Girls, Gifted

by E K Ballard

  “Wait,” said Jack. “Penny, the girl who sat outside your place all night? She was engaged to Jeff?”

  “Yes!” said Jason.

  The pieces of the puzzle started to fall into place.

  “Jason, don’t tell me you broke up their engagement!” John said.

  “Dad, I didn’t know she was engaged! She wasn’t wearing a ring. I only saw her for a month or two, and then I met Ali, so I moved on. She didn’t.”

  Jamie was slow to understand. “I don’t get it,” she said.

  Kristin got it. “Your brother dated Jeff’s fiancé and Jeff has been taking it out on you this whole time.”

  “Really?” Jamie asked. “That isn’t fair!”

  “No, but at least it explains why he has been the way he has with you.”

  They stood in silence, processing the news.

  “Well, he can’t punish the whole team, can he?” asked Angela. “Maybe you should talk to him,” she suggested.

  “Let’s see what he does,” said John.

  Their attention was drawn to the field, where Sutter was celebrating their first goal of the game.

  “Shit,” said Jamie.

  The whistle blew for halftime, and the Stowe players went into the locker room to confer. Jamie followed them in and some of the girls asked her why she wasn’t playing. Jamie just shrugged.

  Coach Detmer drew some diagrams on the board showing how he wanted them playing. Jamie waited to hear if he was going to tell her to go back in and, when he didn’t say anything, Beth Harding raised her hand.

  “Am I going out to start the second half, or is Jamie going back in?”

  “You’re still in, Beth,” he answered.

  They came out to start the second half and a murmur went through the crowd when they saw Jamie on the sidelines. Jack, Jason, and John looked at each other. John stood up and said, “I am going to talk to the coach.”

  “I don’t know, Dad,” said Jack. “It might make it worse. Let’s see what happens.”

  Stowe kicked off and promptly had the ball taken away. Sutter’s two offensive stars got into a groove and they began playing keep-away with the Stowe midfielders and defense. They toyed with them, making perfect passes and making the Stowe players over-commit and run around.

  Kristin had taken a lot of pictures, so she headed back to Jamie. She just stood next to her as they watched the game fall apart. When the left winger from Sutter scored, the Stowe crowd went ballistic.

  “Put Jamie in!” yelled someone. “Come on, Coach! What is wrong with you?” The parents and fans of the Stowe players were impossible to ignore.

  Coach Detmer kept his back to the crowd. Mr. Sims, the Stowe Athletic Director, came up to Jamie and asked, “Are you hurt?”

  “No,” she answered.

  “Why aren’t you in?” he demanded.

  Jamie just shrugged. “Ask your coach,” she said.

  John came down from the stands and approached him with Mr. Sims.

  “Coach, why isn’t Jamie playing?” asked Mr. Sims.

  He stared out at the game. “She was insubordinate.”

  “What?” John exploded. “What are you talking about?”

  “She told me to fuck off,” said Coach Detmer.

  “I will not stand for you to lie about my daughter! I know damn well why she isn’t in the game and it has nothing to do with Jamie!” said John.

  “Well, she said it.” The coach continued to look out at the game.

  “I can see why Penny went for Jason. You’re a liar and a coward,” John said.

  Coach Detmer turned to glare at John.

  Mr. Sims stepped between them. “Coach, if that is the case, then I won’t make you play her, but I think this is a bad decision on your part. Handle it after the game. There is a state championship on the line and there are college recruiters in the stands. Some of these girls could have scholarship opportunities affected by this.” Coach Detmer didn’t say anything. Mr. Sims walked away.

  John went and stood by Jamie. “He says you told him to fuck off. Is that true?”

  Jamie whipped her head around. “No! No way would I say that! I told him he sucks as a coach and I wasn’t going to play basketball for him.”

  “Basketball? What does that have to do with this?”

  “He was hired to be the girls’ varsity basketball coach.”

  Sutter tied the game up with eight minutes left to play. Coach Detmer threw the clipboard down and looked back at Jamie. Jamie put her jacket on. The crowd was enraged, calling for Jamie to go back in. When the whistle blew, ending regulation, the team came off the field, bewildered and tired.

  Coach Detmer called out, “Jamie! Chase! I need you back in!” He looked around and couldn’t find Jamie. She was standing by her family.

  “Jamie, I think he wants you to go back in!” Rob said.

  “I am not going back in,” she said. “I’m done.”

  Jamie walked back down to the sidelines. Coach Detmer found her and said, “Okay, Jamie, you’re going back in now.” She didn’t take a step towards the field. “Come on, Jamie, we need you back in there!”

  “Why did you lie to my dad? And tell him I swore at you?”

  “Come on, Jamie, get in there! We need a goal from you. It’s overtime. We’ll talk about it later.”

  “No, we won’t. I won’t go back in until you tell my dad you lied.”

  “Fine. Have it your way,” he said. “Okay, everyone, Jamie is refusing to go back in, so we need everyone to pick it up some.”

  “That’s not true,” Jamie said. “I didn’t say it before, but I’ll say it now. Fuck off. This is your mess. Have fun cleaning it up.”

  With that, Jamie left the sidelines and soon after, Sutter scored the game-winning goal. The Stowe season was over.

  Jamie shook hands with the other team, wished them luck in the rest of the playoffs, and got her bag. She walked away from her team; the same team that walked away from her in training camp, and went to the locker room to empty her locker.

  Kristin was waiting for her outside of the locker room. “Are you okay?” she asked. Jamie nodded and pulled Kristin into the women’s bathroom. It was empty. Jamie led her into the handicapped stall, dropped her bags on the floor, and kissed Kristin so intensely that Kristin was pushed up against the door.

  “Jamie,” said Kristin. “Come on, we have to go. Your parents invited us over for dinner. They’re waiting for us.”

  Jamie stopped kissing Kristin. She felt better. “You are the only thing holding me together right now,” she whispered. Kristin held her.

  They left the bathroom and went to find everyone else. Lucas looked unhappy.

  “Kristin, your mother doesn’t feel well, so we are going to head home,” Rob said.

  “Dad, I have to get this article written and submitted tonight.”

  “We’ll get Kristin home later, Rob,” said John. “She can come and eat with us.”

  “She should really come home,” said Rebecca, but Rob interrupted her.

  “If you don’t mind bringing her home when she’s done, that’s fine with me.”

  Rebecca looked furious.

  “Lucas,” Angela said, “would you like to come for dinner, too? We can take you both home later.”

  “No, he wouldn’t,” snapped Rebecca.

  * * *

  Kristin finally got to see Jamie’s whole family in one place at the same time. Jason and Jack both looked like their father; tall and broad-shouldered with blue eyes and brownish-blonde hair. Their good looks would certainly ruin engagements.

  “I’m sorry,” Jason kept saying to Jamie.

  “It’s okay. It’s not your fault.” Jamie ate her dinner.

  “But the Twelve Letter Award!” Jason protested. “You were going to be the first girl to get it!”

  “It’s not that big of a deal,” Jamie answered.

  She was glad she had an excuse not to play and be with Kristin.

  “Not that big
of a deal! I’d give my left arm to have gotten that award!” Jason said.

  “You didn’t get it?” Kristin asked, surprised.

  “No.”

  “Oh, I just assumed you did. All I ever hear from my brother is how you set all sorts of records.”

  “I did set records. I never got the Twelve Letter Award, though.”

  “Jamie, do you think we can talk to him? Maybe get things ironed out? You shouldn’t have to get caught in the middle of this.” Angela said. “You’ve been working towards that award for four years now and you’re so close.”

  “No, Mom, I refuse to play for him. Forget it. I’ve got other things I want to do. Just think, I’ll have more time to apply for college.” Jamie hoped that would end the discussion.

  “What do you think, Kristin?” asked Jack.

  Kristin said, “I want Jamie to do what she wants to do. I don’t think it’s good for her to be playing for a coach who uses exercise as a form of punishment.”

  “When did he do that?” John put his utensils down to listen.

  Jamie told them all about the preseason training and how he made her run the bleachers by herself when she stood up for the team.

  “That’s bullshit!” said Jason.

  “Well, at least now I know why he did it,” said Jamie.

  When they finished dinner, Angela told them to go get their work done. Jamie and Kristin went upstairs and Kristin saw Jack give Jamie a knowing look, as if to tell her to behave.

  “Do you think Jack’s going to come up and chaperone?” Kristin asked.

  “He might.” Jamie lay down on her bed. “I can’t believe the season is over.”

  “So, now what?” Kristin asked as she lay down next to Jamie.

  “I think we can spend a lot more time together, maybe move things along quicker, if you want.” She looked to see if Kristin understood what she was getting at.

  “I want that.” She kissed Jamie and they stopped only when they heard footsteps on the stairs coming up to Jamie’s room. Kristin moved to the chair by the desk.

  “Not interrupting anything, are we?” asked Jack as he and Jason came into the room.

  “No,” said Kristin, just as Jamie said, “Yes.”

  Jason sat on the side of the bed and faced Kristin.

  “That was pretty cool, talking to your dad today at the game. He told us some stories about our mom. He’s a good guy.”

  “Yeah,” said Jack, “He really knew her pretty well.”

  “Kid, I’m sorry I messed things up for you with Detmer and the Twelve Letter Award,” said Jason.

  “Stop apologizing, it’s okay,” said Jamie.

  “Well, I’m gonna think on it a little bit. We have to get out of here, so we’ll see you soon.”

  Jamie stood up and hugged her brothers goodbye.

  “Keep taking care of her, Kristin,” Jason said as he hugged her, too.

  Jack embraced Kristin. “See you.”

  “Thanks for coming,” Jamie said.

  Jack left and Jamie and Kristin finished up their work before Jamie took Kristin home. They held hands as Jamie shifted and Jamie thought about what it would be like to be with Kristin, physically.

  It was uncharted territory for her and Jamie was nervous, but she couldn’t wait to consummate their relationship.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  The next day seemed surreal to Jamie. She couldn’t remember a time when she had no game to prepare for or practice to go to after school. After lunch, she and Kristin went to the weight room to work out.

  “Hey, Jamie, tough break,” Coach Marshall said. “What happened? Why weren’t you playing the second half?”

  “You’ll have to ask the coach” she said.

  “People are saying you aren’t playing basketball.”

  “People are right, I’m not.”

  “What?” Coach Marshall looked upset. “You’re kidding. And miss getting the Twelve Letter Award?”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve got other things I want to do.”

  Kristin spotted two open bikes next to each other. “Hey, I’m going to get started on the bike,” she said.

  “I’ll be right over,” Jamie said, continuing her conversation with Coach Marshall.

  Kristin put a towel on the handlebars and got ready to mount the bike when she felt someone tap her shoulder.

  “Kristin, can we talk?” Dylan was standing next to her bike, blocking her exit.

  “Dylan, look, I’m sorry, I don’t have anything new to say. I’m just not interested.”

  “Why?” He demanded. “Because of Hank? I saw you leaving with him the other night. He’s with Paige!”

  “It has nothing to do with Hank. Can you just, you know, learn to take no for an answer?” Kristin begged.

  “I just want to talk, that’s all. Just go out in the hallway and talk to me for one minute.”

  “No!”

  Dylan grabbed her wrist and started pulling her towards the hallway.

  “Ow, Dylan! Stop! Let go of me! That hurts!”

  “No, not until you talk to me!” Dylan continued to try and drag her and she braced herself against his strength.

  “Let go of me!” Kristin wrenched herself free, sending both of them off balance. When she stood up, she saw Dylan hunched over, holding his stomach, with Jamie’s fist buried in his midsection.

  “Next time someone tells you to let go, let go,” Jamie said, standing over Dylan.

  “Whoa, you see that? Jamie just kicked Dylan’s ass!” one of the baseball players said.

  Dylan collapsed to the floor, his face pale and his body curled up into a ball.

  “What the hell is going on over here?” Coach Marshall yelled.

  Kristin rubbed her wrist where Dylan had grabbed her. “Nothing, we were just leaving.”

  “Nothing doesn’t leave someone lying on the floor, hurt!”

  “Come on,” said Kristin to Jamie. “Let’s go.”

  “Are you all right? Let me see!” Jamie walked next to Kristin back to the girls’ locker room, looking at Kristin’s wrist. “That asshole, he left a red mark on you!”

  “He was trying to force me out in the hall to talk to him! What makes him think he can do that?” Kristin was crying.

  “Come here.” Jamie put her arms around Kristin and let her cry into her shirt.

  “Why am I always crying around you?”

  “I’d like to go back in there and make him cry!”

  “Jamie, no. Don’t. I don’t want you getting in trouble.”

  Jamie handed Kristin some tissue so she could blow her nose.

  “I don’t want to go to class,” Kristin announced, sitting on the bench.

  “I never want to go to class,” Jamie said, sitting behind her and pulling Kristin into her.

  “No, I really don’t. I’m upset, and everyone will know I’ve been crying.” She sniffed.

  “My parents are going up to Weymouth today. They’re going shopping for a new washer and dryer, and having dinner with Jack. We could go to my house.”

  Kristin swiveled around to face Jamie. “We’d have the house to ourselves?”

  Jamie nodded. They both knew the implications of what that meant.

  “I’d like that,” Kristin said simply.

  * * *

  Jamie was shaking with nerves as they drove to her house.

  “Wait,” she said. “I just want to make sure.”

  She dialed the number to her dad’s shop.

  “Hey, Sully, it’s Jamie. Is my Dad around?”

  She put the phone on speaker.

  “No, he left with your mom about twenty minutes ago. They were going shopping for a washing machine.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  “You want me to tell him you called?”

  “No, that’s all right, I’ll try his cell. See ya.” She hung up.

  * * *

  When they got to Jamie’s house, they went up the stairs to Jamie’s room and, while Jamie turned th
e shower on, Kristin got undressed. Jamie took her own clothes off and they stood a few feet apart, taking in each other. In the shower, they held each other as the water ran over their bodies. They lathered each other with soap and ran their hands over each other’s bodies. After they rinsed and got dried off, they headed to the bed.

  There was no going back now. They got under the covers and felt their bare skin touching the other’s bare skin.

  “Your skin is so soft,” Jamie whispered as she traced her fingers slowly up and down Kristin’s arm.

  Kristin reached for Jamie, but Jamie smiled and shook her head.

  “Just let me do this,” Jamie said, as she ran her hands down Kristin’s body.

  “I love you so much,” Jamie said. “Tell me if you aren’t ready.”

  “Oh, God, Jamie…I love you, too.” Kristin closed her eyes and gave in to Jamie’s touch.

  Jamie’s kissed Kristin’s neck and face while she touched Kristin’s chest. Kristin felt Jamie’s hands and mouth travel down her stomach and touch her everywhere. Kristin had never felt anything like what she was feeling now. She arched her back and opened her legs, allowing Jamie access to every inch of her body. She heard a noise that sounded like groaning and realized it was coming from her.

  There was no pain, only desire as she succumbed to Jamie. Any fears Kristin once had of being hurt or violated were left behind. Her trust in Jamie overtook any feelings of vulnerability that resulted from her previous experience with Billy.

  She felt uninhibited.

  Jamie was making a slow circle in one place that had Kristin twisting her head from side to side.

  “Am I hurting you?” Jamie whispered in her ear.

  “No. God, no.” Kristin could only breathe in short, shallow breaths. She grabbed a fistful of sheets in her hands and threw her head back in the pillow.

  Jamie was touching her faster and applying more pressure. Something was building inside of Kristin that she couldn’t stop if she wanted to. Jamie was touching her in a way that was driving her crazy with sensations she had never felt before. A tingling, like an electrical current started working its way up her calf, behind her knee, and up through her loins, and before she knew it, her entire body was convulsing. She lost all control of herself as she felt her innards clench and release as Jamie brought her to a climax. She cried out, powerless to stop the rush of endorphins coursing through her body.