Back On My Tippy Toes

Chapter Five

After the awkward silence, Esther says, "Well, looks like you all need help." She seemed to be looking directly at Drew, who sheepishly smiles in return. "How about Saturday at my place?" 

I said, "Yeah sure! Saturday is fine!" 

"Saturday is fine with me. I'll even bring my mom's famous double chocolate cookies, and we can hang out after we are done," Drew said. 

Esther and I looked at each other knowingly and our mouths instantly watered at the mention of his mother's famous homemade double chocolate cookies. Delicious is an understatement. I swear with simply the taste of one of those cookies, you could sway the most stubborn people in the world, you could move mountains, stop wars, and find world peace. 

I grab his shirt lightly. "You must bring them, Drew!" 

Esther joins in. "You better not be joking Drew or else..." 

"Relax guys; I'm not joking. I'll even pinky promise if it makes you guys feel better." 

We pinky promise with Drew, knowing full well he wouldn't even dare break it because of last time. 

After we detach our pinkies, Esther looks at her watch. "Oh my, It's 3:19! We have to go!" 

Drew and I instantly pale in horror. Football practice starts at 3:30pm on the dot. The football field is about five minutes away if you run, and not to mention it takes time to change into our workout uniform. 

Drew and I instantly jump up and dash toward the football field as Esther hurries to the gym for cheerleading practice. 

Coach Benson is ruthless when it comes to punctuality. For him, there is no greater offense (well besides burning his house down and killing his family). The only times he excuses lateness is if your are dying or going to a serious doctor's appointment. 

Coach Benson punishes people according to how late they were. If they were 15 minutes late, then after practice, he will give you 15 minutes of hellish physical strain. Not fun at all. These excercises can make even the most athletic of people whimper in strain and exhaustion. 

We arrive at the football field in record time. mazing how a little fear can make anyone run super fast. I go to the girl's locker room, slam down my stuff, and basically throw on my clothes. I throw my dark hair into a ponytail, and I run out to the football field while putting on my tennis shoes. Honestly, I look like I am having a seizure. But it is all for in the name of punctuality. 

I look to see Drew and luckily he made it into the football field in time. Thank goodness! We have survived the wrath of Coach Benson with a minute to spare. 

"Hey, Maya! Nice shirt," says Jack with a huge smirk. 

I am confused since everybody wears the same shirt. I look down, and then I realize. I am wearing the shirt backwards. I narrow my eyes at him. 

"Nice personality, Jack. Where'd you get it? At Walmart in the clearance department?" 

Jack laughs. His friends Finn and Greg snickered, and they simultaneously say," Ooo! Do you need some ice for that burn?" 

Jack Riley is the senior captain and quarterback of the football team, and his is a total prankster and jokester. If something blows up on school campus, it's a 98% chance that Jack caused it. Although he is a jokester, he is brilliant on the football field, and several top colleges in Kansas are offering him football scholarships. But, with all that success, sometimes his ego needs humbling. 

"And that's why I like you, Maya," says Jack. 

Coach Benson comes out the athletic building and blows his whistle for us to get in lines to start warming up. I quickly switch my shirt around and get in line. 

We warm up with the typical sprints, lunges, and stretches. After warming up, we did the horrendous bear crawls, and Couch tells us we are going to do a practice football game. He divides us up equally into green and yellow teams and gives us meash jerseys according to which color we are assigned to. 

I am on the green team, and I am the wide receiver. Most people have trouble comprehending how I can be in football. They think that football is solely about physical strength, but it's not. Speed and Strategy play a huge role as well. My strength lies in my speed and agility. I can run incredibly fast, and since I am small, I can fit through crowded spaces most bulky players cannot. 

Coach Benson tells us the first team to score two touchdowns wins. We flip a coin on who gets the ball, and the green team ends up getting the ball. Yes! 

So the game starts. Our football team runs a Slot T offense which means our main strategy is deception. We trick the opposing team into thinking one player has the football but in fact another player has the football. Our practice games usually run for about an hour and a half because it so hard when your teammates can predict your actions and you can predict theirs. So, we have to keep coming up with new and improved strategies. 

After a long hour and a half, the green team wins! Yes! Afterwards, Coach Brnson does a review of the game and critiques our performance which was overall very good. 

Before Coach dismisses us to go home, he says to the team,"I have a big announcement that might make you hate me." 

We look suspiciously amongst each other. Will he make us dip in a pool of acid? Another diet? Whatever it is, I am definitely not going to like it. 

He continues,"We need to up our game and actually start preparing for State Championships. In order to improve agility and coordination, I have signed up the entire football team for ballet classes at the Walter's Dance Studio." 

Everybody jaws dropped, and an instant roar of disagreement blew up. 

I paled in horror. 

I do not like this one bit. 

At all.