Chapter 36

"Sims!"

Why were people always bellowing at me?

I looked up from tying my shoe. "Yes, Coach?"

"Get over here."

I sighed and stood up. The coach was standing by the locker room door.

"Yes, Coach?"

The coach scowled. "There's a cheerleader outside who wants a word with you. We're not going to have a repeat of the last time, are we?" The coach wasn't speaking in the friendly supportive tone I'd come to know and love.

"I don't think so. She didn't say anything about flunking any classes, did she?"

The coach's look wasn't friendly. "Just a minute with the girl, then collect your pal and get her in here."

I snapped to attention, snapped off a snappy salute, British style, palm outward, then beat a hasty retreat.

"Looking good," I said when I saw Darlene. Darlene smiled and twirled, showing off her cheerleader's outfit, her short skirt flying up to show off her dance pants. "Looking very good."

"You can't imagine how good it feels to wear this.'

"I don't know," I said, thinking about last year when I got called out to play varsity. "I think I can."

Darlene hugged me. "I wanted to, I mean, that is, Mom wanted me to invite you to dinner. She says she owes you a dinner."

"That's nice but I don't think it would be a good idea. Mike, your step-dad, and all."

"Mom said, I wasn't to take no for an answer. You don't want to get me in trouble? Tomorrow night? Before the play?"

"Well, I'd hate to disappoint your mom."

"You are so cool," she said, hugging me and planting a kiss on my lips. "Gotta run."

I watched her cute little ass as she ran up the stairs. Damn I liked cheerleaders, I thought as her skirt flipped around. I wonderd if I can talk Tami into trying out.

"You decent?" I called, knocking on the training room door.

"Close enough."

I opened the door. Robbie was just pulling a t-shirt of her head. I had a brief view of her green bra. Before she pulled the shirt down and flipped her hair out from the back of it.

"A padded bra? Robbie, I'm so disillusioned."

Robbie shot me a dirty look. "You wearing a cup, boy?"

I considered taking the fifth, wondering if she was planning to test it.

"Uh, yeah."

"Like the extra protection down there?"

I nodded.

"Think about it."

I'm slow, but I do catch on, eventually.

Robbie pulled on her shoulder pads. They had more padding in front than mine. Then her jersey. I stepped behind her and pulled her long hair out. She usually tucked it into her jersey when she played, but liked it out until then.

"Did you want something, or did you just come to watch?" she asked, picking up her helmet in one hand.

"Coach sent me to get you. I think he wants to do the pep talk thing."

Robbie reached up and grabbed my chin, then rubbed her thumb over my lips. "Eye-black not enough for you anymore?" she asked, showing me the red smudge on her thumb.

I grinned. "Darlene was thanking me."

Robbie shook her head, then all of a sudden she was pressed up against me, her lips molded to mine and her tongue trying to worm it's way into my mouth. I was so surprised that I almost forgot to open my mouth.

"That was... We haven't done that for a long time," I said a minute later.

Robbie smiled. "No, we haven't."

"Uh, what was that for?" I realized the question was looking a gift horse in the mouth, but on the other hand, the Trojans didn't, and look what happened to them.

"Just saying thank you."

"For what?"

"Just being Tony."

"Congratulations," the coach said when we were all sitting on the benches in the locker room. "There are only sixteen teams playing football this Friday night and you're one of them."

We cheered and stomped our feet.

"If we should lose tonight, we'll still be nine and one, and that's a great season in anybody's book."

"We're not losing!" Larry yelled, and we all yelled too.

"Maybe we will and maybe we won't. This is football. You never know. But the important thing is, this is the best team the school has ever had." More cheering. "Now I don't know if any of you have been reading the papers, but the sports writer seem to think we're nine and oh because we have the easiest schedule in the state. That's why we never ranked higher than sixth.

"The sportswriters who make predictions are almost all picking the Pasco Cougars to be champions this year. The fact that we beat them at Halloween, they're calling a fluke. Most of them expect us to get beat tonight."