“How much did you know about your mom’s plans?”

Pete’s Vagina
80. In the Zone
By Erin Halfelven

The door to the Pizza Barn closed behind us with a last burp of noise. The cold had had time to grow teeth while we were inside, and I felt it immediately on my cheeks and ears. I could see my breath puffing out ahead of me.

The stars above the Mogollon Rim looked like points of frozen needles breaking through a night that still had a bit of purple off to the west. My heartbeat seemed to rush me along behind Lee, following him to the right side of the van, where he held the passenger door open for me and extended a hand for a brace as I climbed inside.

The inside of the van felt like a refuge— quiet, dim without even dash lights, smelling faintly of camera gear, dust, leather and the coffee Lee drank in the mornings on the way to pick me up for school. Our new routine….

I watched him through the windshield, stumping his way around the front of the van, his limp a bit more noticeable than usual since he knew only I could see him.

Nothing of the chaos inside the building penetrated. I closed my eyes, taking the quiet time to count my breath—the same calming method I used before any play when I would be carrying the ball. I listened to Lee open the door and climb in behind the wheel, making only one soft grunt—not of effort, but of the pain it cost him to drag his braced leg inside.

We sat for a moment after he got in, the engine running but the van not moving. I startled both of us when I laughed once as I opened my eyes.

“What?” he asked, but I shook my head. I smiled at him to take the sting off what I had to ask.

“How much did you know about your mom’s plans?”

He blinked. “Enough that I should have told you about it,” he said.

I nodded, still a bit angry about the ambush. But this was Lee, not his mom.

“She didn’t want the story breaking with no planning at all,” he said. “If she fed bits and pieces to just the right people, she could control it better. Mom is kind of big on being in control of things.”

“Did she know the ‘Wolves were going to forfeit?” I asked

“Uh, no. Pretty sure that caught her by surprise, too.”

I wasn’t sure I believed that. “And Joanna’s nominating….” I pushed back a little queasy feeling as I finished the question. “Nominating me for Homecoming Queen?”

He pulled his lip thoughtfully. “I don’t think so. Joanna can keep a secret when she wants to, and I think that was all her idea.”

“Didn’t anyone think to ask me about this stuff first?” I complained. “That’s the part that kind of makes me….” I swallowed. “I dunno whether to be mad or to…to cry about it.”

“Get mad,” he suggested. “You’re awfully cute when you’re mad, and I know I would want to punch someone if you cried.”

I glared at him. He looked down, his eyes smiling at me under his blond brows.

I tried to look away but found myself smiling back. “Stop that!” I said. “I’m still trying to decide if it’s you I’m mad at.”

“Oh, I hope not,” he smiled.

We made noises that might have been laughter, and both of us looked out the windshield to avoid each other for a moment. Lee looks so cute when he’s trying to keep me sweet, I thought, embarrassing myself.

He put the van in gear, backed out of the parking space, and turned on his headlights once he had the van pointed toward the street. “What do you want to do now?”

I hadn’t thought of it until he asked. “Talk to my folks, I guess. But I’m not sure where they are.”

“I bet they went home,” said Lee. “Your home. The reporters tried to corner your mom for an interview or something, and that’s when Mom, my mom, told them you would be at the Barn.”

I frowned.

“You know, that distracted them, so your family could get away. Your dad and sisters were there, too,” Lee added. He pulled into the street, turned toward Ponderosa Avenue and Timber Heights. “Let me take you home,” he said. “You can talk it over with your folks, decide what to do next. About the reporters, the Homecoming, about your playing football.”

“I’m still playing football,” I insisted, trying not to think about everything else.

“Uh, huh,” he said. “Mom told me the Phoenix guys will probably want to interview you for TV. That’s when I should have told you everything I knew.”

“You should have,” I agreed. We crossed Manzanita, climbing out of downtown and into the hilly part of town. A TV interview? Which was scarier, that or being a Homecoming Queen candidate? “I really need to talk to my folks,” I said again. The spotlight Mrs. Frick had turned on my playing football might have happened anyway, so there seemed less reason to be steamed about it.

I shook my head, turning to look at the side window where my face was reflected in the glass. I ran my fingers through a bad case of helmet hair. Yeah, I thought. Still a girl.

I turned back to catch Lee grinning sideways at me.

“Watch the road,” I ordered him.

He turned back to look out the windshield, still grinning. “You do need to talk to your dad, for sure,” he said This seemed to amuse him even more.

“What? Yeah, sure. But why is that funny?”

“He’ll have to decide how much to let you spend on a Homecoming gown,” said Lee with a chuckle. He turned to glance at me again. “You’re going to look amazing, and with all this publicity, you know you’re going to win.”

“Win? Gown? I’m not—”

“Oh, c’mon,” he said. I couldn’t be sure he was teasing. “Who’s going to vote for anyone else? You’re the prettiest girl on the football team.”

We both laughed out loud. I couldn’t argue with that, but it sounded absurd.

Lee grinned at me. “You’re going to look so amazing!” he said again, sounding even more sure of it.