Hotbox (2 page)

A knock sounded on my door and
Jesse
hollered
, “Hey, Ty! Holly’s gone.”
I got up and opened the door and, laughing, he said,
“What’d you do, l
ock her out?”

“Basically.”

I followed him down the hall and beca
me social
for the next hour before curfew. Yes, curfew. One of the many rules we have to follow as a team; school night curfew, weekend curfew, game night curfew, no drugs, no drinking, no smoking, and no sex
within twelve hours of a game. I suppose the coaches could easily find out if we’re breaking any of the rules
, but I don’t think that last one has ever been officially challenged. It’s more of a code of conduct, I suppose.
I was fine with following any one of those guidelines. I agreed with curfew, I banned drugs and alcohol from my life because of my father’s example, and I avoided girls during baseball season anyway.

It made my life clean and simple
.

When the last person left at ten-oh-five, the phone rang.

“That’s all you, Ty!” Aaron
yelled
, taking off for his room.

Jesse looked at me and shook his head with a smile.

I picked it up and answered,
“
Yeah
, Coach?”

“You boys in for the night?”

“Yes Sir
, we’re good.”
             
“All right. See
ya
tomorrow.”

“Goodnight.”

Chapter Two

             
Saturday.
Home game
. I woke up at seven and hollered at Aaron and Jesse to get up. Our game was at
noon
and we had to be there early to
prepare the field and warm up.
Aaron went straight to concocting his protein drink in
the blender
. He and Jesse are good
with
downing one of them
, but I a
lways need something more, so
I
prepared
some toast and cereal to go with it.

Jesse rode with Aaron to the field and I drove myself. They were used to me going from one place to the next and never bothered discussing it anymore. The sun was out and it was supposed to be a
nice day. It was the
second
weekend in
April
and we hadn’t
lost one game this season. So far
most of
the teams we had played were ranked below us; today we would be playing a much tougher team.

As the home team we took our place to field first. I put my catcher’s
mask
on and squatted down to take some pitches from Everett. Before we ran through our fielding warm-ups, I took my
mask
off to
make
a quick
glance
in
to
the stands. I always
scanned the crowd
for my father, even though I knew he wasn’t there.

Something else caught my eye instead, and I watched a little longer to indulge my curiosity. She was beautiful, tall and slim, with
golden
hair
that went s
everal inches past her shoulders
. I would have
assumed
she was someone coming to watch for the visiting team
because I’d never seen her before
, but she was up behind
our dugout, talking to people that
I
thought
went to my school
. She was with another girl, shorter with dark hair,
and a guy, and t
hey sat about six rows up.

“Ty, hey.”

I turned my attention back to the field, realizing
Coach Farland
was staring at me.

“We’re ready when you are,” he said. He gave me a look, one much like Lou’s sympathetic frown. I didn’t want him to think I was pining for my father, so I was ready for the game to begin.

The first
inning went fast with three quick outs
. We hardly did any better with our turn at bat, but our second batter got on base. As fourth batter I made my way to the plate. I was so used to hearing my name announced that I normally didn’t notice, but today I couldn’t help but wonder if
she
was paying attention. I hit a single, but our next batter struck out before Jack could get around to score.

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when the other team got a hit and brought their runner home. I always loved the battle at home plate when a runner was coming to score and it was my job to
prevent it
.
But
I didn’t get such opportunity this time since the ball was
just getting into the infield
.

Before putting my
mask
back on I glanced into the stands. She was looking my way… Was she looking right at me? I could have sworn she smiled. I think I smiled back, whether she was smiling at me or not.

Get your head in the game, Ty
.

We finally scored two runs in the sixth inning.
Our opponents
were only able to score once more after that, but we scored another two
in the last inning
,
winning
4-2.

It was another great day at the park. I loved baseball.

I watched the stands but I
didn’t
see her
again
. People were moving everywhere; if she was still there, I couldn’t tell. We
praised
the other team and packed up our gear. Before heading into our batting barn for a team meeting, I looked for her
once more
.

She was gone.

“What’re you looking at?” Aaron asked me.

I
glanced
at him, feeling
a little stupid. “Oh, uh… I’m
not sure. I saw someone, but I
don’t know
who it was.”

“You mean a chick? Describe her,” he smiled
arrogant
ly
. “I bet I know her.”

“Uh, I don’t think she goes to this school,” I chuckled. “I’ve never seen her before.”

“Ha! My manhood reaches well beyond this school.”
             
I shook my head
at him
as
we joined the rest of the team inside
.

For the next week I looked for that girl. Everywhere on campus I scanned all the girls I could, particularly looking for that
honey
-colored hair. I couldn’t believe how much I thought about her; a girl that I saw from twenty yards away and never even talked to.
I thought I was losing my mind.

After practice on
Friday
, I spent some time on my own in the batting barn.
It was kind of a tradition for myself, and I truly believed the extra discipline made all the difference on game day.
I came home that night to the familiar scene from the week before.

“Ty! Spot me ten bucks!” Aaron hollered.

I shook my head and made my way to the kitchen. I
threw together
a sandwich and leaned against the counter to eat it. My dinner was ruined when Holly stepped through the doorway.

“Hey, Ty. I could have made that for you.”
             
“No, that’s okay,” I replied with my mouth full.

I was hoping I could repulse her away, but s
he smiled and came closer to me.

“I’m coming to your game tomorrow. It’s at noon, right?”

I was tempted to tell her another time, but I knew she was already sure. I only nodded my head, shoved the rest of the sandwich in my mouth, and motioned that I was going to take a shower.

“Ty! Play the next game, buddy!”

I nodded
on my way by
, glad to have something to do when I returned.

Holly was getting to be a pain. I was hoping she would take the hint and just leave me alone. How many times did I have to skirt conversation wi
th her before she finally got the point
? I wondered if I should take Aaron’s advice and just be an ass. That’s what he did whenever he wanted to get rid of a girl.

But I guess I wasn’t as bold and shameless as Aaron since I had a conscience.

“Play ball!” the umpire shouted.

She wasn’t there and I was mad at myself
for being
so distracted. I looked all over the stands—both sides—
and she wasn’t there.
Holly waved at me, and I really hoped she didn’t think I was looking for
her
, so I pretended I didn’t see her and focused on the game.

We were ahead 3-1 in the third inning
when
I finally saw her. But I silently groaned when I
noticed
she was with that same guy. He had to be her boyfriend. I
returned
my attention back to the game, hitting a double in the fourth inning to bring a runner home, and a single in the sixth, bringing another runner home.

We won 6-3.

I glanced into the stands just to make myself miserable, but I actually smiled when I
saw that
the
brunette
was sitting with her
now
,
and
the guy was gone. To my total surprise,
the
dark
blonde
returned my smile.

“What?
” Aaron said at my side
, following my gaze
.
“
Oh, hell no. Sorry Ty, but you might as well piss
against
the wind.”

“What do you mean?”

“Her?” he
asked me, subtly motioning with his head
. “
Not a chance,
man
.”

“Who is she?”
             
He laughed. “Someone
you can’t touch.
Her name is
Jayden
Adams.”
             
I repeated her name in my
head
.
Jayden Adams
. I didn’t think I had ever heard of her.

“Look, buddy, I don’t want to, you know, crush your hopes and dreams but…
She’s untouchable.
Literally
,” he added with implication.

“How do you know her?”

“I don’t, really. But a friend of mine went to school with her. We saw her at
Zero
once, and, like you, I thought she was pretty hot.”
             
“She turned you down!” I laughed.

He s
coffed. “
No
. Well, yeah, but that’s not the point
. That’s because she’s
—”

I started to walk toward the dugout to gather my gear. “Yes, it
is
the point. You’re just bitter.
”

“No,” he
said, catching up to me. “She’s a stuck up snob.
”

“I don’t want to hear it. You were turned down. That means I throw your judgment completely out the window. You can’t be impartial.”

“What are you guys
yakking
about?” Jack
wanted to know
.

“He thinks he’s got a chance with Jayden Adams,”
Aaron
laughed.

Jack looked at me
with raised eyebrows
and studied me carefully.
“Jayden? She’s
pretty cool
, actually
. R
eally nice.”

I turned to Aaro
n and said,
“Ha! See? His opinion counts;
yours does not.”

“Okay,” he shook his head. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” He took his bag and left, turning around to smile
and shake his head
one last time
at my stupidity
.

Jack looked at me
again
and asked, “How do you know Jayden?”

“I don’t. I was just wondering who she was,” I replied, nodding toward the stands. “How do
you
know her?”

“Oh,
since
my fresh
man year here. She was a junior
.”