Volume 1, Issue 3: The Game Begins

Ian was working on his latest poem:

“To be a soccer ball t’would suck.
To always be kicked all through the muck.”

He was stuck on the next line. Sitting at Uncommon Grounds coffee shop, he put his head in his hands and thought about what a terrible poet he was turning out to be.

Ian was studying English literature at Iowa Central University. He had a handful of semesters left to go and was facing the inevitable panic that most soon-to-be-graduates must face. What the hell was he going to do with a degree in English? He didn’t get his teaching certificate and he was finally coming to realize that he wasn’t a good enough writer to do much with it.

His cousin, Birdie, sat down across from him.

“On your break?” he asked her.

She nodded a response as she took off her employee apron. Ian’s friend Blake slid into the seat next to Birdie and winked at her. He turned to Ian.

“Sorry I’m late. Had to shower off after my run,” he said and stretched his muscled arms up over his head, all the while watching Birdie out of the corner of his eye.

Blake had always had a crush on Birdie and right now Blake’s manly display was really irritating Ian. Everything was irritating Ian. He and Blake were supposed to meet to proof read each others' first essay for their Shakespeare class and Blake, with his blonde hair and blue eyes was late, as usual. Ian’s jaw tensed and Blake could tell that something was wrong.

“Hey man, don’t it sweat. I’ll make it up to you and buy your coffee,” Blake said nervously. He winked at Birdie again and she rolled her eyes.

“In your dreams Blake. I’m a total lesbian,” she spat out.

The table went silent and Ian and Blake stared at her. She hadn’t told any of them yet. Ian then realized why she had been acting so strange lately. He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a high five. Somehow her announcement made sense to him. Blake wasn’t as convinced.

“Wow, Bird…never would have guessed it,” Blake said.

“You’re so girly, you know, I just…are you sure?” he stumbled on.

Now it was Birdie’s turn to be irritated.

“Feminine women can be huge lesbians, you know. Not all lesbians are masculine or whatever,” she spat at him. She went back to work even though her break wasn’t over. Work was much easier than having to put up with Blake’s useless flirtation.

Blake watched her go. He was suddenly determined to prove to her that she, in fact, was not a lesbian.