In short he was confused about what she was really doing. He'd heard the rumor about what she was going to pay off after the championship win, but like her he'd doubted she'd have to pay off at all.
But when she came into his room, looking unsettled, and even a little afraid, he had a pretty good idea why.
Alexis paced. "Hey" she said automatically. She turned around and said, "Great Game".
He nodded. "I almost missed a snap. But I got it there in time."
She hadn't heard a word he'd said, and it showed.
"I need to ask you a question," she said.
"Let me guess" he said. "You want to know if we're going to take the championship."
"How'd you know that was it?" she asked him, surprised.
"You look nervous and I'm on the team. I know about the payoff, just like everybody else. You want to know if you're going to have to pay up."
She blushed and looked down.
"Yeah," was all she said.
"What's the big deal?" he said. "According to what I hear you've been falling over backwards for everybody who goes out with you."
He didn't mean it to sound cruel, but it did. Part of his problem was that the linemen, who made every win possible, never got anything from the cheerleaders, and it pissed them off. It was an old saying: "Linemen always get screwed, but never by the girls."
He could tell immediately, though, that something was bad wrong. His sister, his big sister, a year older than him, wise and worldly, began to leak huge crocodile tears that ran down her flawless tanned cheeks right in front of him.
"Hey!" he said, putting down the earphones and standing up. "Come on, what's wrong Alexis? I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." He walked up to her and, to his amazement, she threw herself at him, hugging him tight.
"I .. don't .. do .. all those ... things .. I'm .. I've .. never" she sobbed so hard she couldn't talk.
Sam hugged her close and tight. "Hey, whatever it is it's okay," he said soothingly. "If you want me to break anybody's legs or something, just say the name. What's got you so upset? Is it me?"
"Noooo," she sobbed "Except that you believe it all too." She burst into tears again. "I .. th..th..thought you ... knew .. me better .. than ...thaaaat," she bawled.
Sam began to get a glimmer of what she was upset about. "You mean ... all those guys ... they were lying?"
She nodded, sniffling and he held her tighter.
"I do have some legs to break!" he growled.
Alexis shook her head. "No. It's as much my fault as it was theirs. I let them lie about me because ... well because it's just easier to deal with that than have everybody think you're Miss Goody Two Shoes." She stamped her foot, just barely missing his. "How many popular girls do you know who have a reputation for being virgins?" Her eyes flashed.
"You mean you've never ...?"
She shook her head emphatically.
"Not ever?" he asked.
"No," she said in a very small voice and began sniffling again. "But if we win that stupid game next Saturday I'll have to and I don't think I want to and ..." she started to cloud up again.
"Not even one little time?" mused Sam, finding it hard to believe that his sexy older sister had never had sex even once.
"Samuel So Shiok. You take that back this instant!" she snapped.
He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I didn't mean it. Don't get your panties in a wad. Besides, you don't have to do anything you don't want to."
"Yes I do" she moaned. "If I don't come through the whole school will find out and then they'll figure out why and nobody will ever talk to me again and my whole life will be ruined!"
"Well why did you agree to do this in the first place?" he asked, confused, now.
"I didn't!" she yipped. "Somebody started the rumor and it grew and grew and now I've gotten sucked into it!" she moaned.
"So what are you going to do?"
"Are we gonna win?" she asked, anguish in her voice.
"I think we are. Yes. We are so fired up about this. I think we can take either team," he said, truthfully.
"Shit!" she swore.