I Get Interrogated by the O-Line About My Love Life, Part II

“Welcome, welcome, to the first meeting of the season,” King said, a mischievous grin plastered across his dimly lit face as he took a seat. By the time I had walked into the storage room, the O-Line had already set up a foldout table and chairs, as well as some electric candles on the table. Said candles were the only source of light, so I struggled to find a chair before eventually stubbing my toe on one- it hurt worse than normal because I was only wearing socks. Wincing, I pulled out the seat and sat down, unprepared for the madness that would soon unfold.

“I see we have some new faces and some veterans. Let’s go around the table- name, position and grade.” King gestured to his right, to which sat Danny.

“Daniel Perezosas, center, junior.”

“Chen Holt, left guard, sophomore.” Oh, that’s the starting Varsity guard, isn’t it? He looks kind of like King, in a way.

“Kristoff Karlsson, left tackle, freshman.” My eyes locked onto him as soon as he said his last name- he had silky blond hair and hazel eyes, and while he was way taller and thicker than her, he did look a whole lot like Mia.

“You’re the JV tackle, right, Karlsson?” Danny asked, looking at me with a knowing smile. Don’t give me that look! Just because he has the same last name doesn’t necessarily mean…

“Yes sir,” he said, looking anxious- he seemed very kind and respectful for a freshman. Poor kid.

“Bell Koo, right guard, senior,” said the person seated next to me. He was shorter than most people in the room, at about 5’ 7”, but he was built like- well, a bell. He was super thick and looked tougher than steel.

“Is your name actually Bell?” Kristoff asked innocently. He didn’t realize that asking something like that wasn’t normally socially appropriate. Nonetheless, Bell answered.

“Nah, it’s Jing- Jing Som-Koo. It’s just a joke on my first name, like King.”

“Who’s King?” Danny, Bell and I sighed in disbelief as King tried not to laugh at the poor freshman.

“It’s me- Qiang Holt, right tackle, senior. I should’ve gone first. My bad, bud.” He went silent, and I felt the eyes of most of the guys at the table staring at me, expecting me to go. I was after Bell, to be fair.

“U-Uh, Seiro Katsume, wide receiver, senior.”

“Wide receiver?!” Bell yelled, his voice as deep as- and I hate this- a bell. “Why’s he in here? Someone throw him out!” King shook his head as Danny and I locked eyes, both concerned for my status.

“Cat is basically one of us,” he said plainly. “He’ll be a tight end by game three, I bet.” No one would argue with King’s judgment as the circle continued past me- by that point I had tuned out of the conversation, so I didn’t hear any other names, but most of them were freshmen anyway. One of the people after me started tonight, but he went to the bathroom before it was his turn, and so I never learned of his identity.

King pounded the table with his fist, his cheeks drawn into a pained smile. “As you all may know, we o-linemen… are strapped for relationships. As such, I created this gathering place three years ago, when I was but a wee sophomore.” He cut his noble accent and spoke plainly. “Basically, we all live vicariously through each other’s shreds of romance. Cat, yours is interesting from what Danny has told me. Tell us about…” he trailed off as he flipped through papers on a clipboard. “Emilia.”

A bead of sweat naturally coalesced on my forehead, which I quickly swept away. Why do I have to talk? My stuff’s not even that great! It’s just Mia and I doing normal things! I looked over at Kristoff, who looked shocked and worried, clinging onto the potential that there was another Emilia. Oh, that just makes it worse. Danny knew, didn’t he? Damn it.

“Ahem.” I cleared my throat, almost ready to talk. I didn’t quite know what I’d say, but I figured I’d find out along the way. “So there’s this- this girl in all my classes… obviously, her name’s Emilia Karlsson, like King told you… uh, yeah, sorry, Kristoff,” I couldn’t help but mumble an apology to who I assumed to be Mia’s brother. I paused, considering whether I wanted to share sensitive information, even with Kristoff around. I decided to go for it.

“She lives in the apartment right above mine, and we met a day or two after I moved in- it was evening, and I opened the door to the balcony of my room to find- I swear this is real- this smallish blond girl hanging by her legs over her deck, smiling. She immediately told me that I was built like an offensive tackle and should join the football team. I’m kinda here because she pressured me into it…” I tried to laugh it off, but the gazes at the table were watching me so intensely that I couldn’t do so comfortably. “A-Anyway, I started school after that and found her in every single class I have. And her, Kevin and I hang out every week or so- what?” I looked to Danny, having noticed that many of the linemen glared as soon as I said Kevin’s name. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No, Cat, it’s just… there’s a long history between Kevin and us o-linemen. We don’t like to get involved with him.”

King nodded in agreement. “You think you know Kevin, and then you don’t. I wouldn’t associate with him. Plus, imagine you and Mia without Kevin, doing-”

“Stop!” Kristoff finally said, speaking up for himself after being so uncomfortable for so long. “Someone else go! Talking about my sister as a love interest is weird!” Danny smirked, implying he knew all along. “Danny, right? You go!”

“You sure, kid?” The corner of his mouth turned up smugly. “Mine is wilder than you’d ever imagine.”

“Better than my sister!”

“So do any of you know Chayton Alexander?” A face or two cracked a smile, but most of us had no idea who she was.

Well, I assumed ‘she’, but I was incorrect.

“He’s on the baseball team,” he continued, which threw off a lot of us. Is Danny gay? I mean, it is San Fran.

“I’m his wingman right now.” Oh, he’s not gay.

“He’s gonna ask out Ryan Detsi soon.” Oh, the guy he’s helping out is gay. This is getting confusing very quickly. King and Bell groaned, and King elbowed Danny’s shoulder.

“Shut up, Danny. No one cares. Now, here’s an actually good story- this one’s from back when I was a freshman…”