Chapter 1: And So the Lion Fell in Love With the Bantam….

B. P. Meyer 

Romance Writer in Residence

The cold has a way of getting under my feathers before I even leave my room. At Trinity, drafts seem to come from nowhere and everywhere. Seeping through cracks and secret tunnels, you can’t help but feel haunted yet empty here. I was then happy to be sliding on my orange socks and grey trainers. Another frigid night out on the sidelines of Trinity College athletics. I trotted along the Long Walk toward the Jesse/Miller field. Would I spend my life watching others? Cheering them on as I grew older? Would anyone ever cheer for me? I spiraled while dodging clumps of sidewalk salt; they always crust over my feathers. Tonight’s game was a big one, or so I had been told. I was never the sporty type, preferring to spend my time reading and writing anonymously for the campus newspaper, the Trinity Tripod. No one knew about my double life, at least not until I met Tucker.

The night air always feels heavier before I join the crowd. When the blue and gold have yet to appear, and it’s just Banty, not the mascot, but the girl. I stop and take a breath before the sidelines can come into view. “Last game of the season, this is what you are meant for, this is all they care about,” I tell myself, my vision getting blurry, eyes welling up. Once I gather the poise to skip onto the field, the crowd erupts. My brain silences, my body breaks into the chicken dance, and I am far, far away. The music blared, the crowd stomped, I let their energy carry me for the first two quarters, and then I saw him. Fluffy hair catching the floodlights, a grin that was 50 percent gums and 50 percent danger. The first time my beady left eye met his, every part of my body stood in exhilaration. This was the start to our love story, the start of my true life.