Dad.” I sniffle, and I don’t want him to know I’m tearing up. I’ll do whatever I can to stay here at this point—and go to Italy next term. “Gotta go, sorry. My friends just got here and we’re going to the baseball game today.”
“Oh, fun. Are you going to see Grant play?”
I pinch my nose. “Have you been talking to Tom?”
“Maybe.”
Damn him. “I don’t know…Grant might be there. He’s just my really good friend though.”
“Right.”
“Love you, Dad,” I say, ending the conversation. Geez, I mention one guy to Tom and now my whole family is going to give me crap about it?
“Love you too, honey.”
As soon as I hang up the phone, I take a deep breath and look over at April, Alex, and my track friend Charlotte, who is joining us today.
“Everything all right?” April asks, noticing my bleary-eyed state.
“My Dad is covering my tuition!” I shriek. “Maya is back, baby!”
The baseball field of Green State isn’t a huge stadium. It’s got bleachers more like a high school game would, and is a little more informal and interactive. It gives us the ability to get up close and personal in the action of the game which is nice.
I’m practically glowing as we hang out at the game with the news that I’ll be able to stay on at Greene. The sun comes out, the temperature warms, and it ends up being one of the first truly warm spring days we’ve had so far.
Since Alex and April are coupled off with their respective boyfriends, DJ and Matt, I sit with Charlotte, and Luke Rutledge’s girlfriend Skylar—whoops, I mean fiancée.
“So, how did he do it?” I ask Skylar as Luke throws another pitch on the mound.
“Oh, it’s not a big deal.”
Charlotte and I make a funny face at each other, and she interjects. “You’re getting together with the hottest senior ever, a superstar, and it’s no big deal?”
She turns red-faced, and as Luke strikes the batter out, she uses the distraction of the cheers as a reason not to answer us.
Odd. I’d be telling the whole world if I were getting married, but I’m not going to press her too hard for details. Luke blows a kiss and winks at her as he walks off the field.
It’s the last inning, and we’re still tied 0-0 with University of Wisconsin La Crosse, one of the best teams in the Midwest according to the national rankings.
“Ohh, there goes Grant, he’s warming up in the bullpen!” I observe, tapping Charlotte and watching him trot down toward left field where the pitchers throw warm-ups.
“Luke and Grant really look alike, don’t they?” I add.
Skylar nods. “I hope he goes in. Luke said he crushed it during their spring break tournament in Florida. And Luke’s pitched every inning so far, he might be done for the day.”
After a few minutes, another pitcher joins Grant in the bullpen. Grant gives him a confused look, and I wonder if what he said about the head coach is actually true.
The Greene State Eagles don’t score in the bottom of the last inning, so someone’s got to go in. There’s a dramatic pause as we see Luke pop up from the dugout with ice on his arm.
Coach Johnson walks out to the bullpen, says something to everyone, and the other pitcher starts jogging out.
“Oh no,” DJ says. “He’s putting Dunne in. Dammit. Boo!”
“We want Taylor! We want Taylor!” I start the cheer for a few moments, but then I see Grant shaking his head, so I calm us down. Maybe it’s not good to sort of cheer against your own team.
But a few minutes later, LaCrosse scores two runs, and Grant comes in anyway.
He strikes out the side, but it’s too late.
We don’t score any runs and end up with a big fat zero on the scoreboard, and our first loss of the season.
That’s not going to go over well at all.
“You guys go on ahead. I’m waiting for Grant,” I say to my crew as they get ready to head to dinner. “Plus. I’m not really hungry and I can’t be eating all of my meals at the café. I’m still on a budget.”
April touches my arm and leans in as the others start to walk off. “So glad you’re back full time. At least for this term. Catch you later.”
They walk off, and I open the gate to the fence and head into the dugout and have a seat.
I brush the seat off, sit, lean back, and smile