Her dirty-blond hair was tied up in a ponytail, her skin tan and sun kissed, and her eyes as blue as sapphires. She wore softball gear, her socks stained with grass and red dirt. She was almost intimidating in size. She had to be nearly four feet taller than me, and she had a strong build.
“Oh—shit!” She clutched the heart of her shirt when she spotted me. “Jesus, you scared me! I didn’t think anyone would be in here when I got back!”
I stood up, fidgeting with my phone. “Sorry—yeah, I got here about four hours ago.” I pointed at her bat and glove when she dropped the gear on the floor. “You were practicing?”
“Oh—yeah! I wanted to try out the new field, see if it felt as good as the rumors said.” She smirked, snatching the hairband out of her hair, her curly strands swimming around her heart-shaped face. “We weren’t supposed to, but oh well. Was totally worth it. No rocks or pebbles. Nice red dirt. The perfect playing field.” She stepped to her side of the room, pressing a palm to the nightstand and pulling off her cleats.
So, she was my roommate. I had to admit, she wasn’t who I was expecting after seeing all the purple and pink.
“Shit—I’m sorry. I’m Morgan. Morgan Page. Best outfielder you’ll ever fucking meet.”
I smiled as she extended an arm and offered her hand. She had a potty mouth too, just like Frankie. I loved it. “I’m Kandy,” I said, grabbing her hand to shake it. “Kandy Jennings.”
“Oh my gosh—wait. WHAT?” She dropped her arm, her eyes so wide I thought they’d pop out of her head. “Okay, I am legit having a fan-girl moment! I have been dying to meet you! If I’d known you were going to be my roommate I would have showered first! Henley didn’t tell me anything about you being my roommate! Gah—you look much different from when I saw you two years ago!”
“You saw me two years ago?” I laughed. “Where?”
“Okay, so funny story. I’m from North Carolina. I played for Providence High School in Charlotte. You may not remember this, but during playoffs our junior year, we played each other in South Carolina!”
“Oh wow—I do remember playing Providence! You guys were really good!”
“Yeah—I totally remember because you gave one of our best batters these really tough pitches. She couldn’t hit any of them—well I mean the ones she did hit sucked and didn’t get far. Everyone was so shocked. The crowd was cheering your name—Kandy! Kandy! Kandy! It was fucking awesome, not gonna lie. Don’t get me wrong, I was pissed that we lost, but I also give credit where it is due and you, ma’am, are one of the best pitchers I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting! I can’t believe I’m sharing a room with you!”
I giggled. “Well, it’s nice to formally meet you. Sorry we whipped your butts that year.”
She broke out in a hoarse laugh. “Well, we’re on the same team now, so it’s all good. Just so you know, you won’t get any trouble from me. We’re in the same boat. We’re the only freshmen on the team, can you believe that?”
“Yeah, Coach Carmen was telling me that in an email. It’s going to be weird. Have you met any of the other girls yet?”
“I’ve met Gina, she’s a sophomore and really cool. I saw a few of the seniors and Gina tried to introduce me to them but they pretended like they were too busy.” She shrugged and rolled her eyes. “It’s whatever. I don’t have time for these fake bitches. There’s a girl here, Sophie. She’s a pitcher too, but you know she got injured over the summer and can’t play too well. I saw her and she frowned at Gina and me. I think she’s pissed because she knows someone good is here to replace her.”
“Oh, wow. I’ve heard about Sophie.” Lots of things about Sophie Banks, actually. She’d taken the Notre Dame team to sectionals twice with her quick arm. Not only that, but she’d entered a beauty pageant for her county last summer and won. She was all Coach Carmen could talk about.
“Well, I’ll tell you now, you’re ten times better than she is. Only reason she’s still on the team is because Coach Carmen wants her to finish her scholarship. She’s also an ass-kisser, which Carmen loves. I have no doubt that Coach Carmen is a pussy-muncher through and through. She loves to have her ass kissed and to be adored by her players.” Morgan threw her hands in the air carelessly. “Whatever floats your boat, you know, but I’m not an ass-kisser. I’m just here to play and hopefully lose a few pounds with conditioning.”
“Yep,” I sighed. “It’s a new start. Just want to learn and play and have fun doing it.”