stigma

|03|

I stood in the crowded locker room, clutching my jersey as I waited for a stall to become unoccupied.

I had stayed after school for football practice. You would think it was stupid, football practice on the opening day?! That was just India for you. As our coach always said, you have to work hard and practice, even if it draws blood and injures you, to attain perfection.

The door opened and a boy walked out, flexing his arms. He smirked at me and winked as he walked past. I rolled my eyes and got in, quickly locking the door.

The new sports jersey was nothing like the old one. The old one contained navy blue track pants and a navy blue shirt that had sleeves which ended at your elbow. The new one was totally different. It was a navy blue shirt with our school's name and number on the back in white and navy blue shorts.

Our school was big on 'modest' clothing for girls. With this jersey, my arms were completely revealed and my legs were on show from mid thigh. I smiled to myself. It's about time Coach thought about equality.

But who was I kidding?

As soon as I walked out, I was met by a chorus of hollers and wolf whistles. I rolled my eyes, walking to my locker but the sounds followed me. I knew they were playful- the rest of the guys were terribly supportive when I first joined the team, but god they sure loved messing about. I pushed my school uniform in and slammed it shut, to find Calvin leaning against my locker with a smirk on his face.

"I have to admit, you do look stunning." he winked playfully.

I rolled my eyes. "As are you, Mr. Oberoi. I'm sure the girls would be all over you." He actually did look really good. The jersey clung onto his body, showing off his figure and all the muscles underneath it, and topped off with his tousled up hair and tanned skin, he might as well have been a sports magazine model.

"Which leaves me surprised as you're a girl, and I don't see a reaction." he mused.

"Maybe because people who're smart aren't attracted to your empty head." I fired back. A few guys cheered and went "Burn!" and I smirked at him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but shut it again. I smiled, contented. I tapped his nose lightly. "Better luck next time."

The rest of the boys started clearing out of the locker room, and I followed. We exited the building to meet the huge, grassy field.

The sunlight hit my face and I smiled. It wasn't often I was relaxed, and football surprisingly did that for me.

I was the only girl on the school team. Originally, we did have a girls team. But slowly all of them starting leaving when they couldn't afford to miss classes for tournaments or use up valuable time by staying back for practice. The expectations of school slowly dissolved the girl's team. But football was a kind of escape for me, it always had been. The run and chase helped keep me awake, the sweat and thrill of strategy rejuvenated me. I couldn't just give that up. So I stayed and finally it was down to me and one other girl, who unfortunately left the school the previous year. The result- I was the only girl left on the team so Coach decided to include me in the boy's team.

I'd been with the team for nearly a year, and I was good friends with everyone, even though their cocky and flirty behavior was really annoying at times. Girls often stayed back just to gawk at the guys playing, and I was a common target for their jealous glares. I didn't care, I was in it for football and football only.

I laced up my shoes and started with warmups, stretching and flexing amongst the other team members on the field. I heard a few whistles directed at me and I rolled my eyes.