Dude...

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex had no problems with her status as an athlete.  She ran track and drew the difficult duty of the lead flyer on the cheer squad.  Even though she did find it ironic that her stature was a boon to cheerleading, happened to be a detriment to track, there was never a lack of effort of willingness to push herself beyond her limits.  Alex took a certain sense of pride in skirting the line between tomboy and girly.  Cheerleading was pretty, glittery and fun.  She had to slather on ridiculous amounts of makeup, put her hair up in equally ludicrous buns and prance around (which was much harder than people thought) in a skirt.  Track, on the other hand, was almost a raw, gritty endeavor.  It was sweat, blood and tears laid upon the cross country trails and hard surface of the speed track.  It was no make up, simple ponytails and unflattering shorts.

And through it all, even Alex had a very clearly defined line.  As much as she gave to her respective teams, there wasn't a thing on God's green Earth that would ever prompt her to join the football team.  Just the mere thought was crazy.  She wouldn't stand a chance among the giants and gorillas that prowled around in their mammoth shoulder pads and intimidating helmets just waiting for the opportunity to take someone's head off.  It was no secret Alex was in love with the sport, as a whole.  She'd often been chastised by Ellen Banks for getting distracted during cheer practice and paying more attention to the way the football team's offense was adapting to their new playbook than learning the new cheer routing.  That didn't stop her from thinking the dreadfully undersized girl who had joined the football team was either incredibly brave or undeniably stupid.

"They're so much bigger up close."  Alex said to the similarly diminutive girl.  The two of them struck a remarkably drastic contrast.  Alex, clad in her tiny practice shorts and flashy shirt bearing the logo of the Bellefonte Academy spirit squad, her hair tied in a tight tail with a black and gold ribbon that clashed with her brilliant red tendrils and Maya Starr standing on the sidelines as football practice wound down, her practice gear marred with grass stains and dirt.  Alex was standing just behind Maya so she didn't know if the girl was wearing the streaks of eye black on her cheeks... though secretly Alex was hoping.  "How do you make it through practice without, you know, dying?"  She asked with a certain sense of wonder in her voice.

[Maya Starr]

Standing by the benches and enjoying a bottle of water, Maya watched the other players as they rummaged over the field. It felt so good, being back in business and having football started up again. She'd spent the entire summer missing it. Not only the simple basics of the game, but the whole getting muddy and having bruises covering most of your body. She loved every aspect of the game. Even the pain. In a way, she'd always thought that the pain just proved how much effort she really put into it. Her own size had never deterred her either. She might not have been as strong or athletic as the guys playing, but she was quick on her feet and she was a damn good kicker too. Heck, she likely was better than many of the other players (her words, of course).

Hearing the voice, Maya immediately turned her head, eyebrows raising in slight surprise at the sight of one of the cheerleaders. "Well, damn," she began, grinning. "About damn time the cheerleaders start noticing the hottest player on the football team." She gave the girl a quick wink before realizing what the girl had asked. "Big, they? Pffft." She shook her head, looking over at the other players. "Size ain't all that matters. They're all teddy bears, really." The thought amused her. Especially as in most cases, it was true. Just look at Joey. "What's there to die from? Just because we're small, it doesn't mean we can't do the same things tall people can."

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex found a number of the guys on the football team to be hot. If she wasn't always so distracted with the scheme they were running or the execution of the plays, she could easily find herself lost in the sea of testosterone and manliness that a football practice entailed. There were a handful of players that were undeniably gorgeous, tall, physically fit young men with sculpted bodies and faces that belonged in magazines. And yet, Alex couldn't really say Maya was being wrong. There was something about the duality of the girl's nature that set her apart. The softness of her features contrasted with the dirt and grit of the sport she played that even Alex had to admit was kinda hot.

That wasn't going to stop Alex from pointing out the obvious fallacies in Maya's response, however. "Oh, uh, actually... it sort of does mean that, doesn't it?" She asked, not so much challenging the other girl as merely pointing out reason and logic. "Getting things on the top shelf is... something tall people do without help." Something Alex knew all about given the three tree-like individuals she had ended up being thrown into a dorm with. She then frowned, her voice evening out as she issued a resigned sigh. "I fell into the washing machine once." She admitted, submitting her own plight as evidence. "I couldn't get that last sock.  I had to call my roommate to come get me."

[Maya Starr]

Looking over at the other girl, Maya issued a laugh. "We can still do it, even if that means we need help to do so. Just because it takes us a little longer or we have to work harder for something, we can still do it." She shrugged at that. No, Maya had absolutely no issues with her size. She'd always been short and everything she lacked in height, she made up with in personality. Putting her hands on her hips, she turned to properly look at the girl again, her eyebrows furrowing together at the revelation. And then, Maya laughed. "Wow," she breathed between laughter.

That image was absolutely adorable.

"Hey, at least it makes a great story. It's not overly fun then and there, but now you can make your jolly friends laugh." Maya sure as hell would have used a story like that as an ice breaker. Then again, she loved attention and being at the center of things. She had always been the short girl who played football, and when hanging around guys tall as trees, you kind of had to get used to finding other ways to make yourself known.

[Alexandra Lawson]

"Yes. I know." Alex's eyes narrowed. She knew all too well the trials and tribulations of the Short Girl. A friend of hers liked to drive home this point just a little too much. "One of my roommates likes to put my Lucky Charms on top of the kitchen cupboard." She said with the faint traces of a pout creeping into her features. "I think he just likes making me climb up onto the counter." She huffed, even going so far as to fold her arms across her chest.

Alex, though, was quick to forgive and forget mainly through the magic of being easily distracted. Her eyes lifted upward as a tall, broad guy with a swath of brown hair passed by on his way to the locker room. Alex couldn't help but follow him with her gaze, even turning fully around to keep watching. "I'm sorry, what?" Alex's brow furrowed and she shook her head, clearing the distracting cobwebs from her mind before turning her attention back to Maya. "Do you get to shower with them?" Alex asked, pointing in the direction of the locker rooms. "Gender equality and all that?"

[Maya Starr]

Grinning, Maya laughed. "That's a pretty awesome trick though," she mused. She tossed the girl a sideways glance before shrugging. It was obvious the other girl had far more resentment about being short than what Maya did. Oh well. She supposed it happened. They couldn't all be cool with everything. "But hey, at least we're short and adorable," she added with another shrug. She looked back at the girl and winked.

Maya watched the clearly distracted girl with amusement, simply shaking her head as she got her attention back. "I don't," she said. "I get to go to the girl's locker rooms." Being homosexual, Maya didn't really see that as a bad thing. This girl however, probably would. Man, how anyone could find these brutes attractive, she would never, ever understand.

Oh well. It hardly mattered. "I could take you in there if you wanna," she said, elbowing the girl.

[Alexandra Lawson]

Alex nodded. She couldn't deny Maya's assertion. They both were undeniably adorable. Alex had used this fact to her advantage many times before. Hell, she believed that was the only reason she was able to get away with so many of her mindless shenanigans. Everyone couldn't help but love the teeny, little ones. Even if she did have a bad relationship with various household appliances, Alex had no problems with her short stature. It was sort of her thing, anyway.

A brow quirked as Alex turned a smirk toward Maya. She caught the nearly same look on the other brunette's face and nearly burst out laughing. Not at Maya, of course, simply because it looked as though the two of them had the exact same thought. "I spend my fair share of time in the girl's locker room already." She said with a bit of a mischievous shrug of her shoulders. "But they're my teammates. Come on." She glanced to where a few of the cheerleaders had remained, going through a couple routines on their own even though the formal practice had officially ended. "It'd be kinda weird if I was checking them out all the time, don't you think?"

[Maya Starr]

"Nah," Maya shrugged. "It's not like you'd tell them. Like, 'hey, I'm totally checking out your tatas right now!'. That'd be stupid, if you ask me." Although, it would be likely for Maya to do just that. She wasn't exactly known for being... Well, she was known for being Maya. The girl who sometimes didn't seem to keep her mouth shut. "Like, I'd totally do it if I got to spend all my time with hot cheerleaders." Maybe she'd joined the wrong team after all.

It became slightly less hot to work out with boys when you weren't even slightly interested in them. No, she'd much more enjoy being with the cheerleaders - even as incredibly creepy as that sounded. She could always blame it on being a teenager, though, she wasn't sure how long that would keep her safe, after all.