Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/interactive-story/item_id/2232773-Clothes-swap-stories/cid/3153267-Coach-Forsythe-asks-Why--He-wants-the-girls-to
Upon hearing Principal Greene say that the State sports governing body wasn’t going to allow the girls to play, John Forsythe erupted in anger “Why? That’s ridiculous!”
Principal Greene was inwardly pleased at his instant reaction. She was willing to forgive him for missing the qualifier when she spoke ‘this weekend’
“Can you walk with me?” she said softly as she guided him down the hall away from the workout room. She believed it was best to keep this information among a select few for the time being.
Coach Forsythe got the hint and lowered his voice “I don’t understand what their problem is? I know for a fact a girl played Quarterback for a school upstate a few year ago”
Marjorie Greene nodded sagely “True. But I specifically said not this weekend. The girls can play football. They just have to complete a more rigorous physical evaluation than does any boy and before you say it, Yes its unfair.”
“Can you explain it to me” he asked
“As you know, all students have to submit a one page form signed by their doctor that they are eligible to compete in sports. You got one for every boy before practice even began. Coach Bosley got one for every girl on the cheer squad. But the Governing body requires that any girl who wants to play football has to be evaluated during a full practice by a doctor, vital data collected, a report filed and then they will meet to determine if the girl is eligible. This will take weeks if not months to finalize” she said disgustedly.
John Forsythe knew that some of the rules about academic and health eligibility were designed for safety and to also make sure schools would not try to cheat the system and use players too old or from outside the school district. It seemed these same rules were being employed far more strictly for women, no doubt put in place to discourage them from playing.
“Is there anything we can do to get a waiver for the girls?” The look on Principal Greene’s face was answer enough.
John looked back over his shoulder at the weight room. “Alright I’ll go break the bad news” he said sadly. He reflected how ironic it was that a week ago he had been looking for an excuse to tell the girls they couldn’t play football. Now he had one and he felt terrible about it.
“Hold on John” Prinicpal Greene stopped him. “Let me make sure I’ve exhausted all options. If I can’t come up with something by noon tomorrow, I’ll be the one to tell them”
*****
Julia was walking home after practice. She believed just about every muscle in her body was aching but she never felt more energized. Her confidence was soaring as she could sense the rest of the football team was accepting her as a teammate. Several had even gave her tips on weight training. She planned to put some of that advice to immediate use tonight, she was going to eat a greater portion of protein at dinner. She was catching up on some text threads on her phone when she saw a new message from Maria Ruiz. The texts caused her to nearly drop the phone. She started to furiously text back but paused. She hit the Dial button. She had way too many questions to address by texting back and forth.
Maria answered “Hey Julia”
“Really? You answer the phone like nothing has happened? I need the deets (details) girlfriend!”
She heard Maria giggle on the other end of the line “Like what?”
“I can’t believe you got him to wear that cute skirt you had on today”
“He wore my entire outfit. Full makeup also. All the way to my house”
“Oh Maria, you are a magician” Julia complimented her friend.
“That’s only the half of it” Maria said in a nonchalant way
“There is more to the story?” Julia asked
Maria went on to explain how her Mom had come home early trapping Chris in her room. He decided his best chance to leave unnoticed was to put on her Cheerleader uniform and wear it on the walk back to his house.
“No way!” Julia doubled over in laughter. She had asked Maria to manipulate Chris into wearing more feminine items but this was way beyond what she had hoped for.
“He must have been mortified” she said excitedly
“Not that I could tell. He looked very cute actually”
Julia smile turned to a frown. That was unfortunate. She had been hoping that Chris would be so embarrassed that she could get him to admit he was wrong and give up on the challenge. Still, she now had this information that could be used in so many delicious ways to tease Chris. She practically skipped the rest of the way home. Today had turned out to be a great day.
*****
The following day was Wednesday. At noon Julia, Jessica and Tammy were walking together to Lunch when their conversation was interrupted by a school Secretary standing at the entrance of the cafeteria. “Girls, I’m glad I caught you. Principal Greene would like few moments of your time right now”
The girls exchanged quick looks “Okay” they said hesitantly in unison. The older woman kept looking over their shoulders before continuing “She also wants to see Chris, Simon and Jake. Can you make sure they don’t slip by me?”
Julia felt her stomach churn with nervousness. She was beginning to have a bad feeling considering who the Principal wanted to speak with.
Once the boys arrived the Secretary lead them down the hall toward the Principal’s office. Julia leaned closer to Chris “Do you know what this is about?” she whispered with a hint of suspicion in her voice. Chris shook his head innocently but Julia was not entirely convinced he had nothing to do with this meeting. Her fears were realized when the six were ushered into a conference room. Principal Greene, Coach Forsythe and Coach Bosley were already present and the looks on their faces was grim.
*****
After Principal Greene had finished her explanation she surveyed the students expressions. The three girls were all equally angry. Mrs Greene was somewhat surprised that among the boys it was only Jake Houghlin who seemed relieved at the news.
“There is nothing that can be done then?” Julia pleaded.
Mrs Greene shook her head sadly “It also means that you girls cannot practice with the football team in the interim until the State had granted their approval. All I can do for now is keep you updated on when we can get a Doctor in to complete the evaluation for you three”
The meeting ended soon after and the students headed to the cafeteria for a shortened lunch period. Chris wasn’t even sure he felt like eating now. As he exited the room he saw Julia huddled up with Jessica and Tammy. She turned and gave him a look full of anger.
“Congratulations Chris. I guess this means you win the challenge” she spat out. With that she turned and stormed off with her friends close behind.
As Chris watched them leave he thought ‘If this is winning I sure would hate to see what losing feels like’
*****
The news spread fast through the 10th grade. The football team took to teasing the boys that they weren’t missed all the much. The Cheer squad treated their temporary teammates much more coldly.
Simon seemed quite put off “Why are the girls mad at us? We didn’t make the rules?”
In between classes Chris kept thinking about something Principal Greene had said during the meeting about those rules “By regulation the school must prove that it has in it’s possession documentation for each boy a home address within the school district, proof of good academic standing, and a doctor’s authorization to play.”
Chris began to toy with an idea. As part of the challenge he had ended up exchanging underwear, shoes, and workout clothes with Julia. If he swapped just one more thing it could be a way to get around these dumb rules about girls participating in football.
It was simple really. He just had to switch names with her. She would become Chris Jackson and could play football and he would become Julia Munroe.
There were many things to consider. Would the Principal and Coaches go along with it? Would Simon and Jake? Would the girls? What would his classmates think? His Mom?
Printed from https://www.writing.com/main/interactive-story/item_id/2232773-Clothes-swap-stories/cid/3153267-Coach-Forsythe-asks-Why--He-wants-the-girls-to
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