Page 20 of The Perfect Hit

I trudged up to my room, exhausted from the long day of tryouts. At least I wouldn’t have to think about cleaning out the shed until the weekend.

I jumped in the shower and then threw on some athletic shorts and a t-shirt before trying to get through the large reading assignment from English. It was like Mr. Kendall was trying to torture me with all the reading we had to do for the class. At least we hadn’t had too many essays and papers throughout the year.

A knock sounded on my door, and I said, “Come in.”

“That’s brave of you, knowing who your brothers are,” a feminine voice said.

I turned to see Hazel grinning at me and sat up on my bed. With a quick glance around the room, I darted off the bed, grabbing the clothes I’d worn to practice, along with the underwear sitting on the floor next to the hamper, and threw them into it. My mom would be proud if she saw that after all her complaining about her boys never cleaning up.All she had to do was let a cute girl into the house.

“Well, I try to think they’ll be easier on me if I’m not a total jerk.” I walked back over and sat on the edge of the bed. “What brings you here?”

All I could think about was her face as she’d stared up at me on stage earlier. She’d been shocked but happy while I performed the lines that should be foreign but that we’d worked on for several weeks together.

“Oh, ya know, just thought I’d swing by and see how my bestie was doing,” she said, smiling but her eyes looking at me as if with x-ray vision. She took a seat next to me on the bed, and I had to wipe my hands off on my shorts, knowing what question was coming.

“Doing okay. We ran a lot at tryouts today. I hit the ball pretty far too, finally. Coach Maddox was impressed.” Okay, I was babbling, and I couldn’t look her in the eyes. What was my deal? She was my best friend, the one I told just about everything to. Everything but the fact that I had a huge crush on her.

She nodded a bit, her eyes narrowing as if waiting for me to confess. “So, it was a surprise to see you on stage earlier. What made you decide to try out?”

A range of emotions went through me. Maybe it was the pressure of taking state that had gotten me all wound up, but as crazy as it had been, I was still glad I’d auditioned. It was like I’d tried some new food from another part of the world and actually liked it, even after a lot of people had told me I wouldn’t.

“I don’t know,” I said, stalling for a good enough answer. If I said it was because I liked her, she’d probably scramble out of the room and avoid me forever. “I guess I just thought it would be fun to see what it was like. I mean, we worked on the script for weeks. Sorry, you worked on it for weeks while I tried to support you as much as possible.”

She shook a hand in front of me. “No, no, you definitely deserve credit for helping me piece that thing together.”

“Well, if I was that bad of an actor, you don’t have to cast me in anything. I mean, it was on a whim, and I already have a lot going with school and baseball.”

Hazel’s hand rested on my bicep, just below where the sleeve of my t-shirt ended. Her fingers against my skin caused a ripple effect, and I had to consciously keep from jerking my body away, worried she’d let go.

“What are you talking about? You did a great job. I mean, I had no idea you could even act.”

I froze, trying to read her face for any signs of joking. “Funny, Hazel. You can tell me the truth.”

Her eyes went wide. “I am telling you the truth, spaz. You did a great job up there. I was kind of sad when you stopped.”

The words from the script ran through my head, and I wondered if she meant she’d wanted me to say it in real life.

I stood, picking up a sock I’d missed and throwing it into the hamper. “Did you get your cast all set, then?”

Why was I so nervous about what she was going to say next? There was no way I had the acting skills to be one of the main parts, and memorizing all that would be rough.

Hazel nodded. “I think so. You’re going to be Trey, Kurt’s best friend.”

I fell back a step, trying to comprehend that. “You’re making me the best friend of the main lead? Are you crazy?”

Hazel laughed. “Probably. But you did a great job up there.” Her gaze darted around the room, but her mouth opened and shut a few times, looking like she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words for it. That was unlike Hazel. She always knew exactly what to say and when to say it. I secretly called it the talent of the diva.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Mrs. Sanderson and I discussed having you be the understudy for the lead role.” It wasn’t phrased as a question, and I tilted my head, waiting for her to finish. “Would you be up for that?”

“Who’s the lead?”

“Scott Daniels.”

I tried to keep my face neutral, but it was a lot harder knowing I’d have to be near him every day. “So I’d have to work alongside him on this? Are you trying to kill me, Hazel?” I added a dry laugh in there, wondering if she’d pick up on that.

“I know he can be a tool, but he’s got experience, and I think you’ll learn a lot from him. You might just have to look for those bits of wisdom, though.”

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