"ready to go?" maisie asked sheryl, despite the teenagers eyes still being closed. the pair's alarm clock had gone off about twenty minutes ago, and they needed to get going soon.

even though maisie wouldn't be practicing with the guys, she still made it her mission to be there just as early as they would. she would be dammed if she missed a single writable moment.

"are you?" sheryl questioned, giving the girl a strange look. the young one had been up and at 'em for about fifteen minutes, while maisie was still snoring at that time.

maisie had managed to slap on some quick makeup, but made no attempt to try anything with her hair. it was barely worth it, anyways. those boys would probably be looking at their own throw up more than they were looking at her.

"yup," the girl spoke, trying to convince herself, "let's go."

she held her notebook and pen, making her way to the field with sheryl.

when they got outside, they ran into the guys, who were also headed to the field.

"morning, pulitzer." blue smiled, greeting the tired teenager.

"morning, boys." she replied sluggishly, deeply regretting all the commitments she had made. this was all alan's fault anyways. he's the one who kept her up. it was true, he didn't stay that late, but maisie was up all night thinking about him. she hated herself for it.

"not up for it today?" louie asked, chuckling at the girl who was now walking with her eyes closed.

the girl shrugged, not having a good reply, "probably won't ever be. i'm not built like y'all athletes. i can't sustain this."

louie laughed, giving her a comforting pat on the shoulder. none of the boys had really been prepared for this. they usually didn't practice so early in the morning when yoast was in charge, but they seemed to have a stronger mindset than her about the situation.

she felt someone bump into her, and turned to see alan.

"oh, it's you." she sneered, causing the boy to chuckle.

he had done that on purpose, looking for a reason to talk to her. he was annoyed that their time had been cut short last night, and was hoping for a few fleeting moments before he got thrown into purgatory.

"well, maybe open your eyes and these kinds of things can be avoided." he spoke, nudging her again.

"oh, well don't you just have all the answers?" she retorted, giving him a sour look.

"bosley, leave her alone," gerry called out from a few feet behind, "she doesn't want no little boy botherin' her at seven in the mornin'."

alan threw his hands up, looking down at the girl in disbelief. she simply shrugged back, sending him a teasing look. of course she liked the boy bothering her, but she liked messing with his head even more.

"well, i was just tryin' to make the mornin' more interesting for you," he started, clearly offended that she wasn't defending him to gerry, "that's what i get for bein' friendly."

"yeah, but i'm sure you know better than that now," maisie replied, now wide awake. something about the boy just had her springing with energy, "even the rats eventually learned not to get zapped."

alan rolled his eyes, another quip hot on his tongue, but everyone was reaching the field. there was no more time to talk, because coach boone was already prepared to work those boys to the bone.

they all ran off, and maisie took a seat in the front row of the stands. most people would've been bored out of their minds watching a bunch of boys roll around in the dirt, but anything worked for the young writer. she could've written a story about the grass growing, and would've had a wonderful time researching it.

•

after what seemed like an inhumane amount of time in the sun, practice finally ended. maisie had watched the entire thing with her mouth gaped open, and the only takeaway she had gotten for her paper was that they were working hard. if there was a stronger word that she had known, she would've used it.

it was finally lunchtime, and maisie took a seat next to blue as louie sat down right across from her.

"what are y'all doin'?" julius questioned, letting his fork hit the tray as he stopped eating.

"eating lunch." louie replied earnestly, completely missing julius's overt undertones.

maisie watched with a careful eye, letting louie take over the conversation. after all, julius seemed to be the only person who minded them sitting there.

"i see you eatin' lunch," julius responded, wasting no more time in semantics, "but why are you eating over here? why don't you go on over there and eat with your people?"

louie scoffed, shaking his head at the ignorant boy, "man, i don't have any people. i'm with everybody, julius."

"me too," maisie replied, looking at julius with innocent eyes, "is that a problem?"

blue clapped his hands on julius's shoulders, "they're just light-skinned brothers."

maisie tilted her head at the linemen, wondering if he was going to correct himself. when he didn't, she decided to just embrace her total lack of femininity. it wasn't entirely important to her that these guys see her that way, anyways. she wanted to be their friend and peer, not necessarily just a girl who was around.

"yeah, and i'm a dark-skinned cracker." julius replied, causing his friends to laugh.

seeing that he wasn't totally convinced, the other guys did their best to get julius on their side. they wanted maisie and louie there, and they needed julius to be on the same page.

"come on, julius!" rev leaned in, hoping to add his two sense, "they're just two other blessed children in god's loving family."

blue threw an arm around julius and herself, before beginning to hum amazing grace. maisie let out a loud laugh, but quickly began to sing over his humming.

"amazing grace, how sweet the sound-"

rev began a sermon, "lord, we come before you today...and ask you to soften big julius campbell's heart."

"amen!" maisie exclaimed, holding her hands up to the sky.

she wanted to keep singing amazing grace, but she couldn't help the laugh that erupted from her throat. she was just having too much fun messing with julius. she was glad these people had accepted her, because she loved being around them. they were fun and energetic, and brought a kind of light she hadn't met from other people before.

"hey, that was good," blue commented, smacking the girl's arm a little harder than she would've liked, "i didn't know you could sing."

"only at church and in my room." maisie shrugged as she rubbed the spot blue had hit. she had never been one to make a habit out of showcasing her voice. she enjoyed singing, but it wasn't something she entirely cared about.

"well, i'd be happy to sing with you anytime, pulitzer." he replied, causing the girl chuckle.

before she could reply, coach yelled out, "lastik!"

the noise caused everyone to fall silent, as they watched louie get up and stand in the middle of the room. the coach met him there, and every person had their eyes on the pair, wanting to know what was going on.

"i want you to tell me something about one of your black teammates." the coach instructed, maisie suddenly understanding the interruption.

after all, louie was the only one actually on the football team who had done any sort of mingling.

"sir, yes, sir!" louie boomed, as if talking to an american army general, "i'm rooming with blue, sir, and i notice he wears those leopard spotted underwears bikini style, sir!"

maisie's mouth gaped open as he turned to look to the boy next her, "you do not."

he scoffed, shaking his head profusely. he wanted to protest, but instead all that came out was defensiveness, "mind your business, new york times."

the girl gave an amused smile, before returning her attention to boone and louie.

"okay," boone nodded, looking a little uncomfortable, "maybe someone who's not your roommate."

louie took a second to think, but it didn't take him long to come up with something, "sir, i eat lunch with rev. that's jerry harris, sir. people call
him rev cause he's always prayin', and won't abide by a foul tongue, sir!"

rev smiled, clearly happy that louie had gotten to know him.

"and what is the rev gonna do after high school?" the coach asked, knowing louie had gotten to know these people pretty well.

louie shrugged, "i don't know. go to college and all that, i guess."

his cadet exterior had dropped, and suddenly he had become very quiet. clearly something else was going on that he didn't want everyone to hear.

"what about you?" boone asked, looking at louie with expectant eyes, "you going to college?"

louie just about laughed in his face, "oh, not me, coach. i ain't a brainiac like rev."

maisie knit her brows, knowing that you didn't have to be a genius to get a higher education. maybe it was just something the boy didn't want, but it was still somewhat bothersome to the young writer.

"think you got a future in football?"

"ah, heck no," louie replied immediately, "i just figure that if i gotta be in school, i might as well hit people while i'm at it."

coach laughed, shaking his head at the boy about twice his size and stature, "alright, a self-aware man. i like that."

boone asked louie a couple more questions, which ultimately ended in the boy belting his heart out to a temptations song. rev joined along, seeing as they both really liked that sort of music.

"okay, alright," coach stopped him, a smile playing at his lips, "stop begging."

louie quit singing, and coach looked around the room. his energy was still up, despite the sudden silence.

"anybody else?" he asked, causing the room to lose more sound than maisie thought humanly possible.

he continued to ask around, but was given no such luck. had maisie actually been a football player on the team, she definitely would've backed louie and the coach up. however, it didn't matter if she was mingling, because that did no good to coach boone and his army. she didn't find herself offended, she just simply knew her place. while it may have bothered others, she wasn't there to impress coach boone.

"each one of you will spend time everyday with a teammate of a different race." the coach announced, suddenly stirring everyone's attention. they had been doing their best to avoid eye contact, but had miraculously gotten their vision back.

"you will learn about him and his family. his likes and dislikes. you will report back to me, until you meet every one of your teammates. until that time, we go to three a day practices. if you continue to ignore each other, we will go to four a day. now, is there any part of this you don't understand?"

no one made any attempts to argue, but the looks on everyone's faces were telling enough.

•

maisie sat at a bay window in the dorms, watching petey and ray through the window. they were currently talking in the yard. she didn't mean to be looking, she had just been sitting there when they happened to choose that spot to bond.

she was currently working her way through a book of crosswords, something she loved to spend her time doing. half of the time she ended up having to flip to the back of the book and get the answers, but it was still enjoyable nonetheless.

alan was about to head down to the vending machines to grab a snack, when he saw the girl sitting across the hall from him. a small smile appeared on his face. he had hoped she would've sat next to him at lunch, but fate was preparing other ways for them to meet.

"what are you doing out here?" he asked. it was the only thing he could think of to say, even though it wasn't his best line.

she looked up, a grin forming on her face. for some reason, where ever she was alan seemed to be close behind. if she had more faith in herself, she would've thought he was doing it on purpose. however, she dismissed the daydream and chalked it up to this being a small campus.

"passing time." she replied, holding up the book.

he knit his brows, taking a second to read the title. he leaned down close to be able to see it, "crosswords?"

she nodded, tapping her pencil on his forehead, "gotta keep the mind sharp, bosley."

he laughed, shaking his head, "so you picked up a hobby for ninety year olds?"

she rolled her eyes, opting to ignore him and go back to her game. he watched her for a moment, trying to make a decision. he obviously wasn't interested in crosswords, but he did want to keep talking to her.

"alright, fine," he finally spoke, looking at the girl with expecting eyes, "scoot over. let's see what this is all about."

she narrowed her eyes at him, not sure she wanted to let him off that easily, "after you just insulted me?"

he simply shrugged, staring at the girl with raised eyebrows. he wasn't going to apologize, and he knew she didn't actually care. he just needed her to give in.

without a word, she scooted over and allowed him to take a seat next to her. he grinned and quickly took the place of where her extended legs had been.

"alright, let's see," he spoke aloud, looking down at the set of clues, "four letter word: a distinctive smell, often unpleasant in nature."

maisie took a couple seconds to think, "hm... a four letter word, unpleasant in nature. only one thing comes to mind, really... alan."

she went to go write it, but he quickly snatched the pencil, "don't you dare."

the girl laughed, struggling over the pencil. she desperately wanted to cement her words into the gospel of the book. she knew the actual answer, of course, but it was just too perfect of an opportunity.

"alan!" she yelled, still grappling over the pencil, "you wanted to play the crossword, you can't throw a fit about the answers!"

"you're cheating!" he yelled back, his grip firm on the pencil.

maisie rolled her eyes, letting him have the object and keeping a tight grip on her book, "well, there you go ruinin' my favorite past time. happy now?"

"oh, very," he replied, sitting back against the window and taking a breath, "there's no way this is fun for you."

maisie shrugged, a teasing smile playing on her lips, "i don't know. i think people with brains in their heads like it, so i can see why it doesn't appease you."

"oh, okay," he replied, but refused to let her words have any effect on him. he stood up, tired of the crossword, "i'm goin' to the vending machines. you comin'?"

she stared at him for a moment, weighing her options. she looked out the window to see ray and petey had left. it was a pretty brief meeting, so maisie knew they had done none of that bonding coach had been talking about.

"that depends," she answered, looking up at him with narrowed eyes, "will you buy me a snickers bar?"

he groaned and hung his head obnoxiously. he had no problem buying her a yacht, so long as she would walk with him. but she didn't need to know that.

"you're real high maintenance, you know that?" he replied.

the girl grinned and got up, walking away with the young athlete.