Strong Mind, Strong Body, Strong Heart

7. [Hopefully] Reaching the goal

Recap:  

Kyle

"What do you need?" I asked casually, though I could've guessed why he was calling.  

"Can I get Eliana's number?" He asked me.  

"Sure." I told him the number. "Why, what's up? You gonna ask her out for tea?" I teased.  

He sighed. "Yes, I want to ask her to go see a few pictures with me."  

"Pictures?" I asked.  

"Movie?" He corrected.  

"You know, I really need to get an Aussie slang dictionary. But, dude, you're in America! Speak English."  

"To me, this is English."  

"I thought it was called Aussish." I chuckled.  

"Goodbye, Kyle. I'll call you later so we can make plans to hang out sometime."  

"K, bye."  

I really missed picking on him. I laughed out loud and found myself happily drifting to sleep.  

Chapter seven.

Eliana

The whole crowd watched as each boy struck out, or was caught between bases. The pitcher's mouth pinched closed, but pointing up at the edges. His victory and pride showed brightly through his lavender eyes. His team was winning 6- 2, every guy in the dugout was sweating and fidgeting, nervous and afraid as they knew they had a longshot to winning.  

Darian signaled the catcher, then threw his arm back, whirled, and threw the ball straight to the batter, when it suddenly curved and landed straight into the catcher's mit.  

"Change sides!" Someone announced.  

A boy named Ryan was up at bat. His maroon and gold t-shirt and white pants were dirty all over his back, and his hand reached up to tighten the maroon hat on his head. He focused on the pitcher and was breaking a sweat as he swung and hit the baseball head-on. He scored a triple.  

Up next was Charles, a Senior that goes to my school. When I saw him in his baseball uniform, I realized that I saw why Cassie was so into him. His dark brown hair glistened with water- or maybe it was just sweat- and his midnight black eyes seemed to deepen as he focus fully on the pitcher's throwing position, and the white pants added heavy contrast. His eyes, now just small slits, sparkled with challenge.  

He hit the ball with strength, sending it straight forward and almost sent it to the 3rd baseman's forehead, though he fortunately dodged the speeding ball. He ran around all three bases and cheered when he hit home base.  

Now it was Darian's turn. He wasn't as determined and focused on his surroundings as the previous two were, and that seemed to peeve off the coach a little. He strolled his way down to home, and got into position. D grinned widely and finally glared at the pitcher, staring him down as if he was communicating with his eyes.  

"Wooo! Darian!" I yelled. "Beat these weenies!" I was going to say more, but the cheers from the benches behind me dropped to dead silence. If he scored this point, they would win the game at 9-2.  

He hit down the bat on the dirt beneath him, once, twice, a third time. Then everything went still. The only thing moving was the pitcher's arm as he swung it around and back. He smirked, and threw the ball with such force, I couldn't see it at first. It didn't seem that anyone really saw it. But one person did.  

Darian.  

He swung the bat back, effortlessly, as if it were natural to him.  

Then it reeled forward.