Bases Loaded Jam (Bases Loaded Jam Series #1)

Ch. 6: Freshman Year/Opening Day (Huey)

Huey

It was another big opening day for me. After years of being under the same roof with a brother who almost always gave me the roughest of times and parents who kept my leash almost to the point of exhaustion, I was finally a free man.

Ok, I was officially out of my parents' home and the brother was never that mean to me. He just had to live up to the older brother stereotype of messing with his younger brother all around. Even all throughout middle school and high school, he still had to find the perfect reason to keep me annoyed.

But in spite of all that, I was able to survive middle school and high school. Sure, I had to learn a few things from how to handle lockers, to dealing with more cafeteria food. Add in harder schooling and of course, girls, it was definitely a reality check that school was about to be hell for me.

All the while, I did manage to keep good grades and make multiple friends. Some of my little league teammates actually followed me throughout the years and we continued to bond. Together with Peter, Jimmy, Troy, and Wade, we seemed to be the perfect group of friends. As I mentioned a few chapters ago, Jimmy was the silly kid that liked to pull pranks on pretty much everyone. It did on occasion get him into trouble. But by no means was he a terrible student. Believe it or not, he had the second-highest GPA amongst the five of us.

Wade was the one who had the highest GPA. A perfect 4.0 student all the time, he was nerdy. Whenever we would hang out together, there were times when Wade's confidence wasn't always there. He was a shy person who did get picked on quite a bit. But we helped bailed him out of difficult dilemmas. Of course, he did the same whenever we got into trouble.

One time, Troy had forgotten an essay he had written and it was due that day. Needing a great grade to help him pass, Troy asked Wade for help. Wade, who also had a knack for communicating with animals was able to organize a relay system. He got his dog Louie to get Troy's hamster Fester to open his cage door, grab the paper, and pass it to a bird, who then flew the assignment to school where Wade would receive it and hand it to Troy.

At least, that's the story Wade tells. We don't believe him personally. But we love Wade a lot that we let him stick to his word.

Troy was the strongest of all of us. As much as he loved playing baseball, football was his first love. Over time, he would build himself up to be one of the best linebackers on our high school football team. I also played football as a linebacker. But Troy was better than me. He earned all-state honors for his play and was a key figure in us winning a state championship our senior year in high school. Because of his blonde-hair and outstanding smile, it was no secret the women were all over him like bees to a honeycomb. I can't tell you how many times he went home with a girl by his side. But I don't think about that stuff. That was Troy's business.

Peter probably had the toughest transition of all of us. He stopped playing baseball after little league and decided to turn his attention to music. While we always considered him one of the gang, other kids didn't see him as popular. Part of the reason was perhaps that he grew out his hair so that he would become a rock star. He had earrings, tattoos, and some other eyeliner. This led to rumors that he was gay. For a while, we always thought that was just part of his normal makeup. That was until one night when he finally did tell us that in fact, he was gay.

We supported him and told him it was all cool. But he never told anyone else in school. He felt by confessing that it would lead to people picking on him even more so than what he already was. He didn't take school as serious as the rest of us. But he always did give us the good music of a rock and roll band that he created where he was a drummer.