It was getting ridiculous. It had been weeks since the first game of the season, that awful night where I’d made myself look like a bumbling fool. I still couldn’t shake Kassie from my mind. 

It was next to impossible because I went to all the home football games. Of course, she was there smiling with her sexy mouth and gyrating her full hips. Watching her blonde ponytail flip around made me crazy, imagining that hair whipping around in bed. 

Ever since the first game, she barely ever looked at me in the stands. It didn’t matter how close I sat either. Sitting up front and center seemed to force her to do everything she could to not make eye contact with me.

For the home game last week, I convinced Neil and Trent to show up to the game shirtless and painted purple. Neil had a yellow “L” painted on his torso. Trent was “U.” Bringing in the middle of our spectacle, I was “S.”

We looked awesome! I would have bet money that seeing my purple pecs and washboard stomach would grab her attention, but our eyes didn’t connect even once during that game. Not once.

What did I have to do to get this girl to even acknowledge me? What was her deal?

She was irritating, but I’d found a new hobby in her, seizing her heart. Since high school, girls were a dime a dozen. In fact, Kassie was the first girl who ever flat out shot me down.

Realizing I’d had a pretty chill dating existence since high school, I questioned whether I needed to challenge myself more. Who knew what dating was like outside of college? Why not try something new? Why not go for the girl who was playing hard to get?

But I knew it was all for show. Kassie wanted me. I could feel it. That night at the café after the game, I noticed that ignoring her made her nuts. I was almost stupid enough to go up to her table, but I thought better of it.

It worked though. Boy, did it work! I caught her looking at me more than once. No doubt, it ate her up that I wasn’t killing myself to go over there and talk to her. It was obvious she was interested in me. Anyone could see she was fighting it.

Normally, a girl, even a girl as beautiful and sexy as Kassie, wouldn’t cross my mind twice, but because she was adamantly refusing me, I couldn’t let it go. During a long run, I brainstormed ideas on how to get to her. 

After six miles of listening to Kendrick Lamar songs and hyping myself up, I came up with a plan. I was going to be around her as much as possible but give her a taste of her own medicine: ignore her completely. 

It wasn’t as easy as it sounded, but good thing I had the guys on the baseball team to help out with reconnaissance. Later that week, Neil, Trent, and Jordan reported their findings to me before practice in the locker room.

Neil looped his arm around my head, pulling me down into a hold. “Before I tell you anything, can I just say, this is so unlike you.”

Trent chimed in, “Ryan, are you getting soft on us?” He hit the top of my head.

In a sing-songy voice, Jordan said, “Ryan likes a girl! Ryan likes a girl!”

I wriggled out of Neil’s headlock. “Shut up. You guys are stupid. Tell me what you got.”

I took their ribbing in stride. Spending so much time to bag a girl was completely outside my character, but a challenge was a good thing. What better way than to sharpen my player skills for the real dating world outside of school. This girl was a challenge and although she was a little extra work, I was man enough to step up to the plate.

Jordan pulled on his elbow, giving his tricep a stretch. “I found out she lives in Annie Boyd Hall."

I nodded at this no-brainer. She was a freshman. Of course, she lived in the dorms. How adorable.

“Who’s her roommate?” I asked changing out of my jeans.

Trent piped in. “Her roommate is a gorgeous girl named Natalie Wright. Volleyball player. Beautiful dark chocolate skin. Long legs. A history major.”

“Dude, I asked you to get info on Kassie, not fall in love with her roommate!” I flicked at Trent’s ear, teasing him.

Trent batted my hand away. “Whatever, dude. Kassie and Natalie are the hottest girls in that dorm.”

Neil pointed at Trent with a serious expression. “He’s right.” 

I sat on a bench to lace up my shoes. “Okay, what else? What’s her major?”

“Environmental engineering,” Neil reported.

I stopped lacing my cleats, looking up surprised. “She’s smart?”

Neil turned around as he slipped off his shoes. “Oh, she’s very smart, dude. Graduated top of her class in high school. She’s at LSU on a full scholarship: half academic and half athletic for cheerleading.” Neil looked pleased with himself for his wealth of information. 

Kassie was smart, huh? She was turning out to be a bigger challenge than I originally thought. I loved a good challenge.

I had to know more. “What about hobbies or clubs? What’s she into?”

Jordan pulled his shirt down over his head as he talked. “Easy answer. She’s in a ton of orgs, man.” He listed them on his fingers. “CORPRI: Coasts, Oceans, Ports, and Rivers Institute, Engineers Without Borders, LWEA: Louisiana Water and Environmental Association, and SWE: The Society of Women Engineers.”

“What the hell! That many clubs?” I shouted.

Jordan shrugged. “She loves the environment, dude. What can I say?”

All right, so I had a few clubs I could join to get to her. Kassie was becoming more intriguing the more I learned about her. Cheerleader. Engineering student. Volunteer. Activist. Scholar. 

Most girls, I went out with weren’t that deep. On second thought, maybe they were? I just hadn’t spent any time getting to know them to find out. When girls were so easy, why would I ever try hard?

After practice, I jumped on the internet and looked up info and meeting times for the different clubs. Engineers without Borders had a meeting that upcoming Thursday. I was minoring in Biomedical Engineering with a particular focus on Sports Medicine. Engineers Without Borders was a perfect organization for me to join.

The LSU’s chapter focused on transforming food deserts into healthy communities. It was too bad that I’d just found out about it in my senior year. As an athlete, I wholly understood the importance of diet and exercise. I also understood full well how lucky I was to never have to worry about access to affordable healthy food. 

That Thursday, EWB met in Sabilov Lab in the late afternoon. A group of about thirty gathered in a classroom. Arriving early so I could catch Kassie walking in, I sat at a desk in the back. Honestly, I couldn’t wait to see her.

When she walked in, my heart stopped. She looked stunning in light blue skinny jeans and a pink and white striped bell sleeve top. A baby blue beaded pompom necklace hung between her ample chest. She looked so hot.

Her blue eyes popped open in shock when she saw me sitting there. As she got closer, the pink shimmer of her lips caught my eye. I would have loved to lick that shimmer off her mouth. 

Casually, I looked away and made sure to maintain a face like stone. I looked right past her, as if she wasn’t there. She sat down two desks away from me. Her hair was up again in that bouncy ponytail. It swung from side to side as she sat down. That damn swinging ponytail was enough to give me a hard-on.

Trent did some digging and found out that Donovan’s, the senior third baseman's girlfriend was the project leader for an EWB project, the urban farm, Green Garden Greaux. Donovan arranged with his girlfriend, Liz, to make sure Kassie and I were paired up. 

Liz, a tiny Korean girl, started the meeting. For a petite person, her voice really carried. “Thank you for joining me, everyone!” She clasped her hands together in excitement. “The design phase of our rain-water catchment system is complete. We will be starting construction on the system this weekend, which means: significant changes to the Green Garden Greaux. Particularly, getting GGG off the grid!”

Members cheered, hooped, and hollered. Liz continued, speaking above the cacophony, “To make things easier, I’ve split everyone who’s available to start this Sunday into two-person groups." 

She typed on her MacBook that was hooked up to the huge screen on the wall. Then opened a file that revealed the pairs. At the very top, it said: Ryan and Kassie.

Seeing our names together like that made me already feel victorious. Although, I knew it was too early to celebrate just yet. Kassie was unlike any girl I’d ever gone after before. A girl like Kassie was unchartered territory.

People started to chat amongst themselves. “Meet up with your partner now and get your plans together for Sunday. After you partner up, we’ll reconvene in half an hour at GGG. I want to meet onsite to delegate tasks,” Liz called out.

I knew better than to go to Kassie first. She was going to have to come to me. Kicking back in my desk, I watched from the corner of my eye as Kassie reluctantly got up and walked over to where I sat.

“Ryan?” She talked softly with some hesitation. Her beautiful blue eyes flashed with indignation.

Scrolling through my phone, I looked up at her in surprise. “Yes?” I was careful to not show any recognition that I remembered her from before.

She fidgeted. “We’re partners.”

I squinted up at the screen at Liz’s list. “Oh. We are? You’re Kassie?”

She put a hand on her hip, cocking her head to the side. That naughty ponytail swung from the sudden tilt of her head. “Yes. I’m Kassie. We met a few weeks ago?”

Searching her gorgeous face with a furrowed brow, I asked, “We did?”

If baseball or kinesiology didn’t work out, I could have been an actor.

Kassie crossed her arms. “Yes. We did at the first football game of the season. I’m a cheerleader?”

I sighed. “You know. Why might have met, but I met a lot of people that night. I’m sorry.” I feigned a laugh. “I meet new people all the time.” I pointed at my head. “Bad memory.”

“Whatever.” She looked away irritated. “Well, my name is Kassie. Again.” Kassie had an elegant side profile. Her small nose upturned just a touch.

 “Nice to meet you, Kassie Again,” I made sure to say this playfully, which made her wince.

She ignored my stupid joke. “I want to get to the garden early on Sunday. 7 AM too early for you? Or will you be out meeting so many people the night before?”

“Not at all,” I said nonplussed. “I’m a morning person,” I lied. Sleeping in on Sundays was a usual and favorite activity.

“Great!” She swiveled around on her heel, calling behind her. "See you then. 7 AM. Don't be late." 

Watching her long ponytail wag behind her, I chuckled to myself. I now had her just where I wanted her, and she had no idea.