Rusty's Secret

28. Practice

"Ugh...." Digger groans. He slowly sits up to shut off his alarm clock on his phone. He woke up to the scent of breakfast across the hall. "Digger, come eat brekkie! You have cricket practice, so hurry up!" His mum shouts. From the kitchen. "Ugh...coming..." Digger grunts as he crawls out of bed.
He cleans his teeth, fixes his hair, and then walks into the kitchen where everyone else was.

Rusty and Dusty were already sitting down at the table as he walked in. Dusty was waiting impatiently for her food.  Rusty had his eyes glued to his phone. Digger sits down next to Rusty. "Here ya go" Their mum sets down a plate of eggs and toast on the table.

Dusty begins to devour her food. Rusty hasn't eaten yet. He doesn't realize the plate in front of him. "Rusty, get off that phone and start eating!" His Mum commands loudly. "Oh! Uh...S-Sorry mum..." Rusty says embarrassingly. He places his phone next to him on the table just in case he got any new notifications.  "Were you texting Jack again?" Dusty asks, still picking at her half-eaten food. "Uh...N-No..." Rusty stutters as his face starts to turn red. "When are you gonna get a boyfriend, huh, Digger?" Dusty said teasingly. Digger almost threw up his food but swallowed it all with one big gulp. "What!? I don't like boys!" Digger shouted. Dusty wasn't buying it. Dusty gave him a look, her "Are you sure about that?" Look. "You're so annoying!" Digger shouted angirly as he stood up.

"Digger! Practice! Now!" His mum demanded. "Sorry..." Digger grabbed his bag near the front door. "I'll see you later" Digger sighed as he shut the door behind him. He climbed into his car, started it up, and drove to the field where he had practice.

A couple of minutes later, he arrives at his destination and parks in front of the field. He sees his friends Tiny, Captain, and Mia all talking to each other. "Hey Coach!" He shouts as he shuts his car door. "G'day, Digger!" Coach shouts back. He walks up to his friends on the bleachers.

"Hey, Mia" He smiled. "Hey, Cap!" Digger said as he gave Captain a fist bump. "H-Hi Digger" Tiny says nervously. Digger gives Tiny a dirty look as he sets his bag down on the bleachers. Tiny has been ghosting and ignoring Digger for the past couple of weeks. Digger has cut him off and acts like he doesn't exist. "Look, Digger I-"

"Alright! Get over here!" The coach shouts, cutting off Tiny's scentence with his obnoxious whistle. They all ran over to the wide open field. "Alright, you know the drill! Get in line!" Coach said demandingly. They all stood in front of each other and waited for their turn. "Alright, Captain, you're up!" The coach shouted, blowing his whistle one more time. Coach got into position as Captain took a few steps forward. "3...2...1!" The coach flings the ball towards Captain.

WHACK

Captin hits the ball extremely far with his bat. "Woah! Nice one!" The coach shouts proudly. "Mia! You're up next!" He yelled. "Good luck, Mia, you're gonna need it" Captain said teasingly as handed over the cricket bat to her. "I'm sure i won't" Mia said confidently. "3....2....1!" The coach shouts.

WHACK

The ball almost got as far as Captain's. "Good one!" The coach yells. "Digger, I-I really want to talk to you..." Tiny whispered from behind him. "Just shut up..." Digger whispered back. "Digger!" The coach shouts. Digger angirly walked up as Mia handed him the bat.  "Alright....3....2....1!"

WHACK

Digger hit the ball further than Captain. and Mia combined. "Woah! That was amazing, mate!" The coach shouts happily. Tiny starts to blush a little.  "Your turn, Tiny!" Tiny freezes up. Digger throws the bat into Tiny's arms. "O-Oh...Ok...." Tiny stutters. Tiny takes a few steps forward and takes a deep breath. "3....2....1!" The ball starts hurling towards Tiny.

WHACK

Tiny hits the ball almost as far as Captain. "Nice Job!" Coach says. Tiny let's out a sigh of relief. He heads back to the bleachers where everyone else was. "Nice one, mate!" Captain said, giving Tiny a high five. "Y-Yeah..." Tiny says as he sits down.

"Alright! That was great, guys! Now we're gonna focus on throwing!" The Coach anouces. "Everyone up!" He commanded. They all get up.

"Who wants to throw first?" He asks the group. Tiny quickly raises his hand as high as he can. "You're up, Tiny!" The coach shouts. He hands Tiny a ball. "Digger, come bat!" Coach says as he points to him. Digger rolls his eyes as he gets handed the cricket bat. "You ready, Tiny?" The coach asks. Tiny nods slowly. "You ready, Digger?" The coach asks. "Yup!" Digger shouts as he gets in his batting position. "3....2....1!"
Tiny throws the ball as hard as he can. It was too quick for Digger. He wasn't ready, he was distracted. He wasn't paying attention until,

SLAM

The ball hits Digger right in the gut, and he falls to the dirt ground. "DIGGER!" Tiny screamed. "I-I-I'm Sorry......A-Are you ok...?" Tiny asks with a worried expression. "Y-Yeah...I'm fine..." Digger groans while he clenches his stomach. The coach helps Digger onto the bleachers. "You should probably sit this one out, mate..." The coach suggested. Digger gave him a thumbs up.

"C'mon Tiny!" The coach yells. "I-Is it ok if I stay with Digger?" Tiny requested. "Yeah, I guess that's alright" the coach responds as he walks over to Captain and Mia. "You ok..?" Tiny asks again.  "Yes! I-I'm fine..." Digger replies, rudley. 

Digger watches the clouds, not saying another word to Tiny. Tiny stares at him. Tiny takes a deep breath. "Digger, c-can I talk to you..." Tiny asked nervously. "Ugh! What! What do you want from me! Do you think we're completely fine after you left me all alone for weeks! You're my best friend Tiny! Do you know how much it hurt after you ignored me!? What the fuck is wrong with you!" Digger vented. "D-Digger I-"

"You don't do you? Cuz you've never had the one person you care about most pretend like you don't exist for over a month! Stop! Just stop! I don't want to talk to you! Leave me alone!" Digger yelled as he sat further away from Tiny. "Digger, please! I-I'm sorry...I just...." Tiny stopped mid-scentence. "You just what!" Digger shouted. "I just...I've been wanting to tell you something....For a long...Long time...and I thought I wasn't ready so I distanced myself from you because I wasn't ready....." Tiny explained anxiously. Digger just sat there, waiting for Tiny's next words. "W-What I'm trying to say is that....I-I...I love you, Digger....a lot...I'm so...so sorry for everything...." Tiny confessed. "T-Tiny....I...." Tiny scooched closer to Digger and gave him a tight hug. "I...I love you too, Tiny..." Digger said as a smile grew on his face.

Coached walked over. "You guys okay? I heard some yelling" Coach asked the two."Y-Yeah, we're good" Digger answered. "Good enough to play, Digger?" He asked him. "Y-Yeah, I think I'm good.." Digger responds, his face still red.

The sky was getting dark. It was time to head home. "Have a good night, everyone!" The coach shouts as he watches everyone leave. Digger gets in his car as he waves goodbye to Tiny. Tiny waves back, with a large smile stretched across his face.