TOMBOY

It was going to rain. Looking at the dark gray clouds

hurrying to cover the every-once-in-a-while sun, lights of

excitement danced in Serena's eyes. This was going to be a

great game.

Tucking her faded blue button up shirt in her flayed

jean shorts, she walked with an arrogant stride, her chin

held high. She would win, show all of them who was boss. She

reached up to make sure all of her hair was securely tucked

in her washed out baseball cap.

Reaching the edge of the dark field of Juuban Park,

she stopped once and looked back, weighing the outcome on her

shoulders. She could go home. It was what one would expect

from a girl. But not Serena. She would fight to the end.

And with that thought, Serena ran toward the field.

"Wait!!!" she yelled, not at all out of breath, not a

quiver in her high pitched voice. She looked over them, an

I-know-I'm-better-than-you look masking her face. "You didn't

expect me not to play because of a little rain did ya?" she

asked, grinning confidently.

Groans sounded from the crowd of teenagers huddled in

the field. They all knew she was going to show up. No way

Serena would miss a game like this.

"Alright, you're on Darien's team as usual," said

Ken, pointing a finger toward the left side of the field. He

looked back at Serena, his eyes serious and searching. "No

tricky stuff this time Serena,"

"Don't worry, I wouldn't do anything you wouldn't

do," she said as she strutted toward her team. Her face full

of determination and smugness, she ran to her group who had

already started the huddle. She eyed her teammates with a

look that meant mischief and sometimes trouble, a brilliant

smile on her face. "Let's play ball!"

Ken strode away to his own team, muttering to

himself. Serena would do just that, and more. Anything he do

his foot!

Damn it, thought Lita as she searched the bleachers

for her raincoat. It was going to rain. And those crazy fools

were playing football in the rain like monkeys.

As she looked over the crowd, Lita Charleston smiled to

herself watching the guys and the infamous blond play

football. Serena was a tough one, tough as bricks. She was

always doing everything with the guys, acting like guys, and

if she ever came to school in a skirt, it was a definite fact

that the whole male population would faint or have a heart

attack.

Some people were just born with the wrong genes. And

that was precisely the case when it came to Serena Tsukino.

With her blue eyes, the only noticeable female feature, she

looked like her sex was just a mistake or a joke that god had

played on the world.

It was strange that Serena hadn't outgrown her tomboy

stage. Lita had been there, done that, and moved on a long

time ago and it amused her endlessly to see a 16 year old

girl still a tomboy. But, Lita thought to herself, maybe she

was biased.

Lita's attention reared back to field as she heard a

heartfelt yowl and several groans coming from the field.

Curious, she shaded her eyes so she could see better.

"Serena, you can't do that, it's against the rules,"

came the voice of Greg.

He was standing there looking at Andrew who was

moaning on the ground. She saw Serena with a lost innocent

look on her face.

"But, he was in my way and I had the football. I was

running really fast and-" she paused for a dramatic effect,

"my foot just hit him in the balls-"

"Serena, you know exactly what you did," Darien cut

in, holding back his own smile, "No more tricky stuff

meatball head. Let's play on,"

Then, hardly sparing Andrew a glance as he walked back to his

station on the field, he said "Andrew, on your feet, Serena's

done worse before."

Lita turned back to the bleachers, continuing her

search. That was Serena all right. She was admirable, even if

she was a man at heart. A woman was a woman and that was all

there was to it. Even if they didn't want to acknowledge the

fact themselves.

Finding her coat, Lita muttered "aha!" and picked up her

drink. She sighed as she took a sip from her orange juice.

She looked back at the field where Serena threw a long pass

toward Chad. Wouldn't it be strange, she thought as she

savored the wonderful taste of the drink, if Serena actually

wanted to be a woman? Oh how the world would be turned

around.