Home Run Kiss

Twelve

It was finally starting to warm up outside. The month of February was over, and now it was time for March. It was always warmer in March here in town, so I was excited to finally wear short sleeves again. That day, I was wearing a nice shirt, one with slightly ruffled sleeves. Sophie had given it to me for my birthday last year, and she was always upset that I never wore it. I was never a fan of the ruffled sleeves until now, so I quickly took a picture of myself and sent it to her. 

Putting my phone in the pocket of my backpack, I looked out at the baseball diamond. The boys were practicing their throws, so I really didn't have to do anything today. Coach was gone as well, but he had given Noah the instructions for the day. Taylor quickly took over the practice session since no one would listen to Noah, and he made some smart remark when Noah went to the bathroom. I was this close to storming over there and beating him up, but I thought better about it. That wasn't who Abuela and Vovô as well as Mom and Dad raised me to be. 

What was Taylor's deal anyway? It wasn't like he was the best baseball player on this team, let alone all the other teams in the world. He acted like he was the best person in the world, when in reality, he was one of the worst people I had ever met. How could the other players go along with what he was saying? They agreed with him many times, which angered me. Couldn't they see that Noah was hurting? If they couldn't see that, then I wasn't sure what they were seeing. 

A gust of wind blew through my hair, surprising me. It wasn't that windy today, but now I noticed that the wind was building up and clouds moved across the sky. A storm was coming, and it didn't look like it was going to be nice. Unzipping the pocket on my backpack, I grabbed my phone and checked the weather. I was right; a storm was coming, and the weather app advised everyone to go home and sit it out. 

I slowly stood up, smoothing out my jeans. I wanted to form my sentences before approaching Taylor. I had a gut feeling that he wasn't going to listen to me, so I had to make sure I was assertive enough. 

The sound of my feet hitting the metal bleachers made the boys look over at me. I wasn't expecting that, and it made me a little nervous to talk to them. Instead of showing my nervousness, I squared my shoulders and marched over to them, my phone clutched in my right hand. 

"I think you all should go home," I said, stepping right in front of Taylor. I crossed my arms over my chest, watching the twinkle in his eye grow. "There's going to be a storm and I really don't want to sit out in the rain."

Taylor threw his arms out, turning from side to side. "I don't see any sign of rain," he said, raising an eyebrow. The corners of his lips were turned up in a mocking grin, which made me really angry. "You just want to go home, don't you? Are you too tired of watching us practice?"

"What does that have anything to do with the rain?" My tone was rising higher and higher, but I had to get it under control. "I checked the weather, Taylor, and it said that there was a storm coming."

"We've played in the rain before."

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Whatever. I'll see you guys later."

Turning on my heel, I started walking back to the bleachers to get my backpack. I wasn't about to sit out in the rain, watching these annoying boys get dirty. I didn't have to stay here any longer than I had to. 

"Is little Lola afraid of storms? I see that your boyfriend didn't come back, so he can't protect you."

I stopped right in my tracks. Anger flared through me, and I ground my teeth together. He was trying to rile me up, and he was succeeding. I spun back around, marching back to Taylor. Out of the corner of my eye, Granger and Xian made their way toward me, placing themselves on either side of me. 

"You can talk about me all you want," I said, glaring up at him, "but if you ever talk about Noah again, I will personally kill you and no one will be able to know it was me."

Xian, Granger, and I made our way to the bleachers, and I sad, "How long has he been this freaking rude?"

"All four years."

"I'm sick and tired of him," I said, turning to face them. I picked my backpack up and slung it over my shoulders. I was literally shaking with anger, and I was sure they could see it. "I think I'm going home now. I'll talk to you boys later."

I didn't allow them time to speak to me. Hurrying away from the boys, I cursed under my breath. He succeeded in riling me up, but he deserved to be put in his place. How could I ever have thought he was a nice guy? They were all the same, the nice guys were. Next time he did something like that, I would get my revenge, and nothing would stop me.