Karyn wanted to hide in the corner. She wanted to curl up and disappear. But instead, she found herself walking toward the center of the court with a strut she hadn't practiced. Her hips rolled with a fluid, heavy momentum, her C cups bounced even in her the tight sports bra she had put on in the locker room and she felt the eyes of the boys in the gym latch onto her. The worst part was that the attention didn't make her want to vomit anymore; it sent a prickly, electric heat straight to her stomach.
Attendance was held by putting all the students in seven different lines of seven but sometimes eight students. Steve Farber was already there talking loudly to other football players in different lines.
Don't look at him, her mind screamed. He's a jerk. He’s part of the group that made fun of Jon.
"Hey, Steve," Karyn said with a faint purr, her voice dropping into a husky register she didn't know she could hit. She tossed her head, the new, long waves of her hair cascading over her shoulder and touching the top shoulder blades. When did it get longer?
Steve turned, his eyebrows shooting up. He looked her up and down, grinning. "Hey, Karyn. You look... different. Good different."
"Thanks," she said, biting her lip. She hated herself, but she couldn't stop her eyes from fluttering. "I felt like... shaking things up."
She was saved from further humiliation by the gym doors banging open. Jon stumbled in.
Karyn’s breath caught. He looked small. Even from here, she could see the terror in his wide, doe-like eyes. He was clutching his arms around his chest, trying to hunch over, but it wasn't working.
It was as if the moment he noticed all the eyes on him, which Karyn could clearly see from the rotating heads of almost two-thirds of all the boys (she also found hery own eyes drawn to him)... She briefly wondered if this was her new found lesbianism, but then she turned and glanced at Steve and found her eyes drawn to his tight, slim ass. Was she bisexual?
Anyways… she shook her head. It was as if the moment Jon noticed all the eyes on him, his attention taken and smiling at Biff as Sarah sneered and…
Anyways… Karyn shook her head. She couldn’t think straight looking at him. It was as if the moment he noticed all the eyes on him, his attention was diverted and he was no longer… micromanaging his body. His chest pressed out slightly, Karyn could see something small and round giggling there, as his hips swung. His shirt hanging off one shoulder. He had changed so much and something was different with his face.
Karyn tore her eyes away, her face flushed.
“You alright?” Steve asked and Karyn nodded, causing wavy hair to bounce into her face. She quickly tied her hair back into a perfect bun, subconsciously annoyed that she’d have to fix her hair after class.
"Um, excuse me?"
The sharp voice cut through the gym noise. Sarah McMillan was standing at the front of the line one of the other lines (the one Jon usually stood in), her hands on her hips, looking at Jon with a mix of annoyance and authority.
"You're in the wrong line, genius," Sarah scoffed, pointing a manicured nail. "You aren’t in this line. You need to move."
Jon stammered, "I... I've always stood here."
"Yeah and you won the math olympiad too," Sarah snapped sarcastically. She grabbed Jon’s shoulder—her grip looking surprisingly strong against his softening frame—and physically shoved him sideways.
“Go.”
Jon stumbled, losing his footing on his new center of gravity, and fell backward—right into a solid wall of muscle.
Steve Farber caught him by the arms to steady him. "Whoa, easy there."
Jon froze, his back pressed against Steve’s chest.
"Thanks," Jon squeaked, his voice cracking high.
“Get away from her Biff,” Sarah chided her boyfriend, eyeing Jon like a… Karyn didn’t know. Like someone about to steal her man?
Biff righted Jon and turned to Sarah, “I am just trying to be nice.”
Karyn scoffed. As if he had ever, but still he deserved some leeway for being so hot. Karyn didn’t even notice the errant thought as another student pointed Jon to their line and the argument between Sarah and Biff only got more intense.
“You’re in front of me, sweet stuff,” Steve said, taking a step back to open a space.
“Don’t call me that,” Jon snapped, as his voice cracked. Steve grinned.
“I love it when you snap at me. You can do that all day if only you’d go out with me,” Steve said. Jon flushed and turned away from Karyn and Steve as he adjusted his gym shirt back up on his shoulder. Only this time it didn’t slip off his shoulder. Shit, did it just change, and Karyn hadn’t noticed it, and…
Karyn stood up tall, they were almost the same height now… no… Karyn was a bit taller. Jon had certainly shrunk, and Karyn felt bad for her, no, him. It did make him look cute, though.
Karyn looked to Steve in front of her and wait… Was Karyn taller too?
"Alright, listen up!" The Coach blew his whistle, silencing the chatter. He held a clipboard, scanning the rows of students. "Attendance!"
He rattled off names. "Anderson!" "Here." "Baker!" "Here."
Karyn’s heart hammered. She watched Jon, who was staring straight ahead, his ears burning red.
"Farber, Steve!"
"Here, Coach," Steve boomed from right behind Jon's ear. Jon flinched at the volume.
"Oh shit I got my list all out of order," their PE teacher said. His pencil could be seen tracing down his clipboard, likely following names. "Ah, here I am, Gibson, Joanna!"
The gym went silent. Jon didn't move. He stood paralyzed, his eyes wide, staring at the Coach.
Say it, Karyn thought frantically. Just say it, Joanna! J-Jon! Karyn corrected herself.
The Coach looked up, frowning. "Gibson? Joanna Gibson?"
Jon remained frozen. Suddenly, Steve nudged Jon hard in the ribs with his elbow.
"That's you, airhead," Steve whispered, loud enough for the people nearby to hear. "Answer him."
Jon jumped. "H-here!"
The word came out as a breathless chirp. A few boys snickered, but nobody seemed to question the name. It was as if it had always been her name.
"Gibson, Karyn!"
"Here," Karyn said, her voice automatic.
She tried to lean forward, to catch Jon’s eye, to mouth I’m sorry or What do we do?, but she couldn't. Steve Farber was a literal wall of meat between them. Jon turned his head slightly, glancing back past Steve’s shoulder. His eyes locked with Karyn’s.
"Alright," the Coach said, tucking the clipboard under his arm. "Change of plans for today. The badminton tournament was last night, and the janitors haven't taken the nets down yet."
A collective groan rippled through the class. The boys looked disgusted. There had been an in-class basketball tournament of their own going and it had been quite intense yesterday.
"Settle down!" The Coach barked. "Since the nets are up, we have a choice. We can either spend the period taking them down so we can play Flag Football..."
"Football!" Steve shouted, and a bunch of guys cheered.
"...OR," the Coach continued, raising his voice, "We can just leave them up and play a Badminton tournament."
"Badminton!" Sarah McMillan shouted from the front, followed by cheers from most of the girls.
"We're taking a vote," the Coach sighed, looking tired. "Raise your hand for Flag Football."
