The Jock
It took Billy all of one second to see Kesler and make a run for it. He was leaning against the chain link fence of their football field, waiting for Billy with a smug look. He had a crappy imitation of their school’s mascot painted on his cheek for the pep rally. Billy turned on his heel, pushing against the grain of the crowd and letting the chants of the cheer squad become hazy background noise. He kept his head down, aiming to duck by unnoticed. The plan went haywire when he collided with another kid.
Billy’s head snapped up at Tommy’s voice. “Dude, chill,” he said, catching Billy by the shoulders. “Where you off to? Pep rally’s that-a-way.” He pointed over Billy.
Eli stood beside Tommy. He narrowed his eyes. “Are you skipping again?”
“Headache,” Billy excused. He tried to side-step, but Tommy matched him.
“Ugh,” Tommy complained. “Stop being a loser.” Then his palms shot out and pushed Billy. It was unexpected, Billy would later defend, because he easily toppled over. Despite the cacophony from the pep rally, he heard his brother say, “Oh, shit.”
Billy shut his eyes and braced for an impact that never came. From behind, two arms caught him. “You okay?” a guy asked. Billy peeled open his eyes and gazed straight up at Teddy Altman, their linebacker.
“Yeah, he’s fine,” Tommy excused. He swatted at Teddy, prodding Billy to stand up. Billy smiled at Teddy. He hoped it conveyed a fair balance ofthanks for catching me and thanks for making out with me last Tuesday, that was awesome.
Noh and Kate – running back and cheerleader, respectively – joined Teddy. Noh was frowning. He stuck a thumb in Tommy’s direction and glared at Teddy. “Is this the Kesler dude you were bitching about?”
“Uh,” said Teddy.
Noh turned on Tommy. “You got a fucking problem with my boy?” Noh stepped forward, pointedly invading that precious personal bubble Tommy brought up all the time.
“Your boy?” Tommy quoted, grinning in disbelief.
David, Tommy’s friend, entered the fold. “What’s going on?” he asked.
Tommy crossed his arms. “Pretty sure he’s Teddy’s.”
“Who is?” David asked again.
Noh got even closer. “Is that a gay joke?”
Ah, now it all made sense. “Wait, time out, guys,” Billy interjected.
Teddy leaned down to whisper in Billy’s ear. “Is that Kesler? Isn’t he a little too – related to you?”
“Yeah, we’re just a little identical.”
“Is anyone going to clue me in?” David griped.
“Answer the question,” ordered Noh. “Are you making a gay joke?”
Tommy blinked in rapid succession. “I – maybe? I didn’t really think – ”
Noh shoved Tommy. Tommy stumbled into Eli, who pushed him instinctively away. “What the hell?” Eli exclaimed at Noh in shock.
“Back me up, Bradley!” Tommy shouted. His voice boomed more; the crowd was mostly gone now.
“What?”
Teddy slid between Noh and Tommy. “There’s been a misunderstanding,” he informed, tone placating.
From the field, a teacher began speaking into a microphone. The pep rally was about to begin.
Billy furrowed his eyebrows and faced Kate. “Aren’t you going to be late?” he reminded, motioning his head toward the pep rally. As he spoke, he realized she wasn’t in uniform. Her white sneakers and maroon-striped shirt were gone, and in their place were impractical heels and a pencil skirt.
“I quit the cheerleading squad. Cassie and Jonas have been begging me to join their robotics club.”
Tommy suddenly squawked. Kate flicked her eyes at the group of boys squabbling. Tommy was flailing his arms like an enraged bird at Noh. Eli was punctuating Tommy’s rant with head-nods, his expression stern. David has resigned himself to scrolling on his phone. Kate simply shook her head, a decisive move Billy can only guess means she believes men are unfit to survive the next winter, and holds up her wrist watch.
“Which they’re setting up right now. I have to meet up with them soon, but I wanted to see these two boneheads off.” Her smile was fond, even with the harsh words, and Billy got that. His brother was Tommy, after all. “You should probably help diffuse that train wreck, by the way,” she advised. She had this perfect little smirk on her pretty face.
“Right.” Billy wiped his sweaty hands on his jeans. “Guys!” he announced. “Tommy’s not homophobic!”
Tommy looked at Billy, unimpressed. “We’ve moved past that,” he said flatly.
“He’s just freaking annoying,” Noh clarified.
Billy couldn’t disagree with that, but Tommy apparently could by his further flailing. His arms spazzed with renewed vigor.
Billy glanced at Teddy. Some time during Billy’s brief conversation with Kate, he had gotten excluded from the argument. Billy scrambled for a topic. “Are you participating in the rally?”
“Ah, yeah. The football team has to parade around once or twice,” he explained, moving his fingers like a pair of walking legs. “What about you?”
Billy twisted a bit, as subtly as he could, to see if Kesler was still at the gate. There were no signs of him. Billy looked up at Teddy. “Save me a spot in the potato sack race?”
Teddy grinned. “There’s no other leg I’d rather be awkwardly bound to and stuffed inside a bag with.”
Billy quirked an eyebrow. “Kinky, Altman.”
Teddy laughed and dipped his chin, large hand coming up to scratch his neck. “I guess that’s one way to interpret potato sack racing.”
“That’s the only way.”
Teddy nodded at the group. “Alright, everyone. Let’s head on over to the field before a teacher snaps at us.”
Tommy strode over. “Except you, Kate,” he remarked. “Because you’re a loser and the cheerleaders kicked you out.”
“You two know each other?” Billy questioned. That was new.
“We met in detention after he stepped on Cassie’s robot and I stabbed him with a pencil,” she confessed. Kate flipped her hair over her shoulder. “It was very Breakfast Club.”
“Wait, which characters were you two?” Billy attempted to ask, but Kate had sped away on her heels.
Billy felt the warm brush of Teddy’s hand on his back – just a whisper of a touch, but definitely there for a moment. “I always liked the jock,” he admitted, nonchalant as they made their way to the rally.
Billy didn’t blush, probably. But his favorite character had always been the basket case.