Page 1 of The Perfect Play

Chapter 1

Penny

Today could determine my future, and, of course, I was running late. My junior year softball tryouts were starting in a few hours and, while I’d never worried about making the cut even as a freshman, we had a new coach this year. I knew I was ready to take over as the ace pitcher for the Rosemont Royals softball team after Sara Dempsey graduated last year, but who knew what would happen when I’d only met Coach Ambrose a couple of times at open-gym practices? I needed to earn a scholarship, and I needed it bad.

Mornings were never my favorite, but in the last week, I was dragging my body out of bed when my alarm went off. Between my hours waitressing at the diner, schoolwork, and practicing pitches out in the backyard with every spare minute left over, it seemed there was never enough time in the day for all I needed to get done.

After a quick shower and change, I made my way to the kitchen, hoping my little brother hadn’t eaten the rest of my favorite sugary cereal.

“Good morning, sunshine,” my dad said over his morning cup of coffee. His eyes darted back to the newspaper before him, and I didn’t even have to look to see what he was studying. The classifieds.

My father had been looking for new work since my mother left before my eighth-grade year, hoping to either add to the small cash flow he already had or find something better that he qualified for. He’d worked for a local landscaper for nearly eight years, and I knew he wished he could afford to send me to college after I graduated next year, but it just wasn’t realistic. At this point, I knew a full-ride scholarship was the only way I would make it through college debt-free. And with my end goal being to become a family therapist, every little bit helped.

“Morning, Dad.” I pulled a bowl from a cabinet and opened another one where the cereal was usually stored. A red box appeared in my peripheral vision, and I picked it up, feeling only the weight of the cardboard box. Derrick had already beaten me to it. I gritted my teeth, trying to curb the anger fizzing in my stomach. “Why couldn’t he just let me have it this one time?”

“What?” My dad looked up, trying to figure it out. “Oh, uh, your cereal. Yeah, Derrick said something about you being mad at him. I think he’s gone to hide in his room until you leave. It’s probably good that eighth grade starts later than the high school.” The corners of his mouth turned up, the mischief in his eyes only driving my anger up this morning.

I held the box up, wishing I could start this morning over already. Maybe if I’d gotten up the first time my alarm sounded, I would be delighting in my favorite cereal before a big day of tryouts.

I couldn’t help but feel my future depended on this season. Not that I expected to get recruited from my high school team. My summer ball competition team was the key when it came to that, but high school softball was more about pride for me. My mom had played at Rosemont High years ago, and even though she was gone and I didn’t want to care about her opinion of me, this was where I felt it the most. I wanted to break her records and have my number retired. To see my jersey hanging in the school trophy box, just so that if she ever did decide to come back and see what her kids had been up to since she’d taken off, she could feel both ashamed and proud.

Shaking off those thoughts, I pulled the box of dried cardboard flakes from the cupboard and filled my bowl, adding plenty of milk and a scoop or two of sugar. Okay, more like five scoops. I couldn’t choke those down without at least some flavor to enjoy.

I slumped into the seat across from my father, dunking my cereal several times in the milk.

“Tryouts today?” My dad wasn’t known for overusing words.

“Yeah, right after school. We have that new coach this year, Coach Ambrose. I just hope I make the cut.” At my words, my insides turned a bit.

Folding up the paper, he said, “You’ll be just fine, Penny Davis. The Royals wouldn’t have made it to fifth in state last year without you. Just go out there and show this new coach what you’ve got.” He gave me a reassuring smile, just as he did every time things seemed a little hard. Like when my mother left.

“Have you thought any more about starting your own company, Dad?” I asked, scooping the flakes into my mouth. It was a conversation we’d had several times over the last year, and I still thought it would be better for him to start his own company than labor for his boss for the next twenty years, who took more trips throughout the year than actually working. My dad had thought about it more and more as the year went on, but he hadn’t made the jump yet.

He shook his head, his sad smile conveying more than words could right now. Starting a lawn care company had a lot of upfront costs, namely the ride-on mowers and buying a trailer to haul it all. Then there was the fact that he’d have to buy a truck that would be able to handle pulling the equipment around town.

“I have to cut the lawn over at the Donovan place and then I’ll be at the Montgomerys’ the rest of the day.” He stood, taking his coffee mug with him and rinsing it in the sink. “If I’m not home when you get back, will you start dinner? You know how big their lawn is, and I might be there until late.”

The Montgomerys could have fit several softball fields on their property, so cutting and maintaining it usually took hours. But from what my dad said, they were generous about tipping him. We didn’t necessarily live in a bad neighborhood, but it was about as middle class as we could get.

“I’m scheduled at the diner for tonight. Is there something easy Derrick could make?” I tipped the bowl so I could drink the last of the milk and then moved to join him at the sink.

“We probably have a few boxed meals left in the pantry. I’ll set some meat out so it’ll be ready for him. But it might be a good idea to ask Sherri to watch out for flames while we’re both gone.” He chuckled, drying his hands on a towel before passing it to me.

The Whites had been our next-door neighbors since before I could remember. Sherri was a kind woman, but there was always a sadness to her, probably due to her husband always traveling for work. She had twin daughters a year younger than Derrick, as well as a son my age, Jake. The cockiest, most stubborn kid I’d ever met in my life.

Jake hadn’t always been that way, and there were times I longed for those days when we could tell each other about anything, usually while tossing a ball back and forth. The random flashes of earlier times just dredged up all the betrayal I felt at him ditching me three and a half years ago. Like he was too cool to hang out with a nerdy tomboy, especially now that he was Mr. Popular at Rosemont High.

I scrubbed the dish with more force than I should have, only realizing it when the bristles of the brush scraped my fingers. Setting the bowl in the dish drainer, I said goodbye to my dad and headed out to my ancient Honda Civic, closing my eyes in the hopes that it would start up just one more time for me. I’d tried jiggling the key in the ignition once a few weeks ago when it wouldn’t start, and it had become a sort of ritual.

The engine roared to life, and I breathed a sigh of relief, easing out of the driveway and onto the road. School was nearly four miles to the south, but there were several intersections with long lights on the route, meaning I was cutting it close. I noticed Jake’s forest-green Jeep still in his driveway and rolled my eyes. Of course, he hadn’t left yet.

Once I made it to school and parked, I hurried into the common area. Spotting two of my good friends, Kate and Serena, I grinned and waved as I walked over to them.

“Hey, cutting it a little close today, aren’t you, Pen?” Kate asked, looking down at her phone. A few seconds later, the first bell rang.

“I couldn’t drag myself out of bed this morning,” I said, waiting for them to stand so we could walk down the hall together. We all had the same first period, which made it fun for me. Other than that, I didn’t have any classes with any of the other girls in our friend group. They were always talking about what happened in their joint classes, and I was just trying to hide the fact that I’d had to read sixty of the most snooze-worthy pages of history the night before for my advanced class.

Kate grinned. “Well, if you didn’t have the hardest schedule this school offers, you might get a little more sleep, or at least some time to hang out with your friends.” She jabbed her elbow into my side, reminding me once again just how much taller I was. Just two inches shy of a whole foot difference, I usually felt like a giant unless Brynn was around.

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