"Mom?" I asked in shock. "I…I can explain."
"Are you going to introduce me to your girlfriend?" She asked.
"Um…yeah." I replied, blushing. "Mom, this is Alice Brandon."
"Pleased to meet you." Alice replied.
"Mom, aren't you surprised that I have a girlfriend?" I asked in confusion.
"No I've suspected ever since you were a kid and you had your Barbies kiss each other." Mom explained. What? when did I do that? I don't even remember that. "The fact is that I don't love your any less…or more because you are a lesbian. Though, I hope that you're not planning anything in your room tonight."
"Mom…what are you doing here?" I questioned, desperately trying to change the subject.
"Well I heard that you had a day off tomorrow and I was wondering if you wanted to come to Marlins Park with me to see Phil play tomorrow." She said. I hadn't even realized that he had been called up.
"I didn't know that he was promoted." I replied.
"Hanley Ramirez tore his shoulder and they needed a replacement at 3rd." Mom explained. "He's going to be starting tomorrow. You know Alice can come with if you want. I have up to four tickets."
I looked over to Alice and she smiled, probably knowing that she would be meeting my stepfather as well. "I would love to." She remarked.
Well this was going to be interesting.
"So you're not staying at the hotel, are you?" I asked, hoping that she say no.
"No, Phil and I are staying at different hotel until we find out how long his stay with the team is going to be." Mom explained. I almost breathed an audible sigh of relief, but managed to stop myself from doing so. "So are you girls hungry or have you already eaten?"
"We were supposed to be doing a dinner together." I replied as I looked around for Katie and Jane. "Where did they go?"
"I think they went to the bathroom." Alice replied. I then noticed Katie and Jane coming out of the bathroom together. I couldn't help but notice Katie's hair looked a little messy. What were they doing in there?
"Mom, this is Katie and Jane." I introduced. "We all go to school together."
"Well then I will leave you girls to your plans." She stated as she started to move toward the exit of the lobby.
"Maybe we can eat tomorrow night after the game?" I suggested. "That way Phil can be there."
Mom nodded and left. From there, the girls and I went to the restaurant. Once we were seated, I decided to speak up.
"So Katie, why is your hair all messy?" I asked.
"I was…uh brushing it and I seem to have made it worse." Katie stammered.
"I don't believe that." Alice commented. "I think the two of you were making out."
"Not every girl that plays tennis is gay." Katie replied. Yes, I knew that was true, but I also think Alice was right.
"Yeah, but you are." Alice pointed out.
"Okay fine we were." Jane relented. "Can we just get something to eat?"
"I guess it really isn't a big deal." I remarked. "But you really need to fix your hair because you look like you just had sex and this restaurant is kind of upscale."
"I'll be right back." Katie replied.
"How can we afford to eat here anyway?" Jane asked. "Wouldn't this kill our allotted money for the whole trip?"
"I am paying for it with the money I got from my sponsorship deal." I explained to them.
"Why didn't you tell your mom about your sponsorship?" Alice asked.
"Because I was too busy telling her about you." I answered.
"Okay…" Jane commented, before Katie came back with brushed hair.
"What did I miss?" She asked.
"Just that Bella is paying for the meal." Jane replied.
"In that case, I'm going to buy the most expensive thing on the menu." Katie joked.
"Do that and you'll probably be working in the kitchen." I responded with a playing smile.
"I know that you wouldn't leave me to do that." Katie challenged. She was probably right. She then looked over the menu. "Okay I'll pass on the caviar."
The next day, Alice and I went to the game with my mom. Phil wasn't doing so hot but he came up in the bottom of the 9th with a runner on 1st with the team down by one. He took a ball and a strike before he swung at the 3rd and deposited it into the bleachers for a walk off homer. Well dinner was going to be interesting. I wonder if there was anywhere that we could go without all of Miami stopping to congratulate him. I guess it was a good thing because this was his first major league game.
That night, we all went to dinner, including Alice.
"That was just a hit, Mr. Dwyer." Alice told Phil.
"Please call me, Phil." The ballplayer said.. "So, are you Bella's friend."
This was going to be a little embarrassing. "Girlfriend." Alice corrected. "Bella and I are dating."
"Oh, I see." Phil replied. "So, I heard you two are in a tennis tournament. How is that going?"
"The two of us had an off day today." I explained. "We start playing again tomorrow. We're in separate brackets in the tournament."
"Doesn't that mean that you could potentially play each other in the finals?" Phil asked.
The two of us nodded.
"Well you need to make sure that you don't let the game come between you." Mom replied. "I imagine that you two mean too much to let that tear you apart."
"Actually much of our relationship has been based around tennis so it would only be fitting for us to play each other in the finals." Alice responded. I guess that was true. We never would have even met if we weren't on the same team. We wouldn't have become friends if we weren't forced to be for the doubles tournament and we wouldn't have gone on our first date if Alice hadn't beaten me. "Plus we know that it is just a game and I love Bella, and would gladly take a loss as long as we both play at our best."
"So how does it feel to have a game-winning homer?" I asked.
"It was kind of cold from the shaving cream in the face." He explained. That was a strange tradition that was given to a player when they hit a walk-off or have a generally good game. It usually happens when they're doing an interview
Back at the tournament, I managed to win my second round matchup. Alice did as well. Actually, Jane and Katie both won their matchups. I knew that meant that I would be playing Katie in the next round. Katie seemed to know that too. It would be a little uncomfortable, playing one of my teammates but there can only be one winner. I just hoped that I wouldn't fall victim to the magical sort of run that she was on. I mean I knew that I was better than she was.
I was in the hotel bar that night. I wasn't drinking anything, so it was okay that I was there. Alice was freshening up and then we were going to have an actual date, which we hadn't gotten to have since we got here. There would be no one else at our table, just the two of us.
"Well it looks like we have someone who is cool enough to date Alice." A voice said. I recognized that voice from anywhere. Why did I have to stay in the same hotel as her? I should get a restraining order against her.
"Hey Lauren, hit any balls at girls' heads lately?" I quipped to the hipster.
"You can't prove that I did that." She responded.
"Everyone, even your partner knows that you did that." I challenged.
"Well I am looking forward to playing in the next round." She stated. "That is if you don't lose to some scrub from your own school."
"Is that some hipster slang that I'm not familiar with?" I asked. "Plus Katie is my friend. You can't talk about her like that."
"I can talk about whoever I want however I want." Lauren replied. "I don't have to listen to you."
"You don't listen to anyone, do you?" I asked. "You think you're so cool because you question authority and do exactly the opposite what everyone tells you, don't you?"
"What's your point?" She asked, seemingly unfazed by what I had just said.
"My point is why do you even play this sport?" I asked. "Isn't it too mainstream for you?"
"Soccer is mainstream, golf is mainstream." Lauren replied. "Tennis is cool."
"Why not something like field hockey?" I asked. "No one plays that."
"My school doesn't have a field hockey team." She told me. "Anyway, I have better things to do than waste my time talking to you."
I was going to point out the irony but since I didn't want to talk to her anymore, I let her walk away.
Almost immediately after Lauren left, Alice walked into the bar. "Our table is ready/" She said. She then noticed my expression. "What's wrong?"
"I just had a run-in with your ex-girlfriend." I replied. "What did you ever see in her?"
"I thought she was kind of cool." Alice remarked as we began to walk toward our table. "And I guess I was used to people treating my bad because my sister did it."
I wanted to give her a hug but I couldn't because we were in the middle of a restaurant and we would get dirty looks for doing it. I didn't like getting dirty looks from anyone.
"So Bella…" Alice started. I have a huge favor to ask you.
"What would that be?" I asked nervously.
"I was hoping that you could get my name tattooed on your body before the finals." She requested. There was just one problem with that.
"Alice, if I get a tattoo, I'm going to be sore and probably wouldn't be able to play at my best." I pointed out. "Maybe I can get it after the tournament. I'm not going to get one unless you do as well, though."
"I already planned on doing it." She answered. "I'm going for Isabella and I even had the font picked out."
"So if I defeat Katie, I'll be playing Lauren in the semis." I stated.
"You know Lauren would have to win as well for that to happen." Alice pointed out.
"I really want to beat her." I explained. "She's a grade A bitch and doesn't deserve what she has and she doesn't deserve to be a #1 seed. I don't think even wants this."
"Maybe you should dial back on the hatred a little." Alice suggested.
While I didn't get a tattoo, Alice did get to decide the area I was going to get it. I guess I wasn't surprised that she chose my breast. Anyway, our second time was even better than the first. I think it may have been because I was more into it. I made sure to set the alarm so we wouldn't be late. I did not want to get disqualified because I overslept.
Katie and I both met in the locker room. We shook hands before we headed out to the court.
I had first serve. I was a little anxious because it went wide. I didn't do very well in the first two games but did manage to come back and win the set. I also managed to win the second set and took a five games to three lead in the third.
"Well it looks like it's about to strike midnight on this Cinderella story." Marcus commented. "Bella Swan is about to serve for match point. Still I think we can expect great things from both in the future from both these girls."
That was a nice thing to say. He didn't really seem to be showing any favoritism. I served and after a few volleys, I got my match point. Katie stood in front of the net and held her hand out and I shook it.
"Congratulations." She added.
In addition to my victory, Alice won her match, as did Jane. That meant the two of them would be matching up. It would have been a lot more climactic if Jane hadn't let me go. Of course I wasn't a trophy or anything.
I sat in the audience as I watched Lauren win her match. I even cheered a little because I was excited about defeating her. If I didn't know that it would get me disqualified, I would serve at her head.
Alice and Jane were competing in the first semifinal. I wonder how Coach Platt felt about the fact that the other two of her girls were playing. Of course, she probably was happy that three of out the last four were from our school. It would definitely look good on her coaching résumé if she wanted to ascend in the ranks.
Jane seemed to be a better match for Alice than anticipated. It wasn't a trouncing but Alice did win in 4 sets.
That left me and Lauren. I could definitely see a fierce look in her eyes. Maybe she did want this but I wasn't going to let her have it.
She refused to shake my hand before the match. What did she think that I holding a knife or something?
She got first serve and she did seem kind of angry. I thought she wanted to beat me. She put a lot of force into her serve.
"As you may know there is bad blood between this two." Kyle commented. "When they matched up in the doubles tournament, a ball served by Lauren nearly hit Bella in the head."
It took me five sets but I did manage to come out on top. Lauren still refused to shake my head after the match. She didn't have to be such a sore loser.
"The semifinals have now come to a close." Marcus replied. "That leaves just two teammates from Briarfield Academy. But obviously there can only be one winner. Which one will be the champion?"
So as you may have guessed, Alice and Bella are playing in the finals and Renee knew her Bella was gay before she did. Renee is played by Julia Roberts and Phil is Scott Michael Foster (Cappie from Greek). The next chapter will be the conclusion and will also feature prom just as Twilight did. Please don't forget to review.