Chapter Text
First Grade - 1996
They're twenty days into the first grade when Miss Kane announces that they have a new student joining them. Alex, who sits in the back of class with most of the boys, eyes the new girl with curiosity. She's tiny and her skin is tan and she has deep dimples in her cheeks. Her arms and legs and parts of her face are littered with bandaids (Alex can clearly see the 'Superman' insignia on them) and she smiles wide as she waves to the class and introduces herself as Maggie Sawyer, from Nebraska.
Alex starts to smile and wave back at her - because her parents have always taught her to be friendly - but then she hears the jokes some of the boys are already starting to make to each other and catches the looks that the girls ahead of her are giving to her bandaids and the way they eye the simple, checkered dress and Mary Janes she's wearing and she can feel when the entire class makes the decision not to like this strange Nebraskan girl or her dimples. Alex doesn't understand why, but she finds herself agreeing with them. Maggie is weird. She doesn't like Maggie.
She doesn't.
But then Maggie begins to follow her around at recess, ignoring the other kids that throw taunts at her and call her 'Mummy' because of all her bandaids. She smiles at Alex and she's all dimples, but Alex reminds herself about the girls that are her friends now - the ones that tell her that Maggie is a freak, that they don't like her - and all the boys that laugh at her and how she can't really afford to risk them. Not for Maggie. No matter how nice she seems.
Her parents also taught her never to be mean, but they never said that she has to be nice. So she ignores Maggie, but she never calls her names or pushes her, like the other girls do. That doesn't stop Maggie from trying, though.
One day, just after Halloween, Alex is sitting alone next to the basketball court, watching the boys play 2-to-1, when Maggie walks up to her, toting a pumpkin full of chocolate. She offers it to Alex. "Wanna share my Halloween candy?"
Alex glances up at her and shakes her head, silently, then she turns back to watch the boys play, hoping that Maggie will get the hint.
Of course, she doesn't. She sits right next to Alex and takes out a full-size Snickers bar, carefully unwrapping it. She takes a bite and watches the boys for a while, too. Then, suddenly, a thought occurs to her. "Why don't you go play with them?" she asks.
"Girls don't play basketball," Alex replies, dejectedly.
"Who told you that?" Maggie asks, laughter in her voice.
"They did," Alex says, still keeping her eyes on the boys. The biggest one, Jamie, plays against two smaller boys, Harris and Jake. Even outnumbered, he holds his own.
"Well, that's not true," Maggie says, furrowing her brows. "I play basketball."
"You do?"
Maggie nods. "So do my sisters," she says. "Abby was on a basketball team back in Nebraska. She's gonna try out this year, too. She's really good at it."
"She is?" Alex asks.
"Yeah! Her team won the championship last year." Maggie's getting more and more excited and it must be contagious, because suddenly so is Alex. "Hey, we should play against the boys. Show them that girls can play, too!"
Alex frowns suddenly and shakes her head. "No," she says. "They're really good. We'll probably lose."
"They're not that good," Maggie snorts. "Abby is better."
"And you?" Alex asks.
"I'm okay, I guess. I beat Abby a few times, but I think she lets me." She rolls her eyes. "But I'm good at making baskets and dribbling. Do you know how to dribble?"
Alex nods. "I play with my dad, sometimes, when he's not busy."
"Then you already know that girls can play basketball, silly," Maggie giggles, putting down her basket as she stands up and then reaches for Alex's hand. Alex is so shocked by the move that she doesn't even fight as Maggie drags her onto the court and straight into the middle of the boys' game. She pauses right in front of Jamie as he races towards the hoop and he stops barely in time to keep from bowling them over.
"What the heck!?" he exclaims, glaring down at them - especially Maggie. "What do you want, Mummy?"
"My name is Maggie," the tiny girl replies, almost bored. "And we wanna play basketball."
Jamie snorts and the other two boys laugh. "Girls don't play basketball," he says, just like he had told Alex earlier.
"Says who?" Maggie asks, letting go of Alex's hand to cross her arms over her chest. Even with more than a foot in height difference between her and Jamie, she looks imposing. Her bottom lip sticks out as she glares up at him and she lifts her chin up, allowing Alex to see the 'S' of the Superman symbol. She glances at Jamie and sees him falter for a moment, before he paints on a glare.
"Says everybody," he replies, a moment too late. He swallows. "My dad says it's a man's game."
Maggie snorts at that, lifting one brow. "You're not a man, Jamie," she says. "You're a kid. We're all kids. And we all like to play games. Basketball is just a game. We should all play together."
"Why would we want to play with girls, anyhow? We'd have to let you win."
"Don't do us any favors," Maggie says. "We can win by ourselves. Right, Alex?"
Alex hesitates for a moment, then nods. "Right," she says.
Jamie snorts. "Prove it," he said. "Boys against girls. Right now. If we win, you never get to play basketball again."
"And if we win," Maggie retorts, "everybody gets to play; girls included."
"Deal," Jamie says. "But you've gotta beat all three of us."
"Shouldn't be too hard," Maggie says, grinning. She shakes his hand and then grabs Alex's, dragging her to the center of the court. "Just follow my lead," she instructs. "And do your best."
Alex nods, but feels the pressure as tiny little Maggie Sawyer checks the ball at big ol' Jamie Hannigan. She sighs as Maggie begins to dribble, watching her out of the corner of her eye to make sure that she doesn't get squished. To her surprise, Maggie runs around Jamie, quick and agile, as she dribbles the ball and shoots it straight at the basket. She cheers as she gets a point and Alex grins, then frowns when Harris catches the rebound and makes a shot for the boys' team. She runs as fast as she can to get the rebound from that and keeps her arm out to keep Jake from reaching in. She's able to get another shot and Maggie knocks it away from Jamie's hands, right back to Alex, who gets another shot.
The game ends 6-4 when the bell rings and they're all called back into the school. Alex and Maggie grin at each other as they walk into together and Alex doesn't even care when she hears a few girls whisper about her because they won the game! She's beaming as she returns to her seat and barely registers Maggie following her, even though her seat is in the front row.
"Alex," Maggie says, startling her new friend. Maggie gives her a gentle smile and holds up a Superman bandaid. At Alex's looks of confusion, the smaller girl points at her elbow and Alex looks down, seeing a slight scrape. "May I?" Maggie asks and Alex nods, ignoring the flush that covers her cheeks as Maggie gently presses the bandaid over her cut. "Much better," she says, grinning up at Alex, who finds herself smiling back. "Wanna play again tomorrow?" she asks.
"Sure," Alex replies. She doesn't even care that she can feel others staring at her, because Maggie's smile is truly infectious and her chest flutters with something Alex has never felt before. So she nods and watches Maggie return to her desk, her fingers playing with the new bandaid on her opposite elbow.