Bethany was different.

She was smart. She found humor in clever jokes and stupid puns. She took all the science electives with us pseudo-nerds. She wouldn't put out for any of the handsome jocks. She wouldn't put out at all.

Bethany wasn't your typical cheerleader.

She enjoyed making fun of her sister cheerleaders. Bethany liked to say the only thing the other girls were capable of learning in science class was not to lick the spoon.

I and my male friends were happy to be in the same science classes as Bethany. The fact that she was pretty was just an added bonus. I often didn't notice her cuteness because she was fun to be around. Well, sometimes I noticed. Okay. I noticed a lot. She was a beautiful brunette with long legs perfect for cheerleading. She had great curves so I loved cold days because she filled a sweater out wonderfully. I once plotted her breast curves on the computer. Just because I knew all the physical features about Bethany doesn't mean I didn't appreciate her smarts and her wit. Her intelligence made her all the more attractive.

After two years of high school science classes with Bethany, she was not only a friend but my secret crush. I never heard about Bethany dating anybody. I knew she definitely would never go out with a guy like me. I would love to have just one date with her. She was just too pretty for someone like me.

When our junior year started, it was good to be in science and math classes with Bethany again. She was still sixteen because her birthday was later in the year. I turned seventeen over the summer.

"Are you coming to the game tonight?" Bethany asked in class.

Tonight was the second home football game of the year. I inwardly groaned. I only went to the games to watch Bethany. Well, I did like to watch the other girls too even though they only dated jocks and they thought academic guys were a blight on the school. Bethany's chosen association with us geek guys made her an outcast with the other cheerleaders. Fortunately pretty Ms. Truman, the cheerleader coach, made sure the girls were chosen by ability and not popularity. Many a boy fantasized about Ms. Truman. I was no exception. I washed the evidence down the drain many times.

"Sure," I said. It was near impossible to say "no" to Bethany.

"Did you hear about the cheerleader who thought that blood circulation meant blood went down the right leg and up the left leg?"

I shook my head. I hadn't heard that one or if I did, I tried to forget it.

"Today we're studying magnetism," said Mrs. Wilbur. "Pick a lab partner."

Bethany's arm quickly grabbed mine. She pulled me forward.

"Just like magnetic attraction," she teased. She batted her eyes in that silly way she did.

I loved being in close proximity to her but it was completely frustrating to be just a friend. For all her smarts, didn't she know and have a clue how I and the other science geeks thought about her? Well, I didn't care too much about what the other guys thought about her. I wanted her to know how much I liked her. She had no idea how crazy she drove me.

"What did the female magnet say to the male magnet?" she asked.

"I don't know."

"From your backside, I thought you were repulsive. However, after seeing you from the front, I find you attractive." She batted her eyes again and made her silly face.

Oh, Bethany. Even her stupid jokes made me love her even more. Especially a joke with a connotation like that. Bethany had a great front side and back side. If only she was half-serious about her jokes. Her friendly banter made me want to spend alone time with her even more.

We finished the project with Bethany only making a "ferrous wheel" joke. She was so smart. Her intelligence was one more way I felt inadequate around her. She was smart and beautiful. Why did I continue to hope she'd ever see interest in me?

Bethany found me after the football game.

"Why did you sit way up high?" she asked. I sat up high on the bleachers.

"I could still see you," I answered. What did it matter?

"No, you couldn't! There was plenty of room down closer."

"I could see you." I wanted to go home.

"Come on."

Bethany grabbed my hand which ordinarily would be a nice thing but she was in one of her weird moods and I didn't want to deal with it.

"See you Monday, okay?" I said.

"No! You have to watch me cheer."

"Bethany," I said exasperated. What was I going to do with her? Certainly nothing I wanted to do with her.

"Come on."

I slumped as I walked. Why did I let her wrap me around her finger? What was the point when I knew nothing would ever happen? I'd do almost anything just for a kiss but that was as unlikely as watching her pole dance naked and slip into bed with me.

I sat on the cold metal benches three rows up. Bethany took her place on the grass. As typical, she looked terrific in her red and white cheer uniform. Her legs looked amazing in that short red skirt.

"E-L-E," she began. "Give me a C-T-R. Ohhhh. Ennnn. Electron!"

I almost didn't hear what she spelled. I loved watching her move and jump and kick. The sight of her red shorts underneath the skirt thrilled me even if it wasn't at all revealing.

Bethany went into another routine. "Avogrado's Number. Avo-Gra-Do. Avo-Gra-Do. Yeah!"

I could watch this all night even if the cheers were beyond insipid.

"What do you think?" she asked.

I replied with some spirit. "Even though you're a cheerleader, you're a bigger geek than any of us."

"G-G-G. Geeeeeeeek!"

"See?"

"You're so sweet!" she answered.

She cheered several lesser known elements of the periodic table before she finished and sat beside me.

"Now isn't that better? I don't want you to need binoculars to see me."

I inwardly groaned. If only I could see her from very close up.

"Thanks for the special performance.," I said.

"What is the dullest element?"

I shrugged.

"Bohrium!"

Next week was a home game again. I didn't go. Yes, Bethany would be disappointed but she'd get over it.

I woke up early on Saturday morning because of my mom. She woke me at nine even though I was used to waking up no earlier than 10:30 on weekends.

"Bethany's here to see you," she said.

"Huh?"

"I'll tell her you're getting dressed."

Bethany? Why was she here?

Groggily, I found her in the den. My little nine year old brother asked her a bunch of questions because Bethany was in her cheerleader uniform.

"Hi," I said. sitting down. I shooed off my brother.

"You weren't there." She sounded accusatory.

"Well..."

"I cheer especially for you."

Ha-ha. Sure she did. Riiiiiight!

"Now I need to give you a cheer again."

She stood up. She got in the ready position. She looked around. "Can we go in the backyard?"

"Sure," I shrugged.

She arranged the lawn chair to face the yard and pointed at it. I sat in it as she went out onto the grass.

"Electron! Neutron! Protons! Yeah, Atoms!" she began.

She went off into other silly science cheers. She next spelled out my name and cheered me to "Go!"

I just wasn't in the mood for this.

"So who woke up on the grumpy side of the electron field today?" she asked.

"It's a bed. I sleep in a bed."

"In a bed of grumpy molecules." She pouted her lip in mock sympathy.

"Are you done?"

"Have you heard of Atom and the Ants? It's music."

"It's Adam. A person's name."

"I know!" she said. "Did you drop your humor in the toilet and were afraid to retrieve it?"

"Look, Bethany. I really like you a lot but I don't like football games. I'm sorry but I don't want to go."

"Oh," she said. She looked somber. I hated to hurt her feelings but I needed to be truthful. "So I shouldn't be a cheerleader because I'm smart and into science? Is that it?"

"No, I didn't say that!"

"Boy, you really are sensitive. I'm just teasing you again." She batted her eyes. "I'm not giving up cheerleading. Okay, no football for you. So what do you like to do in the evenings?"

"I like the computer. I'm a geek. You're a geek but you're cool too."

"And you like me too."

"Of course, I do."

"I knew it!" She began a cheer. "You like Bethany! You like Bethany!"

"You're a good friend." I said.

"And you like me!"

She was determined to make me annoyed. The fact that I liked her was not news to her. She just was oblivious that I wanted to be more than a friend. I wanted to be her boyfriend.

"Let's talk science," she said.

"Okay."

"Astronomers do IT all night. Chemists do IT by bonding. Newton did IT with force. What is IT?"

I wasn't going to answer that.

She did. "Science."

I looked at Bethany. So beautiful. So wonderful. So exciting. So sexy! She had no idea what she did to me. No idea at all.

I suddenly bolstered my nerve. "I like you more than just as a friend."

"Sure, we're science buddies!" she joked.

"I mean it, Bethany. I like you a lot."

"Oh, well ... um," she said. Her voice was still fun but I heard nervousness. "What was the biologist wearing on his first date with a girl?" She didn't wait for me to answer. "Designer Jeans!"

I laughed. She successfully dodged the conversation I tried to start.

"I should go," she said. "See you Monday."

Why did I bother when she only saw me as a friend? I didn't ask other girls out because I held out hope for her. Why was I so foolish?

In Mrs. Wilbur's class I purposefully sat away from where I usually sat with Bethany and my friends. Bethany looked at me curiously, but I ignored her. She interacted with my friends. Her lab partner was Bobby today.

My lab partner was a girl named Madison. She was a grade below me, a sophomore. Madison had brown hair down to her shoulders. It was a cute cut that fit her face. Madison was pretty but nowhere the gorgeous beauty of Bethany. Madison almost always wore shorts. I turned my head on several occasions to watch her little butt walk by. She filled a sweater rather nicely herself. No, she wasn't a cheerleader. She was too quiet for that but she was a cute girl. I could tell she was in the class just to complete her one required science course. She wasn't into science like I was. She was a student who struggled to get a passing grade.

After a week of sitting separate, Bethany asked me, "Do you have a crush on Madison?"

"What are you talking about?" I shot back.

"Why are you sitting with her?"

"I thought it would be nice to know some of my other classmates."

"Who just happens to be a cute girl?"

"You're prettier than Madison in every way," I answered back.

"I am?"

I decided not to take the bait and play her game. "I need to go."

I avoided Bethany over the next couple of weeks. She was mad but she would have to deal with it. It wasn't my problem.

I asked Madison if I could walk her home. She accepted. She invited me in and under the watchful eye of her mother we sat at the kitchen table and ate a snack.

In a few days, Madison and I lingered at a park on our way home from school. We sat and talked on the grass. I held her hand. In a few more days, I leaned in and kissed Madison. We spent many days after school kissing in the park.

At school, Bethany glared as I walked holding Madison's hand. We were a little item. My buddies were jealous that I had the nerve to get a girlfriend. In my circle of friends a girlfriend was unheard of.

Mrs. Wilbur assigned a bigger project that was due just before Thanksgiving. We decided our group should get together and help each other complete the task. Madison was my regular lab partner, so I thought nothing about bringing her. We met at Bobby's house. Joel and Tim were partners. Bethany was Bobby's partner.

I could tell Bethany didn't like that Madison was here. Despite her bad vibe, the study session went well. We got down to business.

We took a break for munchies. Bethany caught me coming out of the bathroom, "Can I ask you a question?"

"What?" I was defensive. She hardly spoke to me at all now because she was mad. It was her fault.

"In private," she said.

We stepped outside in front of the house.

"Why are you with her?" she asked strongly.