Tim walked into the Plaza Lanes Bowling Center pulling his four ball carrier behind him. It was moderately crowded for a Saturday, but he needed the practice and the manager always gave him a discount. It had been a few weeks since the fall bowling season had ended and Tim had decided to bowl in a spring league to stay sharp for the numerous tournaments that he had entered for the spring and summer. Tim was a very good bowler, certainly not good enough to be a professional, but he was one of the better bowlers in the city.
He went to the main desk and asked for a pair of lanes. Plaza Lanes was about thirty years old and had forty-eight lanes. Tim had worked there while in high school and college and was still good friends with the management, even though he didn't bowl there that often. He talked with Patrick Schobel, the weekend manager, for a few minutes before taking his equipment to lanes thirteen and fourteen.
As he was putting on his shoes, noticed a petite redhead to his left. It wasn't so much noticing her, but hearing the sound of the pins crashing when her ball hit them. He always took notice of good bowlers, male or female, when he practiced, and the sound of the pins being hit with authority piqued his interest. Tim was not prejudiced when it came to bowling with or against females. He liked to bowl with them, but it was rare when he found a female who could beat him.
After he put his bowling balls on the ball return, Tim stepped back and watched her throw her next ball. Her form was excellent, her arm swing straight and shoulder high, and her follow through was flawless. Her ball slid for about forty-five feet before it took a sharp left turn and crashed into the pins, sending them all flying.
Tim stepped up to the approach after picking up his favorite ball and studied his target. Stiff and awkward, he went through his delivery and threw the ball down the lane. It missed the head pin as the ball slid to the right. Tim came back to the ball return trying to stretch his arm and shoulder in hopes of loosening the muscles.
He heard another solid crash from his left and he knew from the sound that she had thrown another strike. He picked up his spare, feeling his body starting to loosen up a bit, and moved to the other lane. After a few more deliveries, he became more comfortable and began stringing strikes of his own. Glancing over her way from time to time, Tim began to admire her style and how well she bowled. He was duly impressed and stopped his own practice to watch.
She didn't appear to take any notice of him and continued her session. Every once in a while, she would miss her target and throw a bad ball, but it didn't happen very often. After one such errant toss, she came back to the ball return and looked at Tim.
"You won't learn much by watching me," she said in a soft, pleasant voice.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure," Tim replied, "you throw a very good ball."
She said nothing as she turned back to pick up her spare. Tim went back to his lanes and began practicing again, using different balls, speeds, and angles to make it tougher on himself. After five minutes or so, it was she who was watching as Tim's ball went right of his intended target and barely touched the head pin. He picked up the spare without difficulty and saw her watching him.
"You need to move your target in and your feet a few boards to the right," she suggested.
"I know," Tim replied, "I'm just trying different things right now. I can strike any time I want," he added.
"Oh really?" she said. "Let's see a strike, now."
"Which ball do you want me to use?" he asked.
She looked at his arsenal and pointed to a yellow, blue, and green swirled ball and said, "Use the Hammer Blade."
"Okay," he said as he put down the red ball that he had been using. "Which lane?"
"My lane, eleven," she replied, smiling, seeing if Tim would do it.
Nice smile, Tim thought to himself as he stepped over to lane eleven. Very nice. He lined himself up when he stepped onto the approach. He figured that the lane's oil pattern wouldn't be much different than what he was using, so he tried the same speed and angle he had used when he was striking consistently. The ball went squarely into the pocket as the pins went down quickly and into the pit.
"Impressive," she remarked, nodding her approval.
"Thanks," Tim replied as he waited for his ball. "The lanes seem pretty easy today," he added. He picked up his ball and started to return to his lanes.
"Well?" she said, after he had placed his ball back on the ball return with the others.
"Well what?"
"Aren't you going to challenge me to do it?"
"Challenge you? No, I think you could strike any time you really wanted to. You're really very good." Tim picked up another ball, stood on the approach, and threw another strike. Returning from his delivery, she was still looking at him with her soft brown eyes. Tim met her gaze and studied her momentarily. She was quite pretty, whomever she was. Her curly, fire-red hair was pulled back in a pony tail and she was wearing a North Texas State tee shirt and loose fitting jeans. She was thin and petite on top and her narrow waist flared out slightly to her hips. Tim was surprised that she could get that much power from her small body. "I would challenge you, however," he continued, "to tell me your name. I don't remember seeing you around before and I know most of the really good women bowlers."
She dropped her eyes from the face that she had been studying. She thought she had seen him before from somewhere, but she couldn't place him. "Well, you haven't seen me because I've been in school and I just graduated."
"North Texas?" he asked, pointing to her shirt.
"Yes, three years on varsity."
"It shows. What brings you back to Indiana?"
"My family's here and I didn't really care for the west that much. I figured I'd come back, get a job, bowl in a league this spring to keep in shape, and go from there."
Tim stepped towards her a few steps. "I'm Tim Rougeau and you are...?"
"Pleased to meet you, Tim," she replied, deftly avoiding telling him her name. She liked his looks and thought that he wasn't much older than she. She checked for rings, didn't see any, but you never knew with guys.
