Out of Her League |Lesbian Story|

Chapter 16

"Get your act together, Tonya," Felik sighed. "Rosie stays focused."

Rosie relapsed, and she went back to singing and dancing. I guess the pressure got to her the most, and the more Rosie danced around, the angrier Susan got, yelling at her to keep still.

Harper was slowly losing her heart. I think there was more bad stuff going on for her at home, including an argument about her mom moving out.

April joined the team not because she wanted to. We begged her to join, but now there was too much pressure. Too serious in a way that it was no fun anymore.

And me? Well, I felt as if I was watching a horror movie where the characters were doing something stupid, and I was powerless to stop them.

~*~

The Rejects aka the Red Thorns versus the Black Roses.

The opposition team was a famous league. We had heard of them being efficient and tough. They played like ballerinas on the stage or the synchronized swimmers in the pool. That was what made them strong.

No way did we play our best. But ragged as we were, we managed to hold them to a tie by the end of the game. So extra innings were required to break the tie. It was the most nerve-wracking part.

Felik and Grigor tried to act calm but you could see they were all tensed, looking at us. Nora hitting the ball into a foul territory. Melissa was slower than usual, and Susan prevented a runner so hard she practically pushed the girl away. The umpire almost ejected her from the field.

But by far the biggest pressure was the pitcher and the batter.

April was amazing. She guessed which way the ball would land, then with perfect timing, hurled her body forward to catch it.

In the end, we counted the score runs and to our relief, we won again, although it seemed by sheer luck.

"Only 48 hours to go until the Final games," Charlotte said into the mic. "If the Red Thorns win that, they play the Grand Final."

Her stand-up camera was really professional. She managed to sound in control but dramatic at the same time. Felik and Grigor were sitting in front of the sports show set, looking even more nervous than ever.

"How do you rate the team's chances at this point?" Charlotte asked them.

"Well, Charlotte, we take it one game at a time," said Felik in his stiff, camera-shy voice. "We don't want to predict what might happen."

"Yeah, but the girls should believe in themselves," Grigor said. "Believe they can win."

"Yes, yes, but let's not put too much pressure on..." Felik started to say.

"It's about having a belief, isn't it?" interrupted Grigor, sounding a bit annoyed.

It was freaky to hear our coaches contradicting each other. They'd always been so good together - like two halves of one person - sharing the same mind, finishing each other's sentences. And here they were disagreeing. It gave me shivers.

"So Grigor, are you planning any big changes in the tactics for the Grand Final?" Charlotte said.

"Uh yes," he said. "There are a number of new set plays I want the team to use."

"Well, we said we'd stick with what the team knows for the time being," Felik said, correcting him. "It's an important game."

"I know it's important," said Grigor, still polite but with his lips drawn tightly across his teeth. "That's why we need to think seriously..."

"Are you saying I don't take it seriously?" Felik said and they were close to a full-on row in front of the camera. I turned to Charlotte.

"Could we turn that off for now, please?" I said, embarrassed like I was seeing my Dad yelling in the field.

Charlotte understood and quickly turned the camera off.

"What are you saying then?"

"If you let me speak for a second..."

"You're always speaking. You never shut up."

Then we watched them bickering with each other in Russian. They tried to keep their voices soft but you could still hear their irritated tone, like rough sawing machine.

While the two coaches were starting to crack, chaos broke out on the training field.

Nora and Stefanie screeched at each other's face. Susan was growling at Rosie who danced around being deliberately annoying. Susan was so mad, she couldn't speak properly.

"Come back! I'mma...I'mma..."

"Beat the stuffing out of yaaaa!..." Rosie sang at the top of her lungs. April tried to cool Susan off, but she ended up getting pushed over to the ground.

Olive retreated to crouch against a wall. Harper was crying. Melissa and Tonya slumped miserably, with their heads in their hands. Charlotte and I looked at each other.

What was happening to the Rejects?

It's scary how fast things can crumble around you. You can wake up one day and think 'how did we end up here?'. The minute we made a league of our own, the minute we stopped being underachievers, it was like a spell had been broken. We transformed back into pumpkins or rats or whatever pathetic thing we'd been before.