Page 19 of The Perfect Play

Once I left her room, about ten minutes before the first bell, I saw Dax over by one of the large pillars that made up the commons area.

“We missed you at the Montgomerys’ party, man. What happened to you on Saturday?” Dax asked as he reached out his hand. We clasped hands and gave each other a bro hug before resting back against the wall.

“It was just a long day. I wasn’t up to a party.” To be honest, I’d forgotten about it.

Dax shook his head. “The whole thing was crazy. Probably a good thing you skipped it since you’ve already talked to the police enough in the past month.”

I turned to look at him. “Let me guess. The police showed up and arrested several people.”

“Yup,” Dax said, glancing over the common area. I hadn’t been at school early enough all year to walk through there in the morning. “There’s Jen’s group. We should go say hello.”

Jen Stephens had been on my radar a month ago, and I’d been working on angles to hang out with her for quite some time until, well, until I’d bumped into Penny that day before class. Had that been the turning point?

I still had no idea who the writing on her notebook referenced, and a part of me was dying to know, while the other hoped I never would. Because if it wasn’t me, it would hurt more than a punch to the gut from my father.

“I’m good. Let’s just sit over here. There’s Ben. Where are Nate and Colt? Are they here yet?” I scanned the large room but came up empty.

“I just got here too, man. I think Nate had an appointment with the doctor this morning, though.”

I swallowed a large mound of bile in my throat. It didn’t matter how much time passed, I’d probably always feel guilty for what happened with Nate and the window at the diner.

At that moment, I saw Penny walking with two other girls who looked familiar. One of them played basketball, and the other was one of the student body officers. But what I noticed most was Penny’s hair half-down. She’d worn it up in a ponytail for so long that I hadn’t realized she’d grown it down to mid-back. The coppery waves bounced along as she walked. She wore a white blouse and skinny jeans, causing me to stare longer than I should have at her curves. She was no longer the stick from our youth.

“What’s your problem, man?” Dax asked, hitting me in the chest.

“What do you mean?”

Dax frowned. “You were practically salivating over Penny Davis. Do you like her?”

“No, of course not. She’s my neighbor. I guess I was just surprised she had her hair down for once.” I stole a peek of her again, and it seemed Dax had done the same.

“Yeah, you’re right. I’ve never seen her with anything but a ponytail.”

I sensed Dax turning back to me, poised to ask questions, and I just hoped it wasn’t anything about why I no longer had an interest in Jen Stephens. Because then I’d have to admit my feelings for Penny were growing.

I turned it over in my mind several times, and although it was selfish, I didn’t want to do anything until I was sure something could work between me and Penny. I just needed the opportunity to finally tell her I wanted to try and go back to the way things had been before. But that might jeopardize my current relationship with the rest of my friend group. They were all about the partying and being seen by everyone, whereas Penny preferred to keep her head down and work to get out of Rosemont.

The bell rang, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I was actually somewhat relieved to be in class instead of getting the third degree from Dax. Life had gotten so complicated in the last three weeks, and I wasn’t exactly sure how to handle it.

The day sped by, as did Tuesday, and then I was out on the field, warming up for a big game against Croydon. I felt good, like today was going to be an awesome day. The ball was launching off the bat with ease, and I’d been able to smoothly field anything Coach Maddox hit at me.

Fast forward to the middle of the game, and I was standing out at shortstop when I looked up to the stands and was surprised to see Penny sitting there in the bleachers. Her friend—Kate, I think her name was—sat next to her, the two of them talking about something and smiling. Penny’s hair was pulled back now, probably because she’d been at practice before, but seeing her up there gave me a new motivation for the game.

I hadn’t wanted to impress anyone as much as I wanted to at that moment, and I focused as Ben pitched the ball, the slider breaking toward the ground and faking out the hitter as he swung and missed. I slammed my fist into my glove, moving my feet back and forth to stay loose.

The next pitch came, and the batter connected, sending the ball to my side of the field. I kicked my legs into gear, ready to field the ball, when Logan Hardwick, our third baseman, fielded it cleanly and threw it over to first base, getting the guy out.

I cheered and gave Logan a high-five with our gloves before jogging over to get back in place. Ben walked the next batter, causing me to shift closer to second base in case the guy decided to steal. The first pitch to the next one was hit, too far for Logan to get this time. I sprinted as hard as I could, diving to stop the ball before it continued to the outfield. I pushed up onto my knees and turned to throw the ball to second, getting the runner out by a step.

Three outs. I heard the crowd go wild, and I stood, dusting myself off and trying to keep the wide grin off my face. I looked up to where Penny was sitting and was surprised to see her clapping and smiling back at me. Was she actually cheering for me?

I ran into the dugout, ducking a bit as the guys starting slapping me on the back, our normal custom for a great play. I leaned against the fence closest to the stands and clapped my hands together, more pumped than I’d been in quite a while. I loved this game, and I loved that someone I cared about had actually shown up to support me in it.

Chapter 16

Penny

I’d thought about going home after practice, but I was so burned-out on homework that I decided to stay with Kate and watch the boys play against Croydon. It was always a tense matchup. Kate had been assigned as one of the officers to support the team, so at least I wasn’t alone.

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