At the first football game of the season, I spotted a new gorgeous blonde cheerleader. She must have been a freshman because I’d never seen her before. It wasn’t just that she was tall and toned with a terrific rack. Although, those things are what caught my eye. When she cheered, her baby blue eyes lit up.

Her entire face just glowed as she chanted. She had this way of cheering and looking into the crowd as if she wanted to truly connect with the fans. She looked to be enjoying herself, and it really showed. From where I sat, I could feel an electrical connection between us whenever we made eye contact.

Her facial expressions, alone, as she sang out ‘Hot Boudin’ were priceless. As she cheered, she would look over at me, smiling. As an Argentinian, my sausage of choice was chorizo, of course, but the way she cheered that song, I suddenly wanted to sink my teeth into the Louisiana treat. I couldn’t stop myself from grinning like a fool at her.

Smiling back at girls was not my usual game. Girls loved dudes that ignored them. The more you ignored a girl, the more she wanted you. These tactics had worked since high school, all the way until college. Girls were suckers for guys who acted like they didn’t care.

“Come on Tigers! Push, push, push!” The new cheerleader’s hips swayed back and forth as she cheered. Her uniform fit her nice and snug. This girl was gorgeous and her body movements were mesmerizing.

When the Tigers scored a touchdown, she did an impressive backflip, that I swear she did just for me. I was pretty impressed by her flexibility. My mind wandered to how fun her flexible limbs and acrobatic prowess would be in bed.

I was majoring in Kinesiology. The physiological, biomechanical, and psychological mechanisms of body movement fascinated me. I had pored over research on the proper biomechanics of baseball pitching to prevent injury and improve my performance. My desire to become a great pitcher fueled my Kinesiology studies.

There were six phases of motion in an overhand baseball pitch. Every body movement can be broken down into parts. I hadn’t done a biomechanical analysis of a backhand somersault, but the new cheerleader’s movements looked to be flawless. I would kill to do a biomechanical analysis on her tight body. I had to meet her.

The cheerleaders took a water break, and I noticed the new cheerleader talking with Helena Baker. Helena and I were acquaintances, simply because we were both in sports and seniors. She was kind of an icy snow queen. Ever since she stopped dating a running back on the football team, her demeanor towards sports guys grew even chillier.

It was like she suddenly had something against guys like me. I didn’t know Helena’s ex-boyfriend personally, but from what I heard, he put her through the ringer. Helena seemed anti-athletes after that relationship ended.

After the water break, the new cheerleader refused to really look at me. There was no way I could practice my ignore tactics if she was ignoring me first. I cringed. I shouldn't have been smiling right at her for so long.

The new cheerleader was already taking me for granted. I needed to let her know who was in charge. I had failed at that from smiling like a goon the entire game.

I wondered if Helena told her anything about me. Rolling my eyes, Helena knew everybody. There were some unsavory stories floating around there about me.

Had Helena warned the new cheerleader about me?

The new girl was gorgeous, but I was Ryan Romero, the star pitcher for the LSU Tigers. I could get any girl I wanted with a snap of my fingers.

I tried again with the new cheerleader when she finally looked over at me again. Shrugging my shoulders and mocking a sad face, I waited for her response. Girls usually loved my pouty face. She was going to fall for my winning pout: hook, line, and sinker.

To my surprise, she looked away from me, directing her attention to another area of the stands. Suddenly, I felt pretty stupid.

Neil nudged my arm. “What are you doing?”

I relaxed my shoulders and dropped my fake pout, looking at him. “See that new cheerleader.” I motioned with my chin.

“Ya. The blonde? She’s cute.” Neil threw a handful of popcorn into his mouth.

“I was trying to get her attention.” I watched as she interacted with the crowd but refused to look up at me again.

Neil looked at the cheerleader. “Yup. It’s not working.”

The new girl’s rejection rankled inside of me. Girls didn’t reject me. Girls were always killing themselves to hang out with me. This girl wouldn’t even look my way.

Whatever Helena told her, must have left quite an impression.

I would have to change up my game tactics with this one. The new girl was a prize that I had every intention of winning.

I would not be ignored.

An opportunity presented itself when I saw her and another cheerleader head to the concession stand.

I turned to Neil. “You need anything? I’m going to grab some food.”

Neil lifted up his drink, giving it a slurp. “I could use another soda.”

“Cool. Be right back.” I was in a hurry to get down there to talk to the new girl.

“Do you want me to go with you?” Neil asked, motioning to stand up.

“No. I got it.” I pushed him back down.

Neil’s eyes narrowed. “What are you up to? You hate fetching stuff for people.” His eyes followed mine, as I watched the new girl get in line at the concession stand.

“Oh. I should have known this was about a girl.” He clapped me on the back. “Get me a hot dog, too. Good luck. Hope you get her attention this time.”

Brushing his hand off my shoulder, I flexed my arms. “These guns will get her attention.”

Neil laughed. "Maybe. Let's hope she isn't into personalities." His voice dropped an octave into a sing-song tune. "Spoiler alert: You don't have one."

Playfully, I punched Neil in the shoulder. Neil and I both played on the baseball team. He was an amazingly great shortstop and friend, despite his constant teasing.

I pointed at my face. “At least, I have this pretty face.”

Neil chuckled and jokingly looked into my eyes lovingly. “Yes. You are nothing without that face.”

At the concession stands, the lines were painstakingly long. I decided to skip actually trying to get any food and just go up to the new girl and introduce myself. I squeezed through the crowd to get to where she stood.

She and the other cheerleader had their heads together, laughing and talking about something. The other cheerleader wasn’t someone I recognized. She must have been a freshman, too. I stood next to them without either of them noticing I was there.

A big burly dude with a full white beard standing behind the girls eyed me cautiously.

I shook my head. “No. I’m not cutting in line.”

His face relaxed momentarily before crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes again, as if to ask, ‘Then what are you doing here?’

I pointed at the girls who still hadn’t noticed I was standing next to them. “I’m with them.” The big dude cleared his throat, obviously not believing me. I tapped my finger on the new girl’s shoulder.

She looked up at me, surprised. “Yes?”

“Oh. I was just explaining to this gentleman that I was with you.” I gave her a big smile.

Confusion clouded her face. “I’m sorry?” She looked at the big dude who shook his head and shrugged. She looked over at me again. “I’m not sure what’s going on.”

Quickly, I extended my hand as the line lulled forward. “I’m Ryan Romero.”

The new cheerleader took it as she stepped forward. “Kassie Fairchild.” She indicated to the girl standing next to her. “This is Naomi Davis.”

I shook Naomi’s hand. “Nice to meet you.” Naomi had curly brown hair and an amused look on her face.

During our introductions, the big dude seemed satisfied that I wasn’t just arbitrarily jumping into line. He busied himself with his phone.

Unexpectedly, awkward silence heaved itself into the moment. The line moved again, and we inched forward. We were almost at the window. I had to make my move. “Are you doing anything after the game?” I asked with a casual air.

Kassie looked over to Naomi. “We’re meeting up with some friends.”

“Cool. Cool.” That threw me for a loop. Most girls said they weren’t doing anything whenever I asked.

Kassie and Naomi exchanged looks. It was getting more and more awkward by the second. It was not going as smoothly as I had hoped.

At that point, the big dude behind us kept looking up from his iPhone screen to watch my debacle. I was drowning with this girl, with an audience to witness the tragedy.

I’d asked dozens of girls out with no problem. What was my problem with this girl?

I stammered on, “Ok. Well, if you change your mind, we could grab something to eat or…”

Kassie’s face softened into a grimace. “I’m sorry, Ryan, but I’d like to hang out with my friends tonight. Thanks for asking.”

With that, it was their turn in line. They stepped up to the window, leaving me back in line with the big burly dude.

He lifted his eyebrows at me and immediately went back to his phone. I was humiliated, even this dude felt sorry for me.

I stepped up to the window when the girls retrieved their food: fries and drinks. “Can I help?” I asked.

Kassie waved me off with a smile. “No, that’s okay. We’ve got it. Thank you.”

She looked down at my empty hands. “Are you getting anything?”

I stammered. “No. I’m not hungry.”

Kassie laughed. “You came down to the concession stands but not to order any food?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I needed to stretch my legs.”

She nodded with a sweet smile. “Okay. Well, see you around.”

I watched as she walked away, dumbfounded.

Crash and burn.

I was going to have to pull out all the stops to get this girl interested in me. Kassie was my new challenge. My usually suave style seemed to vanish when I was with her. I couldn’t let that happen again. It was time to pull out all the stops.