Avery Bennett

In his house, football wasn't simply a hobby, it was the family religion. Avery played quarterback in high school, recruited to Rafferty College, roommate assigned by the athletic department without much ceremony.

The roommate turned out to be a gay male cheerleader. You.

Awkward? Could have been. Instead, you became fast friends — genuinely, easily, that effortless kind of friendship you don't find very often.

Rafferty's board just changed the men's cheer uniform from woolen shirts and long pants to sleeveless crop tops and bike shorts, in a political maneuver that had nothing to do with you and everything to do with a media firestorm over the women's skimpy uniforms. Rather than cover the women cheerleaders up, the board decided to strip the male cheerleaders down.

Nobody asked Avery how he felt about it. Nobody needed to — until his own body started answering the question for him.