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CHASING NORMAL

iUniverse, Inc.

Chapter One

Annie Smith followed her mom's car as it passed the sign indicating they were now in Reston, Texas. She had one major goal for her new life in Texas—to live the life of a normal teenager. She was looking forward to not being hassled by the media or her teammates. Life is going to be totally different in this quiet little town, she thought.

She reached over and turned down her CD player, which was playing some serious Led Zeppelin. The people in this small town were probably all country music lovers, and she didn't want to get off on the wrong foot. The brake lights on her mom's Buick came on ahead of her. She downshifted her Ford Ranger into third gear and looked to her right. About forty boys in football practice gear were hard at it, just east of a very modern-looking building. The western end of the school was two stories high and threw a huge shadow over the practice field. Knowing how serious Texans were about their football, Annie wondered if the school was designed to provide shade for early-evening practices. The summer Texas sun can be brutal.

What a nice school for such a small town, she thought. That tall portion must be the gym. I hope the locals won't mind a new face on the basketball team. Two blocks later, her mom turned into an area filled with fairly modern ranch homes. At the end of Jefferson Street sat a nice two-bedroom, split-level house that Annie recognized from the picture her mom had shown her three weeks earlier. But she hadn't told her the best thing about the house—no neighbors! There was a vacant lot on either side of the house and a field behind it. She wouldn't have to worry about bothering the neighbors when she turned up her music. This was a nice start to a new, normal life.

* * *

Two days of unpacking and moving furniture around was enough to last Annie a lifetime. She sat on her bed and looked at her reflection in the mirror on the closet door. Her shoulder-length hair was somewhere between blonde and brown. She always felt that her features, except for her eyes, were fairly normal—just the way she liked them. Her green eyes seemed to have a perpetual sparkle in them. Her mom and dad always told her that her eyes were the reflection of her inner goodness. She liked that, and the fact that her dad had written a song about them. He was still working on that song when he died. Below the neck, Annie was different from most teenage girls. She stood about 5'7" which, by itself, wouldn't draw any special attention. However, her broad shoulders and lean body had "athlete" written all over them. The muscles on her arms and shoulders, which she usually kept covered, were well-defined. To the experienced eye, it was obvious that she had spent some time in the weight room. She gave herself a little wave and the girl in the mirror reciprocated. The simple gesture conveyed a feeling of guarded anticipation. School, sports, and friendships were all huge question marks now.

Annie looked around her room and gave a nod of satisfaction. A queen-sized bed was centered against the right-hand wall as you walked through the door. Two monster Electra-Voice speakers occupied the corners on the opposite wall. Two guitars leaned against the wall to her right, and her stereo system was within an arm's length to her left. The guitars were special to her. The bass was hers, and the other one was one of her dad's. He had been killed in a plane crash just before she started the eighth grade. It had been a rough year for her. She threw herself into basketball and softball, which laid the foundation for the player she was today. The six-string was autographed by her dad, Eric Clapton, and Kim Simmonds. She was pretty sure it was worth a lot of money, but that meant little to her. Her dad's memory could not be bought for any price.

A big box of trophies and a scrapbook of her softball and basketball exploits were already tucked away in the back of her closet. She just knew things would be different here in Texas. It was a huge state, easy to get lost in. There were probably hundreds of female athletes better than her in both sports. That was fine with her. That would mean no reporters to bother her and no weirdo teammates to make life miserable.

* * *

Annie lay back on her bed and relived her freshman year back in Arkansas. The basketball season had been stressful, but it had been nothing like the softball season. You wouldn't think throwing three consecutive no-hitters would be a problem, but it was. Annie and Sally Phelps were supposed to share the pitching duties for Franklin High School. Annie actually lived in Jones Ferry, a little town of about 900. Franklin High was in DeWitt, about twelve miles away. Each school had its own basketball team, but they had to coop to field a softball team. Sally lost the first game of the season 3 to 2, even though she pitched a good game. She was fairly fast, with good control. She also had an excellent sinker that caused the opposition to hit a lot of playable grounders against her. With some fine-tuning, she would probably have a chance to pitch at the junior college level.

Annie started the second game against a weak team and threw a five-inning no-hitter. The game was stopped because Franklin was ahead by more than ten runs. Her second no-hitter came in the second game of a double header. She had all the pitches: blazing fastball, sinker, changeup, and a fantastic rise-ball. She was also experimenting with a hook that started out at the right-hand batter's box, and then curved across the plate. Most batters just froze, wide-eyed, when that pitch came at them. She didn't throw it often, but when she did it was very effective. Her catcher, Darcy Turner, had names for three of her pitches. "Godzilla" was her fastball, "Bad Boy" was the hook and "The Sleeper" was the change-up.

Her third game of the season was against a pretty good team, and it was Franklin's first home game. The Lady Cougars from Charles City were conference champions from the previous year. Annie wasn't playing high school softball then, but she did remember them from the basketball season that had just finished. They played real rough and even dirty at times. It was obvious that they were coached that way, but the players seemed to like it. She wondered if their coach had the same philosophy in softball as he did for basketball. Annie didn't like them—not even a little bit. She was throwing her warm-ups to Darcy behind the equipment building as usual. It was a nice secluded spot where no one could see or bother you. It was obvious that she was upset about something. The conversation came back to her as if it happened only yesterday.

"What's up with you today?" asked Darcy as she walked up to Annie holding the ball.

"I don't know," replied Annie. "I just get all worked up when I see those Charles City girls."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. They're real sweethearts, aren't they?"

"Why do they have to act that way?" asked Annie. "Sports isn't about trying to humiliate the other guy. It's about playing hard and pushing yourself—with a little fun mixed in."

"These girls don't know that," said Darcy. "All they know is you scored thirty points against their fresh/soph basketball team, and they want revenge. So be careful when you are up to bat. They just might throw at you for spite. Anyway, have you noticed anything different?"

"Like what?" asked Annie. "Are you getting taller?"

"Not hardly," said Darcy. "I'm destined to be a shrimp for the rest of my life—just like my mom. I'm talking about your speed, girl. I've never seen you throw so hard. Matter of fact, I've never seen anybody throw so hard, even in the big city tournaments. My hand would look like the Hulk's if I didn't have my bandana stuffed inside my glove. When you get riled, you can really bring the smoke."

"I do feel like I've got a little something extra today."

"Well, it's a good day to have it. These Charles City prima donnas really suck."

"You know I don't like that kind of talk," said Annie as they walked shoulder to shoulder around the shed into the view of the players and fans.

"Loosen up. That's not a bad word. Now go ahead and say it."

"Say what?" asked Annie.

"Say, 'I hate these guys.' You know you do."

"Let's just say they are not on my Christmas list. Maybe we can have a little fun with them, though," said Annie with a mischievous look in her eyes.

Before Darcy could respond, they saw Coach Hargraves waving at them from the dugout. They broke into a jog and went out onto the field, where their teammates were putting the finishing touches on their pregame infield practice. As Annie reached the mound, the umpire threw her the game ball. He held up seven fingers to indicate how many warm-up pitches she could throw. She nodded and threw the first one overhand as though she were pitching a baseball and not a softball. Darcy pegged the ball back to her with a flick of a wrist. After her fourth overhand toss, she switched to underhand and continued to lob them in. Darcy's mask hid her huge grin as she began to chatter at her pitcher.

"That's it, rag arm, nice and easy. Don't show them the good stuff right away. Tease them a little."

Annie's last pitch was a weak effort that barely got to the plate. Coach Hargraves started to come out of the dugout, but Darcy waved him away and jogged out to the mound.

"This is the fun part, right?" asked the catcher.

"Yup, the fun has started," replied Annie.

"Let's stick with the Godzilla and just a few Sleepers," said Darcy. "We don't need to get too fancy with this crew. They're more noise than they are dangerous. They won't know what hit 'em. Remember what good sports they are, so don't hold back."

As Darcy turned and jogged back toward the plate, Annie felt her eyes tearing up. They sometimes got that way when her emotions ran high. Darcy had seen that look before on the basketball floor, but this was the first time it had shown up on the softball field. She looked over at Charles City's dugout, and their whole team was standing at the fence, shaking it and chanting. It wasn't a chant to get the team fired up. It was meant solely to razz the opposing pitcher.

"Hey!" hollered Annie after Darcy had taken only a few steps. "You're right. I really don't like these guys."

Darcy was smiling as she turned back to face her battery mate. "And—"

"And they—they stink," blurted Annie. "Godzilla on the second pitch. Be ready."

Darcy ran back to her position and started to chatter. The Charles City dugout was even louder as the first batter stepped in. Brenda Stevens was a sophomore and played guard on the fresh-soph basketball team. She was the type of player who would hold you and slip in an occasional elbow when the refs weren't looking. Annie looked in at her catcher, who was going through all sorts of crazy signs and talking nonsense. She let the first pitch go—high and soft. It looked like something you would throw in a slow-pitch game. It came in shoulder high, and Brenda actually swung at it. Little did she know, that pitch would be her best chance at making contact. Nevertheless, she still whiffed by a foot.

"Come on Brenda," hollered the Charles City coach from the third base coaching box. "Just be patient. When she's done messing around, we'll show her what a good hitting team can do."

Darcy pegged the ball back. Annie caught it and rubbed it up with both hands. The laces felt as though they were more pronounced than usual. New balls might feel the same to the other players, but to a pitcher they all felt different. She liked the feel and smell of a new ball. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with her sleeve and looked back in at her catcher. Coach Hargraves was standing in the dugout opening with a quizzical look on his face. Darcy kept flashing her index finger between her legs where only Annie could see it. Send it in. Annie grinned and nodded. This would be her first real pitch as a high school varsity player on her home diamond. She wished her dad were here to see it. He would not have been disappointed.

Annie wound up and unleashed Godzilla. To say the crowd of about seventy-five fans was stunned would be an understatement. The ball came in like a rocket. It cracked into Darcy's mitt with a crisp, sharp sound. She had the knack of making even a mediocre fastball sound like a smoker. This was not a mediocre fastball. It was the fastest pitch the Charles City girls would see for the rest of the season. The batter never moved. The umpire just stood there with his mouth open. He finally raised his right arm to indicate a strike. The fans milling around the sidelines and behind the home plate fence just stopped what they were doing. Varsity high school softball pitchers were supposed to throw the ball fast, but what they had seen was nothing short of phenomenal.

The visitors sat down on their bench and didn't chant another word as Annie threw her third straight no-hitter and opened up a whole new bag of troubles.

After the game the coach gave an interview to the local paper. He said Annie would be pitching every game from then on. Annie thought that was unfair to Sally, the other pitcher. She was only a junior, and with some improvement, she might have a chance at a college scholarship. Also, if Annie pitched every game and turned an ankle or something, Sally would be pretty rusty from lack of action. It might also make some of the upperclassmen resent her. How could the coach be so stupid! Coach Hargraves had only one goal with his softball team. Winning every game was all he thought about. Putting a solid team together at every position, with intelligence, sportsmanship, and great attitudes didn't even enter his mind. He had a real racehorse, and he was going to use her to the max. Since he wouldn't listen to reason, Annie took it upon herself to fix the situation. After eight games and four no-hitters, she claimed her pitching arm hurt when she threw underhand. Overhand, she claimed, was no problem. It wasn't a popular decision, but once she made it, she stuck by it. Anyway, Sally finished out the season as the number one pitcher and had a great season the next year, (with help from Annie who hit .520 and played right field as though she owned it), and she was getting some scholarship help to pitch in college.

* * *

Annie shook her head and brought herself back to the present. Things will be different here, I just know it, she thought. I'll play it nice and cool. No one will be mad if I play right field in softball and average ten points a game in basketball. I'm gonna be so laid back, it's going to be hard to stay awake. How tough can it be just to fly low under the radar?

Melinda Fullerton was practicing three pointers between games on one of Reston High School's outdoor courts. She only stood five feet four inches, but there was a lot of ability and desire in her little frame. Her shoulder-length brown hair was tied up into a ponytail with a pink hair tie. Brown eyes and thin nose gave her an elflike quality. Her face was usually lit up with a big smile—that is, when she wasn't talking at a pace that challenged the listener. Melinda was enjoying her high school years as Reston's top female athlete. She was the starting setter on the volleyball team, the point guard on the basketball team, and the starting shortstop on the softball team. Needless to say, her life revolved around sports. Her friends, and most everyone else, called her "Chip," which was short for microchip. She was well known around the area for her skills, sportsmanship, and her hard play. With all this going for her, she still had two unfulfilled wishes. Wish number one would probably never happen. She had always wanted to be taller. She had grown exactly one inch since seventh grade, and now she was a junior, so unless a miracle happened, she was destined to be a semi-midget. Her other wish looked like it would also go unfulfilled. Most of the Reston teams that she had played on in high school and junior high had only moderate success. A couple of games above .500 was the best they could do. Just once, she wanted to be on a really good team. Her teammates tried hard, of course, but the skill and knowledge just weren't there. She also had to admit that their lack of ambition was part of the problem. Chip had no idea that her ticket to wish number two had just arrived in town.

Chip's teammates hardly ever practiced a sport when it was out of season. She loved to throw the softball around or shoot some hoops, no matter what time of year it was. She really didn't blame them, though. Athletics were her passion. Boyfriends and parties took up a lot of her teammates' time, but she just wasn't into those activities. She had a lot of guy friends, and she enjoyed playing ball with them, but she never thought about seriously dating any of them. Well, there was this one guy, Luke. He was her best friend. They had a lot in common, since they both loved sports so much. Luke had one small problem when it came to sports. He had absolutely no talent when it came to any athletic endeavor. The boy was six-foot-two inches of athletic mayhem. It was painful to watch him shoot a basketball and utterly horrific to watch him try to throw a baseball. Luke stayed close to the things he loved by writing about them. He was the sports editor for the Reston Talon, the school newspaper. Any time a school activity called for participation as a couple they went together. They had had this arrangement since they were in eighth grade. Any time Chip needed someone to hit her grounders or to rebound for her, all she had to do was call Luke, and he would be there. Their relationship was very practical.

"C'mon ya'll," hollered Chip to the guys lying on the benches that lined one side of the court. "I know you've got one more game in you. I know this for a fact, because you've been doggin' it on defense since you got here."

"Give it up, Chip," said Bobby Sims with a wet towel over his face. "It's too hot, and don't you have dance practice or something?"

"Volleyball practice doesn't start for another hour," replied Chip. "Ya'll are wimps. You're gonna get creamed every game this year if you don't show some ambition."

All she got for an answer was a few groans. An orange car pulled up beside the courts with Luke behind the wheel. He honked and waved at her. She turned and threw the ball at Billy and hit him in the leg. He didn't even move.

"Later," she hollered and jumped into the front seat beside Luke. All she got was a couple of halfhearted waves.

"Was that Slowinski?" asked a voice from under a wet towel.

"Who else has a car that sounds like that?" asked Chet Stevens.

"At least he's got a car," said Gary Sturgis, the team's starting center.

"Yeah, a car and a girl," quipped Al Radford.

"They're not like that," said Billy. "I bet they don't even—"

"Don't even what, mister dating expert?" interrupted Chet.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from CHASING NORMAL by T. L. Hoch Copyright © 2012 by T. L. Hoch. Excerpted by permission of iUniverse, Inc.. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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