A Real Crowd Pleaser
So hold your head up girl and you'll go far,
“So what made you want to play football wearing bras and panties?” Elena, Rob’s girlfriend asks. “I don’t mean to sound judgemental or anything.”
“It’s fine.” I reply with a smile. “I didn’t aspire to play football when I went to college. I’m a Psych major. But I played a few powderpuff games for charity and instantly fell in love with it. Of course powderpuff is completely different than LFL but it’s LFL is twenty times more fun.”
“How so?” Sam asks. “Is there any difference?”
“Powderpuff is touch or flag football,” I reply. “LFL isn’t.”
“What is LFL then?” Hanna, Tom’s girlfriend asks.
“Tackle baby!” Leanne announces, throwing her hands up in the air. “It’s a nice way to let off some steam.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Hanna asks.
“So your boyfriend is perfectly okay to get tackled but when it comes to a girl getting taken down it’s suddenly dangerous?” Leanne counters. Hanna just looks at us in utter shock.
“We’re not fragile by any means.” I tell her. “We’re not out there in just bras and panties. We have protecting on. It’s changed a lot since 2013.”
Hanna can only nod as Born This Way. “On this lovely note, I’m going to go dancing.” I announce as I jump up onto my feet and start to the exit of the VIP section; grabbing Aaron hand as I do so. I only see Jimmy’s glare before we get lost in a sea of people.
“So Jimmy Garoppolo is the Jimmy?” Aaron shouts over the music. I ignore the question and continue dancing to the music. I drug him out here for protection, not to talk about my ex-best friend. But Aaron stops me from dancing and spins me around so I can look deep in his brown eyes. “You’re going to have to face him, Dal.”
“He fucked me over, royally.” I growl. “You of all people should know how I felt after he threw me away like trash.”
“I know but you need to vent to him, yell at him if you need to. But you can’t keep your hatred bottled up anymore.”
I sigh, knowing he’s right. I really hate when Aaron’s right. “You have any idea how much I hate when you’re right about something?”
“Glad some things never change.” He smiles before pulling me into a hug. “Talk to him, please?”
“I guess I have no choice..” I mutter before kissing Aaron on his cheek. “You’re fucking lucky I love ya, you know that right?”
“You’d be lost without me.” He points out with a smirk. “Go talk to Jimmy now, you’ll feel better.”
I take a deep breath and make my journey back to the VIP section, only stopping in front of Jimmy; interrupting a conversation between him and Tom in the process.
“What do you want Dallas?” His tone is short and annoyed.
“We’re going to go outside and we’re going to talk like adults. “I tell him. “Because there is six years of shit we need to discuss.”
“You want to talk about our past, now?” He asks, more annoyed than before. “Why ruin a perfectly fine night out on the town?”
“Because my annoyingly right ex-boyfriend is making.” I reply, grabbing his hand and pulling me onto his feet and all but dragging him out of the VIP room and the dancefloor full of sweaty bodies.
“Okay, start talking.” He demands once we get outside.
“The Dallas you’re looking at right now clearly isn’t a Dallas you remember,” I start out. “This Dallas was created after that first Thanksgiving once college start. I wasn’t making friends in college. I felt like I didn’t have to. I had you back home waiting for me. And you were the only friend I ever needed. So when you blew me off and ignored my calls that week break we had, it hurt.”
“I didn’t mean to blow you off, Dallas.” He says. “There was a lot of stuff going on and I went to my girlfriend’s parents place for Thanksgiving anyway.”
“A girlfriend you failed to tell your best friend the countless times we did talk on the phone.” I roll my eyes. “After I left Atlanta’s airport I went straight to shopping. I bought a crap load of things I never felt comfortable in and then bleached my hair; making me blonder than before. I got more involved in school and even did a few charity powderpuff football games. I knew if I didn’t have you to rely on I would have to get out of my comfort zone and make those friends. And thanks to those charity games, I fell in love with football; more than just being a fan of it.”
“But why lingerie football?” He asks. “Guys only watch that shit to gawk at the girls. The Dallas I was friends with hated the idea of guys looking at girls like a piece of meat. You smacked me a couple times because of that. So why prance around nearly naked?”
“Because I feel powerful, confident; something I never felt before.” I reply. “For once in my life I’m being noticed. And if feels fucking amazing.”
“You’re getting noticed for the wrong reason, Dallas.” He sighs.
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.” I shrug, “either way I’m happy. And you can either accept the new me or at least act civil towards me. David is your teammate and one of my best friends; it looks like we’re going to be in each other’s lives whether we want to or not. The choice is yours James.” I give him one more look before entering the club; leaving him alone to think...
“It’s fine.” I reply with a smile. “I didn’t aspire to play football when I went to college. I’m a Psych major. But I played a few powderpuff games for charity and instantly fell in love with it. Of course powderpuff is completely different than LFL but it’s LFL is twenty times more fun.”
“How so?” Sam asks. “Is there any difference?”
“Powderpuff is touch or flag football,” I reply. “LFL isn’t.”
“What is LFL then?” Hanna, Tom’s girlfriend asks.
“Tackle baby!” Leanne announces, throwing her hands up in the air. “It’s a nice way to let off some steam.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?” Hanna asks.
“So your boyfriend is perfectly okay to get tackled but when it comes to a girl getting taken down it’s suddenly dangerous?” Leanne counters. Hanna just looks at us in utter shock.
“We’re not fragile by any means.” I tell her. “We’re not out there in just bras and panties. We have protecting on. It’s changed a lot since 2013.”
Hanna can only nod as Born This Way. “On this lovely note, I’m going to go dancing.” I announce as I jump up onto my feet and start to the exit of the VIP section; grabbing Aaron hand as I do so. I only see Jimmy’s glare before we get lost in a sea of people.
“So Jimmy Garoppolo is the Jimmy?” Aaron shouts over the music. I ignore the question and continue dancing to the music. I drug him out here for protection, not to talk about my ex-best friend. But Aaron stops me from dancing and spins me around so I can look deep in his brown eyes. “You’re going to have to face him, Dal.”
“He fucked me over, royally.” I growl. “You of all people should know how I felt after he threw me away like trash.”
“I know but you need to vent to him, yell at him if you need to. But you can’t keep your hatred bottled up anymore.”
I sigh, knowing he’s right. I really hate when Aaron’s right. “You have any idea how much I hate when you’re right about something?”
“Glad some things never change.” He smiles before pulling me into a hug. “Talk to him, please?”
“I guess I have no choice..” I mutter before kissing Aaron on his cheek. “You’re fucking lucky I love ya, you know that right?”
“You’d be lost without me.” He points out with a smirk. “Go talk to Jimmy now, you’ll feel better.”
I take a deep breath and make my journey back to the VIP section, only stopping in front of Jimmy; interrupting a conversation between him and Tom in the process.
“What do you want Dallas?” His tone is short and annoyed.
“We’re going to go outside and we’re going to talk like adults. “I tell him. “Because there is six years of shit we need to discuss.”
“You want to talk about our past, now?” He asks, more annoyed than before. “Why ruin a perfectly fine night out on the town?”
“Because my annoyingly right ex-boyfriend is making.” I reply, grabbing his hand and pulling me onto his feet and all but dragging him out of the VIP room and the dancefloor full of sweaty bodies.
“Okay, start talking.” He demands once we get outside.
“The Dallas you’re looking at right now clearly isn’t a Dallas you remember,” I start out. “This Dallas was created after that first Thanksgiving once college start. I wasn’t making friends in college. I felt like I didn’t have to. I had you back home waiting for me. And you were the only friend I ever needed. So when you blew me off and ignored my calls that week break we had, it hurt.”
“I didn’t mean to blow you off, Dallas.” He says. “There was a lot of stuff going on and I went to my girlfriend’s parents place for Thanksgiving anyway.”
“A girlfriend you failed to tell your best friend the countless times we did talk on the phone.” I roll my eyes. “After I left Atlanta’s airport I went straight to shopping. I bought a crap load of things I never felt comfortable in and then bleached my hair; making me blonder than before. I got more involved in school and even did a few charity powderpuff football games. I knew if I didn’t have you to rely on I would have to get out of my comfort zone and make those friends. And thanks to those charity games, I fell in love with football; more than just being a fan of it.”
“But why lingerie football?” He asks. “Guys only watch that shit to gawk at the girls. The Dallas I was friends with hated the idea of guys looking at girls like a piece of meat. You smacked me a couple times because of that. So why prance around nearly naked?”
“Because I feel powerful, confident; something I never felt before.” I reply. “For once in my life I’m being noticed. And if feels fucking amazing.”
“You’re getting noticed for the wrong reason, Dallas.” He sighs.
“Maybe I am, maybe I’m not.” I shrug, “either way I’m happy. And you can either accept the new me or at least act civil towards me. David is your teammate and one of my best friends; it looks like we’re going to be in each other’s lives whether we want to or not. The choice is yours James.” I give him one more look before entering the club; leaving him alone to think...
♠ ♠ ♠
title credit: Born This Way by Lady Gagacomment&subscribe?