maisie adjusted her collar about every ten seconds on the way to the buses. she had always been a rather anxious person about new things, but this was a difficult one. she was nervous about almost anything she could think of.

"can you calm down?" her mother asked as they pulled up to the spot where everyone would be meeting.

"i don't think so." maisie replied earnestly, though her mother took it as sass.

"nothin' to be nervous about, anyway," her mother chastised her, "it's just a paper, maisie."

maisie rolled her eyes, but opted not to say anything. small town minds refused to see maisie's vision, and her mother was one of those in her opposition. she couldn't understand why the young girl took it so seriously, and wished she'd just become a nurse or something more practical.

the two got out of the car, popping the trunk and allowing maisie to grab her bags. it was just a couple of bags, but the added weight made maisie's heels begin to sink in the dirt.

"fantastic." she muttered sarcastically, doing her best to yank her heels from the turf.

"are you gonna be okay out there?" her mother asked. it wasn't her first choice, having her daughter spend three weeks away at a camp without another girl for fifty miles. however, she knew it was something maisie desperately wanted, and she wanted her daughter to be happy, even if she didn't believe in her dream. though it didn't mean that came without suspicions.

"i'll be great!" maisie replied, hoping if she said it enough it would become true. she was nervous beyond belief, but she didn't want her mother to know that. it did her no good to prove her mother right.

she continued with her task of trying to get her shoes on solid ground, but it wasn't exactly coming to fruition.

she was about to toss the bags on the ground and leave them out of frustration, but luckily for her a knight in shining armor came to her rescue.

"hey, maisie," alan bosley smiled, having noticed her struggle for an awkward amount of time, "need help with those bags?"

maisie gave him a relieved smile, but didn't want to anyone to know all of her inner turmoil, "ah, and they say chivalry is dead."

he chuckled and took the bags from her, allowing her to find solid footing without fear of toppling over.

"well, i've gotta get to work." her mom stated, before giving her a quick hug and a goodbye. most parents had stuck around to watch their children leave safely, but maisie's mom had never been the overly-nurturing kind. it wasn't always a bad thing, but she did feel a little embarrassed to be the only one without a parent still there.

maisie and alan walked over to the buses, alan being kind enough not to mention the quick entrance and exit of her mother. he put her bags away for her and she thanked him, before she went to greet the coaches.

coach boone turned to her, a small smile appearing on his face, "miss sanning, good to see you all dressed up."

maisie nodded, a small relief washing over her, "yeah, thank you."

he nodded before turning to his other coaches, "alright, this is maisie sanning. she's writing an article about the titans for her paper."

she nodded along, listening as he introduced her to the other three coaches. she knew them only by name, because of some chatter around school, so it was nice to put a face to floating heads.

"an article, huh?" coach yoast spoke, looking at the girl with eyes she couldn't quite determine, "never asked for one before."

maisie sucked her teeth, not sure what to say.l. she understood why she wasn't wanted, but it didn't make things any less awkward or easier for her. after all, this wasn't exactly her choice either. she didn't go begging to the school board to hang out in a place she has no business being in, but they were treating her like she had. she knew this wasn't the perfect place for her, but they didn't need to make it so hard.

"uh... i didn't ask for one," she started, hoping to get everyone off her back, "principal told me to write one, and you know... can't exactly turn the man down."

yoast nodded slowly, but made no attempt to reply.

after a few moments where it felt like the air had fallen right out of the sky, maisie excused herself to go mingle.

after she was out of range from the coaches, she let out a deep sigh and shook her head. it had gone about as well as expected, but it still made her want to hitch a ride back to her house.

"hey, pulitzer," a boy spoke, wrapping an arm around her shoulders as she approached the crowd, "i'm the star of your little article, right?"

maisie scoffed, looking over to see who had done that to her. once she recognized him she began to lighten up, "petey, was it?"

he nodded, giving her a smile. he hadn't been expecting her to remember him, but was glad he could continue the charade, "see? she knows my name."

she laughed, shaking her head and shrugging his arm off, "only so i know who not to include."

the boys around the pair started laughing, appreciating the hard time she was giving to their friend. so far, she seemed to fit right in. she had the same attitude as the guys, which could take her a long way.

"i'm rev, nice to meet you." the boy with the kind smile reached out his hand.

maisie took it, shaking everyone's hand who introduced themselves to her. by the end of it, she had already started to forget some of the first names she had been told, but did her best to keep it in her brain.

"mind if i sit with y'all?" she questioned, following them to the bus.

the boy who she had just learned to be julius gave her a crooked look, "sit with us? wouldn't you feel better with your people?"

maisie rolled her eyes, giving him a shrug, "not really divisive like that, i guess."

julius stared at her with narrowed eyes for a few seconds, before reluctantly accepting the offer. maisie climbed onto the bus to sit with them, but was just as quickly taken off.

"everybody off the bus now!" coach boone called out, making everyone on the bus groan with annoyance.

maisie stood outside with her arms crossed over her chest, watching as boone divided everyone up and had them sit together. instead of a black and white bus, there was now one defensive bus and one offensive.

"get comfortable, too!" coach called out, after all the boys had been told their placements, "because the person i have you sitting next to is the same person you'll be rooming with for the duration of this camp."

staleness hung in the air after everyone had gotten on the bus. maisie stood without a place, waiting for the coach to tell her where to go.

"sanning," he looked over at her, as if he had forgotten of her existence, "uh... i think there's an empty spot on the defensive bus. you can head in there."

she gave him a simple salute, before walking onto the bus and taking the only empty seat available. luckily for her, it was next to alan bosley.

"hey." she said curtly, plopping down next to him.

the boy turned to her with a teasing smile, "oh, so you're going out for defense, huh?"

maisie smiled, "yup. defensive lineman, actually. you?"

"cornerback," he replied, playing into the antics, "not big enough to be a lineman, unfortunately."

"well, maybe once you hit puberty-"

he cut her off with a laugh that was almost too loud. he quickly stifled it, as the pair began to realize they were the only ones on the bus who were actually talking. alan cleared his throat awkwardly, causing maisie to attempt a silent chuckle.

the girl shifted her eyes back and forth, wondering why everything had to be so tense. she wanted to continue talking to the boy next to her, but suddenly felt like she couldn't.

the only thing that semi-saved her was when blue began to sing.

"cause baby their ain't no mountain high enough," he began, causing maisie to smile. it was a great song that he was singing, one maisie loved. he continued to sing, with maisie bobbing her head along to the imaginary rhythm, "ain't no valley low enough-"

he clapped his hands on the shoulder's of the boy in front of him, trying to get him to sing along, "ain't no-"

"blue, shut up," julius started, staring at the boy harshly, "i don't wanna see your smilin' and shufflin', and hear all your minstrel show singing on this bus."

maisie looked at the boy with wide eyes, wondering what had given him such an attitude. sure, the ride was uncomfortable and definitely too long, but at least blue was trying to make it fun. blue, however, made no attempt to reply. he simply listened to julius, which maisie knew would not have been her choice had she been in the same position. if anything, she would've sang twice as loud.

"got that right." gerry muttered, not even bothering to look away from the window.

julius turned to him, unwilling to bond with anyone in any capacity, "you can shut up, too."

alan and maisie shared a look, both clearly thinking the same thing, but not daring to say it aloud. the bus resumed it's suffocating silence, and maisie did her best to write down notes without alan seeing what she was taking down. if this was any indication of how the next few weeks would go, this article wouldn't be anything like principal bolan had been hoping.

•

maisie stepped off the bus after what seemed like years. she had wanted to take a nap, but had always had trouble sleeping in places other than her own bed. plus, the nap would've been nice to help avoid some of that pain staking silence. however, she wasn't that lucky.

once it was her turn, she grabbed her bags from the storage part of the bus.

"need some help with those?" rev asked, appearing by her side.

the girl shook her head, "no, thanks. they're not too bad."

rev nodded, giving her a polite smile and heading towards his room. maisie walked the path with the boys silently, still having nothing to say. for the young writer, the silence was more telling than anything they could've had to say.

"maisie," coach yoast called out, catching the girl's attention, "can you come here?"

the girl turned back around and walked to the coach at the end of the line. she was a little nervous to speak with him after the morning's debacle, but he seemed to be in a slightly better mood. with him stood a girl about nine, who was staring at maisie with contempt.

"what's up, coach?" she asked, looking down at the girl briefly. despite her being a nine year old, maisie already felt slightly intimidated.

"this is my daughter, sheryl," he said, gesturing to the little girl next to him, "i was hoping you guys could room together."

maisie knit her brows, giving the coach a dumbfounded look, "oh, sir, i don't know if you want me watching your kid-"

"i don't need watching, thank you very much." she replied harshly, sending the older girl a glare.

"right. sorry," maisie replied, giving the young one an apologetic look, "see? already off to the wrong start."

yoast laughed, shaking his head, "oh, sorry. i made it seem like a choice. no, y'all will be rooming together. end of story. printed and published."

maisie clicked her tongue, letting out a short sigh, and admitting her defeat, "yeah, i see what you did there."

the coach laughed once again, before escorting the girls to their room. he left the pair to get settled, hoping the two would be able to get along. for maisie, making an enemy of a nine year old would be embarrassing at best. for sheryl, she seemed to dislike any girl who didn't like sports the way that she did her.

"so..." maisie turned to the girl, after having made her bed, "you like football, huh?"

sheryl stared at the girl, almost annoyed at the incredibly stupid question, "obviously."

maisie sucked her teeth, not sure how to talk to this girl, "awesome."

there wasn't much to say, seeing as sheryl had been wanting a room to herself. it wasn't that sheryl was completely socially inept, she just only knew how to talk about football. unfortunately, that was a subject maisie knew almost nothing of.

the teenager sat on the edge of her bed, tapping her hands on her knees and looking around the room aimlessly. she had never been good with awkward situations, and clearly there was nothing around to occupy herself.

"fight! fight!" she heard someone yelling throughout the halls.

maisie and sheryl shared a wide eyed look, wondering what was going on beyond their doors.

"stay here." the writer advised, before springing up and running out the door. she had already taken her heels off, and knew there was no time to slip on some other shoes. she had been wearing socks over her tights, so at least there was that.

sheryl wanted to protest, but she knew her daddy would kill her if she let that room. she stayed put, letting maisie do all the hard work.