Hi! I haven't posted a story in FOREVER! I used to have another account with very successful stories but sadly I lost interest in them and didn't like the characters I'd originally created. So I'm giving this whole thing a second shot with my favorite fandom :D

Sorry if you don't know that much about softball but this part is needed for this story :P

Oh, and I'm going to put a snippet of a song at the beginning of a chapter that deals with the content of it.

DISCLAIMER:

I DO NOT own Lord of the Rings

Chapter One

Cause you had a bad day

You're taking one down

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don't know

You tell me don't lie

You work at a smile and you go for a ride

You had a bad day

The camera don't lie

You're coming back down and you really don't mind

You had a bad day

You had a bad day

"Bad Day" – Daniel Powter

~Perrie's POV~

I bit my lip, nervously twitching as I fixed my grip on my bat. Raising my hand, I adjusted my helmet and then took a practice swing. I was using Ana's bat; a short purple-and-white twenty ounce bat with dirt sticking to the barrel. It wasn't my favorite but it would have to do. My hands were slightly sweaty but my grip was tight, refusing to let go. Trying to shake off my nerves, I took another swing at an imaginary softball.

CLING!

My head snapped up and I watched as Carmen throw her bat to the side and sprint towards first base. The bright yellow ball had flown right towards short stop – a tall, lean girl with pigtails – and she scrambled towards the grounder and enclosed her glove around the ball. She grabbed the softball and with a graceful motion, she threw it and it landed right into first baseman's mitt heartbeats before Carmen's feet touched the bag.

"OUT!" The umpire called, holding up his fist.

Cheers arose from the crowd and my heart dropped to my feet when I watched Carmen yank off her helmet, letting out a stream of curses under her breath as she stormed towards the dugout. Letting out a shaky breath, I walked up to home and took my batting position.

You can do this. I told myself. Her pitches are fifty-fifty. Watch the ball and if it's good hit it. You can do this, Perrie.

Looking up from my feet, I narrowed my eyes at the pitcher as she chewed her gum nonchalantly, throwing the ball into her mitt. She gave me a lazy look and rolled her eyes and then straightened up, ready to finally throw.

It was time.

"Two outs! Last inning!" The umpire yelled.

The cheers of my team were louder, the thirty girls seeming to band together as one voice. "Let's go, Perrie! You can do this! Just like we practiced!"

Shut up! I wanted to scream.

A yellow blur went past me, snapping me out of my daze.

"Strike!" The umpire called. "One strike."

"Crap," I grumbled.

Shifting, I looked back up at the pitcher who had a smug smirk on her face. The catcher threw her the ball and she easily caught it and shifted before zeroing in on me. She brought her arm back and then threw it forward, the ball spiraling from her grasp. I took a swing and a soft cling met my ears but the ball went off to the side instead of in front of me.

"Foul!" The umpire called. "Two strikes!"

I began to panic. What if I missed? It was the last game of the season! If I missed then everybody would blame me for losing! The score was eight-to-seven, us losing by one point. There was a runner at third and if I hit, she would be able to get home and get us a point so we tied. Oh God!

Getting back into my position, I tightened my grip on the bat. She threw the ball and I took a large, inaccurate swing, missing it by a hair. A rather ugly curse escaped my lips and I clamped my jaws shut, not believing what I just did.

"Three strikes! Game!"

I made us lose.

*Le Timeskip*

"I can't believe I struck out!" I wailed for the millionth time to Ana. "I was this close to hitting that last one!" I demonstrated the length with my fingers spread about a centimeter apart. "And I wasn't even ready for that first pitch!"

Ana, my best friend, (her real name was Anamaria but that was a mouthful) rolled her eyes. "You should've used Miranda's bat. But at least you hit the ball! I was walked both times."

I snorted. "At least you got onto a base."

We were walking home from the field because it wasn't that far away. McKinley was a large Navy base that held pretty much everything we needed to live: stores, housing, school, a library, a gym, sports fields, and even a McDonald's. There wasn't any reason to leave unless you wanted to go out. Ana lived right down the block from me and it was only about a ten minute walk home.

"Liam says that there's a shortcut to our road through those trails." Ana said, stopping in front of the entrance through a rather thick forest. That was another thing; about a third of the base was forests that surrounded it were full of trails.

I winced at the thought of going into the forest. "It's dark," I reasoned, trying to persuade her otherwise. "Plus Liam's full of a lot of bull."

"But I'm starving!" She whined, grabbing my arm and pulling me towards the trail. "It's not that dark and all you have to do is go straight and take a left."

I gave up on arguing. "Fine,"

"Yay!" she cheered.

She began to pull me along and we walked along the path. Sure enough we took the left, chatting along the way. But we began to notice that the trail kept on going on and on, the dim sunset's light getting darker. Despite summer being months away, mosquitos were already out and biting. I began to slap at them, irritated and hot, sweat beading down my neck. Shifting my bag, I grabbed my phone to use it as a light only to find the path we'd been walking on was gone. I turned around and saw it was nowhere in sight and freezing horror enveloped me.

"Ana, where's the path?" I asked, my eyes darting around to find any signs of it.

"It's, uh, somewhere?" She guessed, panic evident in her voice. "What happened?!"

"Where's the path?!" I repeated in a louder, more horrified voice. "Oh my God, where is that freaking path?!"

"We're lost!" Ana cried dramatically, her knuckles white as she held onto her bat like her life depended on it.

"I don't know!" I shrieked, my voice echoing as my hysteria grew larger. I held up my phone and I could feel myself practically shaking. "I don't have a signal and my battery's almost dead!"

There was a loud crack and I froze. Ana rose her bat, ready to swing at whatever came at us. Then it became practically silent, only the sound of obnoxiously loud crickets and the leaves rustling from the wind being heard. Slowly lowering my phone from the air, the hairs on my neck stood on end and I could feel an unseen gaze staring at us from the darkness. I swallowed loudly, not wanting to turn around.

"What was that?" Ana whispered.

"Lower your weapon," a stern male voice commanded.

Ana jumped and dropped her bat and we both turned around. Standing in front of us was a guy loose from a medieval fair with his sword drawn out, pointing at us.

Awww crap.

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