Under the Bleachers

It was the championship football game. Kara’s mind was racing with energy and excitement, along with the crowd cheering behind and in front of her. She waved her pom-poms enthusiastically in the air and shouted, watching the talented boys of the Russtown Wildcats – her classmates – toss and tumble over a pigskin ball. Even though she didn’t understand much about the game, the eighteen-year-old still enjoyed watching both teams run full speed across the football field with a look of extreme passion in their eyes. Of course, Kara would rather see her boys within feet of the end zone, but she had no problems watching the muscles ripple beneath the uniforms of either team.

Her black curls bounced at her shoulders as she brought her arms into the air and went on her toes to begin another cheer. She called out to the crowd to “Gimme a C!” and “Gimme an… A!” and then to “Gimme a… T!” and finally, “Gimme a S! What’s that spell?” The response from the eager game-goers made the answer clear to anyone who perhaps could not spell. “CATS!” Blue eyes sparkled into the night sky, and Kara immediately dropped her blue and white poms and jumped into position for a stunt. One of the younger girls – junior Jessica – eagerly climbed into the waiting hands of Kara and a red-headed cheerleader before they hoisted her up into the air and the crowd continued to cheer.

————

Kara emerged from the cheerleader’s locker room, now stripped of her Wildcats uniform and walking somberly across the pavement, casting a silent sideways glance at the now-vacant field. Her jean skirt hugged her thighs greedily, and her small breasts appeared quite perky beneath her peach colored tank top, but Kara herself was far from happy. How she now wished she had been a cheerleader for the Decatur Vipers. Even though she despised the red and gold insignia that graced the Vipers cheerleader uniform (it was ungodly, and she had vowed never to be caught dead in that getup), at least then she wouldn’t be walking to her car with her head down and a disappointed look in her eye.

The Wildcats lost.

It was an unbelievable end to the game, too. Russtown had been ahead by a mile (really 28 points) coming into the fourth quarter. All that Kara really remembered of the upset was that when she looked up at the scoreboard with fifteen seconds to go, it proudly stated: “Home – 44; Visitor: 46.” She couldn’t believe how the Vipers had earned such a large amount of points in such a short time (and while she wasn’t paying attention, too!), but the look of disbelief didn’t leave her face until she silently folded up her uniform and slid it into her drawstring knapsack.

She was so deep in thought that the poor girl didn’t even notice the stranger approaching on her other side. The sudden interruption of noise beside her caused Kara to jump, and she turned to see who it was, cheeks flushed. Now frozen to the spot, she first glanced at the arm on her shoulder, and then her bright eyes finally trailed upwards until she was staring in the face of a boy with dirty blonde streaks in his light brown hair and beautiful green eyes. If she had been forced to speak at that moment, Kara probably would have stuttered, partially from surprise and mostly from embarrassment.

“Great game.”

His eyes traced over her tanned body, or at least what he could see of it. There was no one else around; by now all of the fans of and players on the winning team were likely long-gone to some party or another, and most of the Wildcats had already sulked their way home or elsewhere. Some of the more courageous losing players had attached themselves to some Vipers girl and snuck their way into a celebration party, but for the most part they realized there was nothing for them to celebrate. Just one big loss. The boy, whose name was Derek, knew all about what they must be feeling, even though he just happened to be a member of the Vipers football team.

“I-If you say so,” she replied, finally finding her voice. His mere presence was enchanting, or perhaps that had to do with the slight fragrance of expensive cologne that encircled her as he stepped closer. She narrowed her eyelids slightly, close to squinting at him as she took in every aspect that she could about him in the short time she stared. His chiseled features, the slight dimple in one cheek as he smiled down at her, the inch or so of hair that kept falling in his eyes no matter how many times he tried to brush it away.

It took her a moment to register what he had said to her. The game? Right, the game. He must have been at the game, considering they were both standing adjacent to an empty football field. But why would he be telling her the game was great? She was a cheerleader for the losing team. It wouldn’t have been “great” in her eyes, by any means. Her gaze lowered briefly, and she finally spied the abbreviation on the sleeve of his shirt. His red shirt. DV. Decatur Vipers. Inscribed in neat gold letters that glittered every time the moonlight touched his shoulder.

“Oh,” she offered, before he got a chance to respond. One side of his mouth curled upward into a half-grin, half-smirk as he noticed her admiring his shirt. He was sure to get another at school next week, in honor of the team’s big win.

“Don’t look so shocked,” he replied, tilting his head down and smiling at her fallen and down-turned face. She looked hesitant at first, but with the genuine smile on his face she couldn’t help but offer the smallest of grins in return. “You know, it’s not such a big deal.” He reached out for her hand, and after a moment’s thought, Kara obliged and slipped her slender palm into his. “Care to go for a walk? You know, to clear your head. You look like you could use it,” he added, whispering softly into her ear and pulling her toward him.

It was apparent that Kara didn’t really know what to make of the whole situation. It was very odd, and a little suspicious, for such a handsome boy – from the other team – to appear out of nowhere and be so kind to her. A shocking thought occurred to her. He couldn’t have heard rumors that she was still a virgin, could he? Surely the gossip couldn’t have already spread that far in such a brief amount of time, especially to another school. Kara had only mentioned the fact to a fellow cheerleader a few days prior, after all.

Shaking off the idea, she allowed herself to walk a little closer to Derek, her bag slung over her free shoulder and his hand creeping slowly around her waist. He didn’t seem to have any further intentions, because after a harsh look from Kara and an apologetic glance from him, Derek didn’t try anything else. The two of them ventured out to the empty field, still littered with various red, gold, and blue streamers and bits of white paper from spirit signs, and began to walk the track encircling the field.

They had been walking for about five minutes, chit-chatting about their schools, and the differences between one and the other, when the subject finally made its way back to the previous game.

“You know,” Derek began, eyes on his sneakers, “I was watching you.”

Kara offered a short laugh of protest. “How could you possibly have been watching me? You were supposed to be playing!” Her mood was much lighter now, after assessing the fact that her entire high school career did not depend on the outcome of a single game.

“I’m coordinated.” When Kara laughed again, he reconsidered his statement. “Well, maybe not so much. Were you paying attention during our horrible fumble?” She answered with a simple ‘Mmhmm,’ and he continued. “Well, that was me.”

“You should really learn how to do two things at one time.”

“I am! I’ve mastered talking and walking.”

“Wimp.”

“Well then, how about this?” Derek leaned over, still walking, and planted a kiss on Kara’s supple lips.

Kara was completely taken aback at the sudden action, and nearly stumbled over her own feet. Not to say she didn’t enjoy the kiss, but she did have to eat her own words about being multi-talented. Stopping, she turned and glanced up at Derek, who was wearing a huge smile.

“I’m good at some things.”

She smiled, her eyes suddenly lighting up as she realized something. She was immensely attracted to Derek. This was an odd conclusion she had come to, because Kara didn’t usually find herself falling head over heels for boys, especially ones she had only met within the last hour. Then again, the girl had been subject to a very poor sampling of the male species; most of the boys at Russtown High didn’t know the difference between the head on their shoulders and the one in their pants. This was probably the first enjoyable and remotely intellectual conversation she had had with one lately.

“Yes, you are… That was quite nice,” she added as an afterthought, and started to continue walking. It seemed Derek had other plans, though, because he immediately grabbed her upper arm and stopped her. “What?” she asked, sensing that perhaps something was wrong, and turned her body to face him. Not that she had much of a choice, because he continued to pull her toward him until they were separated by only a few inches of air.

“Kara – I…” He seemed to be stuttering with his words, trying to place them into a formidable sentence that she could comprehend. Or perhaps just one that he could comprehend. She noticed that he was having trouble expressing his feelings, or worries, or whatever, and without thinking she slipped a hand around his waist. It just seemed like the right thing to do, and her fingers were itching to roam all over his well toned body, anyway. His breath was ragged as he bent forward and began to kiss her neck, moving her dark curls out of the way with one hand and caressing the small of her back with the other.

“Oh…” she moaned into his ear, closing her eyes and tilting her head to the side to allow him more room. In the back of her mind she knew this was wrong, she had only known this boy for the better part of twenty-five minutes, yet her body protested that this was exactly what she had been wanting for two years. Ever since she caught her older sister making out with her boyfriend in the living room.