Life couldn’t be fair though could it? Just as I was about to exit out the double doors signalling my freedom someone thought it would be a positively great idea to come up behind me and pull me backwards, causing me to stumble backwards into a hard firm chest. Looking up I saw... the most piercing bright blue eyes on a sandy blonde haired boy.
“Herery! What the hell? You scared me! What was that for anyway?”
“I dunno, you just happened to be in front of me so I thought I’d have a bit of fun with you,” he said with an award winning smile on his face. I started walking away from him out the doors and towards the front gate with him following behind me.
“So you just come up behind someone you barely know and started picking on them? Aren’t you a nice person? And what would you have done if it wasn’t me?”
“I’m sorry Cammie but I don’t think you can really be missed since you’ve started wearing baggy shirts and your hair almost identical to when I first saw you.”
“I do NOT have bed hair right now, how dare you say that!”
“Okay... maybe not as bad but still. Anyway the real reason I pulled you back was I was wondering if you wanted to come kick a ball around cause you don’t really look like you fit in with your ‘friends’”
“I would like to point out I fit in great with my mates thank you very much, and sure I’ll come kick a ball round. Mind if I go home and get changed first though?”
“Sure, I was gonna swing by my place anyway. Want a lift instead of walking?”
“Okay... sure, thanks.” I followed him to his black 2002 Toyota Hilux. I really expected you to be more of a 1992 Ford F150 or a 2000 Holden Berlina VTII type guy.”
“Oh really, doubting my stylishness and manliness are you?”
“Of course not, you’re the epitome of stylishness and manliness right there Henery!”
“And wait... you know about cars?”
“Henery, you do realise that just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean that I wear pink, dress up and parade around in heels. I’m not that girl. So who’s gonna be at the park?”
“I’ll try to remember that... And you know just the guys, Jack, Scott, Jacob, Alex and I,” he said smiling.
We sat in silence for a while as I thought about how to respond to that. Alex was going to be there... what would happen? “Wait, you mean that over popular group of people who were there when I had fun with my little stunt?”
“Yeah... that... Um, question?”
“Um... okay?”
“Why did you do that?”
“Do what?”
“You know what I mean Cammie, don’t play with me,” he said looking at me with a serious place.
“So you’re just going to uninvite me from going to the park with you guys to play football? No fair!”
“That’s not what I meant. Okay, if the only way I can get this through to you is to say it out loud... Why did you go to Alex on the first day of school and start trying to make out with him.”
“Um, he started making out with me too, and just because I could... do you have a problem with that?”
“Of course not Cammie, why would you think that?” he said stumbling over his words a slight blush creeping up on his cheeks.
“I was just checking... ‘Cause you’re not my type.” Just as the last syllable passed my lips we pulled up outside our houses. “I’ll be back in about 5-10 minutes, ‘kay?”
I walked to my wardrobe and flung open the doors. Riffling through everything I couldn’t find my football shorts anywhere, what is this madness? I settled with a plain blue top and some work out shorts I found in the bottom of my closest. Throwing my boots into my backpack with a bottle of water I meandered back over to Henery’s house.
I knocked on the door and waited paitently. Eventually it was opened by Henery’s mother. “Hello Molly, is Henery just about ready?”
“Yes, dear. He’ll be down in just a moment.”
“Okay thank you,” I replied a smile on my face. I couldn’t wait to get back on the field even if it was with a bunch of cocky stuck up boys. Maybe I could teach them a thing or two.
~“~
Pulling up at the park I jumped out of the cab, and slinging my bag over my shoulder I noticed the guys all standing around surrounding a pick up.
“Hey, guys. I hope it’s all good I brought Cammie with me,” said Henery as he did the ‘man’ handshake with the boys.
“Yeah sure, as long as she doesn’t try and interfere and stays on the side line like a good little girl.”
“Good little girl my ass. So how is this gonna go down?”
“Well firstly we have to get Jack’s truck up and running or take it in ‘cause we have a rugby match he has to be at on Saturday.”
“Oh, a 1997 Nissan Pulsar, this should be easy... Mind if I take a look?”
“What did you just say?” asked a guy with longish shaggy brown hair.
“You heard me, or are you afraid I’m actually going to figure out what’s wrong with it?” I looked down at his hands and saw some grease on them. “Unlike you.”
“You won’t be able to find what’s wrong. Scott’s the best mechanic at our school,” said Alex.
“Oh really? Well then you won’t mind some little girl having a look at this manly machine then will you Scott?” I looked at him waiting for a reply, seeing a look of shock and awe I just started walking towards the car. “Pop the hood would you someone?” Henery walked over to the driver’s side with a smirk on his face and popped the hood for me. “What was the car doing before you pulled up?”
“Um... what?”
“Any weird sounds or anything?”
“Yeah. There was some hissing kind of sound coming from the front of the car. I just assumed it was the radiator or something.”
“Cool, give me a moment.” The guys all snickered at me as I bent down under the hood and took a look. Fifteen minutes later I walked back to where the guys were laughing at me. Well Mr. Magnificent Scott, you seemed to miss quite a few tell tale signs there but that’s not important... Jack you have a funny gasket, you either need it tightened or replaced, but I can’t tell you much more without my tools sorry. Don’t worry though, it won’t be that expensive, oh and you might wanna turn off your inside light.” The guys all looked at me like I was an alien. “Okay, boys. It’s really not that amazing, now shut your mouths, stop drooling, and let’s play some football!” I yelled. With that the guys all let out woops, and calls of joy running towards the field. Scott though stayed behind, “Yes?”
“Why don’t you take shop? You would be legend in there.”
“Maybe because if I did, guys like you wouldn’t be able to do their work properly, or should I say be worse at it?”
“Hey, unfair that was just a fluke you found it.”
“Really? Well how about next week, during study, I come and show you boys how it’s really done?”
“Deal,” he said smiling.
As we walked to the field I told him, “I really don’t know why I agreed. We both know that I’m going to show your class up.”
“In your dreams little girl, in your dreams.”
While all the boys were putting on their boots, I got a call from my mum.
“Hey, baby girl.”
“Hi, Mum, what did you want? I’m kind of in the middle of something.”
“Oh really, and what may that something be since you didn’t leave a note?”
“Oh shit! Sorry, I’m at the park with the boys and about to show them up again.”
“Do I really wanna know Cam?”
“It was perfectly innocent. I just showed them a little of what Uncle Ian taught me.”
To this reply she laughed. “Okay then. Well stay safe and I’ll see you at home later.”
“’Kay, see you later. Hanging up I noticed all the boys staring at me. “What?”
“No boots, no play,” said Jack.
“Hey dude, I just offered to fix your car and say I can’t play? You’re such a nice person. It’s a good thing that I played football for 8 years so I have my boots then isn’t it?”
“What are you?”
“Um, a human?”
“No, that’s not what I meant. I mean what girl can fix a car and plays a guys sport and who knows what else. You’re like a mad woman!”
I finished lacing up my boots, jumping up I smirked at the boys. “You ready to get your asses whipped?”
“Oh, bring it on little girl,” Alex told me with a smile.
~“~
Since Friday was a teacher only day I spent most of the weekend with the boys. I was starting to become a good part if their group, that is once they accepted that I wasn’t a ‘normal’ everyday girl. Doing stuff like kicking round a ball, whipping the guys arses at video games like COD, playing bulrush and fixing Jack’s car.Today I was planning to prove that even more to the rest of the school, this was going to be an amusing day, I’d somehow managed to get through the day quite well off, with minimal ridiculing and such. I checked in with my study teacher, telling her that I was going to the tech room to do some extra credit work, neglecting to tell her about which one but I don’t believe she would really mind anyway as long as she didn’t have to look after one more person. Knocking on the shop door I let myself in, hearing the clang of metal on metal and the sizzling of sparks from welders. Suddenly everything went kind of quiet.
“Oi, chick in the class!” someone called out from the back of the room.
“Really, sexist much?” I called back.
“Hey, young lady. Home economics is down the hall two classes on the right,” said a man who had salt and pepper hair and looked about fifty.
“Um, sir... if you’re done ridiculing me. I am in the right class and you can either ask Scott what he thinks of me being here or you can let me show you myself... now what will it be?”
“There will be no females in my classroom, you are unqualified and don’t know any protocol to do with machinery or anything so I’m afraid you’re not allowed in here.”
“How about you give me a test then? That is if you’re up to it and aren’t afraid to be proved wrong.”
“Now, normally I’d say you can’t talk to a teacher like that but I’ll hold you to that. Okay Josh, how much have you done on that motor?”
“Um... Not much Sir. Why?”
“Okay... don’t do any more. Let’s see how good this little lady really is. The floor is all yours you have access to all tools and feel free to give up at anytime.”
“Nothing like throwing her in the deep end Pete,” said Scott coming up behind the teacher and clapping him on the back. “But this being the girl who figured out that there was a funny gasket in Jack’s car and then preceded to fix it when he brought it over, I’m sure she can figure out what it wrong with the motor.”
Within 20 minutes I’d found the problem and continued on to fix it before looking up at the group of boys looking at me like I was a goddess or something. “Now is that it, or what?”
“Scott, I think you have your work cut out for you boy if you continue to let this one back in.”
“Unfortunately, she’s one of those kinds of people that can’t be stopped,” he replied with a grin on his face.
“Is that so? Well are you planning on transferring into shop then miss?”
“It’s Cammie and I’m in top grade line so I can’t transfer classes sadly, and what I was going to ask you is if I can come in day one period five and day six period two and maybe lunchtimes or something?”
“I don’t know if that’s going to be okay Miss, I’ll have to talk to the rest of faculty.”
“Again my name is Cammie or if you feel weird calling me that call me Cam, even Bob, Ash, Tyler whatever just not miss please. I know it’s stupid apparently for a female to want to be in a shop class and that there is no room for me here, I should take economics because I belong in the kitchen, females this, females that. Overlook the sexism of shop and then please kindly reconsider your answer.”
I apologise now for the atrociousness of this chapter but I’ve been preparing for midterms and been doing a film festival... hope you like it anyway comment and vote. Hugs for all (=