The Journey Ch. 03

"I'll get us another pitcher for the last game," Oscar said, as the noise died down.

"Wait, take this," I said, pulling out my wallet and fishing out a twenty. "Get me a double shot of Patron gold."

"Jesus Viv, you sure? You have class tomorrow morning." Manny looked worried.

"Dude, I just threw a perfect game! Let me celebrate a little bit."

"Okay, okay!" he said, holding his hands up placatingly.

"Hey Viv, need you to sign these for me." Charlie, the alley manager, had two bowling pins and a Sharpie held out towards me. "These are from the last frame you knocked down."

"Oh, sweet!" Everyone who threw a perfect game signed one of their pins and it was displayed near the entrance. I was about to join the three-dozen or so other pins in the trophy case. "What's the second one for?"

"For you. You get to keep it."

"Man, thanks! This is so cool! Can I hang onto the pen for a minute?"

"You can have it. Congrats again, Viv. I knew it was just a matter of time until you got one."

I looked at the beat-up old pin in my hands. Charlie had written the date, the name of the alley and my name just under the red crown printed around the neck. I signed my name underneath.

"Manny, you sign too. I want the whole team to sign it."

"You sure?"

"I wouldn't be here tonight without you guys. I want my teammates' names on this."

Oscar came back with a fresh pitcher and a glass half full of golden liquid, which he offered to me.

I took the glass from Oscar and raised it to touch their beer mugs.

"To a perfect game!" Raúl said.

"¡Salud!" I shouted, and slammed my tequila.

Whoosh, that was a generous pour on a double, I thought as it burned down my throat. I bet I can sneak another one from the bar while Manny's in the can later.

~~ Adams Morgan, Washington D.C., May ~~

As I walked up to the entrance of A League of Her Own, I nervously scanned the crowd on the street outside. I hadn't been here since the night I'd met Addison. I had been avoiding all the fancy lesbian bars in the District since we'd broken up, because I didn't want to run into her, especially if she was out with her doctor chick.

My second semester at school had been almost as good as my first. I'd gotten A's in Calc II, Foundations of Engineering, and General University Physics I. The C I'd gotten in College Composition wasn't that great, but then as far as I was concerned English class didn't have much to do with being an engineer, so fuck it. The prof had been a snotty fifty-something who I didn't like and who didn't like me. Also, since it was my nine A.M. class, I'd shown up late or hung-over more times that I cared to admit.

Still, a 3.79 was nothing to sneeze at.

While my semester was successful, my social life had been its usual slow-rolling disaster. I'd had a few one-night stands from matches on Tinder or Her. Two of them were one-night by my choice, the other one I'd liked the girl but she'd blown me off just like Mindy. I decided that I was ready to move on from my string of conquests. I wanted to date someone again.

Since I decided I was ready to be over my fear of dating, it made sense to me to also try to get over my fear of running into a certain someone. And I'd always loved hanging out at The League. It was just classy enough that the women I met there were rarely too dumb so as to bore me, but mostly (mostly) not out of my... league, I guess was the right word. Sorry (not sorry) for the pun.

I'd toned down my butch look just a tad for the night. No jeans and clunky boots for me tonight, I'd worn my only nice pair of khaki slacks, with my cleanest pair of canvas Chucks. I'd stuck with one of my usual button-down tops, turquoise green this time. Sleeveless of course, to show off my sleeve tattoo. And my arms. I'd spent the semester doing curls with Manny's barbell and I was pretty happy with how I was looking. I just hoped someone interesting felt the same way about me tonight.

Once I walked in the door, however, I could immediately see I wasn't dressed for the occasion. Usually the League played either rock and roll, or pretty good dance music. Tonight, I heard a young Michael Jackson singing I Want You Back, and I noticed that almost everyone was wearing seventies clothes.

Fuck, I should have checked the web site. I couldn't believe I finally got up my courage to come back to my favorite lesbian bar after three years and they were having a theme night that I wasn't ready for. I could have gone to the thrift store for a pair of bell bottoms at least.

I made my way to the bar and found a space. The bartender came over and I ordered a margarita. I felt like ordering a straight tequila shot, to calm my nerves, but I was hoping to have a nice long evening and I didn't want to flame out early.

Most of the girls along the bar seemed to be paired up already, but I could be patient. I sipped my drink, and alternated watching the crowd along the bar top and turning to watch the mass of dancers grooving to classics like Love Train. After the bartender delivered my second margarita, I looked up to see a pretty girl who seemed to maybe be alone at the far end of the bar. I decided to go for it, and raised my hand to get the bartender's attention...

...and froze as two women filled the empty space next to my potential target.

One was tall, with curly red hair, wearing a tie-dyed tank top with a giant peace sign on it. The other woman was shorter, with a heart shaped face, dirty blonde hair, braided into two thick pigtails that were held back with a leather forehead-band and wearing a huge pair of round, pink tinted glasses.

Oh fuck! I knew them. I wracked my brain until their names popped into my head. Amber and Nora. Addison's friends. I could remember shoving past them on the steps of the Capital One Center, chasing after Addison after she'd caught me with another woman.

I have to get the fuck out of here--

My skin went clammy as I felt a tap on my shoulder. Then I heard a familiar voice behind me.

"Fancy running into you here!"

I turned around and felt my eyes widen in shock.

To Be Continued...

Thank you for reading, Friend. Please leave me a comment to let me know your thoughts on Viv's journey. I have updated Viv's Dance Party playlist with the songs from this chapter, check my bio for more information.