The Opposite Sex

Chapter Two

No!

That was all I could think for the next five minutes. That shouldn't be right. The team captains are just a popularity contest, and no one other than the school's queen-bee has ever won the title before.

I felt pats on my back, and cheers. There were a few grumbled complaints scattered through the crowd, but mostly excited screaming. I thought I would go deaf. In fact, I hoped I would go deaf; then I would probably be incapable to take part in this.

"Rosie, go up," Becca said, shoving me hard, until I stood up, and directed me towards the aisle.

There were five things I prided myself on not having done since elementary school: Fail a class, was the only one of those things I didn't do just then.

I never embarrass myself. I keep out of the attention of others enough.

I never show confusion about anything obvious. I only ever scrunch up my eyebrows at things such as riddles that no one understands.

I never put myself in the limelight.

And I never forget anything. I never forget homework, or chores. I remember one-hundred-percent of everything.

But at that moment, I found myself forgetting how to walk. I was standing in the aisle with every pair of eyes in the room staring at my unmoving body. My brow was furled; probably looking like it was fused into one unibrow. It had to be a mistake.

I tried to walk, but I didn't quite know how to do that. Was it right foot, then left foot? No, it was left foot then... which foot was my left?

In my nervous state, I lifted my left foot, but it was tucked behind my right one, causing me to lose my balance. I felt myself tipping before I knew what was happening. I was lying on the carpet, my cheek reddening from the rug-burn, as well as the humiliation I was experiencing.

What was happening to me?

Milliseconds later, Becca was next to me, helping me up. Slowly, she helped me to the front of the room.

"What is going on?" I whispered. I wasn't the only one. I heard whispers echoing from all corners of the hall.

"Well, I guess you won the vote for girls' team captain! Why didn't you tell me you were running, by the way?"

I began to tell her I hadn't known, but then the pieces all fell into place. The looks she'd been giving me today. The excitement of discovering the team captains. She, and probably the boys, were behind this. It had been so obvious!

"I," I spat, I was seething with anger as I looked her directly in eyes, "am going," I continued menacingly, "to kill you."

"What? Why me? I didn't nominate you! I just voted. Twenty times. The boys even helped campaign. You should have told us you were running! I thought you hated these things! "

"I wasn't." I skeptically studied her face, and found no trace of untruth in her expression. We unfortunately reached the principal then, and had to end the conversation.

"Miss Jackson, it is a pleasant surprise to see you participating in this activity," he said.  

He knew me pretty well, seeing as how I was the school's salutatorian, second only to Michael Harris, the closest thing to a nemesis I had. His grade point average was maybe half a point ahead of my own, and he is the class president, because no one else had run last year. (Aside from me, that is. If only I could have won that election instead.) Now I'm the vice president, which also factors into my hatred for him.

"Hello, Sir," I said, followed by a gulp on my part. "I'm sorry, but there has to be a mistake. I haven't even signed up to participate in the games this year!"