Out of Her League |Lesbian Story|

Chapter 16

"The Under 18 Baseball Team known as the Red Thorns has amazed the baseball world by winning a place in the little league world semi-final," said Charlotte directly to the camera like a sports reporter.

We were no longer called the Rejects. Felik and Grigor had come up with a name for our team, which was the Red Thorns. We can't keep calling ourselves modest name anymore, Felik had said. So the Red Thorns it is.

Charlotte stepped sideways to reveal a special backdrop, which looked like the set of a TV sports show with banners, jackets and bats stuck on the wall. In front of that were two chairs where Felik and Grigor sat.

Charlotte welcomed them very smoothly like a real TV host.

"Well, thank you, Charlotte," answered Felik. "Oh, should we not call you Charlotte on the camera or..."

"That is fine, coach," said Charlotte.

"Sorry, have I spoiled it now? Should we start again?"

"Let's just keep going," Charlotte said with an encouraging smile. "Relax...be yourselves."

But 'relaxed' was the last thing Felik and Grigor looked. Felik sat very stiffly as if someone was holding a knife to his back. Grigor, who was usually the cool one, looked like a terrified deer in the headlights. Being interviewed on camera, even if it was just by a high school media student, was not something they were used to.

"Now you've made it to the Final, is the team starting to feel the pressure?" Charlotte asked.

"Well, yes, a bit more pressure," said Felik in a posh, stilted voice. "Grigor and I began the season with the goal of forming these players into a team. We never expected to get this far in the competition so now...uh...Grigor?"

"Yes...uh...you would have to say there is some pressure now that we're at the end of the season."

"But Grigor and I," Felik went on, "we're just happy that the team made it to the Final. Anything else is a bonus."

Grigor nudged Felik and gave a nervous laugh.

"Yeah, but it'd be better if we win."

"Yes, of course." Felik nodded.

I didn't know exactly what went wrong. Maybe the pressure of being in the final got to us. But somehow- when no one was looking- things started to unravel...

The coaches upped the training to two hours every session for the final. They worked us harder than ever, pounding through drills over and over, sprinting around the perimeter of the ground, no time for breaks or joking around.

One time, Olive flopped down in the grass and announced that she couldn't do it. Felik urged her to give it a try but she shook her head miserably. The idea of the final freaked her out and she was losing her confidence big time.

Towards the end of the season, Nora and Stefanie had called a truce. But now we'd made the final, the truce seemed to disintegrate. I could hear them shouting from the other end of the park.

"What? What did you say? Say it to my face!" Nora sneered.

"It's a fact. I'm in another league," Stefanie retorted back.

"Let's think - who scored more homeruns than you?" said Nora, pretending to think. "Oh! It's me! Not Stefanie 'in another league' Jenkins!"

Grigor ordered both of them to shut up and get on with the training. But they glared at each other with such scorching heat they could've started a bushfire.

Felik and Grigor had always been patient with Tonya and Rosie's hopeless playing. But now that training was so pressured, they were making them frustrated.