Home Base

Shortstop

     "Excuse me?" I ask, trying to keep my temper down. As if I've never heard the stereotype that lesbians play softball. "As a matter of fact I am on the softball team. How did you guess?" I desperately hoped that this woman could hear the sarcasm in my voice.

     Still with her back turned the woman just shrugs her shoulders. "You just look like you play softball."

"You mean I look like a lesbian. Is that a problem?" She better choose her answer to that question very fucking carefully.

The woman turns around and sits on her bed taking off her heels. "Well, I'm straight, so don't go getting any ideas."

I felt the anger start to rise, but I'm feeling playful and know just how I want to handle this. What better way to beat a homophobe than to cause a little panic.

I give her a devilish smirk. Slowly I stand up and walk over to her. Her eyes look to the ground, and she starts to fidget. Placing both hands on the edge of her bed forces me to lean over her. One hand moves under her chin and forces her to make eye contact with me.

"Don't worry, you're not my type," I say in a low almost raspy voice. "Name's Jade by the way."

"A...Amy," the woman stutters as I stand up straight and go to leave the dorm.

Closing the door behind me I strolled downstairs to find the back patio to the dorm. I saw it was already occupied by a few people, so I decide to take a walk instead. Eventually I find an isolated area by a pond with a few ducks swimming around. I sit down in the grass, and take out my pack of Marlboro Black to light a cigarette. Taking a long slow drag I could feel my nerves start to fade a little. I laughed a little at the thought of the frozen, obviously panicking, look Amy had on her face as I left. If I had wanted to, she would have been putty in my hands. She said she was straight though, and I wouldn't try to push someone on that.

"Mind if I sit here?" A deep voice comes from my left. An average height guy dressed in ripped jeans with chains, a Black Sabbath shirt, and black boots approaches me. He has hair down to his shoulders with one side tucked behind his ear.

"Yeah man, go ahead. You looking to get away from the noise too?" I ask as he sits next to me.

"Yup," he replies, "I'm not too big of a fan of large crowds."

I offer him a smoke and my lighter and he accepts without words.

"So are you a freshman this year?" He asks a little quietly.

"Yeah it's my first year. I got in on a softball scholarship." I take another drag and lean back on one hand, crossing my feet out in front of me. "I'm Jade by the way."

"Jason," he replies, "I'm a sophomore. Sick shirt by the way. Suicide Silence is one of my favorites."

"Thanks," I smile, "I haven't really listened to them since Mitch passed, but I'm looking at going to a concert nearby to hear 'em. Any good spots in town?"

"I usually just hang out with my band buddies. There's a dive bar we do shows at occasionally" Jason takes another drag of his cigarette, and coughs a little bit. "How did you get into smoking these? They're pretty intense."

I laugh a little. "I'm a very stressed out individual. I used to use dipping tobacco."

"No way, really?" Jason seemed disturbed by that. "That's fucking gross dude."

"Oh I know. I just didn't care at the time," I smile and sit up to criss-cross my legs. "My first girlfriend made me quit, or else she wouldn't kiss me. She didn't mind smoking, but she drew the line at tobacco in my teeth."