Page 67 of TJ Powar Has Something to Prove

She could still leave.

Except then Piper’s voice rings out. “TJ! Over here!”

Piper’s waving from one of the hard-plastic tables, wearing a polka-dot bikini and eating nachos. Next to her is the Northridge goalie, Angela Stevens, in a red one-piece and currently tying her shoulder-length hair into a bun. She glances at TJ and pauses, as if surprised to see her here.

This is it. The moment of no return.

For her last resolution, she was a coward. Not this time. With gritted teeth, TJ pulls off her robe, draping it over the back of an unoccupied chair at the table. Dead silence. She wants to wrap herself in her robe again, but instead she forces herself to sit.

Finally, she raises her eyes. Angela has a nacho half-raised to her mouth. Piper’s the first to say, “Um, what’s up?”

“Not much.” Piper tries not to stare, TJ can tell. But her eyes keep flicking down. TJ sighs. “Just say what you want to say. I’m Bigfoot, ha, ha. Are we done?”

Angela titters nervously and excuses herself.

“No! I mean, yes. But, no,” Piper says quickly, while Angela disappears. “It’s just hard to get used to.”

She’s said that before, too, but TJ finds she can’t really blame her. When would Piper have ever seen people like TJ? Razor ads don’t exactly show women shaving their moustaches. It’s always either legs or underarms. Anything else isn’t supposed to exist.

TJ reaches for a nacho. “Would it be hard to get used to if I were a guy?”

Piper blinks. “I guess not.”

“And if I were a guy who waxed my legs?” TJ asks curiously. “Would that be weird?”

Piper mulls this over. “I’ve never thought about it before, but I guess so.”

TJ munches on her nacho thoughtfully. So the double standards aren’t just for girls, then. Wax, body hair... on the right person, they’re considered normal. Expected, even. But stop or do something differently and suddenly it’s a big deal.

Piper’s gaze shifts behind TJ. A second later Jake strolls by on his way to the hot tub. He gives Piper a rakish grin.

“Hey, Pied Piper.”

Piper casually bites into another nacho. As soon as he’s passed them, she turns her head and watches him go. TJ could throw up from the cliché-ness of it all.

She immediately chastises herself. Just because she’s bitter about her love life being dead in the water doesn’t mean she can’t be a good wingwoman. “Maybe we should move to the hot tub,” she suggests.

Piper squints in thought. “You know what? I think I will.”

TJ starts to stand as well, but Piper turns to her quickly.

“Oh, no, you don’t need to... You can stay here. The hot tub is kind of crammed anyway.”

TJ blinks. “Um, okay.” She sinks back into her seat and tells herself it’s not personal. Piper just wants Jake to herself. That’s fine.

Alone at the table now, TJ relaxes more with each minute that passes. It’s warm and humid, and she’s suddenly glad for the two-piece rather than the wetsuit. She’d been so worried about people’s reactions, but that wasn’t so bad, was it?

A classmate shoots out of the nearby waterslide and into the pool with a thunderous splash. Droplets spray at TJ’s feet and remind her that she came here to havefun. So she pushes the nachos away and heads up the stairs to the top of the slide.

Someone starts climbing the stairs right after her, and it’s funny how self-conscious she becomes knowing someone’s staring at her back (and everything else) as she ascends. She focuses on moving forward. As she nears the top, voices from the slide’s platform float down to her. She recognizes them as guys from the soccer team, right before she registers what they’re saying.

“...if you’re going to be like that, at least cover it up.”

“Right? No one wants to see that shit. It’s really making me appreciate the girls who take care of themselves.”

“I’m not even sure thatisa girl. She’s hairier than my dad.”

“Dude, she’s hairier than my dog.”