Dude...Thats Not a Guy

20. Baseball Brawls

"Hey! I do work" Alistair complained and all three of us gave him a flat look, to which he raised his hands in surrender "Okay, fine, but that's no the point here. The point is that you guys have a goddamn game against the Mavericks for the first time since last year, and there was no damn way I was gonna miss it."

"Wait, what is it that has everyone so tense about this game anyway?" Soraya questioned, and I felt myself icing up at the memory. I couldn't help it, I knew it was stupid, but there was a cloud of unease that I didn't want to face.

"She doesn't know?" Alistair asked, leaning forward on the back of the seat, his expression one of confusion.

"No she doesn't" Xavier replied and I could see him glancing my way out the corner of his eye. They were both nervous, maybe even worried, but I wasn't going to let their fear stop me from playing this game. I needed it. I couldn't live with knowing I'd been too much of a coward to face them, I wasn't and the Maverick's needed to know that nothing was going to stop me.

"I am still right here guys" Soraya cut in, her voice breaking the intense stare that Alistair was trying to use to tell me something. "I would know things if you guys decided to stop being assholes and just told me what is going on."

"Archbishop McCarthy Mavericks" I stated, voice blunt, as I turned my attention way from the guys to look at her as she waited expectantly,

"Yeah I get that, what about them?"

"They're the reason I'm not supposed to be here, why I'm not supposed to be playing this season" I explained, although it only served to make her more confused as her eyebrows moved together in the middle, creating a crease between her brows.

"What?" She voiced her confusion, clearly growing annoyed by the lack of information she was getting.

"Last time we played them, their catcher, Luke Pierce, shattered Ashton's ankle." Xavier explained, his voice tinted with anger and I felt the need to comfort my friend despite the situation, but Alistair jumped in to continue the story.

"Xav had just hit a home run worthy ball, Ashton had been on first at the time, he ran for second, third, had a clear run home, but Pierce was blocking." Alistair elaborated and Soraya followed the story with a growing frown. "The slide was inevitable, the ball wasn't even in the infield yet, but he couldn't have made the run any other way. Pierce knew that, and when Ash went down for the slide he took a fall too. I guess it could have been an accident but I swear the way he dropped his knee onto Ashton's leg wasn't natural. The crack was heard all the way in the dugout."

"Hell, I heard it out on second base" Xavier cut in, "I fucking saw him hit the fence. It was over 5 meters away, but I guess he was going fast enough that his body just carried him. Doctor's said he must have hit his head on something when he rolled, but no one knows whether it was the home plate or Pierce's boot. But somehow he ended up with a concussion and a 3 inch cut along his head"

"There was fucking blood everywhere and Pierce didn't even bat an eyelid." Alistair bit in, his voice aggressive and harsh.

"Wait a second, how long has it been since this happened?" Soraya cut in, she seemed to be picking up on some of the anger that was soaking the air,

"Two and a half, maybe three months before tryouts." I replied, calculating the months briefly in my mind, it really hadn't been that long ago but it felt like an eternity.

"Then what the fuck are you doing playing this season?!" She snapped and a few heads turned from the front of the bus, "It takes two months before you can even put your bloody weight on a broken ankle and you go and decide that playing a sport was a good fucking idea?!"