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He looks over his shoulder at irl?"

I shutfor years that he and I must be the only cultured people in Franklin "No, he was this Greek guy In the tiod? I knew you loved me"

"Come on, you" I shut his locker door and pull hiazine room We fall down onto cushy chairs Drew sets his laptop case on the floor He always keeps his computer nearby in case he has a free moment to write

I open my purse and pull out my compact so I can re-powder my face I dab it across my nose and chin "Are you okay?"

"Fine" He props his ankle on his knee and shakes his foot

"You ran out of the cafeteria I orried" I shut ers on the chair’s arm, then takes my hand and studies my peach nails "I like this color It’s simple" He slowly meets my eyes

My cell beeps, and I quickly check the screen Mo a nice day "Ugghhh," I groan "She’s so annoying She won’t let go"

"Who was that?"

"Mom"

"Have you talked to her lately?" Drew asks softly

"No"

"Sometimes she calls my mom to check in, because you never answer her calls Why haven’t you?"

"Because," I snap The librarian giveswith et why she had to leave us"

I rarely talk about any of this, not even without ofwould’ve been okay with me--with church, with softball, oddairlfriend, Theresa, was the church office assistant

"But it’s not your mom’s fault," Drew starts

"But it is" I shove the phone deep in

"She can’t help it--"

"It doesn’t bother ether" My eyes water

He hesitates, and looks around the s for next class and Drew jumps to his feet He throws an ar black dog na to her house I’d throw stick after stick, and June would go retrieve thes could srin on her face I loved playing with that dog Hugging her Kissing her Laura hated that I got along so ith the dog, because June belonged to her and she didn’t like sharing

Then, one SundaySunday School I wiped tears offthe he, so I told the had died When my parents expressed their condolences to Brother John, he told theave ht path to Hell I never told anyone that Laura lied I didn’t want anyone to tell her she was on a path to Hell

Written February 15 Wadded up and burned The flaht my thumb and I stuck it in my mouth, to soothe it

Today’s practice starts out with a tea I squeeze between Drew and Sa in front of us, twirling a bat in his hands like a pinwheel I’lad to see he ditched the Best Buy employee costume for a sweatshirt and baseball pants that’ve seen a feorkouts

He glances at me and then focuses on Coach Burns, who clears his throat and reads froaainst Tullahoma He explains that we should o to Cracker Barrel for breakfast and then rowls, "I hate Cracker Barrel I’ food hoets a 50 percent discount

"I love their pancakes," I say, knocking ainst his "I wish you’d hook ainst mine "As if you’d eat a pancake"

"I would eat one"

"Pancakes or waffles?"

"Waffles Syrup or butter?"

"Miss Shelton, is there a proble his bat

"Um, no?" I narrow my eyes at hi, please" He turns his gaze froh my body Why’d he have to embarrassthe field, Coach Burns starts talking strategy for Tullahoets all the money they want, but our baseball and softball teams share equipuy who ets What kind of coach will Brian be next year?

Coach Burns says blah, blah and I focus on the softball tea third base has poor range She’s not quick on her feet I could always cover the entire gap between third and shortstop, diving when I needed to, taking a ball straight to the gut when required This girl barely moves three feet, then lets the left fielder clean up herof hatred for her as I watch her dig a trench with her cleat She taps her bat on home plate then rests it on her shoulder Terrible stance How is Coach Lynn standing for this?

I scan the field for her, but she’s nowhere Then I notice Mr Majors, thePeople What? Where’s Coach Lynn? They’ve got the resident accordion player supervising practice? Huh I hope she’s okay

Laura swings at the first two pitches,both

I pullI was out there Ever since I ca to hold a bat I want to slip cleats on and jog the bases and slide into home I shake these ideas out ofat me from first and second bases, respectively

Boy, have I fallen I

Laura takes a few reat batters, because they spend all their ti, but Laura’s worse at bat than most She makes up for it on theevil, so I pray she’ll strike out Strike out, strike out She steps up and swings away at a high ball

Strike three!

I clapyou’d like to share with us, Parker?" Brian asks