The Green Tiger

Chapter 4 : Training

She had been on the field for six hours now, baseball bat held tight in her hands and balls threw rapidly to her. Jane spent the day training, her throws, her homeruns, her way to run, her way to catch the balls, and even her strategies for the next games. She wanted to be the best, she had to. She had this knot in her chest which wasn't leaving her, sometimes she wasn't breathing correctly because of it. At the end of her training, Jane gathered her stuff and began to walk away, panting, before being joined by her friend, Mallory.

- "It's our day off, and you, you're training. I don't understand you," the blonde girl joked.

- "I prepared new strategies, with that, we can't lose the return match."

Jane showed her the notebook where all the strategies were. Mallory took it and watched closely to the notes she wrote.

- "You remember all the weak points of each girl of the team? How do you do that?"

- "I'm just attentive."

- "No, you're creepy," Mallory joked. "Now, turn your brain off, you're gonna explode!"

- "I'm fine, don't worry, but we can't lose ever again!"

- "Jane, (puts the notebook on the brunette's chest) take some rest."

- "I'm not tired, I'm fine," the brunette lightly grumbled, taking back the notebook.

- "You put too much pressure on yourself, after the match you managed to cheer the team up! To give us hope and strength for the next match! And we won because of that, because of you! Stop blaming yourself for one defeat, you don't deserve it."

- "I'm not, but I wanna win the return match that's all!"

- "Yeah, whatever, it's like talking to a wall!" Mallory stated.

- "I'm listening, don't worry, I'm just not tired, I'm fine, really," Jane reassured.

The blonde girl sighed, feeling powerless. She wrapped her arm around Jane's head and kissed her temple, finding nothing to say. Mallory was worried for Jane, she thought that her friend was spending too much time focused on baseball and forgot to live her life, to enjoy taking some rest; the only moments where she could, she was training again and again.

At nightfall, Jane began to get ready. After a day on the field, she couldn't go to this bar covered of sweat, except if it was the redhead's thing, but she didn't know yet. She arrived at the bar and sat at the counter, on the same chair as usual. Max had an instant smile when she saw her.

- "Grenadine syrup?"

- "Sure," Jane smirked.

- "What did you do today?"

- "I trained."

- "You always train, don't you?"

- "That's why I'm the best!"

- "If you say so!"

The two girls chuckled but were cut by a group of men entering the bar. The redhead gave a quick look to Jane, meaning everything, before serving them. Jane looked at her working while she was sipping her syrup with a smile on her face. A few minutes later, Max managed to extract herself from the group and to come back near Jane.

- "You've fans too!" the brunette mocked.

- "Yeah, I wonder if I don't have the clingiest ones. It must work well for you on this side, right?"

- "Um, well, some tried."

- "Wow, what did you do to them?" Max chuckled.

- "Nothing, don't worry, they're still alive!" Jane smiled.

- "I hope!" she answered. "Is baseball your only passion?"

- "It's not a passion, it's a lifestyle!"

- "At this point? How old were you when you began to play?"

- "I was already playing in my mom's belly!"

- "Pff, you're an idiot. There is nothing else that you wanna try or do?"

- "Um...no...I've never seen a show with Monster trucks!"

- "I was expecting everything but not this!"

- "It looks so cool," Jane said with a small smile. "What about you? You play baseball?"

- "No, I barely know the rules."

- "Oh, why? Baseball is so cool!"

- "Not everybody is born with a baseball bat in their hands!"

- "Yeah, okay, I give you that. So? No sports?"

- "Skateboard and ice hockey."

- "Nice. In a club?"

- "Yeah, not that much, I didn't have the time," Max pouted.

- "Do you regret it?"

- "Regret what?"

- "Not focusing on your sport career?"

- "Um, no, I don't want to have a sport career, I just wanted to leave my house."

Jane was strangely dumbstruck. She was more the kind to always ask questions, but this sentence turned her blood to ice; Max didn't say a lot, but it was enough to understand the ambience at home. Not wanting to put her foot in it, she preferred standing to leave.

The redhead felt embarrassed, she hoped she didn't make her run away, it wasn't the goal, she was just telling her the truth, nothing more, but maybe it wasn't what Jane was looking for.

Jane began to step away before stopping at the door and coming back to the bar to say:

- "Are you free this week? To hang?"

- "Um, yeah, yeah, sure," Max answered, smiling and blushing.

- "You're free on Friday night?"

- "I am, yes, I am!"

- "Cool," Jane smirked.

- "We can meet here at 8, then we can do something else, whatever you want."

- "We'll see. See you on Friday then."

- "Yeah, see you."

Jane winked to her before leaving. Max didn't know if it was a date or not, but she was excited. If she was alone, she would have jumped everywhere. The sensation she was feeling was reminding her the first time someone asked her for a date, she was feeling like a teenager. She couldn't wait to know more about Jane somewhere else than in a bar.