Eighteen | H.S. |

t h i r t e e n

SEPTEMBER
Sarah POV

I have my first practice today. I got a text from Kylie reminding me. I'm extremely nervous. What if I'm not as good as the others? What if I make a total mess of myself? I'm so nervous and scared. "Where are you going?" I hear Lauren's voice.

"Oh, I have softball practice." I said as I grab my stuff. "Bye."

"Bye." I unlock my car and sit in the drivers side.

"Okay." I say to myself. I drive to the batting cages. They are nothing fancy, just pitching machines and fences surrounding them. Kylie walks up to me.

"Hey. I'm nervous." She admits.

"Me too. We are like human bait compared to them." I say looking at the older, and probably more skilled girls. Some stand a foot taller than me, and some are the same size as me.

"Hey, I'm Sydney." A girl who is about 5'7 says to me and Kylie. "Are you two freshman?"

"Yeah, I'm Sarah."

"Oh! I've heard about you. Your all the coaches have been talking about. They said you are amazing with a bat." Is this true?! Oh my god. I had no idea.

"Really?" She nods.

"Now get in the cage. I want to see you swing!" She shoves me into the cage. I take a practice swing, then step into the box. I hit away and don't even realize everyone is staring. My round finishes and I get one type of look. Envy. I step out an Kylie pulls me to the side.

"Girl, did you see how everyone looked at you?" I nod and she continues, "If you keep batting like that you will have a spot on the roster for sure. You might have a spot in the top four batting spots."(A/N The top four spots on the lineup is the best. There are Nine spots, and the first four means that you are pretty good.) Everyone is envying you right now. Keep it up." And she walks away. I stand in disbelief. I had no clue I was that good, and that they envied me.

"Nice work, Sarah. You have everyone jealous." Sydney walks up to me clapping. "I can see why all the coaches are talking about you. You are amazing."

"Thanks. Everyone really is jealous of me?" She nods in reply. A smile starts to form at the corner of my mouth.

"Where do you play in the field?" She ask me as I chug down my water.

"Catcher. You?"

"Pitcher. Looks like we will be working together." She grabs my bat from my hand and exams it. "What xeno model is this?"

"2014. What's our sponsor?" I ask as she hands back the bat.

"Lucky for you, its xeno. So you get to keep your bat."

"So..since your a pitcher, what's your favorite pitch?"

"Drop curve. It's my best pitch, and my rise ball is okay but I prefer a drop curve." She smiles and I nod. Drop curves are dangerous for a batter that is right handed, because it curves in around the knee at a fast speed. "Here's my phone number. We are going to need to practice together." She hands me a piece of paper and walks away.

...

The practice goes by pretty fast and I get a good look at everyone's batting skills. Some are enter than others and some are just, how do I put this in a nice way, Terrible. I guess they are here because of their fielding skills. Sydney is actually pretty good, and Kylie did great for her first day.

"I'm exhausted." Kylie says as she sits down.

"You need water in your system. Here." I hand her a water bottle from the cooler, and she thanks me.