“Yeah, it’s that girl. She was in our math class last year, but then moved to the advanced group...”
“Jupe, slow down.” Emerson pointed ahead to a figure on the sidewalk about fifty yards up and closing. “That’s the girl that moved in next door. Her name’s Marnie, I think. Slow down, we can give her a ride.”
“No can do, I’m already late! Bad enough I have to drop you two off.”
“It’s not like you go out of your way to take us to our side of the campus, we still have to walk there!” Emerson hissed and ducked down in her seat. “You’re such an ass.”
My eyes flicked over to where she was now almost horizontal. “What are you doing?!”
“I don’t want her to see me passing by and not offering a ride, then realizing I’m related to an ass. It’s so embarrassing.”
I glanced in the side mirror; I wasn’t sure if the girl from next door had even noticed we’d passed given the way her head was down in a book. Though even from that angle, and the increasing distance, I could still tell she was cute, glasses perched on her head above a high ponytail swishing softly as she walked.
Maybe I should give her a ride…
I cleared my head quickly. Nope. No distractions going into the final season. The only thing I was committing to was playing ball and graduating.
“I’m sure you’ll get over it by tomorrow morning, when you need to get to school again,” I snapped back.
“Ugh! I can’t wait until my birthday and I get my car.”
“Unfortunately for all of us, that’s not for a while,” Mallory piped up unhelpfully.
Emerson then decided she no longer wanted to acknowledge me, and instead unbuckled and climbed into the backseat like I was now their fucking chauffeur. But at least with them gossiping together it allowed me to zone out and concentrate on what I had to accomplish during the remainder of the school year, starting with my nine a.m. meeting with Coach Barr. I was pretty sure he was going to name me Captain of the Baseball Squad this year.
Captain of the Squad – it would only be a formality, seeing as I’d assumed the role last year when Chris Jackson, theold captain, had graduated, and no one had been named his successor. Technically, there hadn’t been anyone suitable, and officially I was too junior to move into the role but I took it anyway, and as a result, we were going into the new season looking stronger, feeling fresher, and scoring higher than we’d ever done.
I’d taken my self-appointed role seriously; the early mornings weren’t just for me, but to set an example for the rest of the guys – and they’d listened. We were lucky that California weather was mild through the winter, because I’d set us on a training program that started at sunrise. Even though they liked to grumble about it, not a single one of them had missed a session.
I wanted to leave school on a high, with our team name etched into the Southern California High School Baseball League trophy.
I was still mulling it over when I pulled into my regular parking space, at the end of which was Jenson Abrams, my best friend and teammate. He was perched on the top of a concrete bollard, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Hey, Mallory,” he crowed as she climbed out of the backseat, followed by Emerson, both of them retrieving their surfboards.
“Hi,” she frowned in response, then ignored him, which only made his grin wider.
Emerson shuffled her board under her arm, before looking over at me. “Jupe, don’t forget we don’t need a ride later.”
“How could I forget something so awesome?” I grinned.
She rolled her eyes in response. “Thanks, loser. See you at home.”
I retrieved my backpack from the passenger foot well and slung it over my shoulder with a loud laugh, though they were already too far away to hear me.
Jenson pushed off the bollard. “Mallory is so fucking salty, I love it.”
“They both are. Honestly, sisters are so annoying. Or just girls are, period,” I added as an afterthought before shutting the door. I hit the alarm on the car fob, listened for the beep, then we headed over to the baseball field and our state-of-the-art training facility which we shared with the other sports teams, which had been generously donated by ex-alumni athletes a few years ago.
“Ready for the top job?” Jenson punched me harder than he needed to as we took the steps up to the school courtyard two at a time.
I rubbed my bicep and shoved him with a smirk. “Careful, dude, that’s my money-maker. And I’ve already been doing the job.”
He sprinted up the last few steps to reach the top before me and turned round. “Five months!” he reached out and shook my shoulders. “Five months and you’re drafted!”
“Fuck, yeah!” A grin split my face. “You could make that aweif you didn’t insist on going to college first.”
He groaned, his shoulders dropping. It wasn’t the first time we’d had this conversation, but as adamant and sure as I was about getting drafted straight from school, he had never had the same plan. “Yeah, I know, but I promised my mom. Plus, it’s sensible. What happens if I never make it out of the minors? I need a backup.”
