Crystal stopped short when she saw Jenny's vehicle. "What the hell is that?"
"It's a Thing."
"What?" She walked closer to the pumpkin orange classic. "It looks like German army Jeep with the top down."
"It's a Thing. Well, that's what it ended up being called. Technically it's a Volkswagen One-Eighty-One." Jenny walked up proudly to her car and opened the back door. "This one is a seventy-four. The seventy-threes are the hardest to find but this one works with unleaded gas." "Must be a bitch to get parts for," Crystal said, still giving dubious looks at the Thing. She shot a look at Laura when she saw the smirk directed at her.
"It's a perfectly safe car," Jenny said, walking over to the driver's side.
"Except when you get in one of your moods," Laura said, hopping into the passenger seat, directly in front of Crystal. She turned in her seat to look at her roommate. "She's been known to confuse the Thing with a racecar from time to time."
"Bite me," Jenny said tartly, sliding into the driver's seat and putting her key in the ignition. "I'm not the one with six points on her license." She placed a hard plastic hairband on to keep the wind from whipping her hair about and put the Thing in reverse. The clutch slipped twice before engaging, causing the car to lurch and buck. "Sorry about that."
"No problem," Crystal assured, looking around for the seat belt. She had to dig between the seat and back to find the two ends but when she did she put it on and quickly tightened it into position. Laura saw what she was doing and smirked.
"Yeah, no problem."
"You know you two can walk if you don't like the way I drive." She paused long enough to glance at the oncoming traffic before darting out and into the lane. "Ah, I knew Betsy would be fine once she had her oil changed."
"Betsy is what she calls the great pumpkin," Laura explained. "I always called it a piece of"
"Don't say it," Jenny warned, turning on the AM radio and finding an oldies station. "You know how temperamental she is." "Everything has a personality with her," Laura explained.
"Speaking of personalities," the therapist said, "don't be surprised if Donna and Wendy are all over each other. Kelly said she saw them at Ameilia's Tuesday night and they were acting like they were back together."
"Wonderful. That means Toni is going to be bitchy."
"Maybe not. Kelly said Toni was trying to get back with Linda."
"Like Linda would take her back after what happened."
"Hey, you never know, Laura. She took Toni back once before."
From the back seat, Crystal listened to the gossip, the multitude of names and who was doing what to whom mixing in her mind until she had no clue what was going on. All she figured out from the conversation was that Laura was good with a bat and played right field while Jenny was the first baseman.
They pulled into a dirt parking lot, Jenny beeping the horn and waving at her teammates that were gathered around the bleachers. Minutes later Crystal was settled on the bleacher near first base, Jenny's cooler sitting next to her. To the stripper's disappointment, Jenny had only packed various kinds of sodas and juices to drink, no beer or wine coolers. Several women were also sitting on the bleachers, most talking amongst themselves about one or more of the players. Crystal saw the opposing team along the third base line, the Falcon's jerseys red in contrast to the Airheart's blue. The umpire blew her whistle and the blue team took the field while the red team began swinging bats to warm up. "Wish us luck," Laura said as she jogged past her.
"Oh, so you know Laura, hmm?" a husky voice asked, causing Crystal to turn to the side to see who was speaking to her. A woman with short red hair and wearing a blue jersey stood before her. "Lucky Laura."
"I'm her roommate. Crystal." She held her hand out and found it quickly incased in a firm grip.
"Peg." Crystal felt the woman's eyes checking out her body and shifted uncomfortably. "So you look kind of familiar. Have we met somewhere before?"
"Oh please," Jenny called from her vantage point ten feet away at first base. "Ignore her, Crystal. She's got more lines than the phone company. Rogers, when you are you gonna feel up to playing again?" she asked. "And I mean softball," she added before the redhead could get out a smart aleck reply.
"Um, no I don't think we have," Crystal said, pulling her hand back and looking toward home plate. The pitcher was done with her warmups and the batter was getting into position.
"When did you become captain of the team, Foster?" Peg said to Jenny before turning her attention back to the attractive blonde. "So you're Laura's new girlfriend, hmm?"
"I'm her roommate, not her girlfriend," the stripper replied quickly, not wanting anyone to get the wrongi.e.about her relationship with Laura. Looking around the field and audience, Crystal began to suspect that heterosexuals were in the minority here.
"Just friends?" Peg smirked and took a step closer. "Taylor must be dying with you around." She patted Crystal's bare knee just below thee.g.of her khaki shorts. "Honey, if you were my roommate I guarantee you wouldn't be going to bed alone at night."
"I'm straight," she said, shifting out of reach. The first pitch was a ball followed by a strike. Then the batter managed to connect wood with leather and the ball sailed out to deep right field. It hit the ground a second before Laura caught up with it. The batter rounded first and was halfway to second when wisdom dictated not testing the arm strength of Ameilia's Pub's right fielder. She jogged quickly back to first.
"Hi Jen, how's it going?"
"Good Tracy, how are things with you?"
"Just fine. I think Lisa might go out with me tonight."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah, at least she's talking to me again." Tracy turned her attention to home plate. All right, time to get your pretty asses kicked." "Diane couldn't hit a beach ball," Jenny said, referring to the batter who just swung and missed the first pitch.
"Big talk, Foster. You'll be eating crow when she knocks that ball over the fence."
Despite Tracy's hopes, Diane hit a slow roller to second which was then thrown to first for the double play. The next batter struck out, ending the visitor's half of the inning. Laura and the rest of the outfield came running in, the Ameilia's pub players settling on the bench between the bleachers and the first base line.
"Having fun?" Laura asked as she tossed her glove on the ground and opened the cooler in search of something cold to drink. "Sure, see that one over there?" Crystal pointed at Peg, who was plying her charms on the third baseman.
"Peg? What about her?"
"She's jealous of you."
"Of me? Why?"
"Ah Laura," Jenny said as she joined the conversation. "You know Peg has a thing for spunky looking blondes. She offered to keep Crystal warm at night."
The writer nodded. "Ah, and I suppose she wasn't quite as subtle as that, was she?"
"I thought she was going to drool," Jenny said as she reached past Crystal and took a bottle of ice water out of the cooler. "Crystal told her she was straight and Peg took a walk. Don't worry, I'll keep an eye out and protect our friend's virtue."
"I'm sorry about that," Laura said to her roommate. "Usually they know how to behave like ladies," she shot a warning glance in Peg's direction but it was lost as the redhead's back was to them.
Jenny picked up her helmet and bat. "Guess I'd better get over there."
"Good luck," Laura said.
"Yeah, good luck," Crystal added as Jenny headed for the batter's box. thwap! "Strike one!" the umpire called.
"Shake it off, Jen," Laura encouraged, clapping and urging her teammates to do the same. Half-hearted calls of support came from the bench. thwap! "Strike two!"
"Come on, Jen, you can do it." thwap! "Strike three, you're out!" the umpire said. Jenny walked back over to the side of the bleachers and picked up her drink. "Hey Doc, I thought thei.e.was to hit the ball," Crystal said, earning a snort from Laura.
"You be quiet, my dear Laura," Jenny warned. "As for you," she turned her attention to the now grinning Crystal. "I see you're picking up her warped sense of humor." She took a long swallow of her fruit juice. "It's only the first out. Nothing to worry about."
"Duck!" Someone yelled as a foul ball cleared the bench. "Donna, do us a favor and try not to kill us before the inning's over, okay?" someone yelled to the embarrassed batter. The next swing put the ball in deep left field, allowing Donna to get to second base. Toni's base hit advanced the runner to third and a walk to Lisa filled the bases.
"All right, Laura," Jenny said. "Show 'em what ya got."
"Why is she standing on that side of the plate?" Crystal asked. "Everyone else stood on the other side."
"Laura's a lefty. They're supposed to stand on that side," the therapist explained.
The first contact sent the ball over the fence on the third base side.
"Foul ball, strike one!" the umpire called.
"Come on, Laura, show these little girls up," Kelly, the Ameilia's catcher, shouted.
Crystal sat quietly on the bleacher and watched as the pitcher wound up and fired the ball underhanded at the plate. This time Laura's hit was good, dropping into shallow center field. It was enough for the runners to advance, allowing Ameilia's Pub to score the first run of the game.
"Nice shot," Tracy said, taking her position covering first base. "Trying to impress your new girl?"
"She's my roommate, not my lover," Laura corrected. Tracy looked over at the blonde woman in question and shook her head. "Too bad, Taylor. Looks like she's got a good set going there."
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