He pinned me with a piercing stare, and I was momentarily taken back to the girl outside and her incredible green eyes.
“Then you’d be right.”
I stood up then sat back down. “Seriously?! Yes, Coach! Thank you, I won’t let you down.”
His lip curled ever so slightly in a smirk. “I know you won’t. You’ve already been doing a decent job at it and you’re going for the draft this summer, so I know you’ll be working hard up to then.”
My chest deflated slightly. I wasn’t expecting him to say I was amazing, but they weren’t the reasons I was hoping he’d be giving me the job – because I had too much to lose to fail. But then he took his feet off the desk and leaned forward.
“You’re a fantastic third baseman, Jupiter; one of the best I’ve ever seen. You’re going to go far. You lead the team well, and the junior guys look up to you, so keep you head screwed on and try to impart some wisdom before you go on to better things, will you?”
I grinned wide. “Yes, sir, I’ll try to.”
“Good.” He flicked his fingers in the direction of the door, dismissing me, “You can go, and send Roser in if he’s outside.”
I stood up, and turned to the door. “Sure thing, Coach.”
“You’re up,” I motioned to Dean Roser, a freshman pitcher leaning against the wall, who moved so quickly when he saw me he nearly slipped on the polished wood floor.
I smirked and took off back to the locker room to find Jenson and give him the good news.
Iturned the key in the ignition and slowly backed out of my space.
What a fucking epic day.
Named Captain.
Decent run.
Great weights session.
Perfect practice.
English was cancelled.
Got a B in my biology exam.
It couldn’t have been better if I’d written it.
The only thing that had been niggling in the back of my head was that girl, the one with the green eyes. The one who’d left without saying goodbye. The one that had me wishing I’d listened better to what Emerson had been saying when she was talking about her, because then I’d have remembered her name.
I turned on the radio as I pulled out of the parking lot and down the street that ringed the school campus. I was wracking my brain so hard I almost missed seeing her walking through the pedestrian entrance to the school gate, heading for the bus stop.
But there she was… three times in one day.
Oh man, whatever had I done to deserve this?
I slowed my car until it was inching alongside her, and rolled down the window. Though as her nose was back in a book and her earbuds were firmly plugged in, she didn’t notice.
“Hey!” I called, but jeez, that book must be really interesting because her eyes never veered from it. I wonder if she walked into stuff a lot. She hadn’t even noticed the car beside her. Any longer and this would get creepy.
“Hey! Stars and Stripes!” I called again. “Want a ride?”
I was about to honk the horn when she stopped in her tracks and turned slowly to face me. Removing one of her ear buds, she tilted her head with a slight frown which crinkled her nose, not dissimilar to when my dog was a puppy – except she was almost cuter.
She looked behind her then back at me. “Are you talking to me?”
“Don’t see anyone else around.”
