Crazy 'bout you ( GxG)

Chapter 2 - Jay

"She threw perfectly." I try not to be distracted and have to suppress a grin when I see Walker's surprised head. Just like coach and the rest of the team, he didn't expect me to throw with so much force.

"Next," Walker grumbles. He gets ready again.

I switch hands, some "Ohhh's" are heard. Walker apparently already thinks he has this in his pocket, but what he doesn't know is that I might throw better with my left than with my right.

Breath in, breath out. Arm back, leg up... I'm throwing a perfect hard screwball. He flies off the base and the moment Walker strikes, the ball deviates out of the way, away from the base. Walker misses. The coach laughs in surprise. And I hear some teammates say that I'm good.

"Again!" Walker shouts. I catch the ball again and get back into position. Fastball it is. I pull my arm back, leg up and throw as hard as I can. The ball goes 3 times as fast as the previous two times. Walker's eyes widen and he strikes, too late. He strikes under the ball, which is caught by the catcher. In the corner of my eye I see how Charlie smiles.

The coach grins. "Your turn to strike Miller, Jake throw your best balls." Ergh. Walker shoves my shoulder as I pass him, I don't care this time. He looks back in surprise when I hardly move. That's what baseball does to me.

I put on my gloves and take a baseball bat from a boy who is grinning at me. "You're good, knock Jake out." I nod.

"3 chances to hit once," exclaimed coach Lewis. I wave a few times to get in and crack my neck. I nod to Jake. He grins briefly before lifting his arm and leg to throw. The ball comes towards me, I notice from its throw that it is a curveball, not a good one. I miss.... I get off the base and hit a few times, trying to ignore Walker, who is now laughing at me.

"Walker shut up, if anyone can't laugh it's you, you've just got out played by a girl." I have to suppress a grin when Charlie slaps him in the back of the head and he growls in pain.

"Ready?" Jake looks at me quizzically, I see a trace of guilt in his eyes, it was not the intention to throw such a nasty ball.

"Bring it on." He smiles and turns the ball several times in his hands. I can already see that he is going to throw a fastball, he probably won't have many more throws. I focus, only see the ball, all the sound around me gets softer.

Jake lets go of the ball, a perfect fastball comes to me and I hit as hard as I can. Thonk. And I run, see the ball fly into the corner of my eye. I accelerate, run over the 2nd base, 1 more base before the home base.

"Watch her go." I hear someone say when I sprint past them. It's going to be neck to neck, I just didn't strike well enough to put the boys out of play.

3rd base. The ball only has to go to the catcher. It's now or never, I accelerate one last time, another 2 meters.

"Throw!" There is shouting. Everyone almost seems to be in a panic. The ball is thrown. I know I'm not going to make it if I run it off, so I'll do the first thing that comes to my mind. I slide towards the home base. Don't worry about my pants which now seem to rip and get dirty. This could get me a place on the team.

And then it is quiet, I lie with my foot on the home base and I stare at the catcher who is holding the ball. It feels like I just hit the most important home run in my life, but I don't know if it counts yet, it's still quiet. The cloud of sand is slowly fading and some grains are stinging my eyes. This is it...

I look at the coach, the same goes for the catcher. 'In.' A smile breaks over my face. Except for a growl from Walker, the whole team cheers. Jake and the catcher; Keith takes my hands and pulls me up.

"That was sick," laughs Jake, hugging me. I laugh too.

Keith holds his fist up to me. "I've never seen anyone run that fast and those throws were perfect." I bump my fist against his and can't stop my grin that's spreading over my face.

"Don't say anything to the coach, but I'm actually glad there is someone who pitches better than me." I chuckle, which explains why he only has two throws.

"I told you she was good." I look past Jake. Charlie has put her arm on Keith's shoulder and is grinning. When our eyes meet I forget how to breathe again, her eyes seem to get bluer the longer I look at them.

"Oh shut up." Keith pushes her away.

She looks at him insulted. "Excuse me." Keith smiles and puts his arm around her neck. "Yes, be like that again."

"What sister? I'm not doing anything." I look from Keith to Charlie and back to Keith again.

Jake nudges me with his elbow. "Those two can argue, that's not normal."

"It's fair when you are related," I hear a boy's voice say behind me. I turn my head, a tall boy, with black hair, light stubble beard and brown eyes, smiles at me. "Good strike."

"Thank you."

"How many minutes are they born after each other, An?" Jake nudges the boy after me. I look at Keith and Charlie, they poke each other's bellies, alternate with some punches. I now see the similarities. The dark brown hair, even Keith's wavy, only his jawline is a bit wider than Charlie's, but their eyes are equally blue, even their smile is the same, a dimple in their left cheek.

"Two minutes, Charlie's older, do you ever pay attention?"

"Nolan does that for me."

"I'm not doing anything for you." A boy with blond hair, a little darker than Jake's, grabs Jake by the collar. They laugh.

"I'm Andrew, by the way." The boy with the black hair looks at me again.

"Jay." I take his hand.

"That dork over there is Nolan." He points to the young one with the darker blond hair. "Our best hitter." Nolan winks at me. "A moron."

"Hey! Can I have the attention?" Only now can I hear the coach, who has apparently been shouting for a while.

Jake kicks Charlie, who lets go of her brother and angrily turns to Jake to punch him. "You little dip shit, I will—"

"The coach," Andrew interrupts. She snorts and turns to look at the coach. I can't help but look at her. There is something that attracts me. I get nervous, get clammy hands, it feels a bit like performing in front of a large audience, the term stage fright seems familiar to me, I'm not doing well in the spotlight.

"I think it is clear." Was Coach Lewis talking all along? I dreamed away again. "Jay Miller, welcome to the team." It only dawns on me when Jake slaps me on the shoulder. Wait what? I'm on it?

Charlie smiles at me. "Welcome to the team, rookie." Maybe this was a mistake. 

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