The One Underneath

|| Uncle J ||

I stood outside the door to the clubhouse, waiting for AJ to come out as I wrapped my Vanderbilt softball sweatshirt around me tightly. Atlanta definitely wasn't somewhere you wanted to be alone at during the night time hours, especially in a dimly lit gravel parking lot.

I watched Freddie, Kelly Johnson, and Christian Bethancourt walk out, AJ soon following behind.

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked me as I started walking beside him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I told him in the most upbeat voice I could muster.

"Why didn't you go with Lisa and the kids?" He asked me as we heard Freddie laugh loudly at something Chris had said. I wasn't about to tell him I wanted to see Alex.

"No reason. Just wanted to hang out with the best uncle in the world!" I told him, causing us both to laugh as we headed for the car.

"I feel like that's not the only reason, but I'll roll with it." He laughed again, putting his bags in the back as I got in the front.

I watched in the side mirror as Alex came up to AJ, 'bro-hugging' him and causing him to laugh at something Alex had just said.

"Alright, I'll see ya later, bud." AJ called as he opened the drivers door.

"How old is Alex?" I asked.

"I think he's 24. Why do you ask?" He questioned, backing out of his spot. All the guys here had certain places they parked. They didn't have 'assigned' parking, but they all parked in the same places almost every time.

"No reason. Just wanted to know." I said nonchalantly, checking the time on my phone absentmindedly.

"You're not telling me the whole truth, Addilynn Marie!" He told me lovingly.

"I am too, uncle J!" I looked over at him. For as long as I could remember, whenever I called AJ uncle, it would be uncle J.

"I know you better than that." He smiled, trying not to smirk.

"I can't believe you think your own niece is lying. Not cool, Pierzynski." I did a fake sad voice.

"Nah, but I've known you since birth, so I think I know when you're lying." He replies.

"Whatever, let's just go home." I rolled my eyes, causing AJ to laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Miss Adds, you have a phone call." Lisa handed me their house phone.

"Hello?" I answered awkwardly, not knowing who was on the other line.

"Hey, Addilynn?" The same kid from the game answered.

"Oh, yeah. Hey." I replied.

"I just wanted to call you and tell you I'm sorry for being a jerk earlier." He calmly said.

"Nah, it's cool. Don't worry about it." I shrugged, even though he couldn't see me.

"Well, um. I guess I'll see you later?" He asked me in reference to the second game of the series tomorrow.

"Probably!" I replied, trying to sound nice.

"Okay. Goodnight." He told me, then hung up.

"Um, okay..." I clicked the end button slowly.

I went to the kitchen and handed the phone back to Lisa, then trotted up the stairs. I went into my room and changed into a Vanderbilt t-shirt and Nike shorts, throwing my hair up into a bun.

I stared up at the celling, thinking about different things. Mainly about Alex's phone call. He had been on my mind since I left him after he went to smoke that cigarette. I knew that there was something different about him; that his emotions had been beaten and tarnished in some say. I needed to find the one underneath.