by E K Ballard
“Well, you’re not a mental midget.”
“I’ll tell you how much I weigh and I bet it’s more than you.” Jamie walked over to the scale confidently and stepped on. “162. More than you.”
“It is, but not by much.”
“Kristin, you are smart, kind, and beautiful. Stop worrying about your weight. It’s just a number.”
Kristin blushed. “Okay, 141.”
Jamie made a face. “See? That’s not a lot!”
“I have lost some weight since Florida,” Kristin was still processing Jamie saying she was beautiful.
Jamie took Kristin back into the locker room.
“Here’s my locker,” she said, pointing to one of the big lockers close to the showers.
“You must be a big shot since you’ve got a big locker.”
“Yeah, right.” Jamie took out some clothes from her back pack. “Would you wear these?” she asked Kristin, holding out some gym shorts and a Stowe Stallions t-shirt.
“I guess.”
“My mom thought you might be a size 8 shoe. She told me to give you these.” Jamie handed over a pair of nice running shoes.
“Jamie, I don’t want to keep taking things from you and your family.” Kristin put the shoes down on the bench. She was a size 8.
“Did you ever think that maybe this is our gift to share with you?” Jamie asked as she put the clothes and shoes in her locker. “My mom, she likes you. She likes that my grades have gone up, and she knows you are a big part of that. So let us give back to you a little.”
“Okay,” said Kristin. Maybe it was time for her to learn to accept gifts.
“Tomorrow we start coming here after lunch, right?”
“Right.”
“Good.” They went back to the cafeteria together.
“See you in the library later?” Kristin asked.
“See you there.”
* * *
Jamie didn’t like that they couldn’t speak English at all in Spanish class. She heard Senora Jimenez say something to the effect that they were being given an assignment that they were all going to have to teach their classmates something. Jamie asked her to repeat the assignment. Jamie hated stuff like this. Why did they always want her to get up in front of the class? Were they rooting for her to make an ass out of herself so everyone could laugh at her?
When Jamie got to the library during 8th period, she found Kristin at the table where they usually met and dropped her books. She collapsed into a chair and put her forehead down on the table.
Kristin was amused at Jamie’s theatrics. “What’s wrong?” she asked.
Jamie groaned. “I have to teach my Spanish class something next week, in Spanish,” she said. “If we say anything in English she is going to take off points. I don’t want to get up in front of the whole class and teach them something. What a stupid assignment.”
“That is the easiest assignment ever.”
“Oh sure, if you’re in Spanish 5 and fluent. Were you born in Spain or something?” Jamie groused. “I hate getting up in front of the class and having everyone looking at me.”
“You don’t mind having everyone looking at you when you are playing soccer.”
“That’s different.”
“Why don’t you teach them how to head a soccer ball?” suggested Kristin.
“I can’t. It has to be something we can do in the class room without breaking anything.”
“What about teaching them how to tie their shoes?”
“It has to be something they don’t know how to do yet.”
“How do you know what they do or don’t know how to do?”
“In other words, it can’t be something they would be expected to know already. Here,” she handed Kristin the rubric.
Kristin looked it over. “Well, it’s Spanish class, teach a Spanish dance.”
Jamie looked at her like she was crazy. “I don’t know any Spanish dances.”
“I do,” Kristin said. “I wonder if she would want a Spanish dance, like the Tango, or if it could be any dance with a Latin beat.”
“I don’t want to teach them a dance!” Jamie said.
“Why not? It’s perfect. The vocabulary is appropriate because it’s all directions and numbers, they’ll be too busy trying to learn the moves to be looking at you and they’ll have fun. I guarantee you’ll get an A on this if you pull it off even halfway right. Teachers eat that stuff up.”
“I don’t know how to dance,” said Jamie again.
Kristin laughed and said teasingly, “Are you trying to tell me that the most gifted athlete in all of Stowe can’t dance?”
“I’m not the most gifted athlete,” Jamie said, blushing at Kristin’s praise. “I’m not gifted in anything.”
“Yes, you are, especially at things that require physical ability, like dancing. It’s a disgrace that you don’t know a single dance. You take PE; do they only teach you how to chase balls?”
“I don’t take PE any more. I took all my PE credits in 9th and 10th grade and, no, we never learned any dances.”
“Well, PE was where I first learned to dance. We had this big Ballroom Dance unit in 5th grade, and we all pretended we hated it but secretly we loved it. I danced with Caleb Stein, and he was such a good dancer.”
Jamie didn’t want to hear about Caleb Stein.
“Think about it,” said Kristin.
* * *
When Jamie took Kristin back into the locker room the next day and handed Kristin the workout clothes, Kristin realized she was going to have to get changed in front of Jamie and became nervous. She didn’t want Jamie seeing how fat she was.
Jamie pulled her jeans off, and slid shorts on quickly, then took her sweatshirt and turtleneck shirt off, revealing a long torso with well-defined abdominal muscles. Jamie’s bra was white and plain, but Jamie didn’t have a big chest. Kristin pretended she wasn’t looking while she stood there trying to figure out how to get changed without seeming overly modest.
Jamie finished getting changed and went to use the restroom, so Kristin slid her skirt off and quickly put on the shorts and shirt.
The weight room was almost empty today and Kristin made her way over to a spin bike. Jamie got on the one next to her and, after thirty minutes, Kristin had worked up a light sweat. It was a good first session.
Chapter Twenty-One
The soccer season was winding down, with only three games left in the regular season, one home this week on Wednesday, one away Saturday, and the season finale next Thursday. She was still playing midfield and, while everyone told her she was playing well, she would have much rather played striker.
Playoffs started in a week and a half, and Stowe was undefeated with two ties. They were in first place and were hoping to get a first round bye in the playoffs. They just needed to keep winning, as the team behind them in second place had one loss but only one tie.
Kristin went to watch the game on Wednesday and sat by herself in the stands by the center of the field. She watched Jamie running and cutting and taking shots on goal. Did she even have an ounce of fat on her body?
Jamie’s legs were knotted with muscles. Kristin thought she could take anatomy and physiology and find the most obscure muscles on Jamie that couldn’t be found on anyone else just by looking. Once, her shirt front flew up when she jumped, and Kristin could see her stomach muscles distinctly delineated. She had little to no chest, but the muscles in her chest made her seem bigger than she was.
Her hair had gotten even longer and, as she ran, it flopped on her face. Her uniform outlined her body in perfect clarity and Kristin found herself gazing intently at Jamie as she ran around the field. Kristin decided to take some pictures, so she took the camera out and made her way down to the field.
Kristin was watching the game through her camera lens when she saw Jamie get the ball and dribble down the field. Kristin focused on her and started taking pictures. Jamie passed the ball to a teammate, ran for a give and go, got the ball b
ack, and fed the ball to Tessa on the right wing. Jamie ran into the penalty area just as Tessa crossed the ball low and hard. Jamie jumped up on the run and volleyed a shot past the goalie with her instep. Kristin got at least ten shots of that sequence and stared at Jamie as she ran past the goalie. Jamie looked at her and gave her a big smile and Kristin felt her face redden. She went back into the stands and watched the rest of the game there.
Kristin didn’t know what was going on with her. She found herself thinking about the hike up Red Hill with Jamie and their frequent physical contact. She was drawn to Jamie physically and Kristin realized that she had similar, but stronger, feelings for Jamie than she ever had for Billy.
She looked forward to eating lunch with Jamie and their workouts. Kristin felt happy yet jittery when Jamie was around and she chided herself for feeling the way she did, but she couldn’t help it. Kristin found herself thinking about Jamie during class. She had to make a conscious effort to redirect her focus on the lesson.
Just thinking about Jamie affected Kristin’s appetite. She could only take a few bites of her meals before her mind drifted to Jamie and she felt nervous and full.
She liked being with Jamie. She felt safe and needed. She especially liked looking at Jamie. She shivered when she remembered the two of them sitting next to each other at the top of Red Hill.
She remembered Jamie saying she was beautiful. Billy never told her that.
* * *
On Friday, Jamie asked Kristin if she was going to the game Saturday.
“I can’t,” Kristin said. “I don’t have a ride.”
They were both silently disappointed. Jamie wondered if she should ask Kristin if she wanted a ride from her parents, but thought that would be presumptuous.
“So,” Jamie said. “I don’t know what to do about this Spanish assignment.”
“Yes, you do,” answered Kristin. “You just don’t know if you want to teach them the Salsa, Merengue, or Tango.”
Jamie thought about it. “Which one is easiest?”
“To dance? Probably the Merengue. The Tango is the most fun and the Salsa has a syncopated beat, which takes longer to learn. I’d probably go with the Merengue.”
“Okay,” Jamie said, resigned. “Do you mind teaching me how to do it?”
“No. I told you I would. When do you have to do this?”
“She is taking volunteers starting Monday, but I want to go last.”
“No, you don’t. You want to go first and set the stage. The first people who go usually get extra points for going first.”
“Will you come over after the game and teach me?” Jamie asked.
“Of course.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jamie got a ride home from the game from her parents. On the way, she used Angela’s phone to call Kristin.
“Hi,” said Kristin, glad to hear Jamie’s voice. “Did you win?”
“Yes.”
“Did you score?”
“No.”
“Oh, that’s too bad.”
“We won, so, we’re that much closer to the playoffs. Want us to come pick you up?”
“Would you mind?”
“No, then we’ll do this terrible dance idea of yours.”
Kristin laughed.
“You sound like I did. In fifth grade.”
* * *
“Jamie, don’t forget you are dog-sitting for your Aunt Connie this weekend. She wanted me to remind you,” said Angela when they all got back to the house.
“Okay,” said Jamie. “Want to come with me to pick up a key?”
“Sure,” said Kristin.
Jamie and Kristin drove up to Aunt Connie’s house, where Kristin met Jamie’s aunt and uncle. They seemed very busy and Jamie told them about the game while the two black labs jumped all over Kristin and licked her. She didn’t mind. She loved dogs, but her mom and Lucas were both allergic to them, so they couldn’t get any pets except fish and frogs.
“It was nice to meet you, Kristin,” said Aunt Connie as she gave Jamie a house key.
They got back to Jamie’s house and Jamie went and took a shower. Kristin pulled up some good Merengue music from the internet and put them on a queue. When Jamie came out of the bathroom with just a towel wrapped around her, Kristin drew in her breath and turned away. She felt her pulse increase and pretended to be much more interested in the music than she was. Jamie grabbed her clothes and went back into the bathroom to get dressed. Kristin couldn’t get over what she was feeling. She ran her hands through her hair and took a deep breath.
Jamie came out from the bathroom dressed, her hair still wet. “Okay, teach me the Merengue.”
“First, we’re going to go over the basic steps in English. Then once you get that down, we’ll do it in Spanish. Now, typically the guy is the leader and the woman is the follower, but sometimes girls dance with girls in Hispanic cultures.”
Kristin looked up at Jamie to see if she had a reaction that girls dancing with girls was unusual.
“You are going to need to know the steps for both the leader and follower so you can teach both. The leader always starts off their left foot and either moves to the left, backward, or forward. It is a four-step beat. Start like this.”
Kristin took four small steps to the left and stopped. “See? One, two, three, four. You try it.” She watched Jamie and said, “Not bad. Your steps need to be much smaller, though. You aren’t marching. You want to get your hips moving.”
Jamie copied the steps Kristin was doing. “Like that?” she asked.
“Yes, good. Now go forward for four beats, then backwards, then do a turn, good. Keep your feet moving to the beat.”
Kristin went over to the computer and turned some music on. “Feel the tempo. Just shift your hips up and down, good. Now, put your left hand out like this.” Jamie did as she was told, and Kristin put her right hand on Jamie’s and felt her heart race at Jamie’s touch.
“Now, put your right hand on my shoulder blade, and I put my left hand on your shoulder like this.” Kristin had to reach up to get to Jamie’s shoulder, which brought her closer to Jamie’s tall body.
“Just walk in place to the beat. Good. Whenever you’re ready, take your four steps to the left, then forward then back, smaller steps. Smaller. Good.”
Kristin moved with Jamie. “More Cuban motion in the hips. You’re a natural! Whoops, don’t move to your right.”
Jamie closed her eyes and moved her body a little closer in to Kristin.
“How’s this?” Jamie asked.
Kristin felt Jamie’s body closer to hers and she allowed herself to lean up against Jamie.
“Good,” Kristin said. Their bodies swayed together to the music.
“Now, I’m going to teach you a turn,” said Kristin. “You lift your left hand up, I turn under, keep your feet moving, with smaller steps, smaller, now here is a pretzel turn.” Kristin kept Jamie dancing as the leader until she had the basic steps down.
“This is kind of fun,” said Jamie.
“See? That’s what we said, too.”
The song ended and Kristin put it back on.
“Not bad,” Kristin said. “Now, you need to learn how it’s done as a follower.” They went through the same steps, but with Jamie following Kristin. Jamie got it quickly.
“How long does this have to be?” asked Kristin.
“No less than three minutes, no more than ten,” answered Jamie.
“Perfect. Now we need to get you saying it in Spanish. Let me see your Spanish book so we are sure the words we use are ones you have learned already.” Kristin leafed through Jamie’s textbook. “There may be a few words you have to teach them, but when you do, just say the word as you do the action.”
Kristin typed up a script for Jamie with the various cues in Spanish highlighted. Then they practiced with Jamie as the leader, talking through the steps in Spanish.
“I think this may be easier than I thought,” Jamie said.
“You�
�re so athletic; your balance and coordination are perfect for dancing.”
Jamie put the music on again.
“I need more practice,” Jamie said.
She gazed her blue eyes down into Kristin’s face and took Kristin’s right hand in her left while she put her right arm around her and pulled her in closely. They danced a slower version of the Merengue with Jamie’s face resting on top of Kristin’s head.
Kristin thought again of what Dylan had said about Jamie being a lesbian and felt so comfortable in Jamie’s arms.
When the song was over, they stayed standing in each other’s arms. When they finally separated, Kristin looked up at Jamie, who had a serious expression in her eyes. Kristin’s heart felt like it was thudding against her lungs, making it hard for her to breathe.
Jamie’s head tilted and Kristin thought it might be moving forward and down towards her.
Her phone rang, making both girls jump back.
Kristin picked up her phone, dropped it, and scrambled to pick it up before it stopped ringing.
Her mother.
“Yeah, Mom,” Kristin answered.
“Do you need me to come get you?” Rebecca’s shrill voice came through the handset.
“No, Jamie can drive me.”
“I want you home in twenty minutes,” Rebecca said. “You don’t spend any time with your family anymore.”
“I’ll be home soon.”
“If you aren’t here in twenty minutes, you will be grounded for two weeks,” Rebecca threatened.
“We’re doing our homework!”
“You’ve done enough. Get home, now.”
Kristin hung up.
“You have to go home now?” Jamie asked.
“Yeah.”
Adrenaline coursed through Kristin’s bloodstream. Had they almost just kissed?
Kristin gathered her books and they went out to the Jeep.
* * *
If ever there was a situation that explained Jamie’s hate for cell phones, the timing of Rebecca’s call to Kristin was a prime example.