Page 29 of Undeniably Perfect

“Are you sure you want to learn?” Kent asks.

I nod. “Yes. I mean, I think so. Should I not want to learn?”

Kent laughs. “No, it’s just, you don’t have to learn on my account.”

“Well, I don’t need a graduate-level course. Just give me like baseball one-oh-one.”

Clark walks by and drops a baseball in my lap.

“That’s a baseball,” he says with a smirk as he sits down on the other side of me.

“Thanks, that is so helpful,” I reply sardonically as I pick it up and drop it in his lap.

“Oh, and that’s a bat,” he adds pointing to the screen.

I roll my eyes. “Well, I’ve now learned all I need to know to play. Let’s go.”

Kent presses pause on the television. “Wait, that’s not a bad idea. Let’s play.”

“What? Are you serious?” I ask.

“Heck yeah.”

I look at the night sky outside.

“Uh, Kent. It’s dark out.”

“Night game!” he yells as he stands up. All seven Moores turn to me.

Di huffs. “Can’t we just do a Midnight Moore’s Marshmallow Dodgeball game instead?”

“Nope. Tabby here doesn’t know how to play ball.”

Everyone stares at me with their mouths gaping open except Kent and Mrs. Moore who know that I don’t have a clue.

“Wait, you don’t know how to play baseball?” Kylie asks.

“Uh, nope.”

“Like, at all?” she prods.

I shake my head and shrug.

“I wasn’t into sports as a kid and yeah…my brother was five years older than me, so by the time he cared about sports, I was into art stuff and I never learned. I mean I know you use a ball and a bat, and someone throws it and someone hits and if you get around the bases it’s a goal.” There’s total silence before Kylie bursts out laughing followed by everyone else.

“What?”

“Oh, sweetie, we aren’t laughing at you, I promise. It’s a home run, not a goal,” Mrs. Moore says, coming over to pat my arm.

“Oh…right.”

“Well, that settles it. We have to play a night game now,” Kylie says. “You can’t be dating someone who knows nothing about ball.”

“Whoa!” “Uh, noooo,” Kent and I both say simultaneously.

Everyone looks between us.

“We’re just friends, guys,” Kent says. “Just friends.”

---