"I wonder if she's into girls?" I asked, looking down from the bleachers at the track team practicing, and at one particular girl.

"Who?" Hailey responded without looking, just laying back staring up into the sky.

"The new girl. I think her name is Anne."

"I dunno. Do you like her?" Hailey asked, leaning forward to look. "She's kinda cute, I guess."

"She's more than cute."

She was. She had soft peaches and cream skin. Her hair was long, black, and tied back into a pony tail. A few unruly strands fell down her face. Her eyes were wide and dark.

"Her nose is too big," Hailey said. "Totally not my type. She's fine for you, though, I guess."

She leaned back and resumed her empty upward gaze.

"What? 'Fine for me.' Seriously? What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"Don't take it the wrong way," she said, flatly.

"I'm going to talk to her."

"I hope you do. It would be nice to see you hit on someone besides me for once."

I let her comment go. It was easy to fight with Hailey, and never worth it. Plus, it was pretty much true. I'd wanted to sleep with her for a very long time. I wasn't 'her type', she always said.

Anne bent down in the starting block, rubbing the asphalt where her knees would go, then she leaned forward with her butt in the air. Her body was lean and athletic. The other girls lined up next to her.

CRACK! The starting gun went off.

The girls took off. It was a two-hundred meter race, and over quickly. Anne came in third. Hailey sat up to watch the finish.

"Well, she's fast enough," she said, "I wonder if she'll make the team."

"I'm sure she will."

"Heh. She's already your hero. How long am I going to be hearing about this one?"

I let that comment go as well. I just watched Anne rubbing down her muscles and catching her breath.

"You're making one big mistake," Hailey commented after a few seconds.

"What?"

"You should pick someone who can't outrun you. Then you'll have more of a chance."

"Ha! Very fucking funny."

"Now that you mention it, I guess she is kinda cute. I can see getting with her."

"Don't you dare!"

"What? You get all wet for a girl, and suddenly she's off limits to everyone?"

"Not everyone. Just you! You get all the pretty girls. Give me a chance with this one."

Hailey just watched Anne for a bit, then she said, "Let's make a game out of it. Let's see who can get her first."

"What? We both hit on her?"

"Yeah, exactly."

I sighed. I really didn't have a chance against Hailey. She was tall and slender, with long, flowing brown hair. She had a great chest, which she was showing off today with a low cut green top.

I'd pick her over me.

"OK. What does the winner get?" I asked.

"Well, her, obviously."

I thought for a second.

"Let me talk to her first," I said, "So at least I have a chance."

"Sure. Why not."

It still wasn't a fair game.

"How 'bout one more thing to make it fair?"

"What?"

"If I win, I get her ... then I get you."

I looked over at her with a wicked grin. She laughed.

"You never give up. Even crushing out on this other girl, you still want me."

I shrugged my shoulders. She had a point. Sometimes my desire for her got ridiculous, but then, if I could somehow get them both -- Well, why not?

She thought about it. "Alright," she said finally, "It's a deal. I'll stay away from her until the end of today. Then she's fair game. If you get her into bed before me..."

She let her voice trail off. Then she sat up, gave me an intense look, and whispered into my ear, " ... I'll fuck the hell out of you."

I smiled. I bit the end of my tongue.

By now Anne was standing with a few of her teammates talking. The coach blew a whistle, and they ran off toward the locker room. I went after her.

Somehow, some way, I had to win this.

I found her outside the locker room bent over a water fountain. She was wearing tight cotton gym shorts and a white t-shirt. Sweat still glistened on her. A couple of her teammates were further down the hall talking.

"Hi. Your name is Anne, right?"

"Yeah. Hi."

She turned and looked at me quizzically. She gave me an awkward half smile.

"Can I help you?" she asked.

"Yeah, hi. I'm Katey."

"Well, pleased to meet you Katey."

She held out her hand. Her fingers were long and delicate, and she had blue nail polish. I took it and gave it a little shake.

"So ... uh ... were you just introducing yourself?" she asked.

I realized I was still holding her hand. I gave her a big, stupid smile, but didn't let go.

"I really wanted to meet you."

"Well, now you've met me. Can I have my hand back?"

"Sure."

I let go.

"So -- uh -- anyway," she went on, "Nice to meet you. See you around."

She turned around and began to walk toward her friends.

"Anne," I said.

"Yeah?" She turned back to me in one graceful motion. Her ponytail sort of swung around.

This was the part where I normally fumbled around and either crept away, or just muttered something embarrassing. The stakes were higher this time. I went for broke.

"I think you're beautiful," I said, smiling.

Her eyes got real big.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"So ... uh..."

"Hey Anne!" one of her teammates shouted, "We're heading in. You gonna take a shower?"

"I'll be right there!" she shouted back.

She looked at me, studying me up and down. She smiled. I smiled back.

"Look, I gotta go," she said, "I think I'd like to see you later, though. What lunch period do you have?"

"Second. Same as you."

"Cool. I'll see you at lunch then? Tomorrow?"

"Yes. Yes you will."

She ran off and went into the locker room.

I got a huge smile on my face. That went very well. Of course, by lunch tomorrow, Hailey would be in the game.

I had wonderful dreams that night. I woke the next morning and decided to dress as pretty as I could. I wore a little light-blue cotton skirt that went down mid-thigh and a yellow t-shirt. I looked in the mirror. My sandy blonde hair was cropped short. I was pale and covered with freckles. My eyes looked nice at least, a light blue. I stood and turned around, observing my plain, average body. My ass was tiny, and my arms and legs were too thin. I had no tits to speak of. In this thin shirt, though, my nipples would pop out a bit when I was excited. I expected they would when I was with Anne. I put on a bit of makeup, some soft pink lip gloss, and violet eyeshadow.

It was the best I could do. I hoped it would be enough.

I looked for her at lunch the next day. She came in with some of her teammates and they took a corner table. She was saving the seat next to her. I approached.

"Hi Anne," I said.

"Oh, hi Katey."

She smiled and motioned for me to sit down next to her. I did. A few more team members filtered in and grabbed chairs. The table was a tight fit.

"Who is she?" one of the girls asked motioning to me.

"My friend Katey," Anne responded.

I was introduced to everyone. The tall blonde girl was Bethany. The little, short muscular girl was Linda. I couldn't keep the rest of them straight. The girl sitting next to me, opposite Anne, kept bumping me with her elbow, but otherwise ignored me.

"Are you going to try out for the team?" Linda asked me.

"No," I said.

"She's just my friend, Linda. It's fine if she sits here, right?"

"I guess."

Everyone took out their lunches and ate. Anne looked at me.

"How are you?" she asked.

She had dressed pretty sexy, with a little rose skirt and tight baby blue t-shirt. I let my leg rub against hers a bit. She didn't seem to mind.

"I'm fine," I responded.

I ate quietly, glancing over at her occasionally. When I did, she smiled.

Hailey strutted into the lunchroom looking around. She was wearing an amazing red sundress. It was very low cut. She noticed us, and came over.

"Hi Katey," she said, "Are these your new friends?"

"Uh -- hi Hailey. This is my friend Anne. Anne, this is Hailey."

Hailey reached out and took Anne's hand.

Anne said, "Hello." She gave Hailey and awkward and curious look.

There wasn't any more room at the table, but Hailey went ahead and grabbed a chair and pulled it up. She placed it so she could lean in between Anne and me. Then she sat down, getting close to both of us.

"So, Anne," Hailey asked, "Where did you move from? How do you like it here?"

"Seattle, and I like it fine."

"Cool. I saw you practicing yesterday. You looked really good. I mean, really, really good."

Anne got a big smile on her face. So did Hailey.

Hailey leaned forward, and grabbed one of my unopened milk containers. "Are you going to drink this?" she asked.

"No," I responded. I noticed that she had rubbed herself against Anne.

Anne was leaning back in her chair, with a curious little grin. She just looked ahead, and was breathing kind of deeply. It was real obvious that Hailey's attention was turning her on. Her teammates started to notice.

"So Anne," Hailey said while drinking my milk, "You wanna hang out after school?"

"With you two?" she asked, looking over at me.

"No," Hailey said, in a serious tone, "Just me."

Bethany interrupted, "Anne, you know she's a dyke, right?"

Anne smiled, "Yeah, I figured that out." She looked at Hailey. She was obviously staring at her tits.

Bethany sort of swallowed and said, "Oh."

Anne ignored her.

Hailey pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled down her phone number and said, "Here, call me after school and we'll hook up."

Anne smiled. She took it and put it in her bag.

Then Hailey leaned in and gave her a little kiss on the cheek. Anne's eyes got real big. Next Hailey popped up out of her chair. She turned gracefully, her dress swirling around, and she strutted off.

Anne exhaled. The rest of her teammates looked dumbstruck. I sat frozen, my heart beating in sad, solemn thumps. I wondered if girls like Anne and Hailey were just out of my league.

"Wow," Anne muttered.

"That's Hailey," I said.

Anne seemed to notice me again. "Are you alright?" she asked.

"Not really."

"Why?"

"She does this a lot."

"What?"

I looked over at her. Her eyes were dark and lovely, like little mysterious pools.

"She gets the girls I like."

The bell rang.

Later, Anne found me between classes.

"Katey!" she said from behind me, down the hall, "I want to talk to you."

She ran, almost effortlessly catching up with me.

"Hi Anne."

"Look," she said, breathing just a bit heavy, "Can you give this back to Hailey for me, and tell her I'm not interested."

She handed me the paper with Hailey's phone number.

"OK," I said. I took the paper. I looked at her.

She stood there, biting her bottom lip, as if waiting for something.

"You don't like her?" I asked.

"Yeah -- well -- look, I'm new at this. I haven't really dated anyone before, especially not a girl, so I'm not really sure -- well --"

She kind of stood up on the balls of her feet. She looked uncomfortable.

"I mean -- yeah she's hot," she went on, "But -- I don't know -- She seems too -- well -- I want someone who is really sweet and kind -- and pretty."

She looked at me intensely. I started to smile. I started to feel really good.

"Say Anne," I said, taking her hand, "I know of a girl who really likes you a lot."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

I looked down at her little rose skirt. She looked down at my chest. My nipples were pointy and obvious. I didn't let go of her hand.

She actually giggled.

"So, who is she?" she asked.

I looked into her eyes. I tried to give her a deep, seductive look, but I couldn't. I felt so happy. I gave a big, stupid grin instead.

"Me."

She squeezed my hand and leaned close to me. I kissed her cheek, a small one. People were looking at us, muttering things under their breath. I ignored them. I wrapped my arms around Anne and held her close.

Hailey was in my seventh period class. When I entered, I walked by her desk and dropped the scrap of paper down.