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Following the ball with my eye, I quickly turned around as Leo called out my name, holding my left hand out. I caught the ball in my glove and quickly ran to first base. As excited as I might be, there was no way I could be nervous when playing, especially in this moment to beat Michael in reaching first base.
My foot tapped on the base, and my heart felt relieved. I beat him to it. Sighing, I looked up at the sky, lightly jogging back to the pitcher's mound. I wished I could jump in excitement right now, but I couldn’t be so thrilled when the game had just begun.
Two more outs, and it was ours. Michael jogged back to the dugout, and he was soon replaced by one of the good ones, Nolan Verlander.
Theo clapped his hands, signaling with fingers what throw I should do next. Understanding the message, I raised my left knee, repeated the process again, and pitched the ball, aiming for at least a 90-miles-per-hour throw. Nolan swung his bat but missed the hit.
Theodore caught the ball and threw it back immediately.
“Whooh!” the crowd cheered, clapping their hands, and I took a deep breath, getting ready for what would hopefully be my final pitch in the first half inning.
“Strike two!” the umpire yelled, signaling with his fingers it was the second strike. Just one more, and he was out. Rolling my shoulder, as the pressure suddenly came up out of nowhere, I exhaled softly and raised the ball ready to pitch.
Nolan raised his bat, and I knew he was ready to hit this one. This was my fourth pitch tonight—I’d better give it my all. I decided to throw a crazy ball because Nolan was prepared this time. Nolan hit the ball, and this time it went further than it did the first time with Michael; turning, I watched as the shortstop ran to catch the ball. Nolan in his spirits ran as quickly as he could.
First base. Second base. I counted as I watched him run with all his effort. Tommy threw the ball to Leo, who quickly ran to touch Nolan right before he reached third base. Raising my fist slightly, I cursed softly under my breath; had I ever mentioned how much I loved Leo?
He threw the ball back to me, and Nolan was replaced by a new player. Juan something—I didn’t remember his last name. Juan looked confident, and I was pretty sure he was the one Coach had told me to watch out for in this game. He leaned his head backwards before he took a deep breath in and raised his bat.
Pitching with all my strength, I rejoiced in my heart as Theodore caught the ball on all three pitches, and the umpire roared the final verdict. “Strike three!” The crowd was so lively early on in the game, and I along with the other players moved out of the field as the second half inning was beginning.
Aaron was the first batter; as I passed by him, I lightly hit his back and he smiled, raising his thumb. I might have not liked the kid back then, but he really was dedicated to his sport and knew how to play really well.
I was confident in him, and I knew he wouldn't strike out easily.
As I walked into the bench area, the coach lightly smacked our backs, telling us he was proud of the first half.
It felt like I could finally breathe. God knows I want to be back out there on the field so badly. As I sat down, I watched Aaron as he practiced swinging his bat, then rolled his shoulders and stood by the home base. The pitcher was Nathan Perry, one of the best pitchers to ever play in the MLB. Well, I guess Aaron has met his match.
“How do you feel?” I turned to face the person and was surprised to see Daniel. He normally sat in the diamond field box with his wife, Sarai, but what was he doing here? “Coach Anderson said I must support you in your last game, as if I didn’t support you in every game.” He rolled his eyes as he leaned back and crossed his leg over the other.
“Where’s your wife?” I asked, confused, partially happy and waiting for the annoyance to creep in because I knew for a fact Daniel was about to talk my ears off during this game.
“Where she is,” he grinned, knowing exactly why I was asking. “And that is none of your business—aren’t you happy I’m here for you?” He blinked, pretending to be cute.
Of course I was happy he was there, but fuck, man, Daniel talks a lot.
“Whatever, man.” I rolled my eyes as I leaned back in my seat, staring at the game as the bottom of the first inning began.
“Oh come on, don’t be that way,” he cooed as he poked my cheeks. Wrapping his arm around my shoulder, he laid his head on top of my shoulders and sighed. “We’re about to be retired baseball buddies.”
“I know.” I said as I crossed my arms over my chest. That still felt unreal, and I didn’t know how I was accepting it, but I knew now that all things must eventually come to an end. “It feels good,” I whispered, and he looked up at me, shocked.
“What feels good?” He immediately removed himself from me, and I chuckled, amused with his reaction.
“Retiring, man. I meant retiring.” I turned to look at Aaron, and the crowd cheered as he ran to third base. The kid is fast, damn! “Yeah!” I roared along with the crowd, clapping my hands as he reached home, making a full home run.
“I don’t know why you disliked the kid. He’s really good at what he does.” Daniel clapped his hands and whistled as Aaron danced in celebration.
“It was temporary,” I grumbled, regretting the decision to tell Daniel everything that had happened with Naomi. I assumed he would find out, since she liked Sarai and they seemed to have a close relationship, but apparently Naomi hadn’t spoken to Sarai about anything concerning me ever since she left.
I didn’t know if I should feel relieved or abandoned, but I couldn’t believe she was missing today's game.
Despite all the excitement that was coursing through my veins, I was quite stumped that she wasn’t here today. I would have really loved for her to be here. Even if it wasn’t to see me, I believed her watching the game would be the highlight of the end of my career, and I would have achieved 99% of my goal list by the end of the evening.
All is well, though. As long as she was happy and thriving at school. I had asked Noah about her, and as much as he wanted to pretend to be annoyed with me, he just couldn’t stop talking about her if I pressed the right buttons.
One thing we both found familiar ground on was how much we hated Jason, and how if either one of us ever met him, he’d go back home with more than a black eye. I’m not promoting violence, but fuck, he almost ruined my girl’s confidence.
