Out of Her League |Lesbian Story|

Chapter 2

She reached out and squeezed my shoulder. Sometimes when you know a person loves you and wants to help, you can't even look at them or you'll end up blubbering in tears.

Mom left, closing the door gently behind her. I climbed onto my bed and stared at the shelf Dad had made to display my trophies. Some had their baseball figurines on top -tiny, shiny players. Signed pictures of woman leagues and professional teams from the past until now were framed on the walls. They looked so perky, so confident, so sure about what they were doing. I wished I felt like that.

My brain strewed about everything that had happened. Dad, Olive, Stefanie Jenkins, Margaret. Somehow I'd ended up a rejected player.

~*~

I went to the next training session. Being in the Rejects was a bad idea and I should probably call it quit completely. then again, baseball used to be my passion. If I ditched it, maybe there was nothing I could love anymore.

I was glad to find Olive waiting by the shed. Olive was a prize nosy self-proclaimed detective. She loves to work out what's going and who is who.

"See that girl?" said Olive, pointing to a pitcher called Susan. "She's in our team too."

Susan was built like a fridge with ahead, and she was not happy. She growled to herself, thumping her fist into her leather glove, making annoying punching sounds.

"Maybe someone should stop her doing that," I said.

"Do you want to ask her to stop, Darci?" asked Olive.

"Well, never mind," I said. Then something else caught Olive's attention.

"What's she doing here?" she said.

A girl was striding across the ground with a camera bag dangling over her shoulder. She had thick pale blonde hair that was nicely curled down her shoulders and a gorgeous face I recognized from school. Her name was Charlotte Grace.

"Hi there," she said as she walked towards us, but more bored than friendly.

I gave an awkward smile since I didn't know which one of us she was addressing.

"You know her?" Olive whispered.

"Not personally," I said.

Charlotte crouched on the ground sorting out the camera's gears.

"What are those for?" asked Olive, having a nosy look at her bag.

"Media studies," Charlotte grunted, shoving the mini-tripod and lens around impatiently. "I'm being forced against my will and for no possible educational value to make a documentary about an all-girl baseball team. Even though I happen to think all of the sports are a boring ridiculous excuse for some attention and ego-stroking."

"Hey!" I said.

Charlotte finally looked up and glanced at my baseball outfit.

"Oh, you're a ballplayer," she said as if she'd just realized. "Sorry, just got carried away by the bad mood."

She tugged a strand of her blonde lock behind her ear, showing off her angular face that glittered under the sunlight.

"'s okay," I stammered. "I'm thinking of giving up anyway."

"For real?" gasped Olive. I nodded.

"No big deal. It's just a game."

"Baseball? Just a game?" blurted Olive, choking with disbelief.

"I'm looking for a girl team Under 18s. That's the First Class coach over there, yeah?" asked Charlotte, pointing to my Dad.

"Yeah," I said. I was desperate that she wouldn't think I was some loser who'd never make it into a team. But the words came out sounding a bit too desperate. "I've always played on the team. I mean, I could have this season too, but you know..."

"Sure," Charlotte said vaguely. She couldn't care less if I played in a National team or a World Champion. When she walked off towards the coach, I whacked my head back against the wall.

Fantastic. I'd managed to sound up-myself and a pathetic loser at the same time.

"You've got the hots for her," said Olive.

"What? I hardly know her!" I protested.

"I see these things," she explained. "It's like an extra sense I've got."

I scrawled at her. Then I looked back at Charlotte, who was now talking to the coach. We sat in silence for a while, watching her body language.

"I wonder how she did it," I said out of curiosity.

"Did what?"

"That donut-glaze look," I said.

"Oh Darci..." said Olive, looking at me and shaking her head gravely.