An Exchange

Chapter Four - An Unexpected Friendship

Penny

We stood outside at the edge of a field where a group of boys played American football. I watched, curious of the sport, only half listening to the girls gossiping. I wanted to learn how to play American football, which I had only ever seen in movies.

“Dylan, would the guys mind if I played?” I nodded toward the field.

Dylan laughed. “No, but why would you want to?”

I smiled, and headed toward the game.

As I walked out onto the field, I heard her say, “I can’t believe she was serious!”

Halfway out, one of the boys noticed me and jogged over. “Hi.”

“Hey,” I replied, noticing how absolutely gorgeous he was. He was average height, but still taller than me, lean with broad shoulders and fit looking, with dark blonde hair that he kept short, but slightly longer on top, and light blue eyes. He wore jeans and a snug fitted green senior class shirt so his muscular build was more pronounced. But his smile grabbed my attention. It was wide and sincere and had the faintest dimple on one cheek.

Fumbling to speak, I asked, “Could I, well, could you teach me how to play?”

He blinked and raised an eyebrow. “Sure.” He tilted his head for me to follow.

“Hey guys!” He called as we approached. “The Aussie wants to play.”

I glanced at him, surprised he knew who I was.

The other guys approached, staring at me confused. What had I done? These boys were too popular for me. They all looked like gods.

“What’s she going to do for us?” one asked.

A boy next to me said, “She can teach us Australian football.”

The boys looked to the one who came over to greet me, who now looked down at me. “Is that all right?”

“Yeah, sure.” I began a mental toss-up between whether Rugby or AFL would be better to teach.

The boy kept me on his team to teach me how to play. “Ryan.”

I looked at him, baffled, before realising he meant it was his name. “Penny.”

I stood next to him in the line and they all crouched over.

Ryan tipped his head, motioning up the field. “When I pass you the ball, throw it as far as you can that way.”

I nodded. Suddenly I found the ball in my hands with bodies crunching around me. I remembered how Jonas had taught me to throw, and I did what he had said. The ball soared through the air. One of the boys caught it and scored.

Ryan turned to me, his eyebrows raised as he looked me over. “That was pretty good.”

He moved me into a different position and told me what I was to do. I fumbled a few times before I got it and he moved me again. He grinned. “Let’s try out your tackling skills.”

I looked at the enormous boys on the other team. “But they’re so big.”

“A good tackle doesn’t have anything to do with size, plus, I’ll be right here.” His eyes twinkled.

Taking that as a challenge, I focused on one of the boys, who was very large in height and build with dirty blond hair, and prepared to pounce.

He noticed me and scoffed. When the ball was released, he charged at me. Intimidated, I dodged and let out a small whimper. Ryan laughed, which made me feel stupid, so I turned and sprinted after the boy as he prepared to catch the ball.