Date: Sun, 2 Sep 2007 15:04:56 -0400
From: numlfl <numlfl@musfiber.com>
Subject: The Athlete and the Genius - Part One

This story is the property of the author. You may keep a copy on your
computer for personal enjoyment, however if you wish to publish or
distribute the story then you must get the permission of the author.


The Athlete and the Genius
By Chris


	TK came into her dorm room feeling depressed and lost. She had come
to the university on a softball scholarship and she felt like she was going
to lose it before she could ever take the field of a real game.  She was
one of the best high school players from her home state of California and
that was saying a lot as that was where some of the best players came
from. She chose to come halfway across the country to play for Herman and
Lagina Renner, who were married and served as co-head coaches. They had
convinced her that they were in the process of making a championship team
and TK wanted to be a part of that, however things weren't quite as she had
imagined them would be.

      Things started to go wrong when she first met with Herman and Lagina
in their office and they handed her the workout schedule that they expected
her to follow during the fall term. She had done some weight lifting in
high school but they had her going to the workout center three times a week
to lift weights under the watchful eye of Jenna, the physical trainer and
then run the other days of the week. She thought that she was in good shape
when she got there but after the first week of running and lifting weights,
she found that muscles she never knew she had were sore. Then came her
statistics class, and she found that she and the professor weren't on the
same wavelength. She wasn't a great student but she did okay in high school
and in her other classes she was passing with around a B average. In
Statistics class, she had flunked every test. It was too late to drop the
class and if she failed it then she wouldn't be eligible to play this
spring when the season started. She had gone to the tutoring center which
was set up to help the athletes and they were able to help her get her
homework done.  However as soon as the class started, she was lost again.
She was about to the point of quitting and going home but she couldn't do
that. She left home telling all her friends that she was going to win a
championship and she couldn't return home with her tail tucked between her
legs. She knew she had to do something but she didn't have a clue as to
what it was.

      "What's wrong?" Buffy, TK's roommate, asked as she came into the dorm
room and she saw TK with her head in her hands.

      "Oh it's this damn statistics class. I'll never get it and if I flunk
I will lose my scholarship." TK said as she felt herself wanting to cry.

      "I wish I could help you but anything having to with numbers just
confuses the hell out of me." Buffy said as she put her books down by her
computer.

      "I thought that I was okay with them but this class just has me
clueless."  TK told her.

      "I do have one idea, if you're desperate enough." Buffy told her.

      "I reached desperate about a week ago; I'm now in frantic mode." TK
told her.

      "Maybe you should go see Carmen and see if she can help you." Buffy
told her.

      "Who's Carmen?" TK asked.

      "She is the black haired girl that lives down at the end of the
hall. You know, she always wears sweat pants and a sweat shirt with the
sleeves cut off." Buffy said, "She supposed to be some type of genius or
something. I know a couple of girls that went to her and she helped them."

      "I don't know, she'll probably confuse me as much as my professor
does. I need someone to talk at my level and not over my head." TK told
her.

      "Well these girls weren't known for their brains and they understood
her."  Buffy told her. "Anyway it's just a thought."

      "I'll think about it." TK said as she opened her statistics book. She
started to read but it was all Greek to her. The words just weren't making
sense. She then began to reconsider seeking Carmen's help. She now sort of
knew who Buffy was talking about now as she had seen her in the hallway a
couple of times. She was always alone and she kept to herself. She thought
that she was just weird or something and she had heard of a girl genius
that lived on the floor and now she knew that they were one and the same
girl. TK shut her statistics book and put it aside and she opened her
English book. She began to do her English homework and soon had what she
needed done. She glanced at her statistics book again and it seemed to be
mocking her as it laid there on her desk.  She put her English book on top
of it and she went on to her American history book. She read for a couple
of hours and then she did wrote the short essay that her professor wanted
them to write. It was now going on seven in the evening and she still had
her statistics to do. She reached for the book and opened it up. She looked
at the words and she knew she was defeated. She slammed the book closed
causing Buffy to jump. She mouthed a "Sorry" to her and she looked at the
door. She knew that her back was against the wall so she got her notebook
and started for the door.

      "Good luck," Buffy called to her.

      "Thanks," TK replied and she went out the door. TK found that her
heart was beating ever faster as she went down the hallway. She didn't know
why she was so nervous, it wasn't like she had anything to lose but then
she knew that this was her last hope at passing this stupid course.  She
got to Carmen's door and after hesitating for a moment she knocked
lightly. She half hoped that Carmen wouldn't be in and she half hoped that
she was. She waited another moment and was about to walk away feeling
relieved that Carmen wasn't in.

      "Come on in." TK head a soft voice call from inside of the room.

      TK turned the door knob with a nervous and shaky hand and she entered
the room. She stepped just inside of the door and she looked around. It was
a small room with just one bed. She didn't know that there were even single
room available but obviously there was. She then looked to the right and
she saw Carmen sitting at her desk pounding away at her keyboard. She was
dressed in her usual sweat pants and sweat shirt with the sleeves cut
off. Her hair was pinned up with a big hair clip that did nothing for her
looks and only seemed to serve to hold her hair off her shoulders.

      "Pull up a chair; I'll be with you in just a moment. I just have to
work this out while it is fresh in my mind." Carmen told her never taking
her eyes on the big screen of her computer monitor.

      "Thanks, but I can come back later if you are busy." TK said as she
started to take a step back and get out of the room of this strange girl.

      "If you wait until I'm not busy then you'll never get any help with
your statistics' class." Carmen said as she took her left hand and motioned
to the chair that was to her left side. She did all of this without ever
taking her eyes off of the monitor.

      TK was amazed that Carmen even noticed that she had a statistics book
and she felt compelled to do as Carmen told her. She went on over and sat
down.  She looked at what was on Carmen's screen and she saw a 3-D image of
what looked like a DNA chain. At least that is what it looked like to
her. She wasn't a science major but she had seen similar drawings in her
high school biology book. However what was on Carmen's screen was much more
detailed and much more complicated. TK then looked over at Carmen's
computer or rather computers. There were two shells with all the components
exposed and they seemed to be hooked together. TK knew that Carmen's setup
was much more powerful than her little Dell laptop. TK's eyes then went to
Carmen's face and she saw that Carmen had bright responsive eyes that
darted around the screen. She had a small upturned button nose and her skin
was blemish free and all so smooth. TK had never gotten past Carmen's
clothes or the way that she kept her hair pinned up in a haphazard way. Now
as she looked a little more closely, she could see that Carmen was cuter
that she had ever imagined. TK got so caught up looking at Carmen that she
didn't even realize that Carmen had finally stop typing and working her
mouse and she was now facing her and was asking her a question.

      "Excuse me." TK said as she got her mind back to the present.

      "I asked how I can help you." Carmen said and she flashed TK a shy
smile that seemed to penetrate her soul. It was like Carmen was speaking to
something deep inside of her and all the fear and confusion went away. It
was just she and Carmen and Carmen was connecting to her.

      "I'm TK..." TK started to saw but then Carmen finished her sentence.

      "You're TK Brooks from Redding California. You had a .763 batting
average in High School.  You led your High School team to four straight
state championships and you were recruited by all the PAC 10 teams. You
mainly play first and third base but have been known to play all the other
positions including pitcher." Carmen said.
       TK was amazed that Carmen knew who she was much less knew so much
about her and she knew that her face was showing her shock at Carmen's vast
knowledge. But before TK could say anything Carmen again spoke up.

      "I'm kind of a woman's sports nut. I follow all the sports and that
is part of why I decided to come here instead of MIT or any of the other
schools of that type. I go to every basketball and softball game that I can
and I try to catch the swimming and track teams too." Carmen said as she
gave TK another shy smile and TK felt herself starting to like this strange
girl and she was a strange girl.

      "Well you know all about me, that's for sure." TK said and then she
remembered why she came to this strange girl's room. "I need some help with
my statistics class." TK told her.

      "Do you need help with a problem or the whole class in general?"
Carmen asked as she reached over and took the statistic's book from TK's
arms.

      "I guess the class in general." TK said quietly and feeling slightly
embarrassed.

      "What is your grade average?" Carmen probed a little deeper as she
opened the statistics book.

      "I... I've flunked every test so far." TK admitted and she felt her
eyes start to tear up. She hated feeling this way but she was at the end of
her rope and she knew it.

      "Hey don't despair; I'll have you passing those stupid tests in no
time."  Carmen said as she placed her small soft hand on TK's right
forearm.

      TK felt the soft touch and it warmed her heart a little and she began
to feel a little hope come to her. Then she asked Carmen, "Have you had
statistics?"

      "Nope." Carmen said and TK felt her heart drop as she knew Carmen
couldn't help her if she had never had a statistics class. "Hey don't
worry, I tested out of most of the classes that I have taken here. Don't
you know I'm a genius?" Carmen said in a joking manner trying to make TK
feel better.

      "So I've heard but I'm not that smart, I'm afraid that you will just
confuse me as much as my professor does." TK said as she went to take her
statistics book from Carmen but Carmen kept a firm grasp on it.

      "Hey give me a chance; I can't do any worse than your professor has
done.  When is your next statistics class?" She asked.

      "I have a quiz on Tuesday." TK told her.

      "Well today's Thursday so that gives me four days to get you up to
snuff.  Give me those four days and if you don't get at least a B on it
then I'll find someone else to help you but let me warn you that you won't
find a better teacher than me." Carmen told her.

      TK thought that Carmen was thinking mighty high of herself but then
again, she had nothing to lose. "Okay I'll give it a try."

      "Good," Carmen said and TK could see a little gleam in Carmen's eyes
like she had just won the lottery. "So what is your schedule for the next
four days?"

      "I have three classes tomorrow and then I have to work out for two
hours. I will be done around five. Saturday I have to do my running so I
usually sleep late and do it in the afternoon. Sunday I'm free until about
five when all the team gets together for dinner at Francine's
apartment. Then Monday I have classes and a work out until five." TK told
her.

      "Okay I think we can work around that schedule. I'm come and get you
when I get back from my classes on Friday and Monday. I have some research
to do on Saturday so you will need to get up early and do your running and
we'll meet back here at eleven. Sunday I'm pretty much free so when you get
up just come on down.  We've got a lot of work to do so don't sleep too
late." Carmen told her or rather ordered her.

      TK didn't like having to get up early on Saturday and Sunday but it
didn't look like Carmen was going to give her a choice so she agreed. She
needed the help and she needed Carmen to help her. "Okay sounds good to
me." TK said.

      "Then let's get to work, we'll start at the beginning and work from
there.  Take this notebook and start to take notes. You will have two
statistics notebooks now, one for your class and one for when you are with
me. Once we have statistics down I'll help you with your other classes so
you will need extra notebooks for those classes." Carmen said as she handed
TK five new notebooks. TK had only wanted help in one class but Carmen
seemed to have taken it upon herself to help her in all her classes. TK
wanted to protest but Carmen had already started to delve into her
statistics book. TK watched her as she read the first chapter in about
three minutes and she only paused once or twice to read something again.
She then put the book down and she pulled TK's chair toward her and she
started to go over what she had read. TK started to take notes and she
found that Carmen was actually talking at her level. And when she asked a
question, Carmen was patient in answering it, ever if it took two or three
tries before TK understood what she was telling her. When it came time for
TK to do a problem, she felt herself tensing up and Carmen put her hand on
her arm and told her to relax. Just the touch of Carmen's hand on her arm
was enough to make her relax and she worked through the problem with only a
little help from Carmen. When she got it done and found that it was
correct, she wanted to hug Carmen but she stopped herself from going that
far. They worked for three hours and by then they had gotten through the
first chapter and when TK left Carmen's room and she felt like she had
actually learned something. She knew that when she woke up the next
morning, the things that Carmen had taught her would still be in her brain,
unlike when she had asked for help from her professor or the tutors that
the athletic department used.

      TK had just gotten back into her room the next day and was talking to
Buffy when she heard a soft knock on the door. She went to the door and
opened it to find Carmen standing there in her usual sweat pants and shirt.

      "I was wondering if you wanted to go get something to eat before we
get started on statistics." Carmen said and she gave TK a shy smile that
made the corners of her lips lift up and she blinked several times as her
eyes looked downward.

      "Sure," TK said and then she wondered what she was thinking. She
liked Carmen and she appreciated what Carmen was doing for her but she
didn't want to become friends with her. "Ah... let me get my dinning card."
TK said as she ducked back into her room.

      "I think you've made a new friend." Buffy whispered.

      "Tell me about it." TK said but she wasn't smiling like Buffy
was. But she did at least put a slight smile as she got back into the
hallway where Carmen was waiting for her.

      TK let Carmen do most of the talking as they walked to the dining
hall and as they ate their dinner. TK found that she was soon engrossed in
what Carmen was telling her as she talked about herself. She told TK about
how she had grew up on a farm and she had to help her two brothers, one
older and one younger, and her older sister in the fields in the morning
before school and then after. Her parents wouldn't let her jump too far
ahead of her classmates in elementary school so she read everything she
could to keep her mind alert and thirsty for more. However she was able to
convince her parents to let her finish high school in two years.  Then she
had her choice of Universities to attend as they all wanted her after she
had made a perfect score on her college entrance exam. She then said, as
she had the previous night, that she came here for their women sports teams
plus she liked their cellular biology program. When she met the head of the
department and they hit it right off, she knew this was the place for
her. She went on to say that in the two years that she had been here, she
had almost completed her Bachelor's of Science degree in biology and had
started on her Masters.

      "Just how old are you?" TK asked at this point.

      Carmen face turned a little red as she said, "I'll be eighteen in
November."

      "That means you started here at the university when you were..." TK
was saying when again Carmen interrupted her.

      "Fifteen." Carmen said as her face turned ever redder.

      "Weren't you scared? I know that I would have been." TK told her.

      "Yea I was a little. Well actually I was really scared at first and
being so much younger than everyone else has made it hard to make
friends. But I have my classes to keep me busy so it hasn't been too
bad. Plus I go to all the women's sporting events that I can. That makes it
better." Carmen told her.

      TK thought for a second about what Carmen told her as she took a bite
of her food. She was beginning to understand her better and she became a
little more human to her and not quite as weird. She could understand why
Carmen had invited her to dinner and she told herself that she would be
more understanding of her need but she also knew she didn't want her to
latch onto her. She would just manage things better and it would work out
for both of them.

      "So how did you become so smart anyway?" TK asked her to get Carmen
onto another subject.

      "I don't know I just am. I guess mostly is because I got the right
genes at the right time and I came out of my mother smart. Then my parents
encouraged me to study and read so that helped too. It all plays a part in
whom I have become.  But then you are just like me." Carmen said.

      "How so?" TK asked as she had no clue as to why Carmen would say that
they were the same, she was about a far as you could get from being a
genius.

      "How many people in this world can hit a softball like you can and
play all the positions on the field? I mean some can hit and some can pitch
and some can play the infield or outfield but who can do them all as well
as you can do?" Carmen asked and then she answered her own question. "I
would say not many. And how did you get that way. I know you will say you
practiced like I read but you were born with some natural talent just like
I was born with the ability to used my brain. So both of our parents
nurtured our abilities but they also gave us just the right genes to make
us who we are. So we are more alike than you thought." Carmen told her.

      TK was surprised that she followed everything that Carmen told her
and even more surprised that she understood it. "I guess you are right, we
are more alike than I thought." TK said and she regretted those very words
when she saw Carmen giving her a little smile.

      "But you know that everyone thinks that I'm weird so if we are alike
that makes you weird too." Carmen said and she gave out a little giggle
that TK had to join in on.

      "Hey I been considered weird all my life from the time I played
baseball on the little league teams until I turned down all the great west
coast teams to come here." TK said and she smiled at Carmen who smiled
back.

      TK knew this dinner wasn't going the way that she had meant it
too. She wanted to distance herself from Carmen and she ended up finding
that they were coming closer to becoming friends. TK cursed herself as she
changed the subject once again to try and get the subject that wouldn't
serve to draw them closer.  They talked for a while longer then they headed
back to Carmen's room with a quick stop to get TK's statistics book and
both notebooks, one with the notes that she took when Carmen was teaching
her and one that she used during class. Then once they were in Carmen's
room, it was all business. They reviewed the first chapter for a few
minutes until Carmen was satisfied that TK had retained everything she had
taught her the previous night. From there they went on to the second
chapter. Here the problems got a little harder and TK had more questions
but Carmen was very patient with her and kept going over the problems until
TK could understand them. They worked until about eleven when TK felt like
she had taken in as much as she could.

      TK cursed Carmen when her alarm went off early Saturday morning. She
loved to sleep in when she could and because Carmen had decided that she
was to do her workout early so that they could work on Statistics after she
got done with her work. TK was used to having her coaches tell her what to
do and when to do it and she was chaffing at the thought that she was
allowing Carmen to treat her the same way. She cussed and fussed as she got
dressed and slipped out the door to do her workout. She imagined what she
was going to do to Carmen when she saw her as she did her workout and the
athletic trainer said that it was her best workout since she had been
there. TK left the workout with yet another reason to cuss Carmen as it
seem that she found a way to help her do well in yet another thing and this
time without knowing that she had helped her. TK ran back to the dorm and
there she took her shower and just as she sat down to do some of her other
homework when she heard a soft knock on the door. TK knew that it could be
only one person at this hour of the morning. As TK got up, she looked over
at Buffy who turned over and pulled her covers over her head. TK threw
Buffy a bird as she went to the door as she was the one who sent her to
Carmen in the first place.

      "I got done early and I thought that we could go ahead and get
started."  Carmen said as TK opened the door.

      "Well I still have some other homework to get done first." TK told
her as it was only ten and they weren't suppose to start on statistics
until eleven or so.

      "That's okay, just bring it all along and we can work on that too."
Carmen said and she gave TK that shy smile of hers.

      "Sure, just let me get my stuff." TK said and then she knew that
Carmen had gotten her again. As she went over to her desk, TK wondered why
she kept saying "yes" to Carmen's requests or suggestions when she really
wanted to say "no".

      They worked for a couple of hours and then they broke for lunch, this
time bypassing the dining hall and going for a burger. The stopped at a
fast food joint just off campus and since it was a warm fall day, they took
their food and walked to quiet area on the campus and sat down in the grass
to eat. This time Carmen got TK to talk about softball and TK found that
Carmen was rather knowledgeable about the subject. They talked about the
past few seasons since the new coaches had gotten there and how they had
really improved the team. Carmen really wanted them to win a championship
while she was still there and TK had to pop in that it was her intention to
win one or two. They ended up talking for a couple of hours before Carmen
decided that it was time to get back to work. TK groaned but she got up and
she reached out her hard to help Carmen up. TK felt Carmen's small hand
slip into her hand. To TK it was like nothing she had ever felt before.
Carmen's fingers slipped around her palm and the hand seemed to be a
perfect fit.  It was like her hand was made to cover Carmen's hand and hold
on to it. TK just left her hand there and she didn't move until she felt
Carmen tug on it and then she slipped from her dreamlike state and she
pulled Carmen's small and light body up. But she pulled a little too hard
and Carmen ended up against her. Being five foot ten inches she found that
she was looking down at Carmen who appeared to be about five foot seven
inches. TK looked into Carmen's large brown eyes and she could see the life
within those eyes. TK stared for a moment too long and then she stepped
back trying to create some distance between them. TK tried to shake off the
feeling that she was suddenly feeling and she got them headed back toward
the dorm. She was never so glad to be back doing statistics in her life as
it forced her to think about something other than Carman.

      They stayed with statistics for most of the afternoon and then they
took a short break for diner. This time they went back to the dining hall
as TK only allowed herself one burger a week and then it was back to her
well balanced diet.  She knew the value of a well balance diet when it came
to playing sports. After dinner, Carmen helped her some with her other
subjects as she worked on some of her own work. Around nine, Carmen
suggested that it was time to stop before their brains burst from all the
knowledge that they were putting into them. TK knew that Carmen could
probably study all day and night and not get tired but she was being nice
and letting TK rest for a while for there was a limit of what she could put
into her brain without it coming out the seams. Carmen then suggested that
they go for a walk to clear their brains before bed and TK was about to say
no when Carmen let one of her shy smiles creep across her face and again TK
was forced to say yes instead of no.

      The night air was still warm and it felt nice to be out in the open
after spending most of the day cooped up in the dorm studying, TK thought
as they began to walk. They stayed for the most part in the areas where all
the students hung out and they just talked and at times they became silent
with both lost in their own thoughts. It was during one of these silent
moments when TK happened to look over at Carmen and she saw that Carmen was
looking at her with a far off look in her eyes. It was only later that
night when TK was in bed did she think about how she had caught Carmen
looking at her. She knew that there was more to the look than what she had
first thought. She knew that Carmen had been lonely to a certain extent
since she had come here and she thought that maybe Carmen was looking at
her as her first real friend but she doubted that was the reason for the
look. She went on to sleep thinking about it but her mind never came to a
reason that it would accept.

      "Come on in TK." TK heard through the door after she had knocked on
it a little after eight Sunday morning. TK wondered how Carmen knew it was
her but then she realized that no one else would be knocking on Carmen's
door.

      "How you doing this morning?" TK asked as she came in and she put all
her books down on Carmen's desk. She saw that Carmen was running that same
gene program that she was running the other day when she came down to ask
for Carmen's help.

      "Pretty good, just need to finish mapping out the DNA chain for this
little mice and then we can go grab a bite to eat. You can always study
better after a good breakfast." Carman said as she typed and moved the
mouse around.

      "Since you have already started to study, that means that you already
have had your breakfast." TK said as she sat back proud of herself and she
watched as Carmen's fingers slowed to a stop as she thought about what TK
had said.

      "I thought I was the genius in this room." Carmen said as she smiled.

      "That is what I thought too but I guess not." TK said smiling even
bigger.

      "Smart ass!"Carmen said as she hit the save button on her computer.

      TK laughed as she got up and she waited for Carmen to get her dining
card and join her at the door.

      They finished the last of the chapters that TK needed help with and
as Carmen worked on her stuff, TK went on to her other subjects and since
Carmen was next to her she took advantage of her by asking few questions on
those subjects when she was unsure of something. They finished an hour or
so before TK had to meet up with the softball team at Francine's apartment,
so they talked for a while and then TK left. However before she went out
the door, Carman announced that she would be giving TK a test on statistics
Monday evening just to make sure that she was prepared for her real quiz on
Tuesday.

      She breezed through Carmen's test on Monday and she left there
feeling great about things. She knew that she had Statistics under control
now. So when she went into class on Tuesday morning, she felt confident for
once. The professor handed out the quiz and TK took a look at the first
problem and the fear came back to her. She didn't know right off how to
solve it and she almost panicked.  Then she remembered something that
Carmen had told her the night before.

      "If you find a problem that you're unsure about then go on to the
next one, then when you finish the test go back to that problem and see if
you can figure it out." She had told her. So TK took a deep breath and she
moved on to the second problem and she found that she could do it. She went
on to the rest of the problems and she slowly worked her way through
them. She found that Carmen was right; don't let one problem ruin the whole
test. When she finished the rest of the test, she went back to that first
problem. She started and stopped a few times before the solution came to
her. It was such a simple problem but she was making it much harder than it
was. She started to work on it when the professor announced that the time
was up. TK was pissed at not being able to solve the problem completely but
at least she passed the test. She left the class feeling like she had just
hit the home run that won her team the national championship.  She didn't
think passing a test could feel that good but she felt that way now. Her
feeling of euphoria and confidence went with her the whole day. She got
back to the dorm room just as Buffy was coming in and she told her all
about the test and how she had statistics licked now. TK didn't notice the
look that Buffy was giving her and if she had she would have, she would
know that Buffy was thinking that maybe she was getting a little too full
of herself. But TK wasn't seeing anything that wasn't right in front of her
nose. TK decided that she was feeling too good to study so she left the
room to find some of her new teammates. She found a couple in the dorm next
door to hers and she stayed there until late talking to them and generally
having a good time. She only thought about Carmen once or twice but both
times she was able to push her out of her thoughts. However those thoughts
of Carmen didn't leave her without a tinge of guilt passing through her
heart.

      As she came to her room that evening, she glance down the hall
towards Carmen's room, she felt that tinge of pain and guilt knowing the
first place she should have gone after her class was to Carmen's room
thanking her for what she had done for her. But she hadn't done that and
now it was even harder to go there now, so she didn't and that just made
the pain worse. The next morning she was out early before Carmen would be
out. She went on to her classes and then on Thursday she was back in her
Statistics class and she got her quiz back. She wanted to cry out when she
saw that she got a ninety on it, even her professor smiled at her. Then he
began his lecture and TK started to take notes. At first she was keeping up
with what he was saying but then she felt like she was getting lost
again. By the end of the class, she wasn't completely confused but she was
getting there. She went to her other classes and then as she came to her
door, she saw Carmen coming toward her. She saw Carmen smile at her and TK
knew what she should have done but that wasn't what she did. She ducked
into her room but not before she saw Carmen's smile turn downward and she
could see how hurt Carmen was by her rejection.

      TK went on into her room and she sat down on her bed. She kept seeing
Carmen's face as she sat there. Then she turned her thoughts towards
herself and she began to wonder why she was rejecting Carmen's
friendship. She had never met anyone with a purer heart or a sweeter
personality. She was just a good person and that was all there was to
it. Sure she dressed weird and she wore that stupid hair clip that made her
look so funny. Then TK began to think about the people that she hung out
with in high school and the people that she shunned there. She was one of
the popular kids and she acted that way, as she was the best softball
player in her state much less her school. She then thought about where
Carmen would have fit in at her school and she knew that Carmen would have
been one of the kids that she would have shunned just like she was doing
now. She had gone to her when she needed her but once she was done with
her, she began to go back to her old ways. The more she thought about it
the more she knew what she should do but when she tried to get up, her legs
wouldn't cooperate. She sat there a while longer and then Buffy came
in. She asked her if something was wrong but TK told her that everything
was fine. She then got up and went to her desk and started to study. She
tried hard to work the problems in her statistics book and she thought that
she got them right but she wasn't so sure. She then went on to her other
studies and tried not to think about Carmen.

      The next couple of weeks went along fine for her except for her
statistics class. She found that she was slowly becoming more confused. She
went to her professor and to the tutor that was there for the athletes but
neither could make her understand statistics like Carmen could. Then on
Tuesday her statistics professor announced that there would be another quiz
on Thursday. TK found a wave of panic wash over her. She knew she had no
chance of passing the exam. She also knew that she couldn't afford to fail
another exam in this class. She had to make a good grade on all her tests
for the rest of the semester or risk failing the class. She came back to
her dorm room and buckled down with her statistics book and she tried so
hard to understand it. She worked until midnight and then when she got back
to her dorm room on Wednesday, she started again but she was getting
nowhere with it. It was just a bunch of numbers that made no sense to her.

      "You know what you need to do don't you if you want to fail that
test." Buffy told her when TK leaned back from her book.

      "But I can't go to her now." TK told her as she knew that Buffy knew
that she had shunned Carmen since she had passed her last test. They didn't
talk about it but she knew that Buffy didn't approve of what she had done.

      "Then you'll just have to fail the test. You know I can't help you, I
worse with numbers than you are." Buffy told her.

      "But what do I say to her?" TK asked.

      "That you're a shit and you're sorry. Then get down on your knees and
beg for her help." Buffy told her.

      "You think that she'll help me?" TK asked.

      "I don't know but if I was her I wouldn't." Buffy told her and TK
knew that Buffy was telling her the truth.

      "That makes me feel better." TK said as she closed her statistics
book and she got her notebook and started out but not before remembering
the notebook that Carmen had given to her. She got it and then she went out
of the room, hearing Buffy telling her good luck.

      TK walked down the hallway and she felt her heart beating a mile a
minute.  This was the hardest thing that she had even done. She slowly made
her way down the hallway and when she got to Carmen's door she hesitated
for a moment then she put her hand up and knocked on the door.

      "It's open." She heard Carmen say through the door.

      TK reached down and took the doorknob in her hand and slowly turned
it.  When she heard the click, she pushed inward and she stepped into
Carmen's room.  Carmen was typing on her computer and it looked like some
type of report or paper. TK didn't say anything as she looked at Carmen,
dressed as always in her sweat pants and shirt. She waited for Carmen to
come to a stopping point and when she did, Carmen looked up at her but
there wasn't that sparkle in her eyes that TK had seen before. TK knew she
was in trouble here but then she knew that before she knocked on the door.

      "I need your help again. I have a test tomorrow and I'm afraid that
I'm going to fail." TK told her.

      "So you thought that I would help you again." Carmen said without any
emotion in her voice.

      "I'm asking for your help." TK said and she remember what Buffy had
told her earlier that she wouldn't help her if she was Carmen and right
then she was very much afraid that Carmen was going to refuse her.

      Carmen looked at her hard and as she sat there and TK began to squirm
under her intense stare. TK just knew that Carmen was going to tell her to
get the hell out of her room when she said, "Give me your book and let's
get started."  She said instead as she reached out for TK's book.

      "I appreciate you doing this for me." TK told her as she went around
Carmen and sat down beside of her.

      "I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for this for the softball
team.  They need you on the field and not sitting up in the stands." Carmen
said as she opened the statistics book.

      "Ouch" TK thought to herself as she felt Carmen barb strike deep into
her soul but she knew that she deserved it so she didn't say anything in
return.

      "Before we get started I want to set up some ground rules and you
have to agree to them all or there will be no more tutoring. You can't just
coming here at the last moment and expect me to jump up and help you."
Carmen told her.

      "Okay," TK replied not that she had much choice.

      "You will come here each and every evening and I will help you and
guide your studies. The same goes for the weekends, the only exceptions
will be for your softball practice and we will work around those. I know
that you have fall practice coming up in a couple of weeks and that will
mean less time to study so we need to get you prepared for that. You can
kiss your free time goodbye young lady."  Carmen told her and she had this
motherly look to her that dared you to say anything but "Yes madam."

      TK then remember Carmen telling her about her mother. She was a
loving mom but she was strict with her children and she made them mind
her. Ever the boys didn't dare back talk her but they all loved her. She
could tear the hide off your ass and then give you the love only a mom who
loved her children to death could. TK then knew that Carmen had inherited
this trait from her mother and she got all of those motherly genes from
her. Normally TK would have told Carmen to shove it up her ass for talking
to her that way but Carmen had a way about her that TK couldn't say no
to. Maybe that was another reason that TK avoided her for so long but she
could avoid her any longer and she didn't want to.

      "I'll do whatever you want." TK told her as she lowered her eyes in
submission.

      "Let's get started then." Carmen said in a very businesslike manner
and she started off where they had left off a couple of weeks
before. Carmen taught her like before making sure she understood something
before she went to the next item. However where before there was
friendliness in her voice, there was none now. It was all work and they
worked through the night studying.

      "Would you like to go to breakfast?" TK asked as she got up to leave.

      "You don't have to try and be friends with me, friendship isn't
required or desired. Like I told you last night, I'm doing this for the
softball team, not you."  Carmen told her letting her eyes bore into TK's
soul.

      TK felt her heart sink and she said nothing else as she went out the
door and closed it behind of her. It was only after she had gone halfway
down the hallway to her room before she allowed the tears that were at her
eyes to start to fall. Carmen's comments cut her to her soul but she knew
that she deserved them. She slipped on into her room and was glad to see
that Buffy was still asleep.  She set her books down and she went into the
bathroom and turned on the shower.  When she stepped in, she let her tears
go full blast. She cried and cried as she knew that she had lost the chance
to be friends with a very nice girl. As she stepped from the shower, she
felt drained instead of refreshed. She looked into the mirror and saw that
there were dark areas under her eyes. She dried her body and her hair and
she started to put a little makeup on but then she realized that there was
no amount of makeup would make her look good today, so she didn't
bother. She stumbled through her day and when she got to her statistics
class, she knew she was ready for the exam. Even as tired as she was, she
was able to solve the problems and she knew that was because of Carmen's
help. From there she went to her work out and the trainer was all over her
because she wasn't working hard enough to satisfy her. TK tried but her
body was just running out of energy and she just let the trainer yell at
her as she worked her muscles until they hurt. From there she came back to
her room and she wanted to lie down but she knew if she did, then she
wouldn't be able to get up when it was time to go to Carmen's room. She
knew any other time, Carmen would let her pass on the tutoring session but
if she didn't show up this evening then there would be no other sessions
with Carmen.  So she went and got something to eat and she was sitting
beside of Carman's door when Carmen arrived.

      "How did you do on your test?" Carmen asked as she took her key and
opened her door.

      "I believe that I did pretty well." TK replied noting that she didn't
even get a "Hi" or a "How are you?" from Carmen but then she didn't expect
one.

      TK followed Carmen into her room and Carmen immediately got down to
work.  They first worked on statistics and then Carmen had her work on her
other classes as she worked on her own stuff. TK saved her lit class for
last and that was a mistake as the more she read the sleepier she
got. However every time she began to nod off, she felt Carmen poking her
leg waking her back up. TK didn't how Carmen was able to stay awake like
she was. She appeared fresh and alert while TK was looking for tape to tape
her eyelids open. Finally at about eleven, Carmen declared that TK had
worked long enough and she let her go but not before reminding her to be
back the next night.

      As soon as TK left her room, Carmen felt the tears come once again as
they did every night since TK had started to shun her. She got up and went
to bed and fell to sleep with the tears still running down her
cheeks. Meanwhile, TK went on back into her room and after setting her
books down she fell upon her bed but she was too tired to go to sleep. She
thought about Carmen and how Carmen obviously hated her now and that made
her sad. The more she thought about that, the sadder she got until she had
her own tears running down her cheeks and she too feel asleep with those
tears running down her face.

      The next morning she woke up and rolled over in the bed wanting a few
more hours of sleep. But then her eyes caught sight of her alarm clock and
she saw that it was ten till nine. She rolled over onto her back and she
thought that she had another hour until her first class. As her eyes
closed, her brain kicked in again and she realized that it was Friday and
her first class was at nine and not ten as it was in Tuesday and Thursdays.

      "Oh Fuck!" TK cried out as she jumped from the bed. The coaches
didn't allow any of their players to be late for a class much less miss
one. So she jumped up from the bed and she went to the bathroom to pee and
run a brush through her hair, then she put on some clothes and was out the
door in four minutes. She skipped the elevator and she hit the stairs
taking two at a time down all ten flights. She about knocked two girls down
as she burst through the door in a sprint and she ran across campus making
to her class with about thirty seconds to spare. She was still tired when
she arrived at Carmen's room Friday night but Carmen had no mercy on her as
she made TK sit down and start to study.

      The conversation was limited to what TK was studying that evening as
it was for the rest of the weekend. It was all work and no play and that
was getting on TK's nerves. TK so wanted to go back to the way it was when
Carmen was first tutoring her but she had ruined that and she knew she had
to wait Carmen out and hope that one day that Carmen would forgive
her. However from the way Carmen was acting that forgiveness was a long way
from coming.

      A little over a week later, the softball team began fall
practice. Their season didn't start until spring but they were allowed a
limited practice during the fall semester. When TK walked out onto the
field with the other players, she saw Carmen up in the stands. This made
her happy and she thought that maybe Carmen was beginning to thaw out until
she remember that Carmen had told her that she was allowed to go to all the
open practices for all the women's sports teams.  Carmen had gotten that
concession when the school was recruiting her. So she knew that Carmen
wasn't there to watch her but to see how good the team was going to be that
year. The first day of practice was hard and the coaches were yelling at
them all. When TK came up to bat against the team's best pitcher, she
struck out on three pitches. She knew that she had gone up a level in
completion and she was going to have to really buckle down. She knew that
their pitcher Shannon was one of the best in the country but all the same
she didn't like to be struck out by anybody. By the end of practice, TK was
worn out and she felt more than a little frustrated. She was almost in
tears from being yelled at so much during the practice but then Shannon sat
down by her and told her to not let it get to her. She told her that she
had been through these practices for four years now and the coaches always
yelled the most on the first day. But after that, they got down to teaching
the art of playing softball. TK felt better after the talk but not
much. When she left the locker room, she was hoping that Carmen would be
waiting for her but she wasn't there. She did find Carmen in her dorm room
and she was ready to start tutoring her.

      Saturday's practice was the longest practice and they went over all
the basics like fielding and batting. TK was doing better in practice and
she found that she was getting yelled at less and less. That is until she
had to bunt. This was something that she had never had to do in high
school. She came up to bunt and the Megan, the backup pitcher, gave her a
rise ball to hit. This pitch started out low and it got higher as it
approached the plate. TK squared up to bunt just like Lagina had taught her
and she popped the ball straight up into the air and the catcher made the
catch and then she threw the ball down to first and doubling off the
runner. This was exactly opposite of what was supposed to happen which was
for her to hit the ball down on the ground and getting the runner to
second. Lagina then made TK run from home plate out to center field and
back holding the bat in the proper bunting stance. Then when she got back,
she went over to the hitting coach, Eddie and got more training. Then she
got back into line to try again. When she time came up she was determined
not to pop it up to the catcher and she didn't, instead she popped it up to
the third baseman.  TK cussed herself and then she started for the outfield
holding the bat in the proper position. She never got the art of bunting
down during the practice so she stayed over with Megan and their best
bunter Tamika and they worked with her until she could lay down a bunt
properly.

      She was worn out when she got to Carmen's room. She knew she was late
and she hoped that Carmen wouldn't mind. She told her that she had stayed
over after practice and she worked on her bunting. And Carmen's only
response was to say that she needed it. TK wanted to tell Carmen that she
got enough chewing out from the coaches and she didn't need it from
her. However, she didn't say anything and she opened up her statistics
book. She worked for an hour or so but then she felt her head start to
drop. She was just too tired to study.

      "You tired?" Carmen asked her as her head dropped for the third time.

      "Yea, practice was tough today." TK said.

      "I could see. Why don't you lie down on my bed and rest for a
few. Then we can start to study again. I need to run down to the cellular
lab anyway." Carmen told her as she got up.

      "Thanks, just give me a few minutes and I'll be fine." TK told her as
she went over to Carmen's bed and she lay down.

      TK watched Carmen gather up some of her books and then she left the
room. TK curled up in Carmen's bed and she pulled Carmen's extra pillow
into her body. It was then she caught a scent from the pillow and she
inhaled deeply. She could smell the vanilla shampoo on the pillow and she
could just catch a whiff of Carmen's natural scent. Her eyes popped open as
she was suddenly awake. She inhaled again to catch more of Carmen's scent
and she felt her body shiver. She had never noticed how nice Carmen had
smelled before. She pulled the pillow in tighter to her body and she buried
her head into the pillow that her head was on.  She kept breathing in
Carmen's scent until she fell asleep. She never heard Carmen come in a
couple of hours later nor did she see the smile that came upon Carmen's
face as she stood there and watched her sleep. Carmen let her sleep for a
few hours and then she woke her back up. She then had TK get back to work
on her studies. TK tried hard to study but her mind kept going back to the
scent that was on Carmen's pillows and sheets. It was like the scent was
locked firmly into her brain and she couldn't shake the smell from her
brain.

      That night as she went to sleep in her own bed, she tried to bring
back to the smell of Carmen into her mind. She went to sleep thinking about
Carmen and how much she meant to her. TK spent the rest of the weekend and
the following week busy with her practices, her classes, and studying with
Carmen. Her practices went better now that she could lay down a bunt most
of the time and when they went back to regular hitting, TK did a lot better
but not nearly as well as she did in high school. But she had by then come
to the conclusion that she wasn't ever going to have a batting average that
high, but she was wanting it over five hundred. Saturday they were having a
practice game and it was decided it would be an upperclassmen against the
lower classmen. TK was all for this as she was determined to kick some
upperclassmen butt and thus earn her a starting position. She got the other
players excited about this match-up and they quickly elected her their team
caption. The coaches divided between the two teams and the underclassmen
got Lagina with her husband Herman coaching the upperclassmen. They brought
in real umpires to call the game and as they warmed up, TK noticed that
Carmen was again sitting in the bleachers. There were more people there
this day and it made it feel like a real game to TK. The upperclassmen got
to be the home team so that meant that TK's team would bat first. The first
batter struck out and the second batter drew a walk so that meant that when
TK came up to bat there was a runner on first with one out. TK looked at
Lagina who was signaling her to bunt. TK felt a nervous wave go through her
just like she had when she went to take one of her statistics exams before
Carmen came to her rescue. She knew that she could do it but she didn't
have a lot of confidence in that ability. As she went to the batter's box,
she happened to look up into the stands and she saw Carmen sitting
there. Carmen chose that moment to give TK a smile as she motioned with her
hands to bunt the ball. TK stepped into the batter's box feeling a lot more
confident in her ability. TK turned her eyes to the pitcher and she got
ready. The pitcher let the ball go and TK saw that it was going to be a
rise ball but one she thought that she could handle. She got her bat up and
she let the ball hit it taking her bat back at the point of impact to
deaden it. The ball dropped down a few feet from the plate and it rolled
toward the third basemen Monika, who ran in and picked up the ball as TK
was running down the first base line. The ball got to the first baseman
Vickie just as TK's foot hit the bag. It was a close call but the first
base umpire called her safe. TK gave out a shout as she had done her job
and done it well. Unfortunately the next two batters struck out so no one
scored. The upperclassmen came to bat and they failed to get a run across
either. The game was tight for three innings then the upperclassmen showed
their experience and they put three runs across.  TK's team got one back in
the forth but then the upperclassmen put three more across in the
fifth. The six was scoreless and then TK's team had their last chance and
they made a go of it. The first three runners got on base and then TK came
up. Shannon then got brave and went after her but she made too good of a
pitch and TK got all of it sending it over the center field wall thus
scoring four runs.  The score was now six to five with the upperclassmen
leading. TK knew they had a chance but then she saw the fire in the
Shannon's eyes and she knew their chance just went out the window as the
next three batters struck out. TK felt good about coming close but she
really wanted to win. She hated losing even if the odds were stacked
against them. Then the coaches got them all together and told them that for
the first game it wasn't too bad but they all had a lot of work to do if
they were going to complete for a championship. TK then went with the team
to the locker room and they showered and got dressed. TK was one of the
last ones out and when she opened the door she looked around just to see if
Carmen was waiting for her not that she expected her to be. And when she
first looked around she saw no one around and she felt disappointed as she
really had hoped that Carmen would be there.

      "You played a good game today." TK heard a familiar voice say from
behind of her. She turned and looked up at the stands and she didn't see
anyone at first but then she saw Carmen coming down.

      "Thanks but we lost all the same." TK said and while she was
depressed a moment before because that had lost but now she felt like they
had won as Carmen had actually said something to her that didn't involve
her schoolwork.

      "And that homerun you hit, now that was a thing of beauty, I don't
think anyone has hit one that far off of Shannon before." Carmen told her.

      "She made a mistake and I took advantage of it. I bet she doesn't
give me anything that sweet to hit again." TK said feeling good again; the
lost was far from her mind now.

      "Well you went a long way in securing a starting spot, I bet." Carmen
told her.

      "We'll see." TK said and she decided to take a chance by adding,
"Would you like to go grab a bite to eat?"

      "I might..." Carmen said and TK knew what Carmen was wanting from her
and she knew that she was long overdue in giving it to her.

      "I'm sorry about what I did after you did all that work to help me to
understand statistics. I was being an inconsiderate asshole and I'm ashamed
of how I acted toward you." TK told her.

      "Just an inconsiderate asshole?" Carmen asked as she raised her right
eyebrow.

      "Ok I was an inconsiderate asshole of gigantic proportions." TK said
and she saw that Carmen was unimpressed with her response, so she
continued. "I was a big stupid inconsiderate asshole of gigantic
proportions." TK said and still she hadn't impressed Carmen. "I was the
biggest and stupidest inconsiderate asshole of gigantic proportions that
this college has seen." And still no response from Carmen.

      "I was the biggest and stupidest inconsiderate asshole of gigantic
proportions that this city has ever seen." TK said trying again but again
no response from Carmen.

      "The biggest the state has seen?" TK asked wondering just how far
Carmen would make her go and she saw that she hadn't gotten there yet.

      "The biggest this side of the Mississippi?" TK said and still nothing
from Carmen.

      "You know you can stop me any time you want." TK told Carmen.

      "You're getting close but you're not quite there yet." Carmen finally
said and there was a hint of a smile behind her lips.

      TK thought for a second and she put her hands on her hips and she
said, "I was the biggest and stupidest inconsiderate asshole of gigantic
proportions that this country has ever seen, no make that this world has
ever seen."

      "Bingo!" Carmen said and she finally gave TK that sly smile of her.

      TK held out her arms and Carmen came to her and TK wrapped her arms
around her. She hugged her tightly as she whispered into her ear, "I am
sorry."

      "I know and you're forgiven." Carmen told her.

      TK held her a moment more and she could feel Carmen's body pressed
against her and she could just barely smell Carmen's vanilla scented
shampoo and the smell of her skin. Both of these scents seemed to make her
heart skip a beat.  TK wanted to hold her longer but she knew she needed to
let her go. She had gotten Carmen back as a friend and she didn't want to
do anything ruin it. She loosened her arms around Carmen but it seemed that
Carmen was reluctant to let her go. Carmen held on a moment longer before
releasing her. As TK stepped back, she looked into Carmen's eyes and she
saw in those eyes a need that she had seen before but never paid any
attention to until now. She knew that Carmen needed a friend in the worse
way and now TK wanted to be that friend.

      "So what about going and getting something to eat?" TK asked again as
the silence had gone on long enough.

      "Sure but can we just stop and get a burger or something." Carmen
asked.

      "That sounds good to me. I haven't had a nice juicy burger in a while
and I'm definitely in the mood for one now, maybe even a shake to go with
it." TK told her.

      "Ooh that does sound good, I don't need a shake but I think you just
talked me into it." Carmen told her.

      "Then let's get our asses in gear girl." TK said as she turned with
Carmen and began to walk from the ball field.

      They walked for only a moment before Carmen began to talk and talk
she did. She talked first about the game and how the team and how TK had
played. She was very knowledgeable about how the game is played and TK
listened carefully as to what Carmen thought. TK talked some but it was
mostly Carmen talking. The conversation centered on softball as they got
their burgers and shakes and then on though them eating them at a quiet
place on campus. They then headed back toward their dorm or so TK
thought. But as they got close, Carmen made a turn and TK was caught off
guard and she had to turn quickly to keep up with Carmen who was now
heading back toward the center of the campus. Carmen now switched the
conversation to other things like hers and TK's childhood and she talked
about how she grew up on the farm. TK had heard some about this before but
now Carmen was going into much more detail. As they walked TK began to
realize that Carmen had a need to talk and she let her. As evening drew on,
Carmen began to talk about what it was like growing up as a genius. As
Carmen talked about this, TK began to understand how hard it had been on
Carmen as a child and even now. People shunned her because they feared her
intelligence and TK now knew just how much she had hurt Carmen when she did
the same thing.  TK felt even worse about what she had done and her heart
began to ache as Carmen talked. She wanted to tell Carmen to stop talking
about how she was shunned by the other children and adults she came in
contact to but she couldn't do that to her. Carmen needed to get this out
of her system and TK knew that she needed to hear it. She also knew that
Carmen wasn't telling her all this to make her feel bad. That wasn't in
Carmen's nature to ever hurt anyone or make them feel bad. They walked and
talked until long past nightfall had fallen but eventually Carmen ran out
of words and she directed them toward the dorm.

      "Oh god, I didn't realize how long we walked around talking. It seems
that I have used up all our study time. I'm sorry." Carmen said as they got
to her room.

      "That's okay, I'm about caught up anyway and beside we have all of
tomorrow to study since we won't have a team meeting." TK told her.

      "That's good then, I don't feel so bad now. It's just that I felt a
need to..."  Carmen said.

      "I know, it's cool and I didn't mind. I enjoyed listening to you and
I guess I understand you better now and that is a good thing." TK told her
as she smiled at her.

      "Thanks, I appreciate it and I promise that I won't ever talk your
ear off like that again." Carmen told her.

      "To tell you the truth, I hope that is a promise that you won't
keep. I want to think that the next time you find yourself needing to talk
that I'll be there to listen." TK told her and she gave her what she hoped
was the most genuine and sincere smile.

      "You're too nice." Carmen said as she placed her hand on TK's forearm
for a brief moment. The touch sent a shiver through TK's body.

      "Well I guess I'll go back to my room and then we can go to breakfast
early tomorrow morning.

      "You could just..." Carmen started to say but then she stopped.

      "I could what?" TK asked.

      "Oh nothing, go on and get some sleep, I know that you must be tired
after playing that game this afternoon and then walking all over the campus
with me."  Carmen told her but TK could see that Carmen really wanting to
ask her something.

      "I'm fine; playing a game isn't nearly as tiring as going through a
practice."  TK told her and she wondered if Carmen still needed to talk
about something.

      "It's cool, now go on and get some sleep and I'll do the same."
Carmen told her but TK could see that Carmen was still holding something
back from her.

      "No, I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what is on your mind."
TK said and then she added, "And I'm going to sit here until you tell me."
TK then went over and sat down on Carmen's bed.

      TK saw Carmen begin to smile just a wee bit and she saw that maybe
she had done the right thing for once in her relationship with Carmen.  TK
saw that Carmen was thinking and then she saw that she was beginning to
bite on her lower lip and TK knew that Carmen was unsure of her request but
it was something that she needed to ask. TK kept quiet as Carmen made her
decision as whether she should ask her question or not. Finally TK saw that
Carmen had made her decision.

      "Would you stay with me tonight, I just don't want to be alone."
Carmen said and TK saw that Carmen's eyes were sheding tears. "I mean you
could have my bed and I would sleep on the floor." Carmen quickly added.

      "Oh Carmen you don't have to do that, we can both fit on your bed and
I would be happy to stay with you." TK told her as she got up and came to
Carmen and took her into her arms hugging her.

      "It's just that I have been so alone for so long, I just need a
friend for a while." Carmen whispered to her and TK could feel the tears
coming from Carmen's eyes on her shoulder as they fell.

      TK hugged her tighter and she whispered into Carmen's ear, "You got a
friend in me for as long as you need me. But I must warn you that you may
regret having an asshole as big as I am as your friend." TK then heard
Carmen giggle and she knew that putting herself down was the right thing to
do as it put some humor into such a serious situation. TK then pulled back
and she tenderly wiped the tears from Carmen's eyes. "Now go take a shower
and I'll go do the same. And when I come back I'll bring my books so that
we can get back to studying first time in the morning. How does that
sound?"

      "It sounds good to me and thanks." Carmen said as she stepped from
TK's arms.

      "Oh yes, before I forget, I've been told that I snore so bad that the
walls raddled." TK said as she went out the door and she heard Carmen
laughing at her remark.

      When TK got outside of the room, she walked down the hallway and she
wondered if she should have told Carmen that she was a lesbian but she knew
this wasn't the right time to do that. She knew that Carmen needed her and
she would just have to be on her best behavior. She would wait for another
time to tell Carmen about who and what she was. She went on into her room
and she was thankful that Buffy was still out. She got her books together
and she decided to go ahead and take her laptop with her. She then grabbed
her clothes for tomorrow and a tee shirt to wear to bed. She went on into
the bathroom and she turned on the shower. As she washed her hair, the
scent of Carmen's shampoo came to her mind and then she remembered how
Carmen's body felt against her when she had hugged her a few minutes
before. TK felt her nipples begin to tighten and she felt a tingle in her
pussy. She had grown up playing sports with girls and she had seen them all
naked numerous times and she only felt anything sexual when she felt
something for the person. She knew her body was only reacting to the
thought of sleeping with Carmen in her bed because she felt something for
her. She knew she was in dangerous territory here. She needed to be a
friend to Carmen and she wanted to be but now she knew that she had become
attracted to her. She began to wonder if that wasn't another reason that
she shunned Carmen because she didn't want to fall in love with her. But it
was too late to turn back now, she had to go down to Carmen's room and have
her sleep next to her and there was no way they could sleep on that tiny
bed without their bodies touching. TK told herself that this was a one
night thing and she could handle it but what she didn't know was if she
could keep her feelings from Carmen.  TK knew when she fell for a girl, she
fell hard and she knew that she was falling for her. And the fact that
Carmen needed her just made her want Carmen more.  She just wanted to hug
her to her body and take care of her.  "Oh god, what have I gotten myself
into now." TK thought to herself as she went back to washing her hair and
then her body careful not to spend too much time on her breasts or pussy.
She didn't need to go to Carmen's room horny as hell. She got it all
together before she got her stuff and headed toward Carmen's room.

      She knocked lightly on Carmen's door and the door open and the sight
of Carmen standing there in a long sleeve men's shirt that went down to
Carmen's thighs. TK saw Carmen's legs for the first time and they were very
nice looking.  But what really caught TK's eyes was Carman's long black
hair. TK had always seen it up in a clip but now it was down and it
appeared to go all the way down to Carmen's butt.

      "Oh god Carmen, your hair is beautiful." TK said without thinking.

      "Thank you." Carmen said blushing as she took TK's books from her and
put them down on the desk.

      TK followed her inside and she put her laptop down as well as her
clothes that she had brought along for the next day. Then she reached up
and let her fingers glide through Carmen's hair and she found it soft and
fine. "I can't believe how long it is, I would never have dreamed that all
that hair was in that clip that you wear."

      "It wouldn't if it wasn't so fine and that is really the only thing I
can do with it is to put it up." Carmen said.

      "Oh I'm sorry." TK said as she realized that she was still playing
with Carmen's hair.

      "That's okay, I don't mind." Carmen said and that left TK wondering
what she was saying.

      "When was the last time you have had it cut?" TK asked as she took
her fingers away from Carmen's hair.

      "Actually I've never had it cut, just trimmed. When I was little I
saw a woman with her hair down to her feet and I wanted mine that long but
my mother said once it got down to my butt, I had to start trimming it. So
once a month, I get my scissors out and trim it." Carmen told her.

      "You do it yourself?" TK asked not believing Carmen would dare to cut
her own hair even if she was just trimming it.

      "Actually, I'm afraid to go to a beauty salon for fear that they cut
off too much." Carmen told her.

      "Well it is beautiful." TK said as she sat down on Carmen's bed.

      "Well thank you again." Carmen said blushing again then she changed
the subject by saying. "Well I don't know about you but I think it is about
time to hit the sack. "You can have the bed and I'll make myself a place
here on the floor."

      "Now I told you that we can both fit on this bed and I would never be
able to sleep if I know you are on this hard floor. So get your butt into
this bed and I'll get the lights." TK told her as she got up and went over
to the light that was above Carmen's desk. When she got to the desk she
turned and watched as Carmen bend over. Her shirt slipped up and TK saw
more of Carmen's thighs. The shirt was big and long enough that it didn't
reveal any of her ass but it was close to doing that. TK then began to undo
her jeans and slip them off. She noticed that Carmen was watching her as
she got into the bed. TK quickly removed her jeans and she pulled down on
her sleep shirt so that it covered her panties. She was thankful that she
worn one of her better pair and not the ragged one that she usually wore to
bed. TK then turned off the light and felt her way around to the other side
of the bed. The room was very dark and she had a little trouble getting
around the bed but she got there and then she slipped into the bed. The bed
was only a twin and there was no way for two people to lie in one without
some part of their bodies touching. TK turned onto her left side and she
could feel Carmen's breath close to her face.

      "I do appreciate you doing this for me. I know I'm being a big baby
but..."  Carmen was saying until TK stopped her.

      "It's cool and don't worry about it anymore." TK assured her.

      "I still feel like a big baby." Carmen said.

      "Well that's better than being the biggest asshole in the world." TK
said and then she heard Carmen giggle.

      "So you think that is funny do you. Well just wait until I start to
snore tonight." TK told her and that just made Carmen giggle more.
      "I think someone has gotten her giggle box going." TK said and then
she reached over and she started to tickle Carmen's side.

      "Nooo don't I'mmm vvvery ttticklish." Carmen sputtered out as she
started to laugh and squirm. This only made TK tickle her more and Carmen
was trying to push her hands away as she laughed. TK kept on tickling her
until she saw that Carmen was about to lose her breath and then she stopped
and she watched Carmen laugh for a few moments more. It made her feel good
to see Carmen laugh and feel good about things.

      "You know I'll get you back." Carmen said as she reached out to TK's
side and tried to tickle her.

      "Sorry, I'm not ticklish." TK said laughing in good fun at Carmen.

      "Well I'll think of something don't you worry." Carmen declared as
she settled back down.

      "Well I'll let you sleep on it." TK said as she leaned over and
kissed Carmen's forehead and then she turned onto her back to go to
sleep. As she settled down she felt Carmen snuggle up against her and she
felt her head on her shoulder. TK by reflex slipped her arm around Carmen's
shoulders and pulled her in close. She turned her head toward Carmen and
she could smell her freshly washed hair and she felt herself wanting Carmen
even more. She fought that feeling but she feared that it was going to get
the best of her in the end. She heard Carmen's breathing begin to change
and she knew that she had fallen asleep. TK lay awake for a while thinking
about the girl lying in her arms. She could feel Carmen's left breast
pressed against her side and it felt nice. She could also see herself
liking having Carmen beside of her. Slowly she fell asleep and her dreams
were about a long blacked hair girl.

      When she woke up the next morning she found that she was alone in the
bed. She opened her eyes and saw that Carmen was back in her sweat suit and
her long hair was put back up in a clip. She was sitting in her chair
working on her computer.

      "Good morning." TK said as she sat up.

      "Morning to you, did you sleep okay?" Carmen asked as she turned in
her seat and she gave TK a smile.

      "Yea, just fine, how about you, did I snore too loud?" TK asked.

      "I slept great and if you snored, I didn't hear it." Carmen said
smiling. "Go ahead and get dressed and we'll go for breakfast."

      "What if I want to just lie here all day and sleep?" TK asked
wondering what Carmen would say.

      "Hey I gave you yesterday off, today I plan on working your ass off
to make up for it." Carmen said but she was smiling as she said it.

      "A slave driver is what you are." TK told her with a little pout that
she was faking.

      "I told you that I would get you back for tickling me last night."
Carmen said back to her.

      "That you did but now I know your weak point." TK said as she got out
of the bed and stretched which caused her sleep shirt to ride up exposing
her panties and she saw that Carmen was looking at her very intensely. TK
didn't bother to pull the shirt back down as she walked into the bathroom
and she knew that Carmen was watching her every move.

      After breakfast they went back to studying. TK did pretty well and
she really didn't have many questions for Carmen this day. She began to
wonder if just having Carmen there beside of her made her relax and she was
able to take more of what she was reading in. She had a test in her English
class the next day and she spent most of her time studying for it but that
was one of her better subjects so she didn't have to study long for
it. Around two, she closed her books amazed that she had gotten so much
done is just a few hours.

      "I'm done for the day; I think I'll go do some laundry before I run
out of panties." TK told Carmen as Carmen took a break from her computer.

      "That's cool, I need to run over to the lab and do some things for a
couple of hours." Carmen said, "We can meet back here then and go get
something to eat, if you like." She went on saying.

      "Sure, that sounds fine. Hey, do you have any laundry that needs
doing?" TK asked as she got up.

      "I can't ask you to do my laundry, I can do it tomorrow." Carmen told
her.

      "Hey, I'm going to do mine anyway and it wouldn't be that much harder
to add yours to mine. I mean it will just mean that I do a full load
instead of a half load. So where do you keep your dirty clothes and I'll
get then before I go." TK told her.

      "You don't mind?" Carmen asked.

      "If I minded then I wouldn't have asked. So where is it before I
change my mind and make you do mine with yours tomorrow." TK told her.

      Carmen giggled at the threat and then she said, "Thanks, I do
appreciate you doing mine, I really hate to wash clothes." Carmen said
smiling as she went to her closet and pulled out a laundry bag stuffed full
of clothes and then a second bag full of clothes."

      "You do hate to do laundry don't you?" TK said laughing at the two
bags stuffed full of clothes.

      "I have to admit that I put it off for as long as possible. You
really don't mind do you?" Carmen said and then asked.

      "I said I didn't mind didn't I?" TK said as she grabbed both bags of
clothes.  "Besides, it's the least I can do for all the help that you have
given me." TK added as she left Carmen's room with the two bags hung over
her shoulders and the extra key to Carmen's room that she had given her.

      "See you in a couple of hours." TK heard Carmen call after her as she
went down the hall.

      She went on the her own room and grabbed her laundry which also
included two bags as she didn't like to do laundry any more than Carmen did
but she wasn't going to tell Carmen that. She got her laundry detergent and
stuff and put them in another bag. Then she tried to figure out how she was
going to get it all down to the basement where the washing machines
were. She finally tied the bags together and she dragged them down the
hallway to the elevator. She normally took the stairs so that she could
work out her muscles but with all this laundry she knew that the elevator
was the way to go. She muscled the clothes on down to the laundry and she
was thankful that no one else was there. That meant that she could take as
many washing machines as she wanted. She opened three of the washing
machines, one for whites, one for colored clothes, and one for the
permanent press clothes. She opened the first bag and it happened to be
Carmen's clothes. She pulled out a pair of sweat pants and put it in the
machine for colored clothes. She reached in and the next thing she pulled
out was a pair of Carmen's white cotton panties. There was nothing special
about them and she suspected that all of Carmen's underclothes would be
like this pair of panties, plain, white cotton. She started to put then in
the washer when she noticed a little stain in the crotch area. She also
noticed that they were still a little damp so she knew that they much have
been the pair that she wore last night. She started to pull them up to her
nose and then she realized what she was doing and stopped. She couldn't
believe that she was about to sniff Carmen's panties like some pervert. She
started to throw them into the machine when she found she couldn't resist
and she brought the panties to her nose. She inhaled and she could smell
Carmen's womanly scent and she could tell that Carmen had been aroused when
she had worn them last. She loved her smell and it reminded her of how long
it had been since she last had her mouth on a women's pussy and how much
she missed it. She then thought she heard someone outside of the entry to
the laundry and she threw the panties into the washing machine before they
walked in and saw her sniffing panties.  Whoever it was, if there even
someone, never came in but she stopped sniffing Carmen's panties. As she
went through Carmen's clothes, she did notice that Carmen's bras were of
white cotton material and made for comfort and not style.  Another thing
that she noticed was that Carmen's breasts were around a large B to small C
cup. With the loose clothes that Carmen wore, she really had no idea as to
what her body looked like. She had seen her legs last night and she knew
that Carmen wasn't fat nor skinny but beyond that, she had no clue. But
from the clues that TK was getting from Carmen's panties and bras, Carmen
appeared to have a nice body to go with her beautiful hair. TK ended up
having to go to a forth washer to wash all of Carmen's sweat suits. In fact
all that Carmen had in her laundry were socks, panties, bras and sweat
pants and sweat shirts with the sleeves cut out of all of them and the
men's shirts that she slept in. TK had never seen her wear anything but
these things and she wonders if Carmen owned any jeans or dress
clothes. Once everything was in the washers, she sat down and pulled out
her notebook that contained all the signals that their team used. The
coaches used hand signals to signal in plays and she wanted to make sure
that she didn't miss a sign from one of her coaches. As she studied them,
she also practiced doing them to make her more familiar with them. And she
also decided a little exercise was in order so when she got tired of going
over the signals, she went to the stairway and she would run up four
flights of stairs and then run back down. This really worked her leg
muscles as well as gave her lungs a good workout. It took her about two
hours to do the laundry and that included running back upstairs and pulling
the sheets off both her bed and Carmen's bed and washing them along with
the towels.  Once all the clothes were dried and folded, she carefully
placed them back into the clean laundry bags and she dragged them up the
stairs. By the time that she got all four bags to Carmen's room, she was
soaked in sweat from the strain and the fact that she had been running the
stairs for the last hour or so. She placed the bags of hers and Carmen's
clothes on Carmen's bed and then she decided that she needed a shower real
bad. She really didn't want to go get something to eat with Carmen when she
smelled bad. She got one of her towels and she started to go down the hall
to her room and then she decided to just use Carmen's bathroom since it was
right there. She grabbed some clean clothes and she went on into the
bathroom. Just as she was finishing, she heard a little knock on the door
and then the door opening a crack.

      "Is that you TK?" She heard Carmen ask.

      "No it's the shower monster and as soon as I'm clean, I'm coming out
there to get you." TK called back to her and then she heard Carmen
giggle. "I'll be out in a minute. I hope you don't mind me using your
shower. I was too lazy to walk down to my room after running the stairs for
the last hour."

      "Why were you running the stairs?" Carmen asked through the door as
TK was turning off the shower.

      "Just to get some exercise and I figured it would be a good workout
for my legs." TK said as she stepped from the shower and grabbed her towel
to dry off.

      "Oh okay, that would be good for your thigh muscles. Are you about
ready to go get something to eat?" Carmen asked.

      "Yea just let me get dried and dressed." TK told her.

      When she came out, Carmen was back at her computer and she worked for
just a moment more then she saved her work and they went to eat leaving
both of their clothes on the bed. They took their time eating and Carmen
got TK to talk about playing softball and made her describe over and over
again what it felt like when she had hit the grand slam the previous day.

      "You want to watch a movie?" Carmen asked as they entered her room.

      "Sure, what movies do you have?" TK asked as she started to pull open
one of Carmen's laundry bags to help her put her clothes up.

      "Just leave that be, I'll do it later." Carmen said as she went to
her dresser and pulled open the top drawer and TK could see that it was
full of DVD's.

      "Where did you get all those movies?" TK asked and then she saw that
Carmen was smiling as she closed that drawer and pulled open the next one
down and it was just as full of movies. "Damn girl, do you have every movie
that has been made?"

      "Pretty close," Carmen said as she giggled and then she got serious
and she said, "When I first got here, I was pretty homesick and my mom sent
me all of my favorite movies and then she kept sending more so that I would
have something to do and to keep my mind occupied. She knew that I really
get into movies and that I could lose myself in them and thus I wouldn't
feel so alone. And since then, my family would keep sending me more movies,
anything that they saw and liked, they would send me a copy."

      TK felt for her all the more and she knew that Carmen had been so
lonely but now she had a friend and that was her. "Well you pick one and
we'll watch it."  She told her as she pulled the laundry bags off the bed
and she put the sheets on as Carmen went through the movies and TK could
see that she was looking for the perfect one as she kept picking one up and
then putting it down and going for another one. TK had the bed made and was
about to just tell Carmen to pick one when she saw Carmen pick one up and
she smiled. Carmen put the DVD into her player and she turned on the TV but
she didn't start it.

      "You want some popcorn; you can't watch a movie without popcorn."
Carmen declared as she went to another drawer in her dresser and pulled out
a bag and put it into her small microwave and started it.

      "Sure, some popcorn would be great." TK replied even thought she
really didn't have a choice since Carmen had already started to make
it. Carmen then got them both a diet coke and once the popcorn was done,
she put it at the foot of the bed and she laid down facing the TV and then
she padded the bed. TK lay down beside of her and then Carmen picked up the
remote and started the movie and it was only then that TK discovered what
they were watching. It was a romantic comedy that TK had always wanted to
see but with her softball schedule, she never got around to.

      As they watched the movie, TK was very conscious of Carmen's body as
they lay next to each other and when Carmen laughed, her whole body
shook. TK could tell that Carmen ready did get into the movie and she could
see her eyes light up when she laughed at the characters in the movie. The
only time that Carmen seemed to come back to reality was when they both
reached into the bag of popcorn and their hands would touch. She could see
Carmen's eyes glance down at her hand and then she would take it away then
she would pause for a second and look at her hand. It was very cute to
watch but it also indicated something else to TK and TK herself wasn't
completely unaffected by the touch. When that movie was over, Carmen
decided that another movie was in order since it wasn't all that late and
neither of them had to get up real early for class. She jumped up and
searched for another movie and not taking as much time in choosing a movie,
she then took the old movie out and put the new one in. This one was a
movie that while not a horror movie, it did have a lot of suspense and it
make you more than a little scared at times wondering what was happening
and what was going to happen next.

      "I guess I had better be going." TK said as the movie ended.

      Carmen turned and looked at TK and she had this sad look in her
eyes. It was like TK felt after a big win and she was back home and the
excitement had died down. She wanted to go back to the game and relive
those moments all over again.  Carmen didn't say anything as she got up and
she helped TK get her two bags of clothes but then as TK got to the door
Carmen placed her hand on her shoulder turning her around.

      "Could you... Could you stay one more night?" Carmen said and she
looked into TK eyes.

      TK hesitated for a second wondering what to say and then she saw
Carmen's mouth turn up slightly giving her that shy smile of hers. "Sure."
TK heard herself saying.

      "Thanks, I know that I'm being a baby again but I just need..."
Carmen was saying when TK put her finger to Carmen's lips.

      "It's cool, I don't mind at all." TK said and she knew that she
didn't mind at this moment in time. He put her bags of laundry down by the
bed and she let Carmen go to the bathroom and get ready for bed first. She
then sat down on the bed and wondered where this was all going and she
wasn't sure herself. She just felt like Carmen really needed her and in a
way she needed Carmen. And it was more than just Carmen helping her with
her school work. Before she got too caught up in her thoughts, Carmen came
out of the bathroom with her long shirt on and her hair down. It almost
took TK's breath away; she just loved the way Carmen's hair looked on
her. She was half afraid to say anything, so she just smiled and got her
tee shirt and went into the bathroom. When she came out, Carmen was already
in bed and she went over to the light and turned it off. She then felt her
way to the other side of the bed and she slipped in beside of Carmen.

      "Sweet dreams," TK told Carmen as she felt her snuggle in close to
her like she did the night before. TK put her arm around Carmen's shoulders
and pulled her in a little closer and she could feel Carmen's warm body
pressed against her.

      "Sweet dreams to you too." Carmen said as she laid her head down on
TK's shoulder.

      TK turned her head and she kissed Carmen's forehead and she heard
Carmen let out a contented sigh. TK then laid her head back down on the
pillow and slowly fell asleep with her friend lying against her. The next
morning when TK woke up, she found that she was again in the bed alone. She
opened her eyes and she wasn't surprised to see Carmen back at her computer
typing away. She wondered just when she had gotten up.

      "Morning," TK said to her sleepily as she stretched. She saw Carmen
jump and then she turned around to face her.

      "You scared me, when did you wake up?" Carmen asked as she swung her
seat around to face TK.

      "Just now but the question is, when did you get up?" TK asked her as
she got out of bed.

      "Not long ago, I was just doing some work. I hope that I didn't wake
you."  Carmen asked.

      "No, it was time for me to get up. I'm not putting you behind in your
work by asking for all your help, am I?" TK asked her.

      "Oh no, you know me, I'm always working ahead on all my stuff. This
is just some stuff that I'm working on my own and really doesn't have
anything to do with my school work. It's just something that Dr. Langley
and I are working on.  We are hoping to publish our work some day.

      "Well let me know if I'm taking too much of your time." TK told her
as she went to the bathroom and she could almost feel Carmen's eyes upon
her back. She also thought that she heard Carmen whisper, "You can never
take up too much of my time." but TK wasn't sure that was what Carmen had
said or not.

      Once TK finished in the bathroom, she went with Carmen to breakfast
and then they went their own ways to their classes. TK did well, she
thought, with her English exam but then she wasn't too worried about
it. Her other classes went pretty good too and then she went to
practice. The coaches announced that the game on Saturday would pit the
starters against the rest of the team but the work they did that week would
determined just who would be a starter and who would be on the second
team. If you worked hard, they said, then you could end up as a starter, if
you didn't then you have to play them and try to earn your way to a
starting position that way. TK was determined to be on the starting squad
and she worked hard that day trying to prove that she was one of the best
on the team but most of the team had been high school All Americans. So
making the starting team wasn't going to be easy. The practice was two
hours long and TK worked her ass off the whole time but so did everyone
else and she wasn't sure she made much progress toward earning a spot on
the starting team.  When she got back to her room, she was glad to see that
Buffy wasn't there. She didn't want to have to explain where she had been
the last two nights. She just didn't know how to explain it to her about
Carmen and their friendship. She then lay down in her bed for a short
nap. But as she tried to go to sleep she found that she missed having
Carmen lying against her and she missed smelling the vanilla shampoo that
Carmen used. She had to lay there longer than necessary before she fell on
off to sleep and when she woke up a couple of hours later she felt
refreshed and ready to take on her statistics homework, plus what was added
to her today from the classes that she just had. She ran a brush through
her hair and she went on down to Carmen's room. She let herself in after
knocking and getting no answer.  She started to study and it wasn't long
before Carmen came in with her laptop.

      "How was your day?" Carmen asked as she put her laptop down and she
peered over TK's shoulder to see what she was doing. "Need any help?"

      "Not yet but I do need something to eat." TK told her.

      "And what do you want me to do about that?" Carmen asked her as she
arched her right eyebrow.

      "I expect you to take me to a five star restaurant and then buy me
the most expensive thing that they have on the menu." TK said smiling
wondering what Carmen would come up with.

      "I know just the place, come on." Carmen told her. And then she
headed out the door and TK had to hurry to catch up with her but she
grabbed her dinning card just to make sure.

      TK talked to Carmen about how the coaches were going to play the
starters against the rest of the team but the starters was going to be
determined by how they practiced this week. She then told her that she was
going to be a starter.

      "You know you got Monika and Vickie playing third and first base
ahead of you and their both seniors and they're good. They know what they
are up against and they don't want to lose their starting spots to a
freshman." Carmen told her as they walked.

      "You don't think I'm good enough to play as a freshman?" TK said
slightly hurt by what Carmen was telling her.

      "I didn't say that." Carmen said as she stopped walking and turned to
face her. "What I was trying to say was that you have an uphill battle. The
coaches are going to go with experience until they know just how good you
are. I just don't want you to be too disappointed if you don't make the
starting team right now. You got all of this week to impress the coaches
and when you start real practice starting in February. That is when the
true starters will be picked. And if you don't start the first game, I do
know that you will play. You're too good for them not to play you but you
have to earn your stripes. I've been watching these coaches for two years
now and I know how they think. They will put the best girls out on the
field so that they can win. You will play; I promise you that but don't put
all your eggs in this one basket. You see what I'm trying to tell you?"

      "Yea, that you don't think I'm good enough." TK said and she put this
big pout on her face.

      "No...no, that's not what I'm saying." Carmen said in a rush and then
TK started to laugh and she saw Carmen's face turn to confusion and then
she realized what TK had done to her. "Oh you scared me to death there."
Carmen said and then she punched TK on the upper arm.

      "Ouch! That hurt!" TK cried out.

      "Well you deserve it for doing that to me." Carmen said.

      "I couldn't help myself." TK said as she gave Carmen a little hug.

      "But you do understand what I'm trying to tell you." Carmen asked as
she arched her eyebrows.

      "Yea, I know it will be hard to crack the starting lineup but I want
to try, if not in the beginning of the season then by the end. But I'm
still going to try and out work them this week." TK told her.
      "Yea, you want to impress the coaches, I just didn't want you to get
hurt by not getting what you so desperately wanted." Carmen said and TK
could see in Carmen's eyes that she knew from personal experience what she
was talking about and then Carmen took her hand and started on down the
path that they were going until they got to a building. Carmen led TK
around the side and stopped before the sign in front, which had "Five Star
Dining Room" written on it and then TK realized that it was located next to
the astrophysics building.

      "I should have known." TK said with a laugh as she looked at the five
stars that were engraved on the sign surrounding the name of the dining
room.

      "You said that you wanted me to take you to a five star restaurant,
well here we are." Carmen said smiling from ear to ear.

      "One of these days, I'm going to find something you don't have an
answer to."  TK said as she laughed.

      "Maybe..." Carmen said still smiling and then they went into the Five
Star Dining room and had their dinner.

      That evening they studied and talked as they took a few breaks. TK
had gotten caught up with her studies and with Carmen's help in statistics;
she didn't have to put in as much studying time. It made her life easier
and she wasn't as worried about the next semester when she would be away
from her classes when they had away games. They worked until about eleven,
when TK closed her books.

      "I'll guess I'll grab my things and head on off to bed." TK told
Carmen and she saw Carmen look at her. She could see something in those
eyes and she wondered if Carmen would ask her to stay another night but she
didn't say anything for a moment.

      "Okay," Carmen replied and TK could see the sadness in her eyes. TK
knew that Carmen wanted to ask her to stay but couldn't bring herself to
ask.

      TK wanted to look away from Carmen's eyes but she couldn't. She knew
what Carmen wanted her to do and she knew if she stayed tonight, she would
never be able to leave. She also knew that if she continued to share
Carmen's bed, she would start to feel more for her and that would lead to
other things. TK began to really look at Carmen trying to decide what she
wanted from her. She knew that Carmen had been hurt by a lot of people and
that she was very lonely. She also knew the part of Carmen that no one else
other than her family had bothered to see.  Carmen was a very sweet girl
and she did care for her but was she ready to make a commitment to Carmen
and by staying tonight she would be doing just that. TK sat there looking
into Carmen's eyes as neither of them spoke. Carmen wasn't going to push
her into staying and TK knew that. But that didn't make it easier for her
to decide. TK tried to look past the lonely girl that sat in front of her
and look into her soul and there she saw a young woman that had the purest
heart that she would ever encounter. TK then got up and she saw Carmen's
mouth turn down and she could see that Carmen's eyes grow moist. She knew
that she really didn't have a decision to make, that decision was made at
the moment she knocked on Carmen's door for the first time.

      TK walked toward the two laundry bags that held her clothes and she
opened one. She reached down and pulled out a clean sleep shirt and a clean
pair of panties and then without saying a word, she walked into Carmen's
bathroom. She closed the door behind of her and she felt her knees go
weak. She felt a wave of fear go through her. The fear wasn't from being
seen as Carmen's girlfriend but from her own fear that she could do right
by her. In all her relationships before, she was always in control and she
knew that she had taken them lightly. She was just having fun and so were
they but this was serious, this relationship was the real thing and she
wasn't sure that she could do right by Carmen. "Oh god, don't let me fuck
this up." TK said to herself and she went to the sink and splashed some
cold water on her face. She then brushed her teeth and peed before changing
into her sleep clothes.

      She opened the door and she saw Carmen quickly turn back into her
seat and started to type on her computer. TK didn't say anything but she
knew that Carmen was watching the bathroom door and seeing what she would
do. TK went on over to the bed and she glanced at Carmen's computer screen
and she saw that she was just typing on a blank page and TK wanted to
smile. She didn't let on that she knew that Carmen was faking what she was
doing. TK went on to the bed and slipped under the covers.

      "Night." TK said to Carmen as she turned away from Carmen but as she
did that she noticed that Carmen was wiping her eyes so she knew that she
was crying.
      "Night," Carmen said and TK could just hear a break in her voice and
she knew that she was doing the right thing.

      TK had just fallen into a light sleep when she felt Carmen slipping
into the bed beside of her. TK turned over onto her back and she put her
arm around Carmen's shoulders and pulled her in close. Then just as she was
slipping into sleep she felt something warm and moist briefly touch her
lips. TK tried to wake back up but she was too far gone.

      The next morning, she actually woke up before Carmen did and she
looked at Carmen's peaceful face as she slept. The tension that she had
always seen in Carmen's face was gone, she just seemed contented and at
peace with her world.  TK felt her bladder talking to her so she slipped
out of the bed and went to the bathroom. She pulled her panties down and
sat on the toilet and started to pee.  She thought about the night before
and she then she remembered what had happened when Carmen had came to the
bed. She remembered feeling something moist on her lips and then it hit
her. "That little minx kissed me!" TK realized and she had to smile. "I
can't believe that she did that! I didn't think she had it in her." TK
thought. TK couldn't stop smiling as she finished her business and she
turned on the shower and washed.

      "Morning," TK said as she came out of the bathroom and she saw Carmen
sitting on the edge of the bed. She wanted to ask Carmen about the kiss but
she decided to wait for another time and see just what Carmen would do.

      "Morning," Carmen said as she smiled at TK. "Did you sleep well?"

      "Yea..." TK said and started to say something else but about that
time, Carmen got up and came to her. She gave her a quick hug and then she
went on into the bathroom. TK was so surprised by the hug that whatever she
was going to say was lost.

      When Carmen came out of the bathroom, TK got her books and she with
Carmen went on to breakfast. As they talked along the way TK couldn't help
but to look at Carmen in a different way. She knew that her attraction to
Carmen was becoming more real and now she knew for sure that Carmen was
having those same feelings. Knowing that still didn't help her with knowing
what to do next. Carmen wasn't someone that you could just push herself
upon. She knew that she had to go easy and let Carmen take it where she
wanted it to go when she wanted to go there. They talked about school and
what Carmen was working on with her professor as they ate breakfast and
then they went their separate ways.

      Practice didn't go as well as TK would have liked, the coaches yelled
at her but then they yelled at almost all the players. Then TK had to miss
up on her bunt attempt and she took her bat and started to run toward the
outfield carrying the bat in the bunting position. She hated doing this
however she wasn't the only one to do that during the practice. The only
good part of the practice was when she looked into the stands and she saw
that Carmen had arrived. She only hoped at that point that Carmen didn't
see her screw up her bunting attempt. Then later on when she was fielding a
ball, it made a weird bounce and she missed it. One of the coaches yelled
at her and knowing that Carmen had seen her mess up made her feel all the
worse.

      "How you doing?" Carmen asked her as she came out of the locker room.

      "Terrible, I just want to go to bed and forget this day ever
happened. I don't think that I've played any worse than I did today. I
looked like a freshmen who didn't know what the fuck I was doing." TK told
her.

      "You didn't do all that bad, you just messed up on that ground ball
and then you bunted it into the air again. Other than those two small
errors, you did great."  Carmen told her and TK cringed knowing that Carmen
did indeed see her screw up her bunt attempt.

      "I was hoping that you missed the bunt attempt." TK said referring to
her bunt.

      "Hey you're not perfect, no one is and I saw a lot of the other
players mess up too, you weren't the only one. That is what practice is
for, to get better. I'm the perfect one of the two of us." Carmen said and
TK turned and saw that she was smiling.

      "Oh you are, are you?" TK asked in mock surprise.

      "Yea, didn't you know that?" Carmen said.

      "I guess I do now." TK said as she reached over and pushed Carmen on
the arm making her go off the walkway.

      "I need to do some things, why don't you go to the room and take a
nap and then when I get there, we'll go eat." Carmen told her as they got
to a fork in the walkway.

      TK noticed that Carmen said the room and not her room. "Okay, are you
going to take me to another five star restaurant?" TK asked.

      "I might." Carmen said giving TK her sly smile that made TK lose her
whole train of thought and then she felt Carmen's hand on her shoulders and
she pushed her hard making her fall backwards and she landed on her
butt. Carmen then took off giggling, leaving TK sitting in the grass
laughing at her friend.

      "Time to get up." TK heard as she felt a hand shaking her
shoulder. She opened her eyes to see Carmen looking down at her.

      "Oh man what time is it?" TK said as she sat up.

      "It's a little before six, you've been asleep for a couple of hours."
Carmen said as she held out her hand to help her off the bed. TK took her
hand and it felt right to be holding onto Carmen's small hand. She let
Carmen pull her up and she went on to the bathroom.

      TK studied until about eleven and then she got ready for bed. She lay
down on the bed and listened to some music on her IPod until Carman was
ready to hit the sack. When Carmen came out of the bathroom, TK held the
covers up of her and she slid in beside of her. They talked for a while
until they both got sleepy. TK was determined to stay awake to see if
Carmen would kiss her again but Carmen just snuggled up against her. TK
felt her eyes get heavy and then when she was almost asleep she felt that
warm moist feeling on her lips. It wasn't until she was in the bathroom the
next morning that she realized that Carmen had kissed her again and that
made her feel good.

      This day's practice was better than Tuesdays was but TK feared that
her chance of making the starting team was already damaged beyond repair
but she still tried her hardest. But when the practice was over and she was
walking back to the dorm with Carmen, she kept going over what she had done
wrong as Carmen kept pointing out what she did right. The fact that Carmen
was trying her best to make her feel better helped a little but not
much. That night again she tried to stay awake long enough to catch Carmen
kissing her, waiting until she knew that Carmen was asleep before she let
herself fall asleep but when she woke up that next morning, she knew that
Carmen had gotten her again. She remembered in her half sleep state those
sweet lips touching hers yet again. She didn't know just how Carmen knew
just the exact right moment to kiss her but she did. The same thing
happened Thursday and Friday night and TK gave up trying to catch Carmen in
the act, she just enjoyed the feeling of waking up in the morning knowing
that Carmen had kissed her.

      Saturday morning came and TK was nervous about what her fate would be
with the softball team. Carmen gave her what encouragement she could and
then sent her on her way promising to be at the field before the game was
to start.  When she got to the locker room, most of the other players were
already there and most seemed just as nervous as she was. There were only a
few that seemed to be confident but then they were the players who had been
starting for most of their time there and they knew their jobs and they did
them well. They had been through this before and they worked the room
keeping everyone up and ready to play. They were the leaders of the team
and they took their role seriously. Then Herman came into the locker room
once everyone was in their uniforms and they announced their decision. They
first read off the list of names of the players on the starting team and
they went pretty much as expected. TK kept her hopes up until she heard
Monika and Vickie's names called and she knew that she was among the second
teamers. She hid her disappointment and she tried to be positive about the
situation. The only real surprise came when Megan and not Shannon was named
to be on the starting team. Megan was a good pitcher but Shannon was set to
break a bunch of records that year. TK looked over at Shannon and saw that
she was neither surprised nor disappointed. This really puzzled TK as if
that had happened to her, she would have been heartbroken. They all then
went out on the field to warm up and she saw that Carmen was already in the
stands and she gave her a big smile that made Carmen feel a little
better. They all warmed up and then it was time to start the game. The
starters were the home team so TK's team got to bat first. TK was set to
bat third and the first two batters were struck out.  TK came up and she
looked to Herman, who was their coach for this game, and he gave the sign
to swing away. TK then looked into the stands and found Carmen who flashed
her a big smile, and only then did she step into the batter's box. Megan
got her to swing at the first pitch and she missed it by a mile. She knew
that Megan was hyped up of this game so she stepped out of the batter's box
and took a practice swing or two. Then she got back into the box. Megan
gave her two pitches that TK laid off of and she was up two balls to one
strike. Megan then gave her a decent ball to hit and TK lined it into
center field and she made it to second base. The next batter was able to
get a single off of Megan and TK came home scoring the first run. But that
was all they got off of Megan and then it was the starters turn to
bat. Shannon came out to the pitching circle and she warmed up. She thought
to herself that she was glad that she didn't have to bat against her as she
was like Megan and she was hyped for the game. It was then she realized
that there was a method to the coaches' madness. Shannon was on the second
team not because she didn't practice hard enough but because the coaches
wanted the starts to bat against the best pitcher. She then knew why
Shannon wasn't upset as this made her pitch against the best hitters and
Shannon was like her, she loved a challenge. The starters only managed one
hit against Shannon in their half of the inning. The game went on and it
was tight throughout the game.  TK's team was tied with the starters until
the seventh inning which was the last inning in softball. When TK came up
to bat there was a runner at second with two outs, She looked to her coach
and then to Carmen and she stepped into the batter's box. She got ready to
hit when she noticed out of the corner of her eye that the catcher had
stood up. She knew that they had decided to walk her since they hadn't been
able to get her out all day. It was at this time that Herman came onto the
field and motioned for his wife to come over and the whole team watched as
they argued about what was going on. TK wanted to laugh but she knew
better.  The argument went on for a while before it was finally settled. TK
went back into the batter's box. TK glanced down and she noticed that the
catcher was back in her normal squatting position. TK got ready for the
pitch and Megan gave her a rise ball but she didn't get it high enough and
TK sent it over the right field fence for a homerun. As she went around
first base, she saw Herman pumping his fist and then she glanced over at
his wife who was giving him the finger. TK did giggle this time as she ran
around the bases. She knew that both of the coaches were very competitive
so they both wanted to win this game. When the starters came to bat, TK was
confident that they would win with Shannon pitching but then she made two
bad pitches in the inning and they both went over the left field fence.
The game ended in a tie and TK felt good about her day, she went five for
five with a home run so all in all she had a great day. When they got to
the locker room, she saw that Herman and Lagina had obviously made up and
were no longer angry with each other, if they were ever angry to begin
with. They announced that there would be a cookout at their house at seven
and each player was allowed to bring one guest. This was something that the
coaches did every year after the end of fall practice, TK later learned.

      "Great game!" Carmen said excitedly as she came up and gave TK a hug
that went on for a bit longer than was necessary but TK didn't mind as she
hugged Carmen back.

      "Thanks, it felt good. I had fun." TK told her.

      "It looked liked it and that was a great home run you hit after they
decided not to walk you." Carmen said with that excitement still in her
voice and TK could see that Carmen was just as happy as she was about how
she played.

      "Yea, I thought Herman and Lagina were going to have a fight out
there about that and then when I hit the home run, I knew for sure that I
was going to be responsible for a divorce." TK said laughing.

      "Oh that was nothing; you should have seen them last year. They got
into a real big argument over this game. I knew for sure that they were
going to go at it tooth and nail. I think they just like to beat each other
so that they can rub it in for a year." Carmen said laughing.

      "Probably so, oh that reminds me, they're having a cookout tonight
and we can bring a guest. Do you want to go with me?" TK asked.

      "You want me to go with you?" Carmen asked genuinely surprised by the
offer.

      "I just asked you didn't I?" TK told her.

      "Well yes, I... I would love to go. What time is it?" Carmen asked.

      "It's at seven." TK answered.

      "Okay, I've got some things I got to do at the lab but I can be done
at five at the latest. I'll meet you at the room then, okay?" Carmen said
and TK could see that Carmen's face the biggest smile she had ever
seen. She then gave TK another quick hug and then she started to run off
toward the science building. But then she stopped suddenly and she turned
back towards TK. "Thanks for asking me."  Carmen said and then she turned
and ran off before TK could say anything.

      TK went on toward the dorm, thinking about the game and also the
cookout.  She was happy that she asked Carmen to go with her not that she
would ask anyone other than Carmen to go with her. As she passed by her
room, she remembered her good jeans that she wanted to wear that night so
she got her key out and opened the door. She went in and then she saw Buffy
sitting at her desk working on her computer.

      "Well there you are, I thought that you had disappeared off the face
of the earth." Buffy said smiling at her.

      "No I'm still here. I was just spending some time with
Carmen. She..." TK stopped in mid sentence as she didn't know what to tell
Buffy. Did she go into details or just sort of brush her off, hoping Buffy
wouldn't press for any more information.

      "It's cool, I was just teasing you." Buffy said smiling; "Besides I
like having the room to myself."

      "Thanks, it's just that Carmen needed some company for a day or so
and then for some reason I just sort of stayed." TK said and then she sat
down by Buffy and the words began to flow out of her as she began to talk
about what had happened.  She knew that she could trust Buffy and she felt
the need to talk. She told her about everything that had happened between
them and how she was becoming more and more attracted Carmen thus more or
less admitting to Carmen that she was into girls. Buffy listened to her
intently and she didn't say anything till TK had the entire story out in
the open.

      "You know what I think?" Buffy asked.

      "What? I really would like to know. I need some advice on what is
happening and what I should do, am I doing the right thing, you know?" TK
asked.

      "First, yea, I think you're doing the right thing. I think you need
her just as much as she needs you. And I'm not talking about how she is
helping you with your schoolwork, it's more than that. You need someone to
be there for you and she needs to be wanted. I wasn't so sure that I did
the right thing by sending you to her but maybe I did after all." Buffy
said as she put her hand on TK's arm and TK felt better about things and
she felt right about talking to Buffy. It sort of cleared up her mind and
she gave Buffy a hug before grabbing some more of her things to take to the
room that she was now sharing with Carmen.

      TK was just coming out of the bathroom when Carmen came into the
room.  "Your timing is perfect, the bathroom is all yours." She told her as
she finished drying her hair. She was dressed in only her bra and panties
and she noticed that Carmen gave her the once over before speaking.

      "Are you sure that you want to take me, I'm sure that there are
others that you could take." Carmen said as she bit her lower lip and TK
could see that Carmen was getting a little nervous about going with her to
the cookout.

      "I'm taking you, now get your ass in the bathroom and take a shower."
TK told her as she took Carmen by the shoulders and pushed her into the
bathroom as Carmen tried to protest but TK just shut the door behind of
her.

      "I don't have anything to wear." Carmen said as she opened the
bathroom back up.

      "Do you have any jeans and blouses?" TK asked as she shut the door
again.

      "Yea, they're in the closet." Carmen told her as she opened the door
a crack and TK could see a naked shoulder so she knew that Carmen was at
least getting ready to shower.

      "I'll pick you out something, now get into the shower before I come
in and throw you in." TK told her as she was going through Carmen's closet.

      "You wouldn't dare!" Carmen said and TK turned and ran toward the
door. She heard Carmen scream and slam the door shut. She then listened at
the door until she heard the shower coming on.

      She went back to Carmen's closet and found some jeans that were
hanging there. Most were old and worn, but as she went on back she found a
couple of new jeans. She then went through her blouses and she didn't find
anything that she liked but then she remembered a blouse that her mother
had given her and it was a little small but she figured that it would be
perfect for Carmen. She ran down to her room and quickly found the blouse
that she was looking for and she knew that it would be perfect for
Carmen. She talked a moment with Buffy and then ran back down to the room
she now shared with Carmen. When she got there she heard a hair dryer going
and she knew that Carmen was drying her long hair. It was another twenty
minutes before she heard the hair dryer go off and then she saw the door
being cracked open.

      "Hand me some clothes, you pushed me in here and now I have nothing
to wear." Carmen said through the door.

      "I've decided that you could just go in your birthday suit, I bet you
look real cute in that." TK said as she got up and started to the bathroom
door with Carmen's clothes, including a pair of panties and a bra for her.

      "Yea right, now give me some clothes." Carmen said louder.

      "Here you go." TK told her as she opened the door a crack and she
handed the clothes to Carmen.

      "Thanks... Hey this isn't my blouse." Carmen said through the door.

      "It is now, just put it on and let me see how you look in it." TK
told her and a few minutes later Carmen walked out and the blouse fit her
to a tee. The jeans also were a perfect fit and for the first time TK was
able to see that Carmen did have a nice figure. Her hips flared out nicely
and she had a nice little bum. "You do look great girl." TK told her and
Carmen gave her a little smile. "But there is something that will make it
perfect." TK told her and she saw that Carmen's smile turned into a bit of
a frown and she knitted her eyebrows. "Sit down here for a moment." She
told Carmen and then she went into the bathroom.

      When she came out, she could tell that Carmen was just a little
worried and she decided to put Carmen's mind at ease. "Your hair is too
beautiful to hide." She told her and she saw Carmen's face turn back into a
smile. She then pulled up a chair behind of Carmen and she sat down. She
put Carmen's hair brush down on her lap and she took the hair clip from
Carmen's hair and she let it fall. TK couldn't resist letting her fingers
comb through Carmen's hair first but then she picked up the hairbrush and
she began to brush Carmen's hair out. It was so soft and fine that the
brush just went through it. It only took Carmen a few strokes to get it
looking nice but she kept on brushing it and more than once she could have
sworn that she heard Carmen let out a little moan. Neither talked as they
both were lost in their own worlds which happen to be the same worlds. TK
kept on brushing Carmen's hair until it was time to go downstairs and meet
Megan who they were catching a ride with to the coaches house.

      On the ride over, TK was talking to Megan and her date Frank, who
were in the front seats, when she looked down and she saw that Carmen's
hands were shaking and she realized just how nervous that Carmen was. So
she reached over with her right hand and she placed it on top of Carmen's
left hand. Carmen turned her head toward TK and she gave her that sly smile
of hers. TK then felt Carman turn her hand over and she let her fingers
intertwine with TK's fingers. TK closed her fingers onto Carmen's and she
squeezed Carmen's hand. She quickly noticed that Carmen's hand stopped
shaking and the nervous look on her face was beginning to dissipate however
it never went completely away. When they got to the coaches house, TK saw
that most of the other players were already there and she kept a hold of
Carmen's hand as she led her into the house and then into the big back
yard. There she introduced Carmen to everyone as her friend and she knew
that by holding Carmen's had as she was that some if not all the people
there would assume that Carmen was more than just a friend. For her that
was no big deal as she was a lesbian and would come out eventually so now
was as good a time as any.  She wasn't so sure how Carmen would feel about
that but by the way Carmen was gripping her hand, she wasn't going to let
go of her hand any time soon. TK did most of the talking but she did manage
to get Carmen to say something to most everyone. Soon Herman had all the
hotdogs and hamburgers done and they all sat down to eat along a three
picnic tables that were place end to end. It just happen that there was a
space beside of Carmen and Tamika so that is where Lagina decided to
sit. Lagina talked for a moment to Tamika and then she turned to Carmen and
asked her how she had met TK. TK could feel Carmen stiffen for a instant
and then Carmen told her that she TK had come to her needing help with
Statistics. Lagina listened and then she asked Carmen another question and
this time Carmen was a little more relaxed with her answer. TK listened
carefully for a moment and saw that Carmen was getting into her
conversation with her coach so she went back to talking to the other
players sitting around her. They all ate and talked and soon they began to
separate into different areas. Shannon made a bee line into the living room
where Herman and Lagina's oldest son was waiting. They both loved video
games so whenever there was a gathering of the players at the coaches
house, you could always find Shannon at the TV playing video games. TK told
Carmen that she had to go to the restroom and Carmen just nodded her head
not bothering to stop her conversation with Lagina. TK just smiled and went
on to the restroom. On the way back out of the house, she got caught by a
few of the players and she stopped to talk with them. She only meant to
stay a minute but they got off on the game that was player earlier and TK
lost all sense of time. It was about an hour later that she happened to
glance at her watch and she realized how long she had been gone. She
quickly excused herself from the now heated discussion about the game and
went to find Carmen. She looked at the picnic table and no Carmen. TK began
to panic as she thought that she had fucked up again. She knew better than
to leave Carmen alone when she didn't know anyone there but her. She looked
all around and still no Carmen and she was really getting scared.  She
could just see Carmen walking home by herself and she knew she would never
forgive her this time. TK's heart was beating a mile a minute and she was
scared shitless but then she noticed Lagina and Carmen sitting on a bench
at the near the house and she saw Herman standing next to his wife. TK
began to breathe again as she saw that Carmen was talking away and her
hands were moving a mile a minute as she did this when she was really
engrossed in something that she was passionate about. When Carmen stopped
talking, Herman and then his wife Lagina began to talk and she saw that
they were just as animated as Carmen was. It was at this point that TK
began to get scared again but for a completely different reason. She knew
from talking to Carmen about softball that she had her own ideas as to how
the game should be played and she was obviously imparting those ideas to
TK's coaches.  Personally she loved to hear Carmen talk passionately about
anything but right now she was talking very passionately to TK's coaches
and they were the ones who controlled her playing time. TK quickly covered
the few yards to where Carmen was talking to her coaches.

      "Carmen, I'm sorry that I took so long getting back." TK said as she
came up to them and Carmen was telling TK's coaches that they should let
the players hit more freely. TK knew she was in deep shit now; her coaches
didn't like their players telling them how the team should be run. They
were great at listening but TK had learned quickly that you made your point
and then you shut up and let them decide what they wanted to do.

      "She's doing fine. We're just having a nice discussion and Carmen was
making a point about with all the big hitters we now have, we should open
up the offence.  What do you think we should do?" Lagina asked TK putting
her on the spot.

      "I think that whatever you all think is what we should do." TK said
feeling stupid about her answer but she was so surprised with the question
she didn't know what else to say.

      Herman laughed real big and then he said, "Good answer."

      "Okay that is your official answer and it's duly noted. Now tell me
what you really think?" Lagina said with a smile and TK knew that whatever
she said wouldn't be held against her.

      TK looked over at Carmen and she smiled as she said, "I think Carmen
is right, we got some of the best hitters in the country so why not let
them do their thing." This answer got a big smile from Carmen.

      "Do you include yourself in that category?" Herman asked her.

      TK hated being put on the spot like this but she answered honestly,
"Yes I do, that doesn't mean I don't have things to learn, I do but yes I
think that I'm a great hitter."

      "Well, you're right on both your answers, you are a great hitter but
you can become a better one." Lagina told her and then she got up and said,
"I think that we've taken enough of your friend's time and we need to go
mingle with the rest of our guests."

      "Carmen, it was nice meeting you and I do hope that we can have more
discussions about softball. You have some interesting ideas." Lagina told
Carmen and then she took her husband's arm and she led him away.

      "Had you scared for a moment didn't I?" Carmen said as TK sat down
beside of her on the bench.

      "No, not at all." TK said lying through her teeth.

      "Liar, you just knew that I was about to piss off your coaches and
you would never get to play again." Carmen said and she looked straight
into TK's eyes and TK felt those eyes bore into her.

      "Okay, I was a little scared when I saw you talking so passionately
to Herman and Lagina and I could see that they were just as passionate in
their responses and I knew that it had to be about the softball team." TK
confessed.

      Carmen giggled as she said, "I knew it." And then she went on with,
"Don't worry I told them that these were my opinions and not yours. They
knew that I have been to all their practices and most of the home games for
the past two years. They were cool and I think that they just wanted to
make me comfortable here. So you're safe, you should know that I would
never do anything to hurt your playing status."

      "I know and I'm sorry that I thought the worst, will you forgive me?"
TK asked.

      "There's nothing to forgive. I would have felt the same way if I was
in your shoes. So it's cool." Carmen said as she placed her hand on TK's
hand.

      "Thanks, so are you glad that you came with me?" TK asked as she
turned her hand over and she intertwined her fingers with Carmen's and she
felt Carmen squeeze her hand.

      "Yea I am, I was scared at first but now it's cool." Carmen said.

      "So do you want to sit here for a while or go back in?" TK asked her.

      "Let's go on back in, it's getting a little cool out here." Carmen
replied and TK suspected that Carmen would rather stay out here but she was
going to go back in as she knew that TK needed to spend time with her team
as this was why the coaches had them all together to make the team
chemistry better.

      "Okay but next Saturday night we'll do anything that you want." TK
told her as she got up but she kept her hand tightly holding onto Carmen's
hand.

      "You promise?" Carmen asked.

      "I promise." TK said as they started back inside.

      "Cool!" Carmen said.

      They went on back inside and everyone was watching Shannon get beat
by the coaches' son. When it ended, the coaches each talked for a few
minutes about the team and the goals that they all wanted to reach during
the upcoming season.  They talked about the type of goals that they wanted
the team to decide on and also the individual goals the each player needed
to make. They told them that the off season was the time to decide on these
goals and also to start to come together as a team.

      "So what are you going to want to do next Saturday night?" TK asked
Carmen as the laid in the bed and they were facing each other.

      "I don't know, I've got a whole week to think of something though."
Carmen said and TK knew that she was smiling even though it was too dark in
the room to really see.

      "That you do, I was just wondering what you liked to do for fun." TK
asked as she took a strand of Carmen's hair and began to twist it around
her fingers and then letting it go only to pick up another strand.

      Carmen was silent for a few moment and then she spoke, "I don't know,
when I was home I was either helping out with the farm or studying. I
always liked to read about things and learn so I never really did anything
for fun, with the exception of watching movies. But I assume you were
talking about going out and doing things right?" Carmen told her.

      "Yea and I tell you what we're going to change that; we'll keep doing
stuff until we find something that you love to do." TK told her.

      "Cool," Carmen said and then she snuggled in close to TK and they
fell asleep and TK woke up the next morning knowing that Carmen's lips had
struck again.

      The next week went by as about normal. TK got back into her routine
of working out with weighs three days a week and then running the other
three and taking Sunday off to rest up her muscles. So on the following
Saturday, TK did her running early and then they both did some studying.

      "So what are we going to do this evening?" TK asked as she closed her
books and she turned to Carmen.

      "Mmmm... I'm not sure." Carmen said however TK could see something
behind those cute eyes of hers.

      "I think you do have something in mind." TK said and she could see
that Carmen wanted to tell her something. "Go ahead and tell me." TK
insisted.

      "You may not think it will be fun but it is something I really want
to do."  Carmen said.

      "Then we'll do it." TK told her and then she asked, "Just what are we
doing?"

      "Don't laugh but I want you to teach me to play softball." Carmen
said, "Though I'm not very athletic."

      "If that's what you want then that's what we'll do." TK said as she
got up and went to the closet and she pulled out her softball bag that
carried her bats, gloves and several softballs. "I know just the place to
go to start your lessons."

      Carmen smiled real big and she followed TK out of the room talking a
mile a minute about how she so wanted to learn to hit and catch a
ball. There were several intramural fields just on the edge of campus and
this being early November, there weren't anyone using them. So that is
where TK took Carmen.  Once there, she got out one of her extra gloves and
showed Carmen how to put it on and then she showed her how to hold and then
throw the softball. She then stepped several feet back and she softly threw
the ball to Carmen who caught the ball in her glove and it stayed there for
a second but she forgot to close her glove and it fell out. So TK showed
her that part again and she tried again and this time the ball stayed in
Carmen's glove. Like everything in Carmen's life, she learned quickly and
soon TK was taking several more steps back and throwing a little harder
however not anywhere near as hard as she would if she was throwing the ball
to one of her teammates.  When they had done this for a while, TK had
Carmen stand just past the infield and she got her bat out. She started to
hit some balls in the air and see if Carmen could catch them. The first one
went a little higher than she mean for it to and TK almost laughed as she
saw Carmen trying to run up under it but to ball landed beside of her and
TK contained her laughter as she could see how disappointed Carmen was that
she didn't even come close to catching it. TK assured her that it wasn't
easy to catch a high pop up like that one. TK got the ball back and she
tried again and this wasn't nearly as high and Carmen ran to it but she
went a little too far and she had to reach back to try and catch it. The
ball nipped her glove and she fell onto her ass. TK ran to her but Carmen
got up and dusted her ass off and she told TK to try again. TK could see
the determination in Carmen's face and she knew they would be out there
until Carmen could catch the ball. It took three more tries but then Carmen
finally caught one and held onto it.

      "I caught it! I caught it!" Carmen said as she came running to TK
with the ball still in her glove as if she wanted to prove to TK that she
had really caught the ball.

      "I see! You caught that one like you have been doing it all your
life." TK told her and then she was about bowled over as Carmen rushed to
her and hugged her tightly.

      TK hugged her back tightly and they stood there like that for a
moment. TK was just getting into the hug and it was making her feel good
when Carmen broke away and told her, "Hit me some more!" and then she ran
back out to where she was standing before. TK laughed to herself as Carmen
was acting like a little child who had just learned something new and
wanted to do it over and over again. TK went back to hitting her pop ups
and Carmen caught five in a roll before she missed one and that was when TK
heard Carmen say a cuss word for the first time as she heard a "Shit!" come
from Carmen as she sat on the grass where she fell when she misjudged the
ball. TK did laugh this time but not because Carmen missed the ball and
fell on her ass again but because she said "Shit." TK had to hit a bunch of
balls to Carmen before dusk began to come and it was getting harder to see
the ball.  Carmen wanted to keep catching them but TK was afraid that she
would lose one in the sky and it would hit her. So Carmen decided she
wanted to learn to be a catcher. TK wasn't so sure that this was a good
idea as it had been a while since she had pitched and she wasn't sure of
her control but Carmen insisted. So TK got a catcher's mitt from her bag
and gave it to Carmen who crouched down behind the plate. TK warmed up her
arm and then she pitched a slow ball toward Carmen who caught it easily and
then Carmen told her to pitch it harder. TK let the next pitch go and it
was harder, yet not nearly as hard as she could. The ball was a little high
but Carmen was able to get her glove up and to TK's surprise, she caught
it. Then when she threw the ball back, TK noticed that Carmen took off her
glove and she rubbed her hand on her thigh. Then Carmen indicated with her
glove to throw it again. TK did and this was a little better pitch and
Carmen caught it but then fall back on her ass as she wasn't balanced
properly and this time TK did laugh. Carmen stuck her tongue out at her but
then she laughed too. TK continued to pitch to Carmen and soon the rust was
gone from her pitching motion and she began to move the ball around trying
different pitches. Carmen did pretty well at catching her pitches and
Carmen's pride seemed to grow with each and every catch she
made. Unfortunately the fall sun began to set and it was getting too dark
to see and TK made Carmen give it up. However Carmen then declared that the
following Saturday, TK would be teaching her to hit. TK wasn't sure how she
was going to pull that off but she had a week to figure something out.

      On the way back to the dorm, they stopped by a little pizza place and
they got a pizza. From there they headed back to the dorm where they took a
shower getting the sweat off their bodies. Then as TK warmed up the pizza
in Carmen's small microwave, Carmen picked out a movie to watch.  They were
both dressed for bed with TK in her tee shirt and panties and Carmen in her
long sleeve men's shirt and her white cotton panties. She had her hair down
and TK thought that she looked beautiful. The movie was another comedy and
they laughed as they ate their pizza. Then when that movie ended Carmen
jumped up to find another movie to put on. As she bent over to find a good
movie, her shirt rode up and TK got her first real good view of her
butt. TK felt giddy inside as her eyes bored into that cute ass and strong
legs. When Carmen turned around, TK knew that she was caught and she could
only smile. Carmen put the DVD in and she hopped up on the bed. She moved
in real close to TK as the movie started. TK put her arm around her and she
pulled her in close. Carmen turned her head toward TK and TK could almost
see into her soul. The movie started to play but neither of them was
watching it.

      TK felt drawn to Carmen and she looked at Carmen's pale lips and she
wanted to kiss those lips. Her heart started to beat wildly inside her
chest and she was scared shitless. She knew that this was real and she had
no right to play with Carmen's heart, it was too pure and innocent. She
decided then that she would do whatever it took to please Carmen, she would
spend the rest of her life trying to do that. TK then eased her head
forward slowly giving Carmen plenty of time to turn away. TK got closer and
she could feel Carmen's breath on her face and she then she closed her eyes
as her lips pressed against Carmen's lips. She felt Carmen press back and
they kissed with their lips closed. The touch of Carmen's lips on hers sent
her mind reeling and she felt something she had never felt before kissing a
girl. It was like Carmen's lips were made to kiss her lips. After a moment
or two, TK began to pull back and their lips parted. TK watched as Carmen's
eyes fluttered open and she saw that her face was flush. Carmen's lips
slowly turned into a smile and TK knew that Carmen was cool with what she
had done. TK brought her hand up and she stroked Carmen's cheek with the
back of her fingers. Carmen pushed her head up against TK's fingers and saw
tears come to Carmen's eyes and she wiped them away. TK then put her hand
on Carmen's shoulder and she gently pushed so that Carmen turned over onto
her back and TK went with her so that her head was over Carmen's head. She
looked down into Carmen's eyes and she saw how nervous Carmen was and she
was unsure about going to much further, then she felt Carmen's hand on the
back of her neck and she allowed Carmen to pull her head down. She closed
her eyes and she felt Carmen's lips touch hers. This time TK kissed her
harder and after a moment, she opened her lips just a hair. Carmen
hesitated for just a second and then she opened up her lips too. TK moved
her fingers to Carmen's face and she caressed her cheeks as they kissed. TK
felt more tears come down Carmen's face as they kissed and that caused her
own tears to start to flow. They cried as they kissed and TK opened her
lips more and then she eased her tongue into Carmen's mouth. Carmen
hesitated for only a second before TK felt Carmen's tongue tentatively
touch hers.  TK moved her tongue gently against Carmen's and she felt
Carmen's breathing start to quicken just as hers was doing. The kiss
lingered for what seemed to be hours but was much closer to a minute or two
then TK had to take a breath. She raised her head and their lips broke
contact leaving only the tips of their tongues touching. TK stopped for an
instant not wanting the contact to be broken but she did eventually break
it. TK looked into Carmen's eyes again to be sure that Carmen was okay with
what was happening. She appeared to be but she had to be sure before this
went much further.

      "Carmen, are you sure this is what you want? I don't want to mess
anything up between us." TK asked.

      "You won't mess anything up unless you stop kissing me. This is what
I want."  Carmen told her as she gave TK another one of her shy smiles. TK
melted then and there and she wanted nothing more than to kiss Carmen for
the rest of the night.  Carmen felt around for a second and found the
remote to her TV and she switched to volume to mute and then she turned her
attention back to TK.

      TK looked back into Carmen's eyes and she saw her long black hair
spread out on the bed and TK felt her heart skip more than a few beats. She
put her hands to the sides of Carmen's face and she lowered her head down
for another kiss. She kissed Carmen lightly on the lips and then brought
her head back up and she saw Carmen frown at such a short kiss then she
went down for another short kiss and she repeated this for a series of
short kisses and Carmen quickly got into this type of kissing and she
returned the kisses with passion. They kissed and kissed just using their
lips until TK had to have a long kiss and she lowered her lips to Carmen's
lips and kept them there. Soon she opened her mouth and their tongues
touched again. This time Carmen was a little more aggressive and she pushed
back with her tongue and the kiss went on and on. TK felt Carmen's hands on
her shoulders gripping them as the kiss lingered on. When they needed to
breath, they would stop for a moment and just stare into each other's eyes
and then it was back to kissing. TK could feel her body getting aroused but
she didn't want to push Carmen too fast so she was content to just keep
this night for kissing. And that was what they did until they were finally
out of breath.

      "Did I ever tell you how beautiful I think you are?" TK asked
Carmen. TK saw Carmen blushing from the light of the TV which was no longer
playing anything as the movie had long since ended. Carmen shook her head
back and forth indicating no to TK's question.

      "Well you are. You're the most beautiful thing that I've ever seen."
TK told her making Carmen blush even more. "I'm really sorry that I shun
you like I did."  TK told her.

      "Why did you do that? I thought that we were friends and then you
acted like I had the plague. That hurt me you know." Carmen said and TK
could see the tears forming in her eyes.

      TK wasn't sure why the conversation turned so serious but she knew
she had to be honest with Carmen right now or she wouldn't ever have a
chance to get to know her any better, much less kiss her again. "I didn't
think it would look cool to be hanging out with you, I mean a jock and a
genius just don't hang out together."

      "Why not? I don't care that you're a jock, why should you care if I'm
a genius. Those are just labels that people apply to other people that they
don't understand or are different. That's like being called a lesbian,
that's just a label.  So I'm a genius and a lesbian so does that make it
super uncool to be seen with me?" Carmen asked and TK wanted to hide from
Carmen's questions but she couldn't.

      "I was wrong, I thought that I was grown up and mature when I got
here but you showed me that I haven't grown much past high school but you
are changing that for me. I'm seeing things a little more clearly now and
it is because of you. I want to change my ways because of you. I want this
to work between us. I really do."  TK told her and she reached up and
caressed Carmen's cheek that was now flush with more than a little anger.

      "You had better not; I won't give you another chance!" Carmen said
and then she jumped up off of TK and ran into the bathroom.

      "Carmen!" TK called after her as she sat up on the bed but she got no
response from the other side of the bathroom door.

      End of part one.
      To be continued...

Please let me know what you think of my story. I welcome all comments good
or bad. You can email me at numlfl@hotmail.com