Page 3 of The Perfect Play

“Iron stomach? Didn’t you just throw up at that party a couple of weeks ago?” I teased, turning my head back to see his reaction.

“I spit out the weird fishy appetizer. I did not throw up. There’s a difference, man.” Nate’s eyebrows stitched together, and he looked like he was reliving the experience.

Colt Buttars sat next to one of the back windows. “Let’s just hope we don’t have to stay longer than the softball team again. How do they always get out so early?”

Every time softball came up, my mind automatically went to Penny Davis, my next-door neighbor. The girl was always out practicing in her backyard, thethunk, thunk, thunkof the ball hitting off the mat on the shed she pitched against in her backyard. I’d watched her a few days ago from my window, surprised at how accurate her pitches had gotten over the past few years, slipping through the small target holes her father had cut into the rubber mat. She still signaled when her change-up was coming, though. At least I could still pick up on that.

I’d played shortstop for years, but back in the day, I was the one she pitched to, and I’d given her pointers here and there. A lot had changed in a few years, and I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spoken to her.

“Jake? Are you in there, man?” Dax was waving his hand across my face, and I shook my head, pulling myself out of long-forgotten memories. Of a simpler time when I didn’t wake up with nightmares of the accident.

I pushed Dax’s long arm away and opened the passenger door. “I’m fine. Just hoping we can do more batting practice than running today.”

Ben snickered. “That won’t happen. Not on the first day at least. That’s how Coach weeds them out from the beginning, remember?” There were always plenty of kids at tryouts, ones who hadn’t practiced since their machine-pitch youth and had decided they were suddenly going to join the team without practicing beforehand. Coach Maddox liked to make things difficult the first day to see who would show up for day two.

We walked back to the school, and I groaned. Chemistry was my last class of the day and my least favorite of all time. Why couldn’t science be just about the experiments instead of balancing equations?

“I’m this way,” I said, pointing down the other hall. The guys waved and continued chatting as they moved away. I took a few steps and turned, bumping into someone. Papers and notebooks flew in several directions, looking like a giant snowstorm around us.

“Watch where you’re going, jerk.” The voice was familiar, and seeing the auburn hair pulled back in what looked like a bird’s nest of a ponytail told me it was the girl I’d thought about minutes before.

Standing there, I debated whether or not to help her pick up the mess around us. “Nice to see you too, Nickel.”

Penny’s head flicked up to glare at me, her lips pinched together in a way that gave me satisfaction from using the old nickname she’d always hated.

“You can at least help me pick some of this up, you know. I’m going to be late this period.” She was busy scooping papers together, and I finally bent down and picked up the notebook. The front was covered in scribbles.

“‘I heart question mark,’” I read aloud. Giving her a half-smile, I said, “Oh, does Nickel have a secret crush? And instead of writing initials, she’s being exceptionally vague.”

She snatched the notebook from my hands and gathered everything, standing quickly. With a lick of her lips that drew my eyes, she brushed a loose piece of hair out of her face. “That’s none of your business, and it hasn’t been for a long time. I’m surprised you even remember who I am.”

The comment stung a bit, but I had to keep my expression neutral. I wasn’t about to show weakness, not even when we’d shared so much in the past. And not that we’d ever discussed our crushes back when we were friends, but the thought intrigued me. Who would this tom-boy be into?

She walked down the hall, her legs stretching out longer and longer until she was practically speed walking.

“What? Don’t want to talk to your old friend Jake?”

“Not particularly, no.” Her eyebrows scrunched together, and her face puckered like she’d swallowed something bitter. I tried to think of the last time I’d seen her smile. Probably a few days ago when she was walking through the hall with her friends. But the last time she’d directed one at me? Years, probably. But it wasn’t like that should bother me.

We walked a few more paces in silence as I tried to think of something that would annoy her more. “I heard you guys got a new coach. How do you think he’ll be?”

“It’s a woman. And what’s with all the interest in softball all of a sudden?” She stopped and turned to look at me. Her gaze sent an odd sensation through my body, making me feel like I didn’t have control of the situation. I didn’t like it when I didn’t have control.

I shrugged, trying to push the feeling away. Raising my hands in surrender, I said, “I just thought I’d ask. We’re still neighbors, and I thought I’d try to chat for a minute. But it seems we’re going to be late, and I know how you are about being on time.” I turned and continued down the hall, hearing her footsteps scuttle behind me.

I walked into my classroom and heard her say, “Good luck on your tryouts today,” before heading into the classroom next door. One of the advanced-placement classes. I had no idea she was even taking one of those. For a moment, I felt guilty that someone with whom I’d been so close growing up was now practically a stranger.

The phrase on the front of her notebook had me even more curious. I’d have to find out who it was just so I could know who Penny Davis had a crush on. It would give me something to think about as my chemistry teacher droned on.

Chapter 3

Penny

My cheeks still felt hot long after bumping into Jake Davis. What a jerk. I’d gone through withdrawals of talking to him after he stopped hanging out with me three and a half years before, but it had been a long time since I’d even thought about him besides the occasional sighting in the halls or him getting into his Jeep next door. We’d been able to tell each other just about anything, until he shut me out.

I traced my fingers over the letters on my notebook, the ones Jake had read out loud. Of all the people to see that, why did it have to be him? I’d had this notebook for the last year and a half. Crazy, I know, but I wrote so small that a semester’s worth of classes only filled up about half the pages in each section.

My mind went back to when I’d written them at the very beginning of sophomore year, when I’d had a crush on two guys. I didn’t want people to put together initials, so I’d written the question mark. Since Johnny Goodman had moved away halfway through last year, I hadn’t really thought about what I’d written, just doing everything I could to pass my honors classes. When Jake read it earlier, I wanted to crawl into a hole.

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