Chapter 7

After school the next day the team is gathering in the dugout for practice. I've gotten acquainted with most of my teammates but the only one I'm close with is Jorge. It's not like we don't all get along but the cliques here were formed long before I arrived. The coach arrives and tells us to start warming up. Jorge and I pair up for our stretches and I give him the rundown of what happened last night.

"Damn dude. So what are you gonna do now?"

"... I'm gonna play baseball." I couldn't help but think how badass I sounded just there.

"It didn't sound nearly as cool as you think it did." Jorge put it bluntly.

After warm up stretching we do fielding drills. As the sun sets we close out the practice with live pitching situations. The person pitching to me is a senior named Landon. He has the same red hair that reminds me of Rose. From what I've seen he's a left handed relief pitcher, he throws hard and accurately. Landon winds up and throws a fastball to the outside. It's a pitch I would normally let go by but in practice you're encouraged to swing at almost anything. I turn my hips and hit it over the first baseman's head. After a few more fastballs he throws a slider that bends towards me. I noticed it too late and hit it foul. It hits the first base bleachers where I hear a yelp. Thinking I might've hit what sounded like a small animal I intend to jog over and check it out but Landon leaves the mound in a full sprint towards the noise. Curious, I ran at a greater speed to see what has him so worked up. there I see Rose who is clearly flustered.

"Rose you alright!?" Landon shouts as he hops the fence to check on her.

".....Yes."

She doesn't seem hurt but a foul ball hit at anyone who wasn't expecting it would shake them up a bit. The sound of the ball hitting the metal bleacher was pretty loud too so i'm sure that didn't help.

"Sorry Rose."

"Its o-" before Rose can finish her reply Landon cuts her off.

"DON'T SIT HERE IF YOU'RE NOT GOING TO PAY ATTENTION!"

Rose looks like she wants to say something but she just nods her head and looks down. I look back to see everyone on the field staring our way. I was confused on why Landon ran over too, but seeing them side by side makes it pretty obvious. They're siblings.

"Landon… uh let's get back to practice." I say awkwardly. He looks past me to see the rest of the team looking in our direction. He just nods his head and hops back over the fence and jogs back towards the field. I take another look over at Rose who still has her head down.

"Don't let it get to you."

I go and take my spot at shortstop for the rest of practice. With the sun setting and the cool spring air, before I know it the rest of the practice flies by. The team is all in the dugout packing their gear and getting ready to go back to the dorm. I sling my equipment bag over my shoulder and exit the field where I see Brooke and Dave talking and walking away.

"Ain't that a bitch." Jorge says as he slaps my back. I can't help but laugh.

"Ha. I guess it is."

Strangely it wasn't hard to watch them together. There was a little bit of uneasiness but it didn't make me angry, i think i really just want to put this behind me.