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“Buffy’s what?” TJ huffs as he dribbles around Kira and shoots a lay-up. The ball glides through the net, bouncing off to the side of the court when it hits the ground.
“She’s not playing in the game tomorrow. Don't you ever listen?” Kira sounds exasperated. Then again, she almost always sounds exasperated.
TJ jogs off to retrieve the ball. “Why not?”
“She broke her foot, or something,” Kira says offhandedly, looking down at one of her nails as TJ walks back to her side of the court.
Her comment makes TJ stop in his tracks. “She what?”
“She broke her foot. Or her ankle, I don’t know.” Kira rolls her eyes. “That's not the important part here.”
“Then what's the important part?” TJ asks incredulously.
Kira frowns at him. She does that a lot, too. “The important part is that she won't be able to play in the game tomorrow. Which means...” She trails off, waiting for TJ to complete her thought.
Too bad TJ never has any fucking clue what she’s thinking. “She’s gonna be heartbroken that she has to watch from the sidelines?”
“No, idiot,” Kira says, and she clearly means it in a joking way but it sounds a lot less endearing than when Cyrus says it. Not that there's any reason to compare the two. Lots of people call TJ an idiot, himself included. “It means I could take her spot.”
TJ just blinks at her for several seconds, processing that. He’s always known that Kira’s priorities are seriously skewed (not that he didn’t try his best to stay in denial about it), but this is a new low, even for her. He’s literally at a loss for words, so he just says, “Uh. Okay?” because he really doesn't have the energy to rant about how fucked up this is.
“Just okay? That's it?” Kira sounds offended, which would make TJ laugh if this whole situation wasn't so insane.
But he can tell she's getting pissed, so he backtracks. “I mean, I just don't know if that'll work. You got kicked off the team, remember? Buffy’s still captain, she probably won't let you play.” She's really good at holding a grudge, he doesn't say.
“She will if they don't have enough players.” And like, that would sound vaguely threatening if Kira didn't have a point. Buffy really might not have enough girls to play, and if there's one thing Buffy Driscoll hates more than losing, it’s forfeiting.
Luckily, TJ may have a solution to that. He's gonna keep it to himself, though. “Huh. I guess you're right.” And if Kira interprets his smirk as a sign of encouragement to try and take over the girls’ team, well. TJ isn't gonna correct her.
-
“This is so insane, you know that, right?” Buffy’s tapping the toe of her boot against the hardwood, hands on her hips. “No one is gonna fall for this.”
“Probably not. But it's better than letting Kira play, right?” TJ retorts, and Buffy shrugs. She can't argue with that.
A pensive look flashes across Buffy's face, and she walks slowly over to where TJ is standing by the bleachers. “Hey, can I ask you something?”
“Shoot.”
“Why do you hang out with Kira?”
TJ shifts, averting his eyes as he sticks his hands in the pocket of his hoodie so he won't fidget. “What do you mean?”
Buffy cuts him a look. “You know what I mean. You don't even like her.”
“What makes you think that?”
“If you were friends with her, you wouldn't be doing this for me,” Buffy says simply, and yeah, she's right. “Plus, Cyrus said you guys only talk about basketball. You don't even talk about basketball that much with me, and we used to be on the same team.”
To be fair, when they were on the same team, TJ wasn’t exactly the most welcoming captain. He doesn't bring that up, though. “I don't talk to you that much at all,” he says instead, and it comes out way more defensive than he means for it to. He mentally kicks himself for being really bad at bluffing - he used to be so good at it, what the fuck happened to the old TJ? (He knows what happened, he just can't admit it yet. Not out loud, anyway.)
Buffy scoffs, because she knows, too. “Cut the crap, Kippen. You may be fighting with Cyrus, which I’m mad at you for by extension, by the way, but we’re still friends. I can tell you have your own...stuff. You can talk to me.”
“I really can’t,” TJ blurts, and slaps a hand over his mouth the second the words leave his lips.
Buffy’s eyes go wide at the sudden honesty, and TJ’s pretty sure she gets the implications, but Buffy has never been one to force someone to talk. “Fine, you don't have to give me any answers. But Cyrus deserves them.”
She's right. Again. “Yeah, I know. I want to talk to him, but -”
“Kira,” Buffy cuts in, and TJ nods dejectedly. “Well, maybe I can help you with that in exchange for you helping me in the game tonight. Deal?” She sticks out a hand, giving TJ a reassuring smile.
“Deal.” He takes her hand, giving it a light shake, and the small smile that finds its way onto his lips is the most genuine it’s been in longer than he'd like to admit.
-
TJ looks ridiculous. He feels ridiculous. This is ridiculous.
Amber just laughs at him. “Dude, no one is gonna believe this.”
TJ tosses his hair over his shoulder, glaring at his sister. “You're the one who picked this wig out!”
“And? I'm not a magician, Tyler. I can't make you a girl.”
TJ squints at the mirror. “You could've done better on my makeup.”
Amber rolls her eyes. “Like you would know anything about that. Your eyebrows have never looked better.”
“My eyebrows are fine.” Why is TJ defending his eyebrows, again? This is all so dumb.
Amber levels him with a look, and tosses her hair over her shoulder, too. It looks a lot cooler than when TJ did it. “Keep telling yourself that.” She checks the time on her phone, swatting TJ’s arm with her other hand. “You better get out of here or you're gonna be late!”
TJ looks like he's just suffered the greatest betrayal of all time. “You're not coming with me?”
Amber laughs, the traitor. “And sit with Jonah and Andi? No thanks. As much as I’d love to see you embarrass yourself, I can't deal with the tension.”
“It's your fault for being an idiot and thinking you were in love with Jonah,” TJ teases.
“Don't go there, little brother,” Amber says, and TJ takes it for the threat it is. He really shouldn't be talking about being an idiot in love, that's just hypocritical. “And seriously, get the fuck out of here.” She shoves him out of the bathroom, practically pushing him down the stairs. “Good luck!” she calls before going back into her room to do whatever it is she does when she isn't being overly involved in TJ’s life.
Just this once though, he's kind of grateful for it. To pull this off, he needs all the help he can get.
-
He’s never gonna pull this off. Not in a million years. There's no way. He’s going to die of embarrassment right here, right now.
As soon as he walks into the girls’ locker room (after Buffy texted him to assure him all the girls were done changing), the entire team stares at him for a solid minute without saying anything. Buffy’s clearly holding in a laugh, but TJ isn't sure if it's because of his appearance or the stunned confusion of everyone else in the room. TJ clears his throat like, five times. He just wants somebody to say something. Anything.
“TJ, you really need to put your hair up,” one of the girls finally says, and TJ has never appreciated anyone more than in this moment. “Nobody plays with their hair down.” TJ nods and just stands there. She doesn't think he has a hair tie, does she? He's never had long hair in his life.
“I got you,” another girl says, stepping forward and motioning for TJ to turn around. “Don't move, okay?” TJ nods, and she sighs. “I said don't move.”
“Sorry,” TJ mumbles. He's used to apologizing, at this point.
“It's okay,” the girl reassures him as she combs her hands through the wig. “Just keep your head still for a second, I’ll be done quick.”
She ends up braiding his hair because the wig looked even worse when they tried a ponytail, but it works. It actually doesn't look that bad, to be honest. He thanks her, and she backs up to give him a once-over with the rest of the team.
“That's as good as it's gonna get,” Buffy says after a beat. The other girls nod, and she motions for TJ to stand with them. He closes the distance in a few long strides, standing next to the girl who braided his hair. It occurs to him that he really should know their names.
Buffy stands on a bench, which stresses TJ out because she's already injured but he knows she'd pummel him if he tried to help her up. “Okay, this game is probably gonna be a disaster, and TJ’s definitely gonna get caught, but we’re just gonna go out there and do our best. If we’re gonna lose, let's have fun doing it!”
It's not exactly the most motivational speech TJ’s ever heard, but the girls are all cheering and fist bumping and generally seem excited so he guesses it’s done its job. Another girl walks up to TJ and asks if she can wipe off some of his blush because he's wearing “so much it makes you look like a high schooler.” He nods, and she drags a tissue across his cheeks before giving him a thumbs up and pushing him through the door and out onto the court.
The first quarter goes surprisingly well with TJ carrying the team. The girls aren't bad, really, they're just inexperienced and not naturally athletic so it puts them at a disadvantage. They’re pretty good at the basics though, so they just focus on getting the ball and passing it to TJ to let him handle the rest. It works. They end the first half only two points behind the other team, to Buffy’s delight.
But the other team has been giving TJ increasingly suspicious looks, and it’s starting to worry him. He pulls Buffy aside after their team huddle and tells her as much, but before she can respond, a ref is walking over to them. TJ feels his heart stop in his chest.
“Act natural,” Buffy says, elbowing him conspicuously. So much for acting natural.
The ref walks up to the two of them, the rest of the team eyeing him warily. “What's your name?” he asks TJ without even so much as a greeting.
“Ty- Taylor,” he stutters, because he hadn’t actually thought he'd need a fake girl name. In hindsight, that was really poor planning. (But this whole thing was poorly planned so he shouldn't be surprised.)
He gives TJ a weird look, but doesn't argue. “Okay, Taylor, what school do you go to?”
“Jefferson.” At least that's not a lie.
“What's your last name?”
“Kippen.” That's not a lie, either. Two out of three isn't that bad, right?
The ref nods, walking back over to the other side of the court and talking to some guy TJ doesn't recognize. Buffy stomps on his foot with her boot.
“Why did you give him your real last name?” she whisper-yells, clearly distraught.
TJ throws his hands up in surrender. “I don't know! I panicked.”
“They're gonna know it's you.” She looks like she's resisting the urge to facepalm.
TJ shakes his head at her. “Uh, Buff, I think they already know it's me. That's why they asked.”
“You could've tried to be a little more convincing.”
“That's kind of hard to do when -”
TJ is cut off by the ref clearing his throat. Great. If their cover wasn't blown before, it sure as fuck is now. “There's no one who goes to Jefferson by the name of Taylor Kippen,” he says with a pointed look at TJ. “Do you want to try again?” He folds his arms, waiting.
TJ shares a look with Buffy, who nods. The gig’s up. “I’m TJ Kippen.”
“Captain of the boys’ team? That TJ Kippen?”
TJ’s a little surprised this random ref knows who he is, but then again, he probably referees boys’ games too. “Yes sir.”
“You can't play on the girls’ team,” he says simply.
“Why not?” Buffy cuts in, because of course she does.
The ref looks at her dismissively. “Because he's a boy.” He glances at the wig. “Clearly.”
“So? I’m a girl and I played on the boys’ team.”
“That's different,” the ref snaps, and TJ can tell he's getting exasperated.
TJ puts an arm around Buffy’s shoulder in solidarity, and also to let her know he'll handle this. Clearly the ref isn't taking her seriously. “Different, how?” Maybe playing dumb isn't the way to go, but TJ wants to hear the ref say it.
The ref suddenly seems a lot more understanding. “Well, you're a boy. She's a girl,” he says like that explains everything, which he probably thinks it does. That kind of thinking is what's wrong with the world. And TJ would know, because he used to think like that too.
“We know,” is all TJ says.
“So,” the ref says slowly, “if she plays on a boys’ team, it won't be a problem for the other players. If you play on a girls’ team, that's unfair for the opponents.”
TJ frowns at him. “How is it unfair?”
The ref definitely thinks he's an idiot at this point, but it's worth it when he blurts, “You're too good to play on a girls’ team. That's why we don't let boys play on girls’ teams to begin with,” with absolutely no shame.
TJ and Buffy share a look. “So just because I’m a boy, I’m better than all the girls?”
“Yes.”
“You’re wrong.” He gives Buffy’s shoulder a gentle squeeze. “She beats me in one-on-one almost every time we play.”
“That's irrelevant.”
“Not really. You were just talking about how -”
“That's enough, TJ,” he says with a lot more authority than necessary. “You can't play in this game, or any other girls’ games from now on. You're officially banned.” He finally turns to Buffy. “Do you have another player who can sub in?”
“No,” Buffy says defiantly.
“Then you forfeit,” is all the ref says before walking away and announcing the news that the game won't be continuing.
They head to the locker room, and TJ is surprised at how light the mood is. The girls are mostly just happy to have scored so many points, even though they realize it was mostly TJ’s doing. He assures them he couldn't have done it without their help, which makes them proud. He doesn't say anything about the exchange with the ref, and neither does Buffy.
TJ just takes the wig off and shoves it into his bag before grabbing the rest of his stuff and heading home.
-
“So I saw what you did,” Kira says way too casually as she slides into the seat next to TJ.
They're at the park, because for some reason Kira always wants to go to the park despite TJ’s frequent requests to do literally anything else. Cyrus goes to the park a lot. It sucks being so close yet unable to actually talk to him.
“What did I do?” he asks lazily. He knows what he did.
“You pretended to be a girl to play in Buffy’s game.”
TJ just stares off in Cyrus’ direction. He's sitting with Buffy, and TJ wonders if they're talking about the game too. “Yeah.”
“Buffy turned me down because of you. She said she had enough players. Why did you do that to me?” Kira’s clearly pissed, and this might be the angriest TJ’s ever seen her.
“I didn't do it to you,” he snaps, still not looking at her. “I did it for Buffy.”
“I’m over here. Hello?” Kira smacks his arm, and he finally turns. “What do you mean you did it for Buffy?”
TJ doesn't know what Kira’s getting at, but he's sure it's nothing good. He glances back at Cyrus, who's laughing at something on his phone, and TJ’s heart aches. He decides to tell the truth. “I didn't want Buffy to have to hang out with you.”
Kira totally misinterprets that, naturally. “I can hang out with people besides you, TJ,” she says, and this is the moment TJ breaks.
“Then why don't you, Kira?” he says, and now Kira registers the venom in his voice. “I don't like you. We aren't friends. What do you even want from me? All we ever do is talk about basketball, which is cool, but it's not that interesting to have the same debate about whether Stephen Curry deserves all the hype he gets for the third time in a week when I could be talking about more important stuff with other people.”
Kira narrows her eyes at him, and her voice is ice cold when she says, “Other people, like Cyrus?”
It’s a challenge, a dare, but TJ is so fucking done ignoring this. “Yeah, like Cyrus. He actually listens to me, y’know? And we talk about stuff that matters. He's my friend, and I miss him, and I wish you would go hang out with other people so that I could have my life back.”
“You'd rather hang out with Cyrus than me?”
TJ’s getting pissed now, too. “Isn't that what I just said? Don't play dumb. You know I like him more than I’ll ever like you.”
And yeah, there’s more than one way to interpret that, but honestly it doesn't matter because either way Kira takes it it's still the truth. “Are you sure about that?” she asks anyway, for some reason. TJ wants to beat his head against the table.
“I've never been more sure of anything in my life,” he says, and stands up. “Bye, Kira.”
He walks over toward Buffy and Cyrus, smile growing on his face with every step. He can hear Kira calling him, but he doesn't turn around. He doesn't care what she's saying. All he cares about is Buffy’s small smile of approval and Cyrus’ shy look of surprise as he gets closer to the bench they're sitting on. When he reaches them, he stops in front of Cyrus. He gives Buffy a nod and a fist bump, and turns to the boy he's missed so much lately.
They have a lot to talk about, but for now he just starts with a soft, “Hey, Underdog.”