Remember

Chapter 7

"Come on Carrie!" yells Gerry. They're playing a practice game, and want me to join. 

"I don't think it's a good idea." I say, shaking my head. 

Gerry laughs and drags me in. It's touch, not tackle, so we don't have helmets or the big uniforms. 

"Ready, set, hut!" yells Petey. I back up, ready to catch the ball. He tosses it to me, and I catch it perfectly. I sprint down the field, and my two blockers fend off the oncoming team of high school boys. I gracefully dodge the linebackers and sprint the final distance. 

I cross the touchdown line and cheer. I give high fives to Alan and Gerry, who gasp for breath after following me down the field. 

We kick off, and line the field. "Ready, set, hut!" yells Louis. Rev tries to block me, but I slip past him, and sprint after the ball. Blue runs down the field, and is just reaching Alan in his position as linebacker when I catch up. I'm about to tap him, when Ray catches me and yanks me to the ground. 

"Ouch" I say, pulling myself up. Alan catches Blue, then helps me up. 

"Are you okay?" he asks. 

"I'm fine." I scoff. I turn to ray. "Hey, it was touch, not tackle."

"Hey, sorry. I tripped." he says, shrugging his shoulders. 

We line up again for the next play. "Ready, set, hut!"

I squeeze past Rev and go after the runner, which is now Julius. I sprint after him, and Gerry blocks Ray. I tap his shoulder, and he stops running. 

"Darn it girl." he says. "Gerry, why'd you let her play?"

"I thought she'd suck!" he replies. 

"Maybe I do!" I yell. 

They laugh. Boone and Yoast are just walking out on the field when a car pulls up. 

Some guy with really long hair gets out of the car, followed by a man in an army suit. 

"Hey fellas, look at that fruitcake!" yells Gerry. 

Someone whistles. 

"Gerry, just keep your mouth shut and get back out on that field!" yells Yoast. 

We turn to walk back to the field for practice, when a football slams into Gerry's back. We all whirl around and they guy shrugs, at least a hundred meters away. 

"Dang" I say under my breath. 

Alan and I chuckle, but Julius starts laughing so hard, he's gasping for breath. "Yeah, a fruitcake, huh?"

Coach Tyrell tries to round us up for teams. "Caroline, you're on the defensive team." he says. 

"Me?" I ask. 

"No, the other Caroline." he says sarcastially. "Yes you. Go on, get a helmet and get on the field."

I nervously grab a helmet and put it on. 

"Ready, set, hut!"

I play the game, and, thankfully, avoid being tackled. I even score a touchdown. 

I follow everyone into the locker room, but break off and go into the girl's showers. The Gettysburg college was really weird, in that it had no boys and girls locker rooms. It had one community locker room, where we all kept our stuff, and then separate showers and bathrooms.