Page 4 of The Perfect Play

I’d always liked Jake, always had a small crush on him, even when we were best friends. And I wished I could be rid of him now, that seeing him every once in a while didn’t cause something in me to jump or my pulse to race. But it was still there, and no matter how hard I tried to tell myself I didn’t like him, there was still a small bit of doubt holding its ground like the captain on a battlefield.

But there was absolutely no chance there. Jake was Rosemont royalty as he swaggered through the hallways, and I—well, I was a nerdy athlete, which meant my social status at school was near the bottom.

Not to mention that since the accident, it seemed as though the Jake I’d grown up with had been completely kidnapped, leaving a newer, stranger version in his place. I sometimes wondered what life would have been like had we never drifted apart. But would that mean I’d be in as much trouble as Jake or, worse, dead like Troy Johnson?

It couldn’t have been all Jake’s fault. He wasn’t driving, but he didn’t do anything to keep Troy from getting behind the wheel. At least, from what I heard.

History class passed much faster than normal, and soon enough I was in the girls’ locker room, changing into my shorts and long socks for tryouts. It was the end of January in Texas, so I grabbed my sweatshirt in case I needed it. I redid my ponytail, hoping it would stay in for the rest of the day. I wouldn’t have time to keep retying my waist-length hair, and I didn’t want to do anything to be on the new coach’s bad side.

“What do you think we’ll have to do for tryouts?” a bunch of the other excited girls asked.

I gave them a nod and a small smile. With butterflies in my stomach, I was ready, even for the lengthy amounts of running most coaches liked to introduce on the first day. I’d been waiting all day—no, all month—for this. Because once Christmas was over, this had been the next best-anticipated event, and I just needed to make it through.

I grabbed my bat bag and moved out the back doors to the softball field. It took a few minutes to walk there, but at least it was on our school campus, which wasn’t true of every high school. Our outfield fence was only about twenty yards from the guys’ fence, but we were on the far side, having to walk down the long gravel road to get there.

I laced up my cleats and did a few stretches, hoping to get rid of some of the excitement and anxiety bubbling inside me.

“Here goes another season,” a familiar voice said behind me.

I turned and grinned at Jessie, my catcher. We’d been together since we started competition softball at the age of eleven, and I trusted her with my life.

“Yep. It feels like we just finished up last season, and here we are again.”

Jessie pulled her glove out of her bag and stood, tossing the ball into it over and over again. “Yeah, but this year we’re upperclassmen. No more lugging gear forever.”

I couldn’t agree more. That was the hardest thing about being one of the freshmen or sophomores on the team. We were two of three sophomores the year before, with only two other freshmen, meaning we still had a lot of the responsibility of water bottles, the bag of bats, and the endless buckets of balls our previous coach required each practice.

I grabbed my glove from my bag and jogged backward a few paces. Jessie tossed the ball and I caught it, the snapping sound from my glove calming some of my anxiety. I knew how to do this, and no matter what the new coach would be like, I just had to keep focused and give it my all.

“What’s he doing over there?” Jessie asked as she threw the ball again.

I waited to catch it before turning in the direction she was looking. I didn’t look long as I saw Jake White with his forearms resting on top of the fence, looking in our direction. I turned my back to him and threw the ball back with more force than I’d intended.

“Whoa, Pen. What was that?” Jessie had barely caught the ball before it hit her face, and I knew I was going to get it.

Shaking my head, I said, “Sorry. I ran into him before last period today, and I’d be lying if I said I don’t want to strangle him sometimes.”

“Weren’t you two really good friends at one point? I remember him coming to a bunch of our games when we were twelve and thirteen.”

Sour bile crept into my throat, and I swallowed it down. “Yeah, but that was a lifetime ago. I’m not cool enough for his group anymore.”

I took several steps backward to lengthen the throws before moving back in to warm up throwing underhand. It was our routine to get to the field early and work on pitches as the rest of the team trickled in. It allowed me the maximum time to work on each pitch, making sure I was improving since I had to work after practice.

“I didn’t expect to see anyone out here so early,” said the coach as she walked over with a few bags slung over her shoulder. “Penny and Jessie, right?”

Jessie nodded, and I smiled at her, spinning the ball in my right hand a few times. A surge of anxiety hit my stomach, and I gripped the ball before winding up and letting go. The ball missed the strike zone by several inches, but I’d gotten some speed on it, causing a loud snap to come from Jessie’s glove and helping the tension release a bit.

“Looks good,” Coach Ambrose said. She set her stuff down and walked over to me. “What pitches do you throw?”

I licked my lips as I decided on my response. “The riseball is my favorite. I’ve got a good curve, and my change-up throws a lot of people off. I’ve been working on a screwball and a drop, but those aren’t as effective.”

She nodded, sticking her hands in her windbreaker pants pockets. “Okay, show me what you’ve got, Davis.”

I threw a few of the different pitches and focused on the mound each time I got the ball back from Jessie.

Coach Ambrose finally nodded. “It looks really good. And after all the information I researched on you, we just might have a state title this year for Rosemont.” She grinned at me. “Of course, you still have to make it through today’s tryouts.”

She walked away, and Jessie shrugged her shoulders, as confused as I was. She’d researched my stats? Why did that surprise me? It was a responsible coaching decision and probably helped her get to know most of the players who’d been on last year’s team.

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