AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I can’t believe you’re forcing me to come to a children’s baseball game,” Nicole says as she collapses next to me as if she’s just climbed Mount Everest and not to the sixth bench on a high school bleacher.
“We used to come to these all the time,” I reply, rolling my eyes and tugging a box of M&Ms out of my purse.
She snatches it from my hand. “Yeah, and it was just as much a waste of time then as it is now.”
I roll my eyes. “You didn’t think that when you were watching Christopher Hernandez.”
She smirks. “Well, there was Christopher Hernandez.” She rips open the box of chocolate and then glances at me. “Did I ever tell you about when we hooked up…”
“…after homecoming senior year? Yes. I’ve heard that story like, at least ten times.”
Her smile remains, though, and she chucks a few colorful candies into her mouth. “He’s my ‘bar guy’.”
My brow furrows. “What happened to Mr. Montana? I know he left, but I thought he like…blew open your curtains or whatever.”
Nicole laughs hysterically at my comment, and I can’t help but join her. “Blew open my curtains, oh my god. I’m using that for the rest of my life.” She sighs. “He was fun, but that was more about getting a steady rain after a drought. Christopher Hernandez was a torrential downpour, you know?”
Shaking my head, I bring out a bag of Raisinets. “The shit you say.”
The crowd starts cheering as both teams jog out onto the field, and my eyes search for Bishop, catching sight of him in a pair of those black jogging pants I love so much and a dark red Cedar Point High School Baseball jacket.
Enough people are here tonight that you’d think it was a regular season game. There is quite a rivalry between Cedar Point, Spencer Creek, and Belleview, and the scrimmage series is always a big draw. Such a weird part of smalltown life, and I can’t help but love it just as much as everyone else.
Some of that is, of course, due to the man holding a clipboard and chatting with the umpire, the handsome son of a bitch I’ve watched play on this field more times than I can remember. It’s a new experience, watching him coach instead of play, and there’s something exciting about it. It’s not because I want him to be a coach necessarily, but because it’s new.
So much of our reconnection so far has been reliving things from the past, but at some point, that can’t be the only thing we talk about or experience. Eventually, we need to push beyond the things that connected us when we were young and find the new things that connect us now. Although, that feels too much like I’m banking on this thing between us continuing once Bishop leaves to go back to Oregon, and I’m still struggling to see that happening.
Both teams finish their warmup, and the Pirates take to the field. Despite all her protesting, Nicole is just as focused as I am as each inning ticks by. I try to determine who the players are based on different things Bishop has said to me about them, and the one I can spot almost right away is Justin.
Everything I’ve been told about the kid is immediately apparent. His anger rolls off him in waves as he strolls up to the plate during his first at-bat, and when he swings at the first ball and hits a homerun, he chucks his bat then slowly removes his gloves before jogging around the bases at a leisurely pace.
He keeps that same cocky swagger through the entire game. After the final inning an hour and a half later, the Cedar Point Pirates having demolished the Belleview Bears 13-1, all the kids line up to ‘Good game’ each other, and my jaw drops as Justin walks through with his hands at his sides, refusing to high-five any of the players from the other team.
I do not envy Bishop figuring out what to do about that attitude. I remember being angry when I was younger, but I was never vicious like that. For not the first time in my life, I’m grateful for Leah, someone who helped me navigate some of my wounds and showed up for me on a regular basis. I complain about her plenty—the fact that she’s always getting into my business and can never let me just be alone with my emotions—but I’m also thankful for the very things that irritate me. She doesn’t let me push her away, and when you’re an angry kid dealing with a lot of hurt, that’s all you want to do.
“Lemme guess: now that I’ve sat with you through this entire game, you’re gonna go hang out with that guy just because you like what his ass looks like in those joggers?” Nicole says as we come to a stop at the bottom of the bleachers.
I roll my eyes. “Don’t say ‘that guy’ like he’s some guy,” I tell her. Then, in an entirely-off-brand-for-me moment, I bump her with my hip. “But his ass does look amazing, right?”
Nicole’s eyes widen, and then she bursts into laughter before drawing me in for a hug.
“Good lord, lady. I was not expecting that.” She pulls back and looks at me. “Maybe I don’t hate him so much if he makes you smile like that.”
I scoff, waving her comment away, but I don’t actually say anything else as she says goodbye and blends into the crowd heading out to the parking lot. I stay quiet because there’s part of me that knows she’s right.
There’s a type of lightness in my soul that I can only attribute to the fact that Bishop is back in my life. His silly jokes and the way he plays with and teases me, the way he stays positive and almost always wears a smile…it buoys something inside me that I didn’t realize had sunk so low until just now.
I spin and look over to where the team is collecting their gear and filing out of the dugout, and I move back up the bleachers and take a seat again. We have plans to go to The Mitch tonight to grab a drink. Originally I was going to meet him there, but I don’t want to wait until later to see him again. I want to see him now, so I wait.
When he finally emerges from the field, I head his way, reveling in the way he grins when he sees me.
“Hey. I thought I was going to meet you—”
I wrap my arms around him and yank him in for a kiss. It’s brief, and far more chaste than I’d like it to be, but we’re in the middle of a crowd after a high school baseball game. I can save the spice for later.
When I pull back, he grins at me. “Hey.”
“Hey,” I reply, keeping my arms around his neck. “Just wanted to do that. Hope it was okay.”
