“Coach says I should go out for cheerleader..."

“What if...” I began but did not finish. My brain went sideways as I realized that, sometime or other, I would have to tell my family what had happened to me. I must have looked stricken because Jordan’s face lost her grin.

“I’m sorry, Petey,” she said. “I shouldn’t tease you about it right after you broke up with her.”

I cleared my throat for lack of something to say.

She examined the bra again. “34C. Megan is a big girl, huh?” Her grin was back.

I rolled my eyes at her, and she giggled, folding the bra carefully and putting it in the top pull of my chest of drawers. “You never know. She might come back for it.”

Nothing I could safely say to that either, so I tried to change the subject. “What are you doing in my room, Jordie?” I asked.

She made a face. “I actually came back here to look for you -- I had a question.” She stepped closer, turned around and sat on my bed again. “It’s about football.”

“Huh?” I said.

“Petey,” she continued, “how on Earth did you make the team? When they had the call for sports signups, they didn’t even list that girls could apply for football.”

I blinked at her. “What? I mean, what?” Did she already know my secret? Did she find out from the cheerleaders? Just how many people knew?

“Look at you!” she exclaimed. “You sure don’t look like a football player! I mean, Jake is twice your size—not to mention a couple of those linemen.”

“I…? Yeah, well, uh—.” I stammered like a fool.

She stood back up and glared around at the posters on my walls. Football dominated the themes of my decorations. “You know, I’m on the soccer team at school. But no one really cares. Last game we played, on Thursday, had like twenty-six people in the stands. I counted them!”

Honestly, I hadn’t known she was on a team. I kinda felt bad about that, but she wasn’t done with complaining yet.

“I’m good!” She turned a glare my way. “I’m leading the league in scoring! I’m a freshman, and I’m playing varsity!”

I made a what-can-I-do gesture. That didn’t help.

“Meanwhile,” she sort of snarled, “you’re a football hero! You and Jake are going to take the Friendly Lions to the state tournament! You might even win some games there against bigger schools!”

I tried to say something, but she didn’t leave me room.

“Did you know there isn’t even a state tournament for girls’ soccer? There’s one in the spring for boys’ soccer, and nobody much cares about that either!”

I thought she might want to hit something, so I grabbed a pillow and held it in front of me. “Jordie—,” I started to say.

“You know, they don’t call me Jordie, or even Jordan on the team? When I’m on the field, I’m Little Pete! My name is Petersen, too!”

“Jordie, I’m sorry,” I managed to get out.

“Not your fault,” she admitted, losing a little of the wind in her sails. “But I want to go out for football next year. Real football, your kind of football!”

She frowned. “Coach says I should go out for cheerleader if I want some recognition.” Before I could comment, she struck a pose. “Can you imagine me in one of those skimpy outfits?”

Actually, I could, having seen how I looked in one recently.

She glared at me. “I’m too skinny, huh? I’m not built like Megan, or Joanna, the cow!” She sat beside me again, poking me in the ribs with a hard knuckle. “I’m built like you were three years ago!” She snorted. “So tell me why I can’t go out for football, too!”

“You could get hurt,” I hazarded.

She blew a raspberry at me. “You can get hurt at almost anything! But you should know, Pete. Is there any real, legitimate reason why a girl can’t play football?”

“I can’t think of one,” I admitted.

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