It was summer, and my boyfriend thought I should pick up a new hobby, something to occupy my time since he worked more than I did. He had given a few suggestions, but nothing really perked my interest. Since we live in a small town there isn't a lot of variety when it came to things like this and I was about to give up on doing anything when coincidence happened to play in my favor. Whether it was a really in my favor may not be true.
It was hot that day, and I had dressed for it. A short skirt and a spaghetti strap top kept me pretty cool, but didn't cover up much. I had just walked out of a music store, thinking that maybe I could learn an instrument but it all seemed to complicated and frustrating for me, when I happen to glance across the street and see the bowling alley. I'd never actually been inside, but drove past it a couple times. The place seemed like kind of a dive, a lot like most of the bars in the area. Deciding this was pretty much it, if this didn't fit then I was just going to give up and just stay at home and watch TV, I crossed the street. Some of the lights on the sign weren't lit up, and there was a slight smell around the place. It seemed popular though, there were quite a few cars in the parking lot. Wondering if this was my kind of crowd, I opened the door and went inside. The music was up way too loud, and there were a lot different people in there. Some middle age, a few kids, but there were more people that seemed kind of rough around the edges than anything. I figured that if this worked for so many different people then this might work for me too. It helped there was a bar there, any place that has alcohol seems to attract people, especially the majority that I was seeing.
"Something I can do for you, miss?" asked the clerk at the desk as I was staring out at the people.
"Um, I don't know, I wanted to come check things out, my boyfriend tells me I should pick up a hobby," I replied a bit startled.
"Well, our summer leagues are just getting started, I know there's a few teams that need some people, and they wouldn't mind something like you," he replied looking me up and down. It didn't get past me that he said 'something' instead of 'someone'. He was definitely part of that majority.
"I don't know, I was never very good at sports, this may not be my thing," I said as he continued to look me up and down, feeling like he was imagining me naked.
"Tell you what, why don't you sit in with a team tonight and see if you like it. If you do then you can talk to them about bowling the rest of the season, ok?" he asked with a leering smile. It seemed like a fair enough deal, I didn't want to bowl by myself and look like an idiot, why not give it a try if only for one night.
"I guess I could try, let me just call my boyfriend and let him know," I said pulling out my phone. "Damn, no signal here, stupid phone. Oh, well, I'll call him later I guess". The clerk asked my shoe size and told me to pick out a ball I felt comfortable with and he would ask around to see who needed a team member. I knew next to nothing about any of this, but the bowling balls were all colored and I thought pink would probably be right for me. It seemed kind of heavy and it had an 8 on it.
"That's the weight of the ball," came a voice from behind me, a little too close behind me I thought, as I could feel his breath on my neck.
"Oh, is this what I want?" I asked turning around.
"Ya, a little girl like you can't handle anything too big, I'd say that's just want you want" he said staring me up and down. I was beginning to think that only perverts hung out here and I was starting to have second thoughts about doing this. "You must be new here, I've never seen you before and I would remember, a......face like that," he said face like he meant to say something else.
"Ya, my boyfriend says I should find a new hobby, and I thought this might be it. Actually I thought tennis, yoga, and learning to play an instrument would be it too, but none of those panned out," I replied.
"Oh, is your boyfriend here? Does he bowl?" he asked seeming to already know the answer.
"No, he works a lot. That's why he thought I should get a hobby," I said feeling like I was giving away too much info.
"All alone then, well, my team needs someone for the league, come bowl with us," he said without making it a question.
"The guy at the desk was going to find me a team I think, maybe I should talk to him," I said feeling kind of uneasy.
"Who, Bob? No, you don't want to let him pick your team, he might put you with some weirdos," he replied. I didn't think this guy was too far off that mark.
"Hm, well, I ok, I guess. I'm new to all this, and I don't even know if I want to do it, so you'll have to be patient," I said thinking he might change his mind.
