Page 144 of Left on Base

We win 4-1, but the last two innings are a blur. My perfect game ends with the reliever walking one and giving up a homer.

On the bus to Salt Lake City International, the Benadryl hits like a truck. The world goes fuzzy, and suddenly texting Jaxon seems like genius.

“Don’t you dare,” Brynn warns, grabbing for my phone. “You’re high as hell right now.”

“But I gotta tell him about the bee!” I protest, holding my phone away.

“Camdyn. No.”

But Benadryl-brain me is already typing:

“Nooo,” I say, popping the 'p' and giggling, taking my phone back. “The bee wants me to text him. It’s... bee destiny.”

Brynn leaves, I drift in and out, and when she returns, I’m staring at Olivia Rodrigo’s Instagram.

“You good?” Brynn plops down, busts open Sour Patch Kids.

I take two reds, smoosh them together, let them melt on my tongue. “Totally.” I’m literally drafting a DM to Olivia Rodrigo in my notes app, but Brynn doesn’t need to know.

Dear Olivia,

I see what you did with your new album. Writing about my love life was bold, but I respect it. Quick question—how did you know about the bush-diving? Was Fork Guy your source? He seems like he’d have industry connections...

“What are you doing?” Brynn sighs, throwing a Sour Patch Kid at my head.

“Nothing,” I say, while literally writing fan fiction for Olivia Rodrigo about my life. “Taking notes.”

“Uh huh.” She peers at my phone. “Are you trying to convince Olivia Rodrigo she wrote her album about you?”

I bite the head off a Sour Patch Kid. “She didn’t say she didn’t.”

“Girl.”

“What? The timeline matches up! She probably saw me face-plant and thought, ‘yes, this is the emotional content I need.’”

My phone buzzes, and for a second my heart hopes it’s Jaxon. It’s not. It’s Fork Guy.

Fork Guy

EMERGENCY

Emerald let me cleanse her crystals

I think I blessed them in Spanish??

Can crystals be bilingual??

How do you accidentally bless something in Spanish?

Fork Guy

Rebecca’s tutoring must’ve stuck

Also, unrelated, but Baseball Boy looked sad in class today

Just saying

He did??

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