Girls can't play football

What team? Wildcats!

A week later

I stand under the inflatable head of a huge wildcat. I'm stuck between John and Daven, 2 huge huge linemen. We are all huddled up, screaming and cheering, adrenaline racing through our veins. I feel my stomach flip and try not to freak out. My eyes wander over everyone and lands on a tall guy with black hair. He's whooping and hollering, not a care in the world. I hear a whistle and turn my attention to the front of the "wildcat head".

"Ok listen up! We got offense first, I want you to play your hardest and do your best.We came here to win. But if not, no poor sportsmanship. If I see it, bleachers, full gear, until I'm tired." We all start to whisper and shake our heads.

"No what? Lets make a deal, every time you win, you get a free day off practice, after football season of course." Coach says. We start whooping again. Screaming "yeah" and "let's kick some -". I tune them out which wasn't hard, considering my heart was like a base drum. A strong and wild beat in my head. I look back at Erik and I see something flicker across his face. Pain? Guilt? But's it's gone and he put his mouth piece on. I tug my helmet lower and make sure that there's no exposed hair. I feel a hand in my shoulder, making me jump, but it's only Coach.

"Good luck. Knock some sense in them boys." he says, only loud enough for me to hear. I smile and roll my shoulders out. I hear the band start and remember when I was with them. I get shoved roughly and realize that most of us are running out of the head. I run and sit down on the cold bench and wait till it's my turn.

Defense

I run to my position and bend my knees. I hear "hut!" and see the running back coming towards me. I jump in front of him as I see the ball coming his way. I see his arm a few inches away from the ball and I reach up. The smooth, bumpy ball slides under my hands and travels down my forarm. I feel the weight of it as it settles in the crook of my arm. I began running. I dodge the first guy, spinning and and I hear a chorus of shouts. I leap over the second, and slide under neath the third one, until I crash onto the end zone and hear the voices of hundreds of people screaming " Wolf!". I smile under my visor and start jog back into my position. I see number 15 and realize that it's Erik. His lips are pulled together and his eyebrows form a frown. My smile drops and I face back to the front and see the dull green and gold jersey right in front of me and feel my body being lifted from the ground and slam into the turf. I wince as a flash if pain shoot from my back. I hear "ooh" and I see the people sitting back down. I drop my head and breathe out. I see a figure and a hand reach down and realize that it's Logan, one of the nicer guys. He pulls me up and I brush myself off. I smile at him an return to my position.

Bus ride home

I put my earbuds in my ears, still hiding with the helmet on. The others had tooling of their helmets, as well as their pads, like me. I scrolled on my phone until I found a song that I liked, "Hotel California". I clicked on it and rested my head on the window, and stretched my feet out on the seat. We lost by 7 points, one touchdown. That meant suicides an bleachers. I groan and shuffle around till I find a more comfortable spot. I lean my head back to the window and stare out into the night, lights glowing and the whizzing from the cars outside, and the soft patter of rain out side seemed to calm me. I feel the seat shift and look over and see Logan. His blonde hair and standing up and his brown eyes look nice. I mentally slap myself for being like this. I nod my head to acknowledge him.

"Good job, tonight." He says, slapping me on the back. Ouch, friend zoned. I shake my head, and slap him on the back, a little to hard. He winces and it take all of my will power not to burst out laughing. He moves back to his seats and starts to laugh along with his friends. Friends. I didn't really have any on this bus. I feel my stomach drop. I slump to my seat and try to rest. Well that certainly didn't happen. I was quickly awoken by a slap to the head. My eyes flew open and I see Devin, I clench my teeth. I was about to scream "What?" but quickly remembered to be silent. I take deep breaths.

"Well," Devin says looking to a bunch of his goon friends.

"So newbie how was it? Was it fun? Huh? Was it? Coward, a stinking coward. To scared to show your face. What? Is it ugly?" He says sticking his hand under my chin as if it was a microphone. The goons behind him snickered. I kept my head down. This was just like before. But he didn't even know who I was. Or did he. Was it fate that I had to suffer through this torment. I was strong on the out side. But inside I had a soft heart. I could take the physical pain but the mental pain, is what killed me. I raise my head and look at him in the eyes. Which was easy for me, cause I had a visor on. He started to shift in the seat next to me. I scooted closer until my face was right in front if his. I noticed that the bus had gone quite, only the pounding in my chest. Devin gulps. I raise my hand, forming it into a fist, one finger at a time. He's eyes blaze, but I can tell he's nervouse. What if some mask person got all up in your face and held up a fist, trust me I would need more underwear.

"Lay off, ok?" It sounded more like a question. I moved away from Devin and looked around the bus, scanning every face. I smile and bow, and sit back down. I hear the shuffling if feet and soft whispers. I grin and rest my head on the side if the window. I may not have won the game, but I won another battle.