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Jude's jaw fell when the end of his bat hit the ball, it went flying through the air.
"Run, Jude!" Dustin yelled from the crowd. His shock wore off, dropping his bat as he ran to first base. When he got there, he looked out to see they had still been running to get the ball in the out field, making him take his chances by running to second base.
"Keep going!" coach yelled for him, Jude looked back to see they tossed the ball as he ran to third. They missed, causing the boy to run toward third. He knew he should have stayed, coach wanted him to stay. But, he ran, ran to home. The crowd was yelling, his friends were yelling, his dad was yelling, maybe even he was yelling. Jude saw the ball coming, taking his chances in sliding through the dirt.
His right foot hit base before the ball could.
"Yes! Yes!" Corey yelled from the crowd as everyone stood and cheered. Jude smiled, yanking his helmet off as he paid no mind to the dirt across his face.
"Yeah!" Jude yelled, pumping his fist into the air.
"With the final home run from number Twelve, Jude Mackenzie, his first game of the season, Hawkins High wins." the announcer spoke over the speaker as the team hugged and congratulated Jude, making him smile and look out into the crowd, searching for a face.
"Hey." the voice rung, making him turn to see Mike leaning on the fence. "That was pretty cool."
Jude's face lit up, getting patted on the back from the team as he escaped from the fence, walking around the meet Mike. "I didn't know you were here."
"I was hiding out over there." he pointed to the side of the bleachers. "Not nearly as discreet as Dustin and Corey."
Jude laughed. "Yeah, they're "Go, Jude" sign was real subtle."
"That's what I said." Mike agreed with a half grin. "So, are you going to the pep rally?"
"Yeah, for Lucas." he nodded, hesitating. "We can walk together if you can give me, like, fifteen minutes."
"I'll be-" Mike began, pointing back to his spot near the bleachers. "-hiding over there."
"Okay." Jude flushed slightly, turning around with a cheeky grin on his face, walking away.
"Judith!" Dustin jumped off the bleachers. "Are you kidding me? You are so cool."
"About time you noticed." he hugged him back. "I do happen to have a little bit more then my good looks."
"Just a little." Dustin agreed.
"That ball went flying!" Corey laughed as he hugged him next. "When you fell, I thought you actually fell, and then you were just sliding!"
"Still trying to explain baseball to him." Dustin nodded, holding up the sign. "We couldn't make shirts in time."
"Next game." Jude smiled, taking the poster. "I love it. Gonna look at it everyday."
