“How’s the team looking this year, Mandy?” Mason asked, his eyes still glued to the guys catching pop-ups in the outfield. “Any chance we’ll beat Silver Lake tomorrow?”
“I don’t know, this whole baseball thing kind of confuses me.” I followed his gaze and squinted at the players. “Track is so straight-forward. A gun goes off, you run, and you win or lose. That’s pretty much it. There are no innings, no foul balls, no strikes or walks. Simple. I miss it.”
Welp, so much for pushing track out of my mind. I sucked on my Icee and scowled down at my big black boot, resenting every inch of it.
“Don’t look now,” Audrey said, poking my side through the fence, “but your favorite person in the world is headed this way.”
Of course, I couldn’t help but look. Sure enough, Jayden strolled toward us almost as if in slow motion, a metal bat resting over his shoulder, the muscles along his arms gleaming with a thin layer of sweat, his expression cocky under the bill of his cap. He looked every bit like the daydream of any high school girl ever. The sight of him made my throat spasm a little bit and I had to cover it with a fake cough.
“Didn’t realize we were expecting an audience,” Jayden said as he got closer. His gaze flicked to mine, and then to Collin and Mason. “What do you guys think of the talent this year?”
“Looking good,” Mason said, leaning over the fence to give him a fist bump. “You think your pitchers are ready for tomorrow? I’ve heard you’ve got a heck of a closer lined up.”
“Our guy’s definitely got the heat.” Jayden dropped the tip of his bat to the dirt and then looked at me with a slight quirk of his lips. “What do you think, Amanda? Are we hot this year? Does Silver Lake stand a chance?”
“Oh yeah, that’s a great question.” Audrey slurped up the last swallow of her Icee. “Mandy, Jayden wants to know if he’s hot. What is your particular opinion on the matter?”
I choked on my drink, a mouthful of ice traveling down my esophagus in one massive and painful glob. Trina was kind enough to reach over the fence and pat me on the back as my face burned. When I could finally breathe again, I shot a dirty look in Audrey’s direction. The smirk she wore told me she didn’t care if she was in the best-friend doghouse—it had been totally worth it to see me lose my cool.
She was so going to pay for that.
No more diner cheesecake for a week! Maybe two!
“I’ve only been the manager for two days, but I think the team looks pretty good,” I said in a determined voice, glancing over at Jayden. He was watching me with a curious expression, as if he was trying to work through what had just happened between me and Audrey. “But we’ll know more after the first game.”
I could’ve sworn I heard Audrey say chicken under her breath, but I couldn’t hear it clearly over Trina’s sudden sneezing fit.
Jayden sucked in his cheeks and then slowly blew out a large puff of air. I hoped against hope that whatever was going on inside his head, it had nothing to do with my traitor of a best friend or my strange reactions to his question. He adjusted the brim of his cap and then turned to watch one of his teammates catch a fly ball. “Yeah, true, it’s too soon to tell how the boys will do. But I’m telling you, I feel it. This is our season. It’s gonna happen.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as the guys entered into a much more detailed conversation about baseball than I cared to entertain. Audrey and Trina came to stand by me, leaving their men to talk.
“Remind me to never loan you my MAC lipstick again,” I said, narrowing my eyes at Audrey as she stuck out her tongue at me.
“She’s just trying to help...” Trina’s eyes darted back and forth between us. “...in her misguided way. We just want what’s best for you, M. Whatever makes you happy.”
I crossed my arms and leaned into the fence. “What’ll make me happy is skipping over the next two and a half weeks, and then we can forget this nightmare ever happened.”
But as I stood there, my gaze drifted over to Jayden and the guys. It was alarming how well he seemed to fit in with them. They were debating the best method to beat Silver Lake tomorrow and Jayden had them both captivated with the intricacies of calling pitches.
It was kind of nice to observe him without the cocky, pompous attitude he put on around me. He was still confident, but in a different sort of way. Watching him gesture wildly when Collin mentioned the Astros and their recent sign-stealing drama had me holding back a smile. It was nice he was so passionate about baseball. Kind of like I was about track.
“Hello? Earth to Mandy?” Audrey waved her hand in front of my face, making me blink hard. “Did you hear Trina?”
“What?” I reached up to tighten my ponytail, realizing I’d just been caught staring. “What’d she say?”
Trina pointed at the bleachers on the other side of the baseball diamond. “Your sister’s here. She’s sitting over there.”
My gaze followed her finger and landed on a group of girls cohabiting the bleachers and giggling behind their hands as they observed the boys’ practice. Sure enough, Charlotte sat in the middle of them, her dark head bobbing as she leaned over to talk in Sarah’s ear. Immediately, my big sister alarms started blaring in my head.
“Do you guys know anything about this girl, Sarah?” I asked, squinting hard at her, as if I could mentally erase her from my sister’s life.
Audrey grunted her displeasure and leaned her elbow on the fence. “Let me see how I can word this...what I know is that Sarah Grange is a flesh-eating bacteria, out to consume everything in her path. If it weren’t for Savannah’s tight grip on the cheerleading squad, little Miss Kardashian-wannabe would be out of control. The girl is trouble.”
Lead filled my stomach. This was the kind of person my baby sister was choosing to hang around with? It didn’t make any sense. Charlotte never used to care about which kids were the most popular or things like partying. Obviously, this Sarah girl was a bad influence.
“That’s it, I’m putting an end to this thing right now,” I said, pushing up the sleeves of my Under Armour top.
I was going to march over there and send Charlotte straight home. She’d probably whine about it for the next few days, but she knew that Mom and Dad wouldn’t want her hanging out with people like that. They’d see my side of the story. They always did.