profession. I had been working with Darius and the defense as well, but I knew if they had enough options that real hope in winning was to outscore them with a superior offense. When Mom finally came home, I think she was as surprised as Dad was to find us actually talking about football. After making a brief greeting, she quickly stepped passed us and walked into the kitchen to speak to Dad likely to find out what had been going on before she came back. "Ally, come help set the table!" I heard Dad beckon from the dining room soon after. I turned to Mike as I was getting up. "It?s probably a good time for a break." I looked down at Mike and Jen on the couch, the space I was previously occupying now serving as an invisible barrier between them and quietly asked, "You two will be okay...?" Jen smirked. "We?re not going to start fighting each other over you if that?s what you?re worried about." Mike knew better than to add his own response and simply remained silent, an awkward smile on his face as his attention darted back and forth between Jen and I. I sighed and made may way to the dining room, leaving the two of them alone to their own devices. If it was an external observer, dinner probably would have been hilarious. Steve was clearly shellshocked by having to deal with Britney for a couple of hours, presumably blowing through his room like a hurricane as she interrogated him. Mom and Dad sat at opposite ends of the table, glancing at each other as they saw the strange scene with their children play out in front of them. And of course, I had to deal with Mike and Jen sitting on either side of me, balancing their desire to spend time with me with the fact that they being watched by my parents. Even Jen was a little nervous, probably because Mike being here was a reminder of the fact that she wanted to be more than the "best friend" now and she knew my parents knew about her desires. I was surprised when Dad was the first to try to interrogate Mike. "So, what do you plan on doing after you graduate?" Mike had been poking at his plate with his fork and looked up tentatively, glancing at Mom and Dad before quietly answering. "I was thinking of pre-law, because of my mother." He grimaced and looked apologetically at Britney. She smiled in return, showing that she wasn?t bothered by what he said and added some context. "Mike?s mother lives in California and she?s a lawyer." Dad tried to be affable to cut through the awkward tension in the air. "Football star and lawyer eh? Isn?t that something, Stella? You know, you could write your own contract and not have to deal with getting an agent." Jen felt the need to interject. "I?m thinking of pre-med myself." "Well, I?m sure you?d make a wonderful doctor, Jen." Dad gave Mom a bemused smile and I felt the second-hand embarrassment of having the two of them try to compete with each other to win my parents? approval. I didn?t want to throw Steve under the bus, but I really wanted to change the subject. "So Britney, what were you and Steve up to earlier?" Britney beamed. "Steve showed me some of the games he played. You know I don?t know much about them, but they were pretty intense. I could hardly understand what was happening, but he seemed to be doing really well." Oh Steve, video games? Really? I could see him fidgeting in embarrassment as he tried to focus on anything else but Britney. I tried to at least help Steve along by suggesting. "Why don?t you two try a co-op game later?" He shot me a stunned look as if he finally realized how he could connect games to socializing with someone in the same room as him and began to aimlessly dig at his plate as he mumbled. "Oh yeah, I?m sure I can find something that we could play together..." Britney gave me a wink before joyfully saying, "That sounds like fun!" I was glad to be able to help Steve out at least, as I glanced quietly at the trouble that sat on either side of me and mused about my own ridiculous situation. Even when we had finished dinner, both of them had volunteered to help me clear the table and wash the dishes, much to Dad?s amusement at least. I could tell Mom was just getting stressed watching the three of us together, not really knowing how to react to the literal teen drama unfolding in front of her. Mike, Dad and I continued to talk football for the next couple of hours or so after dinner, as I was trying to make the most of the free time we had before the game next Friday. I think Dad relished the chance to play armchair quarterback, which made me a little bit sad for Ally... but I guess I shouldn?t be too surprised that he wasn?t into cheerleading. Either way, our strange study session turned into a bit of a bonding moment for the two of us. I felt a little bad that Jen was left out, but she seemed to use the opportunity to chat with Mom. Under normal circumstances I might have been alarmed, but I was no so engrossed in football that I didn?t even notice that they had left the living room together to find a quieter ? and perhaps more discrete ? room to speak to each other. Our sleeping arrangements were equally awkward as Mom tried to navigate the logistics of where Jen would spend the night. I swear I could see a little evil glint in her eye when Mom finally relented and agreed that she could stay in my room, mostly due to the fact that Britney would be our unwitting chaperone, while Mike took the guest room. "I love your room!" Britney was quick to exclaim when she stepped in. "It?s so big and airy." "First born?s privilege," I answered as I went to my vanity to pick up some makeup remover and began to work on my face. As much as I wanted to give up makeup entirely, there was some part nagging at me to at least keep up some appearances and I figured that my new fashion choices were already a big enough change for Ally already. "Yeah, Steve?s room is cozy, but still quite enough room for two..." She trailed off before giggling. "Promise me you won?t break him?" Britney laughed in response. "He?s so sweet! I think he wants to be a ?gentleman? but has no idea what that means beyond watching movies and stuff. It?s cute. And your suggestion helped ? he opened up so much more when he was trying to explain the game we were playing to me." "Everyone wants an opportunity to show off what they know. It?s an easy way to let the other person build their confidence." "Expert tips from the girl who charmed Mike!" I rolled my eyes and turned away from her, only to catch a glimpse of Jen?s sad expression. I mused out loud. "Let?s talk about anything else other than boys, okay?" Britney sighed. "I was going to ask you about your plans for the Formal, but okay..." She flung open her sleeping bag and began to set it up. "I did hear from Casey that you were thinking about joining the basketball team?" I grimaced and shrugged my shoulders. "I told Shelly that I?d think about it, not that I?d do it." "She said you came to one of their practices the other day," she added before quickly changing her tone to an apologetic one. "Sorry Ally, I?m not trying to say... I mean I think it?s cool that you could make the team!" I sat down and watched as Jen quietly set up her own sleeping bag next to my bed and quietly whispered, "I know there?s a lot of pressure on the seniors on the cheer team, so I don?t want to let them down. At least with football, it?s still tangentially related to cheerleading anyway." Jen was quick to chime in with a pointed rhetorical question. "You don?t want to have any regrets, right?" I caught the subtext loud and clear. "Maybe I?m hoping that I can do both. Cheerleading and basketball, I mean." "Maybe everyone expects you to keep being a cheerleader, but you?d be better off playing basketball if that?s what you really want," she coolly responded. Britney was taking our conversation at face value and began to panic. "Wait, you can?t quit the cheer team!" I looked at Jen for a moment as she stared intently at me, before turning my attention back to Britney and smiling at her. "Don?t worry," I began to reassure her. "I?m not going to leave cheer." Jen let out a "hmph" before returning back to her sleeping bag to continuing setting up. Sensing a little tension in the room, I asked, "Have you two seen anything interesting lately?" The conversation became trivial, but it was a way for us to loosen up a bit and talk to each other without it getting too heavy and avoiding the elephant in the room altogether. It still felt like I was trying to do the best I could for Ally, but it was getting to a point where I was starting to impact other people around me and I don?t think it would be fair to keep things going as they were. Was it fair to put Ally aside and choose what I wanted though? And honestly, what the hell did I want anyway? As much as I would have liked to have come up with an answer, I pushed these questions back into the recesses of my mind, using the big game as a convenient excuse to put off making a decision. I wasn?t the only one who was feeling anxious about the game though, as the minutes counting down to Friday felt excruciatingly slow. I had no idea if Shane was lying when he said his school saw football merely as an extra-curricular to provide a well-rounded college application, but everyone at our school was wound up tight as last year?s blowout hung over us like a dark gloomy cloud. Even the kids who didn?t care about football seemed to understand what was at stake and were caught up in the nervous energy that had dominated everyone even remotely attached to the football program. I think the principal recognized that no one was going to get anything done on Friday, so they basically gave everyone the afternoon off so that we could all prepare for the game. The boys had spent the day practicing on the field to try to work off their nervous energy and were now, as far as I knew, holed up in their locker room trying their best to mentally prepare for the game. For our part, the cheer team ran through some of our routines to make sure we were ready to perform them. This would be the biggest night of our cheer careers, as even people who went to some of the other schools in the area would come down to watch the game. Despite her earlier protestations, even Stacy said she might make come down, if only to see me perform. It was not the same pressure that the boys were feeling now, but none of us wanted to be the one to screw up a toss or step out of formation tonight. Heck, even the marching band was feeling nervous as they banged away at their drums and practiced their instruments in the music room. There was a palpable sense of relief among everyone at the game when it finally started and Brightman kicked the ball down the field toward us. But that relief slowly turned into dread as the first quarter proceeded and we weren?t able to drive the football down the field at all. From the pit of my stomach, I could feel the pain that Ally had felt last year starting to rise as memories of our loss came to the surface. I think it was on everyone else?s mind as well, but for the cheerleaders at least, we did the best that we could and continued to cheer even though our offense was being picked apart. Not that our defense was doing any better. When we went down by a touchdown, it hurt but at least the game was still close. But when Mike kept turning over the ball and Darius wasn?t about to stop Shane?s drives over and over again... it was like watching a nightmare come to life. By the time the second quarter started, we were already down by four touchdowns and a field goal and it was undeniable that the game was a complete and utter blowout. If there were scouts in the stands somewhere, I?m sure they would have been clamouring to find a way to get in touch with his parents. While it was a great time for him and his team, everyone else in our little stadium began to accept defeat, seeing the lead as something that was insurmountable. I had to work hard to keep myself from crying, and I could tell the other girls were starting to feel the same way as our routines became much more half-hearted than they were at the start of the game. "Violet, I know it?s bad right now, but we need to keep up the energy." She was a little despondent and gave me a thin smile. "I... I don?t know what we can do." "What we trained all year to do. Let?s go talk to the girls." I brought the team together and had us all come together into a makeshift huddle. "I know it hurts, but giving up is the last thing that everyone needs right now. It?s our job to make sure the crowd gets back into the game and let the boys know that we still believe in them." Moments later, we stood in formation and faced the crowd as Violet started one of our chants. "EAGLES SOAR HIGH! EAGLES SOAR FAR! OUR WINGS OPEN WIDE AND WE?LL FLY TO THE STARS!" It was a dramatic cheer that ended with four of our girls being tossed into the air and right as Violet shouted ?stars? and at the very least we saw some signs of life in the crowd. I?m sure it was a coincidence, but minutes later Shane threw a pass that was fumbled by the receiver and quickly recovered by one of the DBs on our team. It wasn?t much to go on, but it was enough to get the crowd to cheer and the girls excited again as we began another cheer routine. As the clock ticked down on the second quarter, Mike was still having trouble moving the ball down the field, but at least he got us into field goal range and our kicker put it right down the middle for 3 points. The score was still lopsided, but at least we had finally gotten onto the board. Our team sauntered off the field and into the locker room, trying their best to maintain their composure in front of the crowd. I tried to give Mike some encouraging words, but I saw the look of pain and defeat in his face as he stared at the ground. It was heartbreaking because I had never truly seen Mike like that. He looked like he had given up at that point, but by the time I thought of something to say, he had already disappeared into the tunnel with the rest of our team. I could hear murmurs from the crowd as people considered leaving the game. I?m not sure why that set me off, but I stormed up to the stands and started yelling. "NO ONE LEAVES! YOU?RE HERE TO SUPPORT THE TEAM! NOW SIT DOWN AND ENJOY LISTEN TO THE BAND!" Several people turned to gawk at the mousy girl yelling at them, and while I might have felt self-conscious any other time, all I did in response was shout, "NOW!!!" staring down the hundreds of people in the crowd as if daring them to leave. I turned to the marching band leader and gestured toward the field, and after a moment of hesitation he turned to his band and began to rally them. "BRITNEY!" I shouted into crowd and moments later Britney hopped down from the stands to the sidelines. She looked at me expectantly as I gave her some orders. "There?s at least one spare uniform in our locker room ? I need you to suit up and take my place." Before she could respond, I walked up to Violet and said, "Listen Cap... I need you to keep the crowd here and keep doing the cheers after the band is done." Violet gave me a confused look when she recovered from the shock of my outburst. "I... wait, where are you going?" "I need to make sure Mike and the others have plan for the second half." I turned away from her and began to head into the tunnel before Violet grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back to face her. She asked, "You really think we still have a chance?" I nodded at her and replied with steely determination. "It?s not over until the end of the fourth quarter." I grabbed her hand from my shoulder and gave it a squeeze before heading toward the tunnel again. When I got to the locker room, I could hear the tail end of Coach speech as he tried to inspire the team. Seeing the defeated look on everyone?s face though, I don?t think he was all that convincing. Not that I blamed him... the pain from last year was on everyone?s mind and it was all that everyone could think about. The silence in the room made it feel like we were at a funeral, and I knew someone had to change the mood. I squeaked out a question from the back of the room. "Hey Coach, why don?t you tell them about your Bowl game?" Everyone turned to face me, too bothered by the game to have much of a reaction to seeing me in their locker room. Coach began. "McCarthy, what are you ?" I cut him off before he could finish and started walking toward him, cutting through the team that had gathered around him. "Come on Coach, it?s a great story and what they need to hear right now." His confused look on his face showed that he had no idea what I was talking about, so I knew I had to take over and turned to face the boys. "See, before Coach was Coach and he had a little more hair, he was a young buck QB who was put into his very first Bowl game as a sub when their team was down by like 40 points." There were a few chuckles, but I could tell that everyone was paying attention to me now. I scanned the room and made sure to look everyone in the eye as I continued. "The whole team had given up at that point, ready to throw in the towel. But not good old number 43 here." I wrapped my arm around Coach and gave him a squeeze. "He said ?Nuts!? to that." There was a bit of silence and I sighed. "Seriously guys? When this game is over, we need to watch that history show together." Dismissing that thought, I continued. "Coach wasn?t going to lay down just because everyone thought the game was over. After the kick off and he got the ball, he ignored his own Coach and told the team to set up for Hail Mary. That?s right, a Hail Mary to start the second half!" I let Coach go as I pretended to be him on the field. "He calls the snap and steps back into the pocket, just waiting for his receivers to streak down the field like they were running the 100-meter dash. One of the safeties breaks through the line and tries to tackle him, and he twists and turns to avoid the hit, just waiting for the right time to throw." I leaned down to face Mike, who was sitting on the ground. "It almost feels like an eternity as each second passed by. But there it was!" I stood up and paused dramatically, noticing that everyone was on the edge of their seats. I turned to face Coach again and smiled. "He sees an open spot in the endzone and launches a rocket down the field. The whole stadium was silent as they held their breath, waiting to see what would happen... and BAM!" I stomped my foot for effect, startling at least a few people that seemed to be mesmerized by the story. "TOUCHDOWN!!!!!" I saw some more smiles on the guy?s faces, which was more than enough for me put the finishing touches on the story. "That?s all that the team needed to get going again. Coach?s never die attitude brought everyone back into the moment. The past didn?t matter anymore, the first half a long and distant memory. All that mattered was getting back into the endzone a few more times before the end of the game. And you know what? We may know Coach as Coach, but back at his alma mater, he?s known as the Comeback Kid." I turned to face the group again. "Can we do it for the Comeback Kid?!" A few mumbles from the group made me try again. "I SAID CAN WE DO IT FOR THE COMEBACK KID?!" "YEAH!" a chorus replied. I turned to Mike again. "It?s time for the K-gun, like that old football player we saw. Their defense thinks they?re in your head. Time to show them they?re wrong." I then turned to Darius. "Their strategy is to try to spread our defense thin, so we just need to blitz the bastards like no tomorrow and force them to make mistakes like the one at the end of the half." I ran up to a bench so I could stand on top of it and shouted, "We?re down by four touchdowns. We can score that in our sleep! COMEBACK ON THREE! ONE! TWO! THREE!" "COMEBACK!" I looked at Coach who was still befuddled by what had just happened but he nodded at me and addressed the team himself. "We know what to do, now let?s go out there and execute!" There was a loud roar from the team as they fired themselves up and began to run out of the locker room, leaving me with Coach and his coaching staff. One of them gave Coach a wry smile. "Comeback Kid, huh?" Coach rolled his eyes and shook his head. "There?s one minor detail that Ms. McCarthy got wrong." I thought I told the story well! But I had to ask. "What?s that?" He laughed. "I didn?t win the game." I blushed at the mistake I made. With an embarrassed look on my face, I shrugged and said, "Well, it?s not like they?re going to Google it." The other coaches laughed while Coach looked at me with an exasperated expression on his face. "It got them fired up, so I won?t tell them if you won?t." A grin crossed my face. "Deal!" We began to head back to the field ourselves while Coach asked, "Being motivated is one thing, but if we can?t score on our first possession..." "Don?t worry Coach, I believe in Mike and the team. They know the plays and he knows what he?s up against. It?s time for him to use that brain of his and think on the fly." "I can?t believe I?m going to suggest this, but I think you should be on the sidelines with us. You?ve worked with Mike the most and are practically an honorary coach. Besides, you?re also Mike?s girl and he needs all the motivation he can get." Mike?s girl. The words hung in the air for a moment as I blushed again. I coughed at the frog that was stuck in my throat before I responded. "If that?s okay with you, then yeah, I?d love to be out there with you all." When we got the ball after kickoff, Mike didn?t quite run the Hail Mary play that I had talked about in my story, but he did go long and drove the team midfield. He was still shaky trying to make calls on the fly, trying his best to access the plays in his head while also trying to read the defense, but after a few close calls and fourth down conversions, he grinded his way to the endzone with a quick pass to Jake for our first touchdown of the game. It wasn?t pretty and it chewed up the clock, but from the big smile on his face it was exactly what he needed. I could hear the roar from the crowd that they were starting to get back into the game too, as the cheer team kept coaxing them to show their support. When Shane was on the field and started calling his play, I noticed something that I didn?t catch from all the times we watched last year?s game. "Darius!!! Play action! Watch 85!" I shouted down field hoping that he could hear me. I could tell Shane must have heard me because he hesitated before snapping the ball. That moment of confusion was enough to slow him down as he was late on his hand- off to 85, leading our defense to catch 85 with a hard hit before he could get going. Darius flashed me a thumbs up in recognition of my call. Mike stood beside me and asked, "How did you see that?" I pointed to the wide receivers. "Watch this." I shouted back at Darius. "Zone coverage!" and then watched as Shane tried to put the ball down the field but couldn?t find a receiver. "You know, you?re going to put me out of a job," I heard Coach quip behind me. I didn?t have time to respond and shouted "Slant route!" as Shane snapped the ball, causing him to second guess his options and forcing him to toss the ball out of bounds. He turned to face me with his hands on his hips, but I couldn?t tell if he was angry at me or not because of his face shield. All I could do was shrug apologetically in return. He may be my friend, but I?ll be damned if I?m not going to try to win this game. "Looks like you?re getting under his skin," Coach said to me before getting the special teams back into the game. Mike turned to me with a big grin on his face, like he just ?won? a prize or something. I gave him a punch in the chest and said, "Get your head back in the game. We need another touchdown before the quarter ends." He smiled at me as he put his helmet back on. "Yes ma?am." Everyone could feel the tide turning as Mike led another drive down the field and scored another touchdown. I could see that Brightman were rattled as their coach tried to get his team to calm down and play conservatively, and under any other circumstances I?d definitely feel bad for Shane... but the fact was that they were still winning the game, so I didn?t have time to worry about his feelings at the moment. Another turnover in the fourth gave us the ball back, but it was looking really close now. "Coach, they?re going to try to eat up the clock." "Yeah, but if we commit to shut down their running game, we?ll give them more passing opportunities again. Darius will try his best, but it?s up your man to score as fast as he can." I bristled at Mike being called my ?man?, but more because I didn?t want to admit that I enjoyed the claim I apparently had over Mike. Come on, Ally! FOCUS! Their defense knew he had to pass, so they played wide and close to the sides hoping to force us to play without stopping the clock. I remembered that cheesy football movie that I had joked with him about all those weeks ago and shouted at him as our team was lining up. "Mike! Footsteps!" It wasn?t really a secret code, but I was counting on the fact that we were the only ones who would have seen that old movie with the guy from John Wick. I only hoped Mike would understand as he called his play and then shouted for the snap. The moment the ball was in his hands, he rolled back and began scanning for a receiver but there wasn?t one to be found. That?s when he stepped forward and began to run. I think the other team might have thought he was still looking to pass, because no one closed on him at first. That?s when he ran past the line of scrimmage and was now running the ball down the field himself. The defense tried to scramble to catch him, but that?s where the man coverage worked against them and our receivers began to inadvertently serve as blockers. I started running down the field and shouted. "GO MIKE GO!" following him down the field as he ran past the final defender and into the endzone. I had to stop myself from running onto the field to celebrate as the rest of the guys piled onto him, but he approached me after their little celebration and laughed. "Footsteps, huh?" "You understood me, didn?t you?" He was about to respond but the guys were shouting at him to get back for the extra point attempt. Giving me a devious look, he quoted the movie back at me as he walked backwards toward the team. "You give me strength." I scoffed in response and shouted, "Get out of here, you cheeky monkey!" My words were hollow though, because I couldn?t help but notice that I was blushing. With the score narrowing to one possession, both teams began to play conservatively. I thought Coach might have called for an onside kick, but with 10 minutes remaining he opted to let them have the ball in hopes that we could shut them down. They chewed up over 5 minutes on the clock, but we got the finally got the ball back with 3 minutes left in the game. The defense was still confused, but they weren?t going to give him any easy plays anymore. He wasn?t able to get close to the line of scrimmage again and they slowed Mike down a lot, but he was feeling at home with his no huddle offense now and the two-minute drill became an afterthought. They were careful not to interfere with Jake or our other receivers, but they weren?t giving an inch either and made their lives miserable. All the team could do was literally buy inches as they moved the ball forward and the clock continued to countdown. In frustration, Mike spiked the ball to finally stop the clock and finally caved on his no huddle offense. The other coaches and I exchanged a worried look as we watched Mike talk to the team. I know he can be a good leader... hopefully he has something great on his mind. Or maybe it?s as simple as ?chicks dig scars?. Something was odd about the way Mike had the team line up, but I didn?t pay it any mind until he snapped the ball and I watched in shock as the football game turned into a freaking rugby scrum. Our entire line clumped together and just began pushing forward against their D-line and all anyone could see was a big mass of players slowly making its way to the endzone. I watched as the clock hit zero but the mass kept moving. It was like watching one of those videos of a baby turtle trying its best to crawl out from its nest toward the ocean, hoping against hope that it wouldn?t get stuck or be picked off by a predator. Inch after absurd inch, they crawled forward until the mass was clearly past the line and the whole group fell to the ground. From the group of bodies on the ground, I could see Zach pop up with the ball in his hands as he began to run around the endzone triumphantly. No way.... NO WAY!!!! The crowd went insane as the boys celebrated, but Coach was all business as he began to turn Bryce, our kicker, to tell him to go out on the field. I grabbed his arm to draw his attention. "Coach, I have a really stupid idea..." He gave me a curious look. "This has been a night of firsts, spit it out." "Forget overtime. Let?s just win it now." "You want to bet the whole farm on a two-point conversion?" "You know what they say Coach. No guts, no glory." Mike came bounding over as he caught our hesitation. "What are you thinking, Coach?" He asked as he tried to catch his breath and took a squirt of water. Coach shrugged his shoulders and said with a little bit of resignation. "Your girl had thinks we should go for it." I felt my heart flutter as I heard it again. ?Your girl?. I pushed those thoughts back down to the depths of my, or maybe Ally?s, psyche to focus on the game. "We have a guaranteed shot now. We don?t know what will happen in OT." Neither Coach nor Mike said anything, so I took matters into my own hands and called Bryce over. The other coaches looked in with incredulity as it sounded like I was going to get my way, but at that moment I didn?t care. "Win or lose, it?ll be one hell of a story. Let?s pull out some skunkworks." Bryce had a big grin on his face as he looked at Mike. "When Ally told me to work on my throwing arm, I thought she was out of her mind. Looks like I?m right." Mike sighed and nodded at me before putting on his helmet again. "Screw it. No guts, no glory, right?" Coach gave me a knowing look, perhaps suggesting that I may have been more of an influence on him than I thought. I tried to ignore it as I nodded in response and simply said, "Go Eagles!" We took long enough on the sidelines to raise suspicions, but when Mike and Bryce lined up for the kick, they didn?t know quite what to expect. Shane caught my eye from across the field and I quickly turned away, hoping I didn?t accidentally reveal our plans. That was enough of a red flag for him and he began to shout at the defense, but it was already too late as the ball snapped and Mike grabbed the ball. I watched as Mike ran to the side, drawing a rush of defenders with him, before he chucked the ball back to Bryce. The defenders that weren?t already committed to chasing Mike began to descend on Bryce as he looked down field to find anyone who was open. As the wave of defenders approached, he awkwardly pitched the ball into the air moments before being tackled. Every single eyeball at the game was suddenly laser focused on the ball as it arced into the air. There was a deafening silence as the ball began to descend and landed into someone?s waiting hands. My mind was still waiting to catch up to me because I had no idea what happened until our benches cleared and the rest of our team ran onto the field to celebrate. "Son of a bitch!" I heard one of the coaches exclaim before he apologized to me for his language. Not that I was in any state to be offended, even if I would have been. I still couldn?t process what had happened and mused out loud. "We won?" "We?re going to State!" I heard someone shout from behind me. "It looks like we have a new Comeback Kid to talk about," Coach mused as he tried to contain his emotions. Before I could respond, I felt a rush of cold water all over my body and let out an almost primal scream as I felt chilly liquid all over my skin. Coach was laughing, probably relieved he didn?t have to deal with getting the celebratory shower himself, as the culprits made their way on the field to celebrate with the others. Although I was annoyed, it was a nice gesture because it felt like I had a small part in the game myself. I focused my attention back to the field and noticed Shane and Mike exchanging words and shaking each other?s hands. It looks like Shane was being a good sport about losing, although I?m sure there?s a part of him that?s hurting as much as our team did last year. That?s when I caught them both looking at me in return and noticed Shane whisper something into Mike?s ear before he gave Mike a shove in my direction. As Mike approached me, I closed my eyes and was almost hoping something would happen. If I wanted a fairy tale ending for Ally, then certainly this must have been it right? But there was no reckoning or easy catharsis, time didn?t freeze as some mysterious figure approached me to tell me I was ready to go home. There was nothing of the sort, and I was soon drawn out of my own thoughts when I heard Mike call out to me and ask. "What?s wrong?" I opened my eyes and saw that he was carrying the ball. I was so excited that I didn?t even know who had caught it. Did Mike actually make the final catch? I smiled and looked around to see if anyone was in earshot before mumbling. "I thought that miraculous win might have been a sign." Mike hesitated slightly before reaching over to the bench to grab a towel and handed it to me. "You were thinking that this was about you... not being you?" I rubbed the towel over my face to try to dry off and nodded. "I guess so... I mean, this whole evening was ?" "Fantastical," he finished, sounding a little reserved. "You can?t deny how weird this whole thing is after all." "Stranger things have happened..." I don?t know if he was patronizing me or not. Maybe he believed me but he didn?t care because as far as he was concerned, I had just helped him win the game. I looked at him and asked, "Tell me you really believe that the ?Ally? you knew would have been able to help the team the same way." He stepped closer to me until he was right in front of me. "You?re the ?Ally? I know." He leaned in to give me a kiss on the cheek before handing the football to me and added, "That?s all that matters to me. And if you need my help to figure things out... well, it?s my turn to support you now." I took the ball and cradled it like it was my firstborn. It was as close as I would get to the feeling of winning while I was here and I wanted to savour it. "I?d love to take you up on that, but I feel like I still need to drag your sorry ass through State." He pretended to be wounded before he laughed. "As long as you?re on the sidelines, I think we?ll be fine." If I wanted to muse on what would happen next, it would have to wait as a I heard Britney shout my name from behind me before I felt her give me a hug from behind. She was speaking so excitedly that I could hardly make out what she was saying, but I understood her sentiment nonetheless. I saw the other girls slowly making their way toward me as well as they excitedly chatted among themselves and were clearly ready to shower me with hundreds of questions. I turned back to face Mike and noticed he was already on his way back to the field, giving me an apologetic wave as he went to celebrate with the team. Maybe his offer of support started tomorrow! I always felt awkward when I was the center of attention, but I learned from my experience last year to just smile and let everyone be excited on your behalf as a cacophony of voices bombarded me with questions and praise. Even Anna seemed happy and gave me a quick hug to thank me before joining some of the other girls to start planning for State. I could see Violet shaking her head at me as she approached. "Can you tell me what happened tonight? Because it all seemed really absurd." I shrugged my shoulders. "I honestly wish I could say." I could tell her that I?ve been playing football for years and that we beat them with a similarly stupid trick play in my reality, but now was not the time. "Coach, I mean our coach, was having a bit of a fit when she saw you walk out with the team, but I think even she was won over by your antics." I grimaced as I suddenly realized that I wasn?t in my own little bubble. "She saw me...?" Violet rolled her eyes. "Everyone saw you. It?s hard to ignore the cheerleader on the sidelines shouting plays out to the team." I suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment wash over me, although I don?t know if I was the one who was embarrassed or if it was Ally. I certainly never felt more self-conscious than I did at this moment at least. Britney popped in with a toothy grin and added, "We all saw you flirting with the big hero of the game too." I wanted to deny that I was flirting with Mike, but I knew I would be lying. UGH! Violet took my hand and gave it a squeeze as she leaned in to whisper in my ear, "Thank you. I might even be ready to forgive you for your little display at the restaurant last week." I couldn?t help but laugh when I thought about that night, but caught myself before it got out of hand and smiled apologetically at her. She shook her head and smiled in return as I said, "Sorry..." "ALLY!!!" a familiar voice shouted from the stands. I turned my head and much to my surprise, I saw Stacy waving at me. I turned back to Violet who was already in the middle of rolling her eyes as she muttered. "You really do keep bad company." Musing openly, I said, "You know, you two are really more alike than not." "Now you?re just trying to make me mad," she scoffed in response. "Go see your uncouth friend." I nodded and began to trot over to the stands, before noticing Britney following close behind me, perhaps a little curious about a mysterious friend of mine that she had never met. It didn?t feel right to tell her to stop following me, particularly as I noticed my parents and hers beginning to gather near Stacy as well. If this was how my worlds collided, I really wasn?t prepared for what might happen... Stacy was practically jumping up and down as I approached her and shouted excitedly at me. "Ally, you should have told me you?d do more than cheer. That was probably the most exciting sports thing I?ve ever seen!" She was standing with an older woman who was politely watching us but was clearly about as interested as Stacy was about football. Stacy turned to her and said, "Mom, this is the girl I came to see." She paused when she noticed Britney and added, "From our group." Her mother took the hint and nodded. "It?s nice to meet you. I was surprised when Stacy said she wanted to go to a football game, but she kept bugging me about it over and over." Stacy ignored the last comment and let out a little sigh. "It?s too bad I couldn?t see Shane today, but it looks like they?ve already began to disappear." I didn?t blame him or the rest of the team. Losing is tough enough, particularly when they had such a big lead... and I knew what it was like to stew in your defeat on a long bus ride home. I?d try texting him tomorrow to see how he was doing. I turned and gestured at Britney. "This is Britney, she?s the captain of our JV squad." Stacy grinned. "How surprised were you when this one shouted your name and told you to take her place?" Britney laughed. "I didn?t know what to do when she told me to get changed at first. Then she just walked away from me and went to go join the boys in the locker room." I wanted to hide my face in my palms. "Wait, you heard that?" "Are you kidding me? When Intermission started, you were all everyone could talk about. The cheerleader gone wild!" "Half-time," I said as I found myself correcting her... as if it actually mattered in the grand scheme of things. "Whatever!" "Ally!" I heard Dad shout as he approached our little group, with Mom, the Bradleys, and the Taylors not far behind him. "Hey Dad..." I shyly replied. I could tell he was positively beaming with pride, and while in Ally?s memories, I knew that he was always supportive, he was never THIS excited for any of Ally?s competitions. I felt a little sad on Ally?s behalf, but I also couldn?t help but feel a happy to have made him proud of me. "I was surprised when you said you were practicing with Mike, but you really did cram all that football into your head over the past couple of months, didn?t you?" Right, because that?s the only logical way for me to have learned anything about football. I shrugged my shoulders quietly, both happy for his attention but still a little miffed about how it came about. Perhaps conveniently, he noticed Stacy and her Mom and asked, "Sorry to interrupt, are you a friend of Ally?s?" Stacy smiled at him gently hinted, "Oh yes, we meet at her club after school." Britney?s ears perked up, in part because she never could figure out where I went when I skipped practice each week but was polite enough not to ask when I told her that I wanted to keep it private for the time being. But when she saw Steve approaching, she abandoned that thought and ran over to him to talk to him about the game and being part of the cheer routine. Dad and Mom had no idea how to react to Stacy, in part because I was fairly quiet about what I did each Wednesday evening, and in the end tried to be polite without prying too much. Seeing the Bradleys, and in particular Jen close behind, I could see the gears in Stacy?s brain churning as she had a ?lightbulb? moment and made the connection. She tossed me an evil grin, and when my eyes bulged out of my head and I tried to make a face at her to get her to stop, that only served to confirm her suspicions and she set her plan into motion. She hopped down to the field and sidled up beside me, wrapping an arm around my waste while keeping her eye on my parents. "Say, I bet there?s going to be a big party to celebrate, right?" I actually didn?t know. I assumed the coaches or maybe the boosters would have had something in mind, but I also remembered that no one wanted to be presumptuous either. I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe... but I don?t know if I should go, since it?s getting a little late anyway." "Oh nonsense! You?re the big hero, the belle of the ball! And I figure that I could be your date." She leaned her head against my shoulder and, unbeknownst to me, made eye contact with Jen. Not that I needed to see Stacy to understand what was happening, because Jen instantly tensed up and looked like she wanted to push Stacy away from me. I thought back to her little fight with Anna... Well, if nothing else, at least Jen is more assertive now. Stacy?s mother was quick to interject. "You?ll see her soon enough. Besides, you have your own ?big show? to worry about." I grinned. "Oh yes, I?d love to come see Stacy perform. What show is she doing?" Before her mother could respond, Stacy quickly broke off from me and said, "It?s okay Mom!" She turned to give me a hug, her back facing the crowd and give me a wink. "It seems like I got your girlfriend?s attention!" I held onto her for a second and said, "Oh, I?m DEFINITELY coming to your show now." She laughed as we separated and resigned herself to her fate. "Well, we can talk about it next time we see each other. Hopefully things aren?t going to be weird between you and Shane." "Yeah, I?ll try to talk to him before then to see how he?s doing... but I think it?d be best to give him a little space." Stacy returned to her mother?s side and did a little bow before the two of them began walking off the field and back to their car. Jen was quick to join me at my side and held my hand before asking her parents. "Can I go with Ally?" Mrs. Bradley was surprised, in part because Jen never wanted to do anything of the sort, but she smiled in response. "Sure, but make sure you stay with Ally... and try not to get into any trouble." Mrs. Taylor was quick to laugh before she added, "Oh I?m sure Michael would love that!" I could feel Jen squeeze my arm as she held in her emotions and politely laughed in response. My parents just continued to give each other awkward, knowing glances, trying to decide the best way to deal with this situation. Mom finally chimed in. "Just don?t stay out too late..." I was a little surprised because she was being so amicable. Letting Mike stay over was a big ask, and now she?s not putting up a fight about me going to a party? If I didn?t know any better, I?d feel like I was being set up somehow. I wonder if she might have words when I tell her that going to State means an overnight stay with the boys. After a few minutes of chatting, Mom noticed I was still soaking from the celebratory shower that I got earlier and told me to get changed before gently reminding me that she would be waiting up for me until I came home. At least she was consistent! The party, such as it was, was mostly a lowkey affair with the team, the cheerleaders, and some friends that was pretty much thrown together at the last moment at one of the booster?s homes. I would have assumed the team would have celebrated their victory in the locker room already, but they were still buzzing with that excited energy that comes from winning and made a point of making me the center of attention. I tried to deflect the attention, but everyone wanted me to talk about the game and how I was able to know so much about the other team. Like Dad, even Coach Marciano. seemed pleasantly surprised that my time with Mike was more than just a ?teenaged tryst? and she and Coach Sanders. made a joke about having cheerleaders take a more active part in the football itself next year. If only it were that simple. I was surprised that Violet came along, since I noticed that she would often find a way to excuse herself from these gatherings. I assumed whatever she was carrying with her from her time with Brightman was still weighing on her mind here, but I think our miraculous win was more than enough to get her to come out tonight. For better or for worse, all the attention on me meant I didn?t have much time alone with Mike. Not that there weren?t many comments about how we were clearly perfect for each other based on how much I was able to help him recently, much to Jen?s chagrin. As the party was beginning to die down and people started coming down from the high of winning to the sober reality that the team would need to prepare for State, Violet had pulled Jen away for some reason, leaving Mike an opening to come sidle up next to me. I wanted to follow them, of course, because I had no idea what Violet was going to say to Jen but my chance was gone the moment they went out of eyesight. Mike smiled at me with an air of confidence that he didn?t have before the game. This was the Mike I knew in my memory at least, the one that all the girls seemed to be drawn to even if he didn?t even know it. I couldn?t help but laugh. "Feeling a little better about yourself then?" He tried not to be embarrassed but, in the end, just shrugged. "We?re going to be legends!" I knew he needed that attitude going into the championship game, so I didn?t want to do anything to dissuade him. I sat back and let him enjoy the moment, but drawing on his new confidence he wrapped his arm around me and said, "I know I joked about a story we?d tell our kids, but this would be a great one, wouldn?t it?" I nudged him away with my arm. "Real funny, Mikey." He grimaced and pulled back from me. "I was being serious earlier, I?ll help you however I can, even if it means staying away." With a big sigh, I responded, "That?s not what I want. I?m happy for you, for everyone, even for Ally. But I was really hoping this would be more of a cathartic moment than it is to me. I?m just thinking about all the milestones I?ll have here, and all the ones I?m missing." I looked at him with a feeling of sadness that was finally able to express itself for the first time as I picked up on his throwaway comment. "I never thought of being a father, but what if I never get to experience that?" He remained silent, probably because he had no idea what to say in response, and I apologized. "Sorry, I didn?t mean to be a downer. Hell, I still don?t know if I?m maybe... well... maybe I need professional help." I could feel him move closer to me again and he looked down at me with a sympathetic face. "I?m not even going to pretend by telling you that I understand what you?re going through, but I know it can be helpful to have someone to talk to. When my mother moved away... I... I had to take some time to be okay with it, you know?" I leaned my head against his shoulder and closed my eyes. Maybe it was time to ask Mom for help? As I thought about my next steps, I felt Mike place his arm around me again and draw me in for a hug. This time I didn?t push him away and let myself briefly enjoy the moment of having someone comfort me. Moments later, I felt someone sit down next to me and gently pull me away from Mike. I opened my eyes to the sight of slightly annoyed Jen as she also awkwardly wrapped her arm around me as if nothing was amiss. I honestly don?t know what was more absurd, Ally?s brief football coaching career or being stuck in the middle of a love triangle or whatever you?d call this thing happening between the three of us. Jen politely told Mike, "Congratulations, Michael." I could sense the tension already as he replied, "It?s much appreciated, Jennifer." Oh god, full first names! They continued to chat politely as if I wasn?t sat in between them and it made me so anxious that I just had to stand up to free myself from the palpable tension. I wanted to say something as I looked down at them, but there wasn?t anything I could say to make sense of this whole situation. Finally, I just spat out, "Look... you both know what?s going on with me. I need you two to actually think about what you?re getting into and all that it means." "What do you mean, Ally?" I turned around and saw Britney with Steve. I winced and quickly came up with a story. "I?m thinking of going to a school out east, so I just wanted Mike to know." I could tell that Britney was a little sad, but she smiled and cheerfully said, "I?m sure you two can make a long-distance relationship work! Besides, maybe you two could go to the same school together! Where are you thinking? Mike?s thinking about one of the Ivys, so you two would still be close to each other at least!" Leave it to her to have an answer for anything related to my future with Mike. Steve could tell that there was something else going on though, despite my best efforts to keep him in the dark, and decided to stop Britney from speaking any further when he added, "I think that?s something the two of them will need to figure out for themselves." Britney sighed and nodded as she leaned into Steve and he comforted her with an arm around her waist. Did Steve just do that? It?s only been a week... how close have those two gotten?! I took the silence as an opportunity to extract myself from the situation. "It?s getting a bit late... I?d say we should spend the weekend trying to figure out a strategy for whoever we end up playing against at State, but maybe we should just take the weekend off to recover?" Mike stood up and nodded. "Monday then. I?m sure Coach will have something for us as well." With everyone watching, Mike and I awkwardly hugged each other before we said goodbye to the people who were still at the party and went our separate ways. On the drive home, I tried to ask Jen about where she went with Violet but she just said it was a private conversation and she wasn?t willing to share any more than that. Eventually I gave up and spying Steve in my rear mirror, I noted to him. "So, it looks like you and Britney are starting to be a thing." Steve rolled his eyes at me but couldn?t help but smile in response. Aww, so cute. After a second though, he shot back with a comment of his own. "That was a nice story about you and Mike going to different schools. But Jen, wouldn?t you feel sad if you were separated from Ally?" I was so shocked I missed a stop sign. Thankfully it was late enough that there were no other cars on the road. I glanced at Jen out of the corner of my eye and I could tell that she was just as shocked as I was, and while I think my driving mishap already gave us away, I tried to cover again by saying, "Of course, we?ve been friends for our entire lives so it?d be hard being away from her." The little twerp had a smug smile on his face as he simply replied. "Uh huh." Jen was quick to cave an turned back to face him. "Listen, Steve, I... I mean... no one knows." Steve sighed. "Did you really think I?d go blabbing to everyone? I just feel bad for Mike if you two are like hooking up behind his back while everyone thinks that ?Mike and Ally? are the school?s hottest couple." Jen had her own things to say but I quickly interjected before she could respond. "Let?s just... pretend this conversation didn?t happen." "Fine. But you have to know no one would care. And if someone did make a big deal about it, I?ll be there to make sure they see the errors of their ways." I couldn?t help but feel a little sappy as I saw the look of determination on his face and remembered my own words of assurance that I provided Jen. The little twerp really wasn?t little anymore, was he? I could see that he was starting to become... well, become the man I was starting to become before all this happened. "Thanks Steve," I replied with genuine sincerity. I then added, "And I?m glad you and Britney seem to be getting closer to each other." Jen gently added, "I?m happy for you too." He couldn?t help but smile again. "Yeah, she?s pretty amazing..." his voice trailing off as his thoughts wandered to Britney. I gave Jen an apologetic look as she sat quietly in her seat, lost in her own thoughts. I glanced down at the game winning ball by my side that Mike had given me as I felt it bump up against my leg. The ?big game? clearly wasn?t really as ?big? as I thought it would be. It should have been a natural end to my story, but as I continued the drive home and reflected on my relationship with Mike and Jen, and the very real possibility that I would have to experience the rest of my life as Ally, I could tell it wasn?t going to be that easy. --- Author?s Note: Thank you as always for reading my story and for leaving comments. Apologies for slowing down, but I promise that I?m still plugging away at the story ? slowly but surely! If you?ll indulge me, the next few chapters will weave in more of Ally living her life as she continues to explore possible answers to her conundrum, but the end is in sight and hopefully you?ll enjoy what I have in store. As always, feel free to leave a comment here or to email me at [email protected]. It?s always nice to know people are out there reading my work. Until next time!