Page 8 of The Perfect Hit

The way her face lit up made me smile even wider. Since she played softball, she understood all the pressures of playing well for the scouting college coaches.

I was happy for Jake, especially since he was worried he wouldn’t go anywhere with him already in his senior season. He deserved the chance to prove he was a next-level athlete.

As we were about to sit down, Hazel veered to the right, and I groaned as I realized who was sitting in the booth next to ours.

Scott Daniels.

Penny glanced between me and Hazel then over to Scott before setting the menus on the table. “I’m going to leave this here for you. I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

I nodded and slid into the booth, wishing we could rewind about thirty seconds and ask Penny to seat us in a different section.

“Scott, what are you doing here? Colt and I were just talking about you.” Hazel’s voice was friendly, but did it show that she had a crush on him? We’d talked about him plenty over the course of our friendship, but for some reason I was feeling territorial tonight. Scott Daniels had a lot of qualities I didn’t have. One was height, and the other was teeth that didn’t need to undergo three years of braces. At least I was done with that part of my life. Braces were the worst.

“I hope it was all good things,” Scott said, standing up and wrapping Hazel in a hug. He used that dramatic deep voice he had, and while I usually wasn’t a fighter, aside from wrestling matches with my brothers at home, I wanted to punch the guy in the face.

“Of course,” Hazel said, laughing.

Scott took a step back and gave her a once-over. “And how is our fearless scriptwriter today?” he asked with a lopsided grin.

My hand formed a fist, and I had to focus on the menu to keep my irritation under control.

“We’re doing good,” Hazel said, motioning toward me. “We were just talking about who we think the leads of the spring play will be. I'm guessing it's you.”

Scott leaned in and whispered, sending fury coursing through me. “Isn't that against the rules? You're the director. You're not supposed to have favorites.”

Hazel looked like she’d been slapped in the face, the bright smile fading and a few spots of red appearing on her face. She gave a hesitant smile. “That’s probably true. I’m new at this whole thing.”

“Do you think you’ll be able to handle this? I mean, directing the Rosemont High play. That’s a pretty big deal.” I caught him waving two fingers around in a small circle and wished I could break them. I needed to go hit a bucket of balls off the tee to get this frustration out of my system. Maybe that would get me out of my hitting slump at the same time.

Hazel’s slight smile dropped, and she looked at him as though she’d just learned the Easter Bunny wasn’t real.

“She’s got this,” I said, standing up next to her. “And you might want to change your attitude, or she just might find a reason not to cast you as the lead.”

“I doubt she’d be able to find anyone better. We’re just finishing up, but I’ll see you tomorrow,” Scott said, his tone frosty. He was out with some kids I didn't recognize, and they stood and walked out of the diner with smiles. What a punk!

I didn’t want to ruin anything for Hazel, but giving the kid a black eye would certainly make me feel better.

4

Hazel

Iwaved to Scott as he left and then took my seat in the booth across from Colt.

“What's wrong?” I asked, noticing his face was pulled into a deep frown.

“What’s wrong? That guy is what’s wrong. I can’t believe he talked to you like that,” Colt said, his hands flying all over as he spoke.

With a quick intake of breath, I stared at Colt. He had always been the easy-going type and had gone along with my shenanigans more than once, but anger wasn’t something I’d seen often from him.

“It happens sometimes. He wasn’t like that in the fall musical, though.” I hadn’t realized it until Colt brought it to my attention, but it was strange for Scott to do that.

Colt shook his head. “It shouldn’t happen at all. Mrs. Sanderson picked you to write and direct the spring play. She trusts you, knows you can do it. If he’s bugged about that, he can talk to her.”

“What are you getting to eat?” I asked, hoping to break the tension. Colt was usually so upbeat and full of energy. To see him annoyed and somewhat deflated was odd. I’d already gotten over Scott’s comments, knowing that his opinion wasn’t something I had to side with.

“I'll probably go for the strawberry shake, and maybe an order of fries,” he said, placing his menu on the table.“I’ve lost most of my appetite,” he added under his breath.

“I think I'll go with the brownie sundae.” I grinned. It was the same thing I ordered every time, but I'd rather get something I liked than waste money on something I didn't.

---