LISA

“Okay everyone, you know the drill!” Mr. Reynolds said. “You get until there are two minutes left on the clock and then I expect all of you to be back in your seats and ready to play the fight song!”

He tried to put some enthusiasm into his voice. Not that it worked. Mr. Reynolds was probably the geekiest geek in a band full of people who were inclined to be more geeky than the general population.

The upshot was that all his attempts to act like he actually cared about the sports happening out there on the field rang a little hollow.

Sure there was a chance he actually cared about how a high school football team did, but there was a better chance he only acted like he cared because there was a steady paycheck in acting like he cared.

Not that I cared either way. I didn’t want to watch the team. All I wanted was to watch the cheerleaders, and they weren’t going to be down there for the third quarter.

Everyone took a break then. It was tradition.

“What are you thinking tonight?” Jimin asked. “Candy or are we getting something a little more substantial?”

I sighed as I looked down at the cheerleaders walking off the field. Jennie was down there walking next to Joy. My eyes narrowed at that. I didn’t like that girl one bit.

I didn’t know of anyone who really liked her. More like they tolerated her because she was the conduit through which all gossip in the school flowed.

She was also a first rate and I wouldn’t have had anything to do with her if not for the whole tennis thing and she talked to Jennie on the regular. Jennie was always complaining about the newest bull Joy was bringing into the world which made it harder for me to like her when we were forced to interact because of tennis.

Well I wouldn’t have to deal with her tonight. What I did have to worry about was what I was going to get at concessions.

Usually it was candy. Usually Jennie and I hung out after a game so we went out to eat. Sometimes with friends. Sometimes on our own.

I’d always liked it when we were out on our own. It was like it was just the two of us against the world. Almost like we were on a date.

Now it felt more like it was the world against us. Even if it was the world in the sense that I knew what everyone would think if they found out we were two girls who were into each other.

Yeah, our small town world wouldn’t like that.

“You’re being awfully quiet for someone who’s trying to decide between a bag of M&Ms and a salted pretzel at the concession stand,” Jimin said.

“That’s disgusting,” I said. “I’d never get a salted pretzel. You know it’s unsalted all the way.”

“I always knew you had strange deviant desires,” Jimin said in a singsong voice that told me he was mocking the youth pastor at the church he didn’t really go to anymore, much to his parents’ frustration.

“You’re one to talk about strange deviant desires,” I said.

“Says you,” he said, his voice getting a little too loud for comfort. “Let she who hasn’t…”

I kicked him in the shin and that was enough to get him to yelp and shut up. When we got to shin kicking it meant things were getting serious and it was time for him to shut the up.

I didn’t want him saying something that would give someone the wrong idea about me. Or even worse give someone the right idea about me.

“Seriously though,” he said. “Are you going to say something or are you going to keep moping around all night long?”

“I’ve been moping around for the past week,” I said. “I don’t see why I should change anything now.”

“Because this is obviously bothering you,” he said. “And it’s going to keep on bothering you until you say something. The two of you are BFFs. Doesn’t that mean anything these days? What about the little half heart locket you got in middle school?”

“Half heart locket?” I asked.

“You know. Those little things that are half a cracked heart. You put them together and it spells something sweet like ‘BFF’ or ‘Besties’ or ‘LOVE’ or whatever.”

“Um, I never had something like that with Jennie,” I said.

I knew exactly what he was talking about of course. I’d seen them a couple of times when I was out at the mall or at theme parks. I’d thought about getting one for Jennie, but I’d always chickened out at the last moment.

Again, I was terrified someone might get the right idea about how I felt about Jennie if I started giving her jewelry.

“Oh,” he said. “I thought all girlfriends had to give those things to each other in middle school. Like it was on the contract you signed.”

“The contract?” I said, knowing I was going to regret the answer even as I asked.

“You know. Get your period. Get interested in guys. Buy a locket for your BFF. Pretend you don’t like Lisa Frank stuff anymore.”

“Lisa who?”

As always I felt like I was being outpaced by Jimin’s rapidly shifting mind. That or he was doing it on purpose to try and confuse me into saying I’d go and make things up with Jennie.

“Oh my God,” he said. “We need to ca