maisie stood with the coaches at practice, trying to capture a few action shots. her article would need to be finished and edited by the first day of school, so she needed some good images before it was too late. at first she wasn't sure of the deadline, but apparently principal bolan had called the girl's house while she was away. it was slightly nerve wracking. she had been hoping for a little more time.

the boys were all playing and having fun on the field. it was truly a sight to see when compared to their practices a week ago. their unity was something maisie desperately wanted to capture. they were taking a slight break in plays, but all the boys stopped whatever they were doing to gawk at the red car pulling up to the field.

"who's that?" maisie asked boone, assuming the coaches were expecting someone.

"no idea," boone gave the girl a shrug, looking as a boy got out of the car, "come on."

maisie knit her eyebrows at the coach, surprised he had asked her to go along. she was going to go anyways, but the invitation was a lovely gesture. at the start of this process, she knew boone didn't take kindly to her. it was nice to see that he had changed his mind.

the pair approached the new boy and his father, but before they could get a word out gerry began cracking jokes.

"hey, fellas!" gerry yelled out, looking over at the boy with an amused grin, "look at that fruitcake!"

maisie scoffed, looking at gerry with a cold stare. she shook her head, before returning her attention to the boy standing in front of her.

"gerry, just keep your mouth shut and get back on that field!" yoast told him as he joined boone and maisie.

"pay him no attention," maisie smiled politely at the innocent looking boy, "he just learned to not be racist like three days ago, so we haven't gotten to the other stuff-"

"sanning," boone quieted the girl with a harsh stare, before introducing himself to the men in front of him, "i'm coach boone: head coach of this program and this is maisie sanning. she runs our school paper."

the men shook hands, while maisie offered a polite smile.

"coach boone, i'm colonel bass," the man introduced himself. he seemed pretty decorated, which made maisie wonder why he had just been stationed in virginia of all places, "i just got transferred here from huntington beach, california. this is my son ronnie and he's a quarterback."

maisie looked over at the boy with a familiar glint in her eyes. she figured he wouldn't be half bad with a little haircut. maybe even border-lining on hot. after all, there was nothing more attractive than a california dream boat. it was a sentiment many small town girls shared in.

"how you doin', ronnie?" boone said politely, before addressing the presence to his left, "this is coach yoast. we're pretty set at the quarterback position. but, uh, if your boy is any good, you may wanna check out wilson or hamilton."

colonel bass sighed, attempting to further explain the situation, "well, i talked to coach taber. he won't let black people play on his team. the way i see it, if these boys can fight a war together, they can play ball together. now, he's a pretty good runner-"

everyone has somewhat tuned the colonel out, watching as ronnie picked up a ball and threw it about halfway across the field. he had managed to hit gerry in the back of the head, meaning the boy had the aim of a sharpshooter. maisie's mouth gaped open with delight, as she turned to look at her two coaches. surely they wouldn't be able to pass this up.

the three members shared a quick look, before yoast turned back to the colonel, "i think we can find a place for you boy. one or two conditions, though."

colonel bass nodded, "and that would be?"

an evil smile appeared on coach yoast's face as he turned to the young girl, "ever cut some hair before?"

maisie began to laugh, looking over at the new boy with a crazed look. he suddenly became very timid, putting a hand to his hair. it was clear he had some sort of attachment to his golden locks, but that posed no issue for the girl.

"never." she replied, her grin refusing to falter. it was just going to be too much fun for the girl.

"fantastic," yoast replied, as if she had just claimed to be a world renowned barber, "take him to the locker room and get you a pair of scissors."

maisie nodded, before grabbing the boy by the wrist and taking him away.

"you'll go easy on me, right?" the boy asked nervously, looking down at the overly enthusiastic girl.

maisie chuckled, patting him nicely on the back, "you're in good hands, california."

"no, i believe that. great hands, even. wonderful, gorgeous hands." the boy replied, causing the young writer's cheeks to heat up. only a few minutes of knowing him, and so far everything she thought about california boys was proving to be true.

"oh, stop it." the girl replied cheekily, loving the attention she was getting from this boy.

"i just wanna know that i'm gonna have all three of my ears intact by the time you're done."

the girl laughed, looking up at him through lashes, "all three ears and all six eyes."

"perfect." he replied with a chuckle, letting the girl lead the way as she practically skipped to the locker room.

alan watched from the field as the pair walked away. there was a sick feeling forming at the bottom of his stomach. he didn't quite understand it, but he knew he would be keeping a close eye on that situation from that point forward.

once they got to the locker room, maisie had the boy sitting in front of the mirror. she held up the best scissors she could find. unfortunately for the boy, that meant a small pair of shears the girl had scrounged up from the supply closet.

he sat with his shoulders square and set, refusing to let them budge. clearly, this was a nerve wracking event for the quarterback.

the girl smacked his shoulders with a small towel, letting out a huff, "relax, will you? hair grow's back, and the chances that i maim you are slim."

"slim?" he questioned with an amused smile, looking at her through the mirror.

"well, i can't very well mess up that pretty face of yours, california," she explained, setting the towel onto his shoulders, "the young ladies of virginia would never forgive me."

ronnie smirked, turning away from the mirror and looking at the girl, "pretty face, huh?"

maisie bit her lip to keep from putting her foot in her mouth. clearly, she had said too much already. this was the most overt flirting she had ever done in her life, and she wasn't sure what about this boy was bringing it out of her.

"just keep your head straight," she muttered, trying to hide the way her cheeks were staining red, "or i really might cut off an ear."

•

maisie let out a deep breath, wiping some of the stray hairs off of ronnie's forehead. admittedly, she had gotten a little carried away. she had decided halfway through the process that maybe she had a knack for hairstyling. looking at the results, she knew she was right.

"damn, i'm good." she smiled, leaning close to ronnie's face to wipe up some of the hair that had caught onto his cheeks.

he looked up at her with an amused glint in his eyes, "well, can i see it?"

maisie stared at him with narrowed eyes, trying to put on the finishing touches. with a quick glance of confirmation, she began to run her hands through his hair to fluff it up. she needed to break it in or else it wouldn't have looked right.

"there." she smiled triumphantly, stepping aside and letting him take a look in the mirror.

much to the boy's surprise, it was actually a decent haircut. he was sad to see his hair so short, but all things considered it could've gone worse.

"good job," he admitted, giving her grateful nod, "thanks for keeping my ears intact."

"like i said i would." maisie confirmed, shooting him a smile.

in that moment, the boys had finished showering and were now entering their locker room to get dressed.

"maisie!" gerry exclaimed, looking at her with wide eyes, "you can't be in here!"

maisie had barely heard the team captain, too busy staring at alan. he was one of the few wearing a shirt, but it was form fitting enough to make her swoon. the sleeves were cut off, which only added to the girl's attraction. he looked good.

alan met her gaze with a smile, knowing that even having an hour alone with this californian wasn't enough to make her forget all about him.

"maisie!" gerry called out again, gripping tightly onto the towel that clung to his lower half.

maisie held up her hands in defense, finally hearing the boy who had been griping, "i'm goin', i'm goin'. see you boys later."

"hope so." ronnie replied, sending the girl a flirtatious smile.

"aren't you just so forward?" maisie replied, stating at the boy with suspicious eyes. she may have liked what he was doing, but that didn't mean it came without question. after all, no boy she had ever met had treated her like an actual girl.

she had always assumed that she came off so overbearing and uncaring that boys saw her as just another one of them. it was strange for the girl to receiving such treatment, but she certainly didn't hate it.

gerry, who had been waiting for to leave since before she even wanted to, had grown impatient, "could you be any slower?!"

maisie threw her hands up, looking at the boy with cluelessness, "well, did you want me to leave or do you wanna keep yappin'?"

alan laughed, looking over at the girl with a small smirk on his face, "stay as long as you want, mais. you've got no complaints from the rest of us."

the girl rolled her eyes playfully, letting out a contented sigh, "i think i've seen enough. don't have too much fun without me, boys."

"you do the same." ronnie commented, refusing to let his dreamboat image falter. unfortunately for maisie, it was working.

alan looked at the boy with malice, wondering where that had come from. he figured maisie had spent their whole time together denying ronnie's advances and declaring her love for himself. however, with the obvious conclusion that his thoughts were delusional at best, alan simply watched the girl leave the room.