Living With Animals

Chapter 20

We walk into the dugout, bottom of the 9th inning and I put a helmet on. I'm not sure if I'll bat but may as well be ready.

"Alright, the lineup is Max, Ethan, Brady, Aspen, and hopefully we don't have to og any further into that. If need be, we will change the line up," Coach, informs. I nod, and go to sit by Jacob. He looks frustrated, and I assume it's because he struck out last inning.

"Are you okay?" he asks.

"Me? What about you? You look like you're going to have a breakdown."

"I'm fine, I just- I'm so sorry, Claire. I wasn't watching what I did. I was frustrated."

"It's okay-"

"No it's not. It's bad. Nobody should take their anger out like that. I'm sorry."

"You're right. It isn't okay. But I forgive you. I'm not going to hold it against you."

"Johnson," coach intervenes. "You're batting. The team sucks," he grumbles.

"We can talk more about this later," I tell Jacob, giving him a side-hug as I look for a bat my size. I find a 34 inch bat, and decide it's good enough. I steal Jacob's batting gloves, and then quickly run up to the plate.

I stand outside the box, breathing deeply, and after a few practice swings I step into the box.

I get in my stance and see that Carter is, once again, pitching.

The first pitch flies by as a strike but I don't swing. Carter knows the way I hit so I've decided to change things up. The same thing happens for the second pitch. Then the third one starts rolling out of his hand.

Purposefully, I foul this one, and the next pitch too. We're on the fifth pitch and the moment the ball rolls out of his hand I start swinging. I smack the ball over to left-field, and over the fence, managing to scrap up a home-run. I run all of the bases, completely out of breath and the team runs out to me.

I won the winning point.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Claira's P.O.V.

After the game

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Claira Elaine Johnson, you are so dead. Why the hell would you play when you're not supposed to?" My mom yells, powerwalking towards me and Jacob.

"Because the team needed me. And look. I'm perfectly fine."

"You are in so much trouble," she says, grabbing my hand and dragging me to the car.

I stop dead in my tracks.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Flashback

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You are in so much trouble," my dad stated, as he picked me up after I crashed the car. I was 13, and Mom had took Mason to a baseball game because Dad had to work. It was around 10 PM.

Later that night.

I sat there crying on my bed, as Lilia ran the water of the wounds on my back. That was the night she found out. And the third time he had hit me.

Flashback ends

*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Claire?" Jacob asks, from by my side. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine, just thought I saw something across the field," I lie, giving him a weak smile, and a facial expression to explain that I'll tell him later.