Oh wow! It's been forever! I have been watching a little tennis... I need to get watching the US Open now. MY kids are back and I realized that they are my Muses... so hopefully I will be writing more now. I was too worried about them while they were gone to sit and write anything, but I read an awful lot! My Jori Recommendation this week "Being Normal" by Madzilla and ZenNoMai. OMG that story is literally the BEAST! Read it... but Read me, Review Me! Love me or hate me, Tell me what you really think. - S.K.

Preferences

Tori

She has been calling me "Turtle" for two weeks now. Call me crazy, but that is a bad tennis nickname to have. She refuses to practice with me. I mean... I need to play against someone to figure out what I really need to work on.

It is amazing to me how fast I have picked up on how people play. It was like I had been made for tennis. For example, I know that Wild, Wild West has a footwork issue of her own. She has a hard time moving forward and backward, and she would rather play with a more powerful player that would keep her playing on the baseline… I don't hit hard enough for her. I suppose that is why she would rather not play me.

But her game shines when she is given her serve… She serves from the same spot every time, but you can never tell which direction the ball is going to go until it is almost hitting the ground. By then it is too late to react.

"Hey there, champ!" I heard. I turned to face my best friend Andre.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" I asked with a smile

"I missed you, we don't hang out anymore, and you're always here." I shook my head and hugged him.

"I'm sorry, Andre, I just…I really love tennis," I said just as Jade walked into the court with Cat and her racket. "Where's Robbie?" I asked, trying to distract him from her and took a swig of my water bottle.

Andre looked at Jade closely and got a knowing expression in his eyes as he answered. "Trying to talk to some girl he saw by the juice bar… You have a crush on her, don't you?"

I spewed, "What?"

"Geez, Turtle, I felt that all the way from here," Jade said, making a show of wiping her arm off with her towel.

"Turtle?" Andre asked.

"Because I move too slow or so she says."

"Oh yeah, and you're a little clumsy too. That's why I was shocked you even wanted to try this." Can you believe he agreed with her?

"Well, not all of us can be track stars training for the Olympics. I happen to have natural talent for tennis."

"So you want to come to the Olympics with me?" he said with a smirk. "Then you need to stop being a turtle." He laughed and looked back at Jade. "So how long have you been crushing on her?"

I sighed. "Am I that obvious?" I answered.

"No, but then again, I know you and I know your preferences… She is exactly your type."

"Oh? How do you know my type? I don't know my type."

"Well, let's see… Last year there was Francia. She was edgy, sexy, and totally straight. Completely unavailable," he said.

"So… How do you know Jade's straight? You haven't even met her."

"It doesn't matter that she's gay, bi or straight… she's unavailable, dark and edgy," he answered.

"I've never seen her with anyone but Cat, and Cat is into dudes," I stated.

"Who's Cat and could she get into me?" Robbie asked, finally showing up. "Or better yet, can I get into her?"

"See that cute little red-head over there?" I pointed out. "That's Cat."

"Damn, girl!" he said, making his way over to her.

Andre and I laughed because for a nerd, Robbie was so forward and disarming that he got any girl he wanted. Cat turned to face Robbie and was a bit put off at first. I started to worry that she was actually with Jade, but Jade smirked and walked to center court with a ball basket as Sikowitz set up the speed gun. When I looked back at Robbie and Cat, she was flirting happily with him.

"See, no partner. No boyfriend or girlfriend, so how could she be unavailable?" I continued our conversation.

"Look again; watch her serve that ball, but look at her face. Tennis is the love of her life. Right now, anyone else stands to get between her and the love of her life. She is unavailable." I watched Jade, and she made the sexiest face as she got ready to hit her third Ace. A little grunt escaped her as she exerted herself on the ball.

"Holy shit, it's like she's fucking on the court."

"And wouldn't you love to have her make that face up under you?" he said, staring at her just like I was.

"I sure as hell would," I mumbled as Cat and Robbie came to sit next to me.

"Hey, I just got invited to a club party for the tournaments. Are you guys coming?"

"Yeah, I was planning on resting up though. Will Jade be there?" I asked. Cat looked me over then over to Jade.

"I doubt it…but I could convince her to go," Cat said just as this gorgeous dude came up to our gate, came into the court and walked up behind Jade, intimately close and held the hand that was about to toss the ball.

He whispered something in her ear and she turned her face to look up at him. Then he kissed her, trailing his hand from her hand up her arm and down to her hip. When he pulled back, she just nodded and he walked towards us.

We all stared at him, our mouths agape. "That's how the West was won," he said to us with a wink and walked out of the court.

Jade stood there stunned for a moment, then cleared her throat and resumed her practice. "Yeah…I think she's coming to the party," Cat said and giggled a little.

My heart just shattered into about a million pieces. "Unavailable," Andre repeated, and I finally got up off of the bench.

"You'll come with me to the party, won't you, Andre?" I asked.

"Yeah, for sure, as long as I get back home by eleven. I have to train early."

"Yeah, okay…" I said, walking toward Jade and side-by-side with her, I began to serve the ball, which thanks to Sikowitz was starting to go where I wanted them to go.

"Alright, Tori, go to the other side of the court and try to return Jade's serves. Try to anticipate where she would send them because if you can do that, you will be ready to start in the Junior ZAT tournaments next week."

I did as I was told and I hit one ball out of five. She aced me out. Sikowitz came up to me. "I know...I'm not ready yet."

"Don't be so down on yourself. She is headed for the pro circuit after this tournament. You did great for a first level entrant; just keep practicing with her tonight and hit as many of her serves as you can handle." Then he looked at Jade. "Alright, turn it up! Go!"

Turn it up? Oh my god! I ran for the ball that was going to the right. Miss. Then I looked and there was one going straight down the middle. I ran for it and I hit it. I hit it so hard, I grunted, and she hit the ball back at me out of sheer instinct stepping back onto the base line. I returned the ball, and we were like this for about ten hits, and on the tenth, she hit an ace close to the net. It was what she had been working on.

She smiled a dazzling smile at me. It was so genuine that I couldn't help but smile back. "Ready?" she asked me and then launched the ball back at me.

I returned most of the balls after that, she aced me plenty, but I began to be able to follow a serve. When she ran out of balls I went up to her and gave her a five. "Thanks."

"You're still too slow…ask Sikowitz to set up a game for you with Sinjin. You'll see what I mean," Jade said and lifted the bottle of water to her mouth.

"Yeah, okay," I said, and she picked up her racket and put it away.

Jade looked at Cat, whom was now all cozied up with Robbie and jerked her head. "Let's go." Cat smiled at Robbie and kissed him, then skipped after her best friend. "Later, Turtle."

"Bye!" Cat said and when they disappeared from sight I could hear Cat squeal as they walked off. Robbie was dazed.

"I'm in love…" he said dramatically, Andre and I smirked.

"Let's go. We're going to this shindig."

Jade

"That dude that just came in and kissed you…what was his deal?" Cat asked as we walked to my car.

"That jerk, Beck…" I sighed and the corner of my mouth twitched slightly. He was the only person on earth that dared think he could just come up to me and kiss me. I had to admit it felt good to be kissed. It had actually never happened before, which is weird for a sixteen year old I know, but I was busy.

"Yeah, that hunky jerk," Cat stated with a smirk of her own.

"He asked me to the party tonight."

"Are you going?"

"No," I stated flatly.

"Why not?" Cat whined.

"I have an exhibition match tomorrow against Petra." I said, throwing my racket in the trunk. I love this car; I won it at a Mercedes Benz exhibition tournament. It was an SLK350 convertible in Orion Blue. It was so freaking hot I had to have it. I didn't even have my license, but my dad drove away in it, and the next day I got my learners permit. I have been driving it with my license now for two months and I loved it. It was my only pleasure outside of tennis, and I got it because of tennis.

"Oh come on! You said yes; how can you back down now?" Cat insisted.

I leaned back in my seat and turned on the ignition. I pressed the button to drop the top, and I watched with a satisfying grin as the trunk shifted open and the hard top tucked itself under it. "I didn't know what else to say; he kissed me and it was like my brain melted."

"Oooh that hot?" Cat said with a grin. I rolled my eyes and began to drive out of the club.

"No…I…I was in the middle of practicing; all I had was tennis in the brain, and then I had caught this view of Tori and she was looking at me…and then I was kind of showing off-" Cat started laughing. "What?"

"You didn't have tennis on the brain."

"Shut up! I did!" I insisted. She shook her head and kept laughing. "Anyway…I don't have anything to wear."

"Come to my house…I have the perfect thing you can wear that will impress both Beck and Tori," Cat said resolutely.

"Why would I care about impressing Turtle?" I sneered at her.

"I don't know?"

"Cat, she shouldn't even be partying in the first place; she has so much catching up to do it's disgusting." She giggled again. "It's not funny…I do not like her!"

"I never said you did!" she said, trying to squelch her laughter.

"You implied it!"

"I did no such thing!"

I sighed and shook my head. "You swear it's not pink?" I asked. I hated pink with a passion.

"No pink! Come on, who knows you better than anyone?"

"You do," I mumbled as I turned into the driveway of her house.

"That's right, baby. I got you," she said, getting out of the car. "Come on, we're going to look hot tonight."

I drove us back to the club that night; I had to say that Cat had me looking something kind of special. She even dyed my hair, it was no longer brown; it was pitch black and she put some clip on extensions in blue throughout my hair as it cascaded down my back in curls.

I stepped out of my car, pushing the button to close up the top when I heard a motorcycle roar up the drive. I looked up and saw this cherry red Ducati driving up. It was one of the smaller bikes, a dirt bike, but it was sexy as hell. The driver parked next to me. There were two riders on this bike; they were impossibly close together. The rider took off his helmet first. "I don't know, Tori, I think I'm riding home with Robbie tonight."

Tori? I looked at the driver, waiting for her response. "Don't be such a baby, Andre," she said, taking off her helmet.

"Turtle?" I asked, turning my full attention to the idiot on the Ducati.

"Jade!" she said then looked me and my car over. "Nice ride!"

I looked over her Ducati. I had to say I was impressed, and I would be more impressed if it were someone else riding it. "You are an idiot," I spat closing my car door.

"What did I do now, Jade? This isn't a tennis court, it's a parking lot," Tori said, rolling her eyes, and unlocked a saddlebag. She placed her helmet down in it, pulled out a skirt that fit over her pants, and pulled the pants off right then and there. I was so confused and disgusted I just watched her transform from a biker chick to this…teenaged dream right before my eyes.

"You just…Dude!" I stammered.

"What? Andre doesn't count…" she replied. "He's my best friend."

"Is your best friend gay…or blind?" I asked as I looked over at Andre, who was looking, no… ogling at his best friends legs.

"Yeah, Tor…you probably shouldn't do this in front of me anymore," Andre said, looking away.

"It does bother you!" I said to him.

"I'm a man," he said with a shrug. "I like to look…I need to find a girlfriend." He walked away.

I looked at Tori. "That's your friend," I told her and walked away.

"Andre, wait!" Cat said, running after him.

"Why are you so upset anyway?" Tori asked me.

I turned to face her; she was now ready to go into the party. She looked gorgeous and for some reason I didn't want her around. I narrowed my eyes. "You chose the most stupid form of transportation imaginable. You are an athlete; I thought you were serious about that."

"I am!" Tori defended herself.

"Oh yeah, way to do that…Turtle," I said and walked away. I don't know why the Ducati bothered me. But it did.

"You know, your speedy little Benz is just as dangerous if you ask me," she said, falling into step with me.

"Yeah? How do you figure?" I asked.

"It doesn't matter what you ride, you can't control the drivers around you," she stated with a smirk just as we got to the door. Before I could get inside I felt arms snake around my waist.

I stiffened and turned my head to the handsome Beck Oliver. Tori looked at him and bit her lip. Maybe she likes Beck too…I mean, who wouldn't? Well I don't, not really. "You look beautiful as always," he murmured, giving me a hug.

I pulled back and smiled a little. Tori cleared her throat. I glared at her, and she looked at me as if she was waiting for something. Beck turned to her and smiled his dashing smile. "Hey, I'm Beck."

"Tori," she said, rolling her eyes at me, and then turning her full attention to Beck. "Tori Vega, I'm new."

"Oh yeah, I heard about you!" he said, keeping her hand in his grip. "They're starting you in the ZAT's even though you just started playing. Wild ,Wild West better watch out!"

"Oh yeah, Turtle is going to catch me," I sneered at him. "Please!"

"Haven't you heard of the tortoise and the hare?" Tori said defensively.

"This isn't a race, Turtle…It is a game. A game I always play to win," I said, so done with this conversation.

I headed inside and caught a glimpse of Cat and Andre with Robbie the nerd at the corner. I headed in the other direction. I knew that Tori would just end up over there, and I was just so tired of her already.

I sat in a chair in the corner to decompress and watched Tori and noticed how people were drawn to her like flies to honey. And it wasn't because she was famous because she wasn't there yet. She was magnetic.

She and I had polarizing magnetism and seemed to repel each other. Someone I didn't expect here at the party sauntered over to Tori. Her eyes were predatory as she approached her. They roamed over Turtle's body, taking in every dip and curve of her before she tapped her slender shoulder.

I swallowed. The look made me uncomfortable. Petra wanted Tori. At least that was what it looked like. Tori turned her head and gave Petra a smile. The stupid 'Ova' leaned forward and whispered something in Vega's ear and she blushed and fidgeted with the fringe of her skirt. Then they walked off somewhere. I was about to follow them when Beck grabbed my arm and spun me to face him. "So that's where you went off to."

"Yeah, here I am," I said.

"Let's dance," he said, pulling me to the dance floor.

"I don't dance," I answered

"Come on! Live a little…" I stood my ground and looked at him.

"I don't like you," I said flatly.

"I don't like you…at least not the way you think," he said, then pulled me back to the seats. "Listen, I have a girlfriend back home in Canada. But my coach thinks that if I am seen with you it would be good for my career…you know what I mean?"

I looked at him like he was crazy. "Your girlfriend is okay with you being seen with me like that?"

"I told her you were a lesbian," he said. I glared at him and punched him hard in the arm.

"I am not!" I said. "What happens when I do decide to date?" I retorted and walked away from him as fast as I could. How dare he? I mean, not that there is anything wrong with being gay, but I don't even know what I am! There has never been anyone worth my time.

He gave chase and followed me. "Come on! At least pretend with me it would be good for your career too!"

I stopped a moment and stared him down. Someone walked by and snapped our picture of us staring each other down. "Do you mind?" I yelled at the photographer. "I'm not doing this with you here," I said to Beck and kept moving toward my friend.

"Just think about it!" he yelled after me.

Ass…But I already knew that this was so happening. A Tennis court romance is big! That picture would be all over the place, and I guess that pretending to be that ass's girlfriend could prove beneficial in the short term. "Cat! I'm leaving."

"What! No way, I just got here!" Cat stated. "Robbie can take me home, won't you Robbie?" She continued taking the nerds hand.

He nodded, "of course!"

"Suit yourself," I said and began to walk away.

"Wait!" Andre said, coming up to me. "Can you give me a ride? I mean, if Cat's not going, you do have one extra seat in that sweet ride of yours. Besides, I shouldn't have come. I have to train in the morning."

"Okay, come on," I said and looked at Robbie. "You better take care of her."

He nodded and put a protective arm around Cat. "You bet."

"I'm going to go tell Tori. I'll be right back," Andre stated. I followed him outside. Tori was standing at the balcony in front of Petra, who was sitting on the railing, her legs loosely wrapped around Tori's waist. They were kissing. Tori's hands were on Pratikova's hips, while Petra's were tangled in Tori's hair.

"You are so hot," Pratikova murmured between kisses. I felt something inside me melt a little when I heard the impassioned words. "Touch me," she whispered.

"Whoa there…" Andre said, letting them know he was there. They turned toward him and I hid behind a curtain so they couldn't see me. "Tor, I'm leaving…I got myself a ride."

"You sure you're good?" Tori asked, hanging onto Petra keeping her from falling backward.

"Yeah…" Andre stated with a smirk. "Carry on." He walked back inside, shaking his head. I felt a blush on my cheek. "Typical, Tori," he said to me when he reached me.

I smiled and began to walk out of the clubhouse toward my car. "Does she hook up like that all the time?"

"Yes, as long as she's not in love with someone; she can be a bit of a womanizer."

I bit my lip. "So she's a cheater."

"No! I mean she's never actually been with someone she is in love with, but sometimes she gets these crushes that just…"

"Cripple her?" I asked as we got in my car.

"I guess," he said. "She had this one crush, and this girl was so straight. She was beautiful too. Tori did everything to be her friend. Francia, that was her name, she got really close to Tori, like they were almost best friends. Francia would tell her about all of her dates, and then Tori would come to me crying because Francia was in love with some dude or another."

I listened to him tell the story of this girl who fell in love with this guy and how Tori's heart was broken when she told her that she had lost her virginity with him. Tori nearly died of heartbreak when she finally told the girl she loved her. Francia never spoke to her again.

"Wow, that's sad," I said. We drove in silence for a little bit.

"You and your date have a fight?" he said.

"Something like that…" I said, rolling my eyes. I snorted. "Actually, I think we're dating now."

"You think?" he asked.

"Yeah…so where to next?"