The Girl in 309

Chapter 1

When I was 5, my parents took me to Disney World. I can remember the whole car ride there I couldn't stop talking about how excited I was to go to the happiest place on earth. My mom actually said that my smile was bigger than my entire face. And now as I ride in the backseat, that same huge smile has seemed to find its way back to my now much larger face.

My mom looks back at me as we cross the South Carolina state line and says, "Honey, I don't think Mickey and Minnie are going to be in Charleston". I just giggle but I'm think about how much I'm going to miss my mom and the way she makes me laugh. Everyone keeps telling me that college is going to be the best 4 years of my life, even my new coach keeps expressing how excited she is for me to meet the rest of my new team. You see, most high school girls spend their summers at the beach and having pool parties with friends but my summers have always been a bit more adventurous. Instead of getting bikini lines at the beach, I get racer back lines at the softball field; and instead of pool parties with friends, my teammates and I get to attend award ceremonies. I guess competitive travel softball has its perks. I don't know another girl in my class who gets to visit 8 different states in one summer. Right now, I'm not thinking about all the pool parties I missed, I'm focused on the National Championship ring I'm going to earn and what finger I'm going to wear it on.

My daydream is soon over after my dad opens the car door and the pavement catches me. He chuckles, "Damn knucklehead are you daydreaming again?" I guess this happens more than I realize. "Get out and pump," he points to the gas nozzle. "Do you want anything from inside?" I quickly scan the gas station and come to the conclusion that I want what I always want. "Uh, I'll take a snickers bar and a cherry coke zero." I know, not the healthiest combination.

"Heads up!" he yells playfully and I know exactly what that means. I quickly look to the sky and see my candy bar flying through the air. I reach up with my left hand and the candy lands right in my palm. "Dang dad, not too bad for an old guy." He just scours in my direction and we both climb back into the car. The road signs read: Charleston 50, and I can feel the flutters of the massive butterflies in my stomach.

At 4:38 pm I hear the ESPN SportsCenter theme song and frantically scramble to find my phone. That ringtone belongs to only one person in my contact list. "Hello?" I feel the smile coming back. "How's my number one recruit" the voice on the other end asks. "I'm great, how's my favorite college coach?" I can hear the smile on her face, "I just wanted to confirm that you and your parents are coming to the recruit dinner tonight at the Arena?" I'm excited to see my new team and all of the rest of the athletics department, however I'm not so excited about wearing a dress. "Of course! We wouldn't miss it for the world!" "Okay great, I'll save the O'Brien family a seat next to me! See ya'll soon!" The other end soon goes silent. I put down the phone and my mom begins with the questions. I explain the details of the conversation and I can now see the College of Charleston emblem on the road signs. I made it, we made it. Only 5 more miles before life as I know it changes forever.

The clock in our hotel room reads 7:02 as I yell for my parents to hurry up. "I'm going to be late! It's a seven block walk, let's go people!" I can hear the faint sound of my mom's voice as she mutters something under her breath. I take one final look at myself in the mirror to inspect my outfit. I think I clean up pretty nice for a tomboy. My black lace dress covers the length of my arms and the gold necklace with a charm of the number 7 flows across my collar bones. My long dirty blonde hair is quickly forgotten when the light hits my baby blue eyes. And my shoes... I spent three days picking out these shoes. The black lace matches the lace on the dress, and the gold buckle at the top highlights my lucky necklace. I guess I'm feeling myself a little bit tonight. But hey, it's a dinner party and I'm one of the A-list guests.

I can see my coach from 100 yards away, one arm is frantically waving at me while the other struggles to hold the door open. As we get closer, I can see all of these tables set in a pattern all facing a big projection screen. It's all becoming so real. My gaze is broken by a familiar face now covering my entire view of the Arena. "Hey Maddie" the voice yells as she hugs me. This girl is my roommate. She stands at only five feet two inches with long dark brown hair. Her golden brown California sun kissed skin makes my Florida skin look pale. Since I'm 5'6", her face rests just above my boobs as she hugs me. She led her county and was third in the state for stolen bases, she's a little speed demon. I envision the ring glistening in the sun.

"Hello?! Mads? Are you listening to me?" Whoops, I did it again. "Yeah Liz, totally." I hope that came out more convincing than it sounded in my head. "Did you see the cute baseball boys? I call dibs on the tall one in the grey suit." She jokingly nudges me with her elbow because she knows I'm not interested in him, or any boy for that matter. As I look around to find her claim, I spot a blonde headed girl from the back crossing the street. She looks in my direction checking for traffic and I swear we locked eyes. She smiled and walked on. Maybe this is the happiest place on earth.