Chapter 1
Jessie watched Ryder, telepathically throwing signals for his friend to pick him. Bad enough he'd be the last on the team, but he sure didn't want to be last overall. Especially not to Milton.
"C'mon Ryder, c'mon Ryder, c'mon Ryder," Jessie muttered. Ryder looked at him, then glanced at Milton. Boys on both sides shouted advice.
Ryder lifted his hand to point at Jessie when Corman McIntyre, the first player Ryder had chosen, whispered something in his ear. Ryder frowned, but nodded. He turned away from Jessie. "We'll take Milton."
No.
"No!" the other team, Jessie's new team, yelled. Some of them drop-kicked their mitts towards the backstop where they had the first at-bat.
As Ryder's team separated to their positions in the field, Jessie hustled over to him at shortstop. "Why didn't you pick me?"
"Your team is up, Jess. Go prove everyone wrong."
"You were going to pick me, but Corman said something, and you changed your mind. What did he say?"
Ryder opened his mouth to answer, but everyone on both teams started yelling for Jessie to get behind the backstop so the game could start. Jessie shook his head and sprinted to the end of the batting line. He knew he was up last. He glared out at the game.
With two outs and the bases loaded, he stepped up for his turn to bat. His teammates grumbled, and some even grabbed their mitts to stand at the edge of the backstop.
Jessie bailed on the first pitch, convinced it was hurtling straight for his head. Instead it sailed into the catcher's mitt, right down the middle. Everyone in the field screamed that it wasn't anywhere near hitting him, and was in fact a perfect pitch. Jessie's team tried to argue, but they knew it was a strike.
The next pitch hit the same spot. This time Jessie only stepped one foot out of the batter's box. He gritted his teeth and choked up on the bat. The pitcher, a boy he knew only as Zane, went into his wind-up and hurled another fastball right down the middle. He fought every instinct to jump away, and managed a half-hearted swing. His teammates burst out into the field before the ball even smacked the catcher's mitt.
He fought the urge to fling the bat into the wire mesh backstop. Instead he set it down and gathered up his mitt. A quick glance showed right field was once again his.
Ryder passed him. "It's because you're afraid of the ball."
"Huh?"
"You asked why I chose Milton over you." He continued to the backstop and didn't look back. Jessie sighed and jogged out to right field.
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