Freshman Year Read Online Free PDF Page A

you’re not going to bail on tryouts just because of all the lezzies on the team, are you?”
    This time Kate has nothing to say, and therefore, neither do I. Though, now I’m feeling something I haven’t yet felt when the topic of going to high school has come up: I’m a little excited. But Jenn saying “lezzies” in my kitchen also makes my left eyelid start to twitch. I grab a lock of hair to twirl and look down the hall to make sure my mom is still in the bathroom. This is not a conversation I want her to walk in on.
    â€œI mean, you guys have heard about them, right?” Jenn asks, looking right at me.
    Kate glances over at me, too, and raises her eyebrows. I’m glad to see she’s equally shocked. “Of course we knew,” she says, “and by the way, that is so gross. But we’re just not sure if we want to try out. So lay off.”
    â€œYeah. We’re just not sure if we want to try out,” I say like a parrot, but in my head all I can think is that maybe I’m not going to be the only girl at Gila who, maybe, likes girls.

    *

    Later on that night, to honor our last moments of summer break, Kate and I go to the movies. We choose a comedy instead of our usual slasher films because I think we’re both feeling anxious enough. And even though Jack Black’s performance makes us laugh, we’re both pretty quiet, as we sit on the warm cement wall in front of Desert Cinemas waiting for my mom to pick us up. I don’t know what’s on Kate’s mind, but there’s only one thing on mine.
    Then Kate turns to me with an ugly look on her face (like someone has just totally ripped a fart, which I haven’t) and says, “Abbey, can you believe that stuff Jenn told us about the girls’ basketball team? I mean, do you think it’s true?”
    My hands start to sweat and my voice seems a million miles away. “I don’t know. Why?”
    â€œWell, they better stay the hell away from us. That’s just sick and wrong.”
    â€œYeah,” I say quietly but can’t help but wonder what makes Kate so sure those girls would like her. I mean, yes, she’s really pretty, but is she the kind of pretty that they’ll like? Am I the kind of pretty that they’ll like?
    After that, we don’t say anything for a few minutes. I listen to the crickets, and I think about what it would be like to see the Hot Dog on a Stick Chick in the hall at Gila. Will she remember me? Will she say hi? Or will she just walk by, laughing with her friends, and be untouchable like the goddess she is? Then I almost laugh, because in my little fantasy, she is wearing her cute uniform, which I know is ridiculous, but it’s all I have.
    â€œEarth to Abbey.” Kate’s voice slaps me back to the wall in front of the theater and out of the crowded hallway where my chance meeting with the Chick was about to take place.
    â€œWhat?” I snap, and her eyes kind of bug out at me in shock, so I quickly take it back. “Sorry, I’m just tired. What’s up?”
    â€œI have another rule for our list.”
    â€œOkay.” I take out my handy-dandy notepad and pen.
    â€œRule number twenty-two? Twenty-three?”
    â€œTwenty-four.”
    â€œRight, twenty-four. Are you writing this down?”
    â€œNo, I’m just holding this pen in my hand for fun.”
    â€œOkay, rule number twenty-four—no matter how much taller we grow, we will never try out for basketball or be friends with those you-know-who girls.”
    My hand wants to refuse to write it down, but she’s watching me, so I force the letters onto the page.
    When I’m finished, she sticks her pinky out. “This will absolutely be our last pinky swear.”
    At this exact moment, even though it has always been as strong as the cement wall we are sitting on, I feel our friendship crack down the middle. I don’t know if it can ever be