Chapter 163

March 15, 2018

Dear Ms. Diary,

As Coach hoped, one of the new faces, Payton, has stopped coming to practice. After a grueling session yesterday in which we did lots of running – wind sprints and three sets of two laps around the pitch, we ran our first scrimmage of the season today, with teammates mixed and matched from last year’s starters and backups. It was fun. Lissa was playing sweeper on the other team and made a doozy of a pass to Char who was cutting between Crewe and Gracey, resulting in her having a one-on-one with Marli. She did not miss with an outside-left strike to the far corner.

I ran over and congratulated Lissa on the pass, and she responded, “Thanks, Beth. And thanks for teaching me so much about the sweeper position last year. I love it!” Her tone moderated, and she stated, “I wonder how Coach is going to deal with both Rhee and Charlize. I’m not complaining because adding Charlize and Civia to this crew ... I can’t see how we don’t go back to state.”

“I’ve been trying not to allow myself to count on that, but I’ve thought that particular bit a time or two of late.”

Practice over, Char stepped up to Lissa, saying, “That was a helluva pass you made when I was cutting.”

“Thanks, Charlize. And that was a helluva shot you made off it.”

“Thanks. If you want, you can save a syllable and call me ‘Char’ like my ... other friends do.”

Lissa looked at her for a few seconds, then replied, “Thanks. I’ll do that ... Char.”

Char hugged her as she responded, “No problem. I’m looking forward to this season, mostly because this team already likes me and, hopefully, we won’t have so much locker-room drama as we did at GV last year. That season wasn’t all that fun because of it. I had such a great time with this team at state, so I’m very happy to be here.”

“We’ll certainly like to have you on our side of the ball when we play GV this year, rather than the other side. I don’t know if you realize how much work we did in practice to come up with a way to keep both you and Dowdell in check in the league tournament.”

“It certainly worked. You walloped us.”

On the walk home from the practice pitch, Gracey asked Meka, “I think a lot of the fault for Char’s goal is on my shoulders. How would you have played that, particularly with Rhee also on that front line.”

“As much as it was anyone’s fault, it was yours, although there’s not much you could have done once the pass was in the air, as Char touched the ball only twice, the second being the shot. The best thing you could have done was anticipate Lissa’s pass and be between Char and the goal when it arrived. You need to constantly evaluate what their options are, and you’ve got a big advantage over the center backs of other teams, as you know these girls, you know what they can do. Keep your head on a swivel and keep asking yourself, ‘What could they do that would be best for them.’ Of course, on that play, had you been there, Char could have one-touched the ball to Rhee, who was cutting behind you in case Char needed an outlet. You’re in the middle, you can see the pitch best. Your responsibility, in this case, was Char, as she needed to be stopped. If she gets the pass off the Rhee and she scores, that’s on the rest of the D, as you certainly could not stop both. I’ve already talked with Coach about a session for the back line and midfield on precisely that sort of thing.”

Meka watched Gracey’s face as she took that in, then said, “Just be glad you have to face Civia, Rhee, Char, Heather, and Beth only in practice!”

Gracey smiled and chuckled, then responded, “I know. Can you imagine what those five will do this year? I can, and I’m freaking glad they’re on my team!”

In the basement bathroom, Liya had tablet in hand when Maren interrupted her.

“Could ... could you put me in the regular ... randomization?”

Liya looked at her for a couple of seconds, then responded, “I could, but I just want to make sure that it’s what you truly want, that you’re not being coerced into it.”

Maren showed some spunk, answering, “When was the last time you saw this group try to coerce anyone into doing anything? I really like you guys, and I’d like ... to be included in ... what you girls do.”

“You’re right, and thanks. You don’t have to have a partner other than Civia just to be included in what we do.”

“I know, but I’d like to be ... just one of the girls. I’ve never had so much fun as I’ve had with Civia, especially when we’re here. Besides, I feel ... a little left out, because the buddy-wash system is ... seems like a ... bonding thing, and I don’t want to miss out.”

Civia hugged Maren hard, and the rest of us put hands on her shoulders, back, and head.

“Ok,” replied Liya, “you’re in the regular randomization. Give me a minute to redo the formulas.”

I looked around the 14 of us waiting to shower and thought about how incredibly different this start to the premier-team season was from last year’s. Rhee and I were the only ones taking showers together here. Neither of us had seen Liya naked. At this point in the season, Heather was not on the team, and would not be for another two weeks. I had had sex only with myself. Char was a former teammate and former friend. I had not met eight of the 14 girls standing naked waiting to take a communal shower. And, of course, Brett, who was showering upstairs, was a morbidly shy guy that I had liked since first grade but had begun losing hope he would ever come out from behind the walls he had built.

“Beth and Heather, Cera and Maren, Rhee and Gracey, Civia and Brit, Kim and Lana, Liya and Meka, Andy and Char.”

After the shower, in answer to Liya’s query, Maren stated, “It was good. Please keep me in the randomization.”

Inez flew to Chicago this morning and will not return until Wednesday afternoon.

When Brett’s parents arrived a bit early as we had requested, I met them at the door of the W with Rhee behind my right shoulder, and said, “Celeste, Andy, please meet Matt and Steph Jacobs, Brett’s parents. Matt and Steph, I’m happy to introduce Celeste Montgomery and Andressa Pires. Both are physics students at the university, although with very different foci. Celeste is interested in getting a Ph.D. here in cosmology under Dr. Nadhi, Liya’s mom, while Andy is more interested in physics here on Earth.”

Steph responded, “It’s very nice to meet you two ... and I’m simply amazed at the ... number of very attractive girls and women that are ... in love with Brett. We’ve always considered him a good son, but you might be able to imagine what we thought when they told us his girlfriends numbered more than just Beth and his cousin and then that four of them were, legally, adults.

Celeste responded, “We’re concerned about the ... potential for legal issues, which is why we’re very careful outside the compound. However, Brett is a really great guy and more than worth the extra effort we need to make to be safe.”

“We’re still trying to wrap our minds around the ... whole thing. Because of you ... girls and women, he’s...”

“Steph,” Celeste said, “you can call us all girls without insulting us. That’s the term we use internally, and we apply it to Brett, too. Not only does he not object to being ‘one of the girls,’ he seems to like it. And that confidence both in who he is and his sexuality allows him to appreciate being one of the girls, something that, in my estimation, very few guys can manage. It’s also part of what makes the teenaged boy that he is so attractive, so ... alluring even to college girls.”

That set Steph back on her heels a bit and had her blinking at Celeste. After a few seconds, she shook her head, then continued where she had left off.

“I did not see that, but we certainly saw him throwing off a lot of his shyness last fall, and has developed this winter into a dynamic young man. We assume and, I think, hope that it’s the last bit that has caused you to be interested in him.”

Andy replied, “Mostly. Oh, his good looks are part of it, but only as something that sweetens an already tasty dish. We don’t know how you see him, but we see him as intelligent, kind, thoughtful, and both fun and funny. Neither of us was looking for a boy, and both of us were surprised when we began having feelings for him, Celeste before me, as she spent much more time around him before I moved in here. You’ve raised an incredible son, one that’s responsible, yet fun, gorgeous, yet self-effacing. I’ve found that combination to be irresistible and fell in love with him despite the nearly seven years of difference in our ages.”

Celeste added, “He neither acts nor thinks like a young teenaged boy and is much more mature than even most of the sophomores I’ve spent any time around at the university. Even more importantly, particularly for the situation in which he’s found himself, his moral compass is strong. We ... female girls think of him more as a man than as a boy. He really is amazing.”

“We appreciate meeting you two. As we assume the other girls told you, Matt and I began dating when I was two months shy of my 16^th birthday, despite that he’s five years older than I am.” When both girls showed a little surprise, Steph asked, “They didn’t tell you?” When they shook their heads, she shook hers in surprise, then said, “Obviously, we had no ground to stand on since you’re roughly Matt’s age when he began dating an underage girl. However, a 16-year-old girl is typically more mature than a 15-year-old boy, so we were a bit concerned. Since they didn’t tell you about us, you should know that we’re happy to know that you’re being careful about sex. We both understand that ... sex is inevitable, even when illegal. Again, we don’t have any ground on which to stand. Our primary concern is the sheer number of ... girls. I can imagine sharing, I just can’t imagine sharing with so many.”

Andy took that one, “It’s not that difficult for us, because ... well, we girls are also ... into girls, into each other. While it might seem that the only non-random aspect of the girls involved here is soccer, but we’re also all very good students, whether girl or boy, high school or college.”

Matt replied, “Yes, we’ve seen the ... intelligence factor in ... Las Amadas ... in action on Thursday nights.”

When Steph asked about Andy’s accent, she explained her origins and how and why she was here. They began talking about Andy’s plans to alter her life to allow her to stay here rather than graduate after fall term and leave for Brazil.

I interrupted, “Perhaps we can continue this conversation in a more comfortable situation,” and led them to the living room set up again in its conversational nook aspect. “What can Rhee and I get you to drink?”

In the kitchen, Rhee said, “Those two are quickly winning over Steph. I think she didn’t really realize that they were still in the foyer.”

“Agreed. While I had some concern, I had high hopes they could do exactly that.”

Rhee looked into my eyes for a few seconds, then said, “Despite how much I know and love you, you still manage to amaze me occasionally. You had a plan to keep them out of the conversation with Brett’s parents, but you quickly came up with an alternative when Lana blew up that plan.”

I blushed but held my head up and nodded.

She looked into my eyes again, then stated, “I’m so crazy about you.”

We delivered the four drinks out to the living room, noted that they were now talking about Celeste’s education plans, then answered the door when the Paleceks and Randles arrived; shortly thereafter, the rest of the girls arrived from the J, and Civia and Maren hugged their moms.

It was a hot-tub night for the Thursday crowd, so we all donned tubwear appropriate for the people present – our guests wore the same items as two weeks ago. Matt and Steph seemed to enjoy the evening, smiling frequently, and laughing occasionally. They lingered in the living room as our guests prepared to depart.

Steph got Brett, Lana, and me together and said, “We’re still a bit concerned at the ... size of ... your group. However, it’s readily apparent that all of you have strong feelings for the others, particularly as I look back at other times in which I’ve seen some or most of you together. Now that I know, the closeness seems obvious, but I didn’t pick up on it earlier. We would appreciate updates on the group. We will not insist, but we would appreciate occasional updates about the group. Would you invite us to your house, perhaps once a month? We see such ... get-togethers as a venue to provide those requested updates, but primarily so that we may try to become comfortable with our children’s ... group relationship. We very much like all of you as individuals, it’s just the group we have to wrap our heads around. Can we do that?”

I replied, “Yes. We’d appreciate that, too. We don’t know our game schedule, yet, but probably will by the time you return from Thailand. Because both Brett and Lana will be assistants for the team, they’ll get all updates, should games be postponed or rescheduled.” I held my hand up while I pondered, then added, “When you return and have a free evening, perhaps a few of us could come over and we could figure out a good date for the first meal at the J with you two?”