Fast Pitch

by Graysen Morgen

  "I forgot to set my phone," Bailey shrugged.

  They both filled their plates with pancakes, sausage, fruit, and toast. Graham poured herself a cup of coffee loaded with sugar and put a chocolate milk on her plate before going to Whitney and Dashtin's table. Bailey grabbed an orange juice and walked in the opposite direction towards Claudia and Katie.

  "Hungry?" Dashtin asked stealing a piece of toast from Graham's plate.

  "Get your own toast," Graham chided. "And I'm fueling up to whip some ass today."

  "Something's different with you," Whitney said.

  "It's because..." Dashtin started and Graham kicked her under the table.

  "I'm being overcautious. This year's almost over and I have so much going on. Plus, I want to win a championship and games like we had yesterday only frustrate me."

  "You and Bailey seem to be getting along better."

  "Yeah, she's not so bad once you get to know her," Graham said.

  "I bet," Dashtin muttered.

  ~

  The Pioneers came out swinging hot bats scoring five runs in the first two innings and Bailey was throwing her first college level no-hitter. The third and fourth innings went by hitless for both teams.

  Sarah, the backup pitcher was up first in the fifth inning. She struck out bringing the top of the lineup with Whitney to bat. She hit a ground ball past third base allowing her to run to first. Vanessa and Katie both got hits loading the bases. Dashtin was up next. She swung away for two strikes before connecting with the ball sending it all the way to the fence in right field. Whitney ran home easily and Vanessa followed sliding in time to tag the plate before the catcher caught the ball putting the Pioneers up seven to zero.

  With Katie sitting on third and Dashtin at second Graham stepped up to the plate. She thought she was going to be walked when the pitcher threw the ball in the dirt twice, then way out of the strike zone. Graham bent her knees to get under the next pitch hitting it hard enough to sail over the first base player's head hitting the ground behind her and rolling over the foul line. She ran for the ball as Katie crossed home plate. The Pioneers cheered from the dugout.

  Claudia batted next hitting a pop-up that was caught and the batter behind her struck out.

  "All we need is three outs," Graham said to the team. "Bailey's on a no-hitting streak. Let's try to keep it that way."

  Everyone high-fived and ran out onto the field. Bailey threw a couple of warm up pitches to Graham trying to settle her nerves.

  The first batter struck out easily. The batter behind her hit the ball hard driving it deep into centerfield. Claudia dove for the ball catching it inches from the ground for the second out. Graham watched Bailey grab the rosin bag with her pitching hand then wipe her hand off on her pants. It was a nervous habit that got worse when she was struggling on the mound. Graham called time-out and ran out to her.

  "You okay?" Graham asked.

  "Yeah," Bailey said.

  "That girl standing in the batter's box is just as nervous as you are," Graham said looking into Bailey's green eyes. "You can beat her."

  Bailey watched Graham run back to home plate. She took a deep breath, set her feet, read the signal, and threw the ball.

  The batter sat back on the pitch which was called a strike. On the next pitch the batter fouled the ball off the end of the bat for strike two. Graham called for a screwball and Bailey shook her head no. Then, she gave the signal for an inside curve which Bailey didn't like either. Finally, she called for a rise ball. Bailey nodded and threw the ball. The batter set her feet and swung just as the ball rose over the top of the bat at the plate for a strike and the last out ending the game on the mercy run rule. Graham shot up off the ground and ran out to the mound.

  "That was awesome," she said picking Bailey up and swinging her around as the rest of the team piled on top of them cheering Bailey's name.

  The Pioneer's quickly ran back to home plate for the traditional hand-slap with the opposing team before celebrating all the way to the bus. They had a long ride home so everyone was happy they were leaving on a positive note. They stored their gear and boarded the bus. Dashtin sat with Whitney allowing Bailey to sit with Graham if she chose which is exactly what happened. Vanessa sat across the aisle from Whitney and Dashtin with Claudia next to her at the window.

  "Great game, ladies. I'm so proud of this team," Coach Walker said. "Bailey, you pitched a hell of a game and the rest of the team helped carry you to your first no-hitter. Way to go!"

  ~

  Halfway through the ride home Bailey fell asleep with her head on Graham's shoulder.

  "Are you sure there's something you're not telling us?" Whitney asked peering over the top of her seat.

  "She's had a hell of a weekend. Cut her some slack guys," Graham said.

  "I think you look cute together," Vanessa said.

  Graham rolled her eyes. Ignoring her, she turning the volume up on the movie she was watching on her phone.

  An hour later Bailey woke up and most of the bus had fallen asleep including Whitney and Dashtin who just happened to lean their heads together in their sleep.

  Graham gestured for Bailey to get up. She put her finger over her mouth signaling for her to be quiet. Graham walked ahead of the seats in front of hers and took a picture of Whitney and Dashtin passed out together with her phone. She smiled cheering silently as she went back to her window seat.

  "Why did you do that?" Bailey whispered.

  "Ammunition. Those two are a pain in my ass and this will hopefully get them off my back," Graham said.

  "I wonder how passed out everyone really is," Bailey said rubbing her hand up Graham's thigh.

  Graham flinched pushing her hand away. "Not that passed out!"

  Bailey laughed.

  "What am I going to do with you?" Graham shook her head.

  "I can name a few things," Bailey said biting her bottom lip.

  "Oh, I bet you can." Graham grinned.

  "Seriously, when will I get to see you now that we're back? Besides practice," Bailey asked.

  "I'm going to be really busy over the next two months trying to get my stupid thesis done in time so I can graduate this summer, but we'll find time to see each other if that's what you want."

  "Why wouldn't it be what I want?"

  "Bailey, you're still in your freshman year. You have so much ahead of you here. You're beautiful you can have any number of girls over the next three and half years."

  "But I can't have you? Is that what you're saying?" Bailey said turning in her seat to face Graham.

  "No, I didn't mean it like that."

  "How many girls have you dated in your four years here?"

  Graham looked out the window, then back at Bailey's green eyes. "You're the sixth."

  "Did you sleep with all of them?"

  "No. I spent my first two years in a relationship and then dated here and there after that."

  "What makes you think I want to date a bunch of girls?" Bailey asked.

  "I did. Everyone wants to date as many people as possible and not be tied down, especially in their freshman year."

  "I'm not everyone, Graham."

  "I know that."

  "What do you want? From me I mean. Do you want to date or are you just looking to hook-up here and there? I'm confused," Bailey said.

  "I do want to date you or I never would've let anything happen between us this weekend. I'm not into hook-ups and I'm not into dating multiple people at the same time either."

  "Good, I don't hook-up or date around so we're on the same page."

  "How many people have you dated? I mean as in a monogamous relationship?" Graham asked.

  "You're number two not counting high school. I met a girl the first week I was here and we hit it off right away but she was really controlling so that didn't work out. I've dated a few girls since then, but nothing serious."

  "I thought you were going to say it was Alex for a second there," Graham said.

  "No
," Bailey laughed. "Alex has tried everything under the sun but it's just never going to happen. She's more like my best friend kind of like you and Dashtin. I'm still surprised you two never slept together."

  Graham grimaced. "I love her to death and if I were into hook-ups I'd be all over her, but we're like oil and water and those two don't mix. We're much better off friends."

  "That's good because I want you all to myself," Bailey said running her hand down the center of Graham's chest.

  "I'm beginning to think you're a bad girl," Graham said grabbing her hand and moving it back to her own lap.

  "Only as bad as you want me to be," Bailey teased.

  Graham shook her head. "Do you have early or late classes?"

  "Early."

  "Me too, but I have labs three days a week that take up most of the day. Maybe we can have dinner together one night. Most of my spare time is spent doing research, but I do want to see you."

  "I should tell Claudia."

  "Why?"

  "She's my roommate. We do a lot together. Besides, she will wonder where I am when I don't come home."

  "Who said you were staying the night?" Graham teased.

  "Okay, we'll see what happens," Bailey said raising an eyebrow.

  Chapter 14

  The next week Graham was sitting in her Molecular Biology of Animals Lab trying to concentrate on the rat blood cells she was looking at under the microscope. The red blood cells on the slide sent her mind drifting to Bailey causing her to see the swirl of Bailey's green eyes instead of the swirl of red. She backed away from the table. It had only been two days since she'd seen her, but it felt like decades. Graham changed the microscope slide and tried to focus once again. She needed to compare multiple slides and make notes based on the progress of alcohol in the rats' bloodstream.

  At the end of the Lab Course she would need to write a paper on her study of how different amounts and types of alcohol effect rats through the bloodstream and how quickly each one slows the motor skills and at this rate she was going to be way behind. Science was Graham's passion. She loved the process of studying animal cells and organisms. This was the first time something or in this case someone had come between her and her passion and she wasn't sure how she felt about that.

  Graham looked at the clock on the wall shaking her head. She went back to the microscope since she had another two hours to go. She grabbed her notebook making a few notes on the slide she was looking at and turned the microscope off. She walked over to her caged rats that the blood was taken from. Each of the half-dozen rats assigned to her for this lab had been injected with various amounts and types of alcohol and her assignment was to watch the rats, look at their blood specimens under the microscope, and write a report on the entire study.

  With an hour left on the clock Graham picked up her phone and texted Bailey asking her if she wanted to go to dinner. Bailey was sitting in her Macroeconomics class bored out of her mind when her phone vibrated. She smiled and quickly texted Graham back saying she would meet her at Sister Fred's in a few hours. She still had one more class to go and a pile of homework.

  ~

  Graham walked through the door of her apartment and kicked her sneakers off. Dashtin was sitting on the couch with her eyes glued to the TV. Graham noticed something moving on the wall behind her head as she walked past her.

  "There's a spider on the wall," she said casually.

  "Where?" Dashtin screamed diving off the couch like she was on fire.

  "Good grief, Dash. It's just a spider."

  "Where the fuck is it?" Dashtin said jumping around all over the place like she was losing her mind.

  "Right there," Graham said smacking the wall with a nearby magazine. "It's gone you big pansy ass."

  "I hate bugs and you know it."

  "It wasn't going to get you," Graham laughed.

  "Bugs are your thing not mine. I'd appreciate it if you did your homework somewhere else," Dashtin chided going back to her seat on the couch.

  "I'm not studying entomology you nitwit. I work with rats."

  "Rats, bugs, it's all the same."

  Graham shook her head. "I'll bring a rat home for you tomorrow then."

  "Hell, no you won't. Spiders are enough. We don't need rats too!"

  "You know if you hadn't taken your basic biology classes when I did you wouldn't be graduating soon with a double degree in Athletic Training and Sports Science."

  "Exactly. You're my nerd. Everybody in college has a 'nerd' so that they can get through the hard classes."

  "I see. I guess that makes you my nitwit. Everybody has one of those too, a friend that can't find their way out of a wet paper bag without your assistance," Graham countered and ducked when Dashtin threw a pillow at her head.

  "We need to trade labs. I want to spend hours a day getting rats drunk. That sounds like way more fun than rehabbing muscle weakness," Dashtin said following Graham down the hall to her room.

  "Okay, you write my twenty-page report about the drunken rats and I'll go massage muscles for you."

  Dashtin rolled her eyes. "Nerd," she said.

  "Is there anything else you needed?" Graham asked. "I have a pile of chapters to read for my Evolution class and I don't have a lot of time."

  "Hot date tonight?" Dashtin teased.

  "As a matter of fact, yes I do have a date tonight."

  "Have fun," Dashtin said shaking her head. She didn't care for Graham dating Bailey and she hoped she didn't have to help her friend pick up the pieces of her broken heart again.

  ~

  Graham pulled up at Sister Fred's freshly showered and dressed in a thin, long-sleeved, gray sweater and jeans. She wormed her way through the small crowd to the table in the back. Bailey was sitting alone studying the menu.

  "Hey," Graham said sitting down across from her.

  "Hi there," Bailey said smiling at her. "I've missed you."

  "Me too."

  "Only seeing you at practice sucks," Bailey said.

  "I would've picked you up."

  "Claudia was going this way on her way to the movies so she dropped me off."

  They quickly placed their dinner order with the waitress when she stopped at their table.

  "I hate not seeing you more than practice, but my schedule is so hectic right now. I only have two classes, but my labs are critical and take up most of my time. They're a huge part of my thesis."

  "You hadn't told me what your thesis is. I only know you're a biology major."

  "I don't talk about school much because it bores everyone to tears," Graham smiled. "I study rats. My thesis is about the biological effects of human impairment on rats and their mental state. I've studied the effects of rats that smoked pot, ingested narcotics, and now I'm studying drunken rats."

  Bailey laughed. "Are you serious?"

  "As a heart attack."

  "That's really cool. I had no idea you were scientist smart."

  "Rats gross people out and science bores them so I usually don't discuss it."

  "I think it's interesting. I'm not really into science, but I'm actually taking Biological Science now. We've been learning about plant biology and next week we move on to animal biology and then human biology is last."

  "Really? Aren't you a business major?"

  "Yes," Bailey shrugged. "It's a general requirement and seemingly less boring than economics. If it wasn't for you texting me I might have fallen asleep in that class today."

  Graham laughed. "Well, if you want to learn about biology I'm an open book and if you want to see it up close I can show you my rats."

  "That would be cool," Bailey said smiling.

  Graham studied Bailey's face. "You're the first person that has ever been interested in my study."

  "I find it interesting. You're obviously smart as hell, Graham. There's no need to hide that from me."

  Graham nodded and leaned back so the waitress could set their food on the table. She was thankful for its arrival because she wasn't
sure what to say. They ate in silence listening to the juke box in the corner blasting song after song.

  "Do you want to dance?" Graham asked when they finished their meal.

  "I thought you only dance with Dashtin?" Bailey teased.

  Graham got up from the table and followed her to the dance floor. She couldn't keep her eyes off Bailey's tight ass in the jeans she was wearing. She wondered how she was going to dance with the beautiful woman in front of her without letting the entire room know how much she wanted her.

  Thankfully, the song was fast, but that didn't stop Bailey from grinding against Graham playfully rubbing her ass in her crotch. Graham held her breath spinning Bailey around to face her. The song quickly ended and Graham grabbed Bailey's hand pulling her from the dance floor.

  "You keep dancing like that and the entire town is going to know we're together," Graham said.

  "I don't see what the big deal is," Bailey said.

  "I'm worried about the team. We've had a great start to our season and regionals are coming up soon. I don't want to throw a blanket over their heads."

  "Is there a fraternizing policy? I don't remember reading one."

  "No, not that I know of. That's probably why Helena keeps her claws out around me."

  "She better never let me see them," Bailey growled.

  "Easy, tiger. She knows I'm not interested," Graham said. "Do you want to get out of here?"

  "What did you have in mind?" Bailey asked.

  "I don't know," Graham said. She knew Dashtin was at home since she hadn't seen her yet at Sister Fred's so she didn't really want to go there. "Do you want to go to the lab?"

  Bailey raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Sure. I've never seen drunk rats."

  "The effects of the alcohol have worn off by now," Graham laughed tossing some cash on the table.

  ~

  They arrived at the lab and Graham input the key-code for the security door. The locked clicked and she held the door open for Bailey.