Racing The Rope

I wanted to get ready, but my head was messed up from all the laughing. Even after they calmed down I heard them in my psyche, jeering and heckling. I closed my mind to shut it all out, thinking that I could jump with my eyes closed and simply pretend nobody was watching. It didn’t work.

            They started the rope once again, and I made a total of two successful skips before I attempted a sizzler, which is when the jumper crosses his feet and legs in midair and uncrosses them just before he hits the ground. I failed miserably. I twisted my feet and legs fine, but never got them unfurled. I ended up on the ground looking like a complete idiot.

            “I’m not a pressure jumper,” I yelled, rising to my feet with as much dignity as I could muster.

            “What was that move?” Carrie asked.

            “The twist and crash,” Matti jeered.

            I brushed myself off, thankfully finding my inner peace and restraint. It could have gone either way for me at that moment. “Laugh it up, people,” I said with my own smile. “Because I know how to jump better than most of you here. Today just wasn’t my day, but wait until tomorrow. You’ll be sorry you made fun of the sizzler.”

            “You call yourself the Sizzler?” Terri asked.

            Everyone started to hoot and holler before I could tell them that I wasn’t referring to myself as the sizzler, but it was the name of the move I had attempted. “No, wait. I’m not the Sizzler. I’m not the Sizzler.”

            Riley licked her finger and touched her bulging backside with it. She made a sizzling noise that sounded like a drop of water hitting a hot frying pan and it was the highlight of the moment for all except me.

            “We’re going to call you Skippy Sizzler from now on,” Carrie shouted. Just then each and every one of the girls started chanting. “Sizzler. Sizzler. Sizzler.”

            I swallowed hard, hoping Leigh would tell them that I was referring to the move and that it wasn’t a title. She recorded the move in her book and even defined it. How could they not know what a sizzler was? I dared to look at her, but she wasn’t returning a gaze. Thankfully though, she wasn’t joining the others in the teasing. I used long quick strides in escaping back to the boys. During my departure those wicked little girls continued chanting my new name.