Three Strikes, Your Out!

chapter 6

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED JAY!?!?" Luke one of our other batters yelled causing them all to look at me along with some other random kids.

when they all looked at me, i just stood there and dropped my head. they all came over and picked me up inspecting me and the damages.

"Jay, who. the. hell. did. this." Tyler our 3rd baseman said through gritted teeth, obviously trying to control his breathing so he wouldnt go full out screaming.

"haha um..... i kinda sorta fell..." i mumbled still looking at the floor scared of what theyre thinking right now. Tyler grabbed my chin and tilted my head up towards them so they could inspect my face which still had the faintest bruise from where my dad smacked me. you could see the anger quickly taking over their usually calm and gentle dispositions. for big guys you wouldnt really think of them as giant puppies or teddy bears but thats exactly what they were once you got to know them...weird, cuddly, playful, awkward, and funny guys.

"Jay. we're going to ask you one last time. who did this." it was more of a statement rather than a question. i quickly glanced at their annoyed, angry, and worried expressions.

"umm.... i..... it was....." was all i could get out before falling into Tylers arms crying. i tried not to cry, i truly did, but i was no match for the emotions taking over my body. i never cry in public. never have and never will. never show weakness was one of my mottos i came up with. he instantly wrapped his arms around me and all the other guys formed a giant group hug right there in the middle of the hallway while getting strange glances from people walking past us.

"shhhhh shhh its okay baby." Tyler said while gliding his hand down my hair trying to calm me down. i just kept on crying letting the pain of a few nights ago go with the salty tears trailing down my face.

{Jacobs POV}

" dude what do you mean you wanna settle down for a while with a girl?!" Drew was yelling at Harvey because apparently Harvey found a girl who he really likes and wants to ask her on an actual date. i really dont see why Drews getting all worked up about this, i mean hey, if Harvey found a nice girl who he likes i dont see why he cant ask her out. just at that moment i stopped in my tracks to see the whole baseball team in what seemed like a group hug with kids staring at them like they were crazy. you could hear a girl crying and the guys and another girl trying to calm her down so she wouldnt pass out.

"what the hell is this about?" i asked some random kid who was watching.

"J-Jay Sh-Shimms is back." they muttered looking at me like they thought i was going to rip their head off. Jay. then it hit me, the small girl who bumped into me a few days ago, the baseball beauty. i dont know why but i had a sudden urge to rip off the head of whoever made her cry.

yep, thats the anger talking...

i just sat there and stared at the group while kids around us whispered about what happened. after a few minutes the guys around her backed up a little and she sniffled a little before thanking the guys who had the same 'im going to rip off the head of whoever did this to you' mixed with concern expression that i probably had. just then the bell went off for first period and she picked up her stuff and went to the doors that lead to the baseball field. after saying bye to the guys and making sure the coast was clear i followed her not realizing what i was doing at first. when i got outside i found her sitting on the bleachers silently crying. something snapped inside of me when i saw her like this, she looked so small and fragile. i hadnt realized it earlier but she had a cast on her arm and a slight bruise on one of her cheeks, it took so much to not flip out and break something in half.

again, calm yourself man.

when i started walking up the bleachers she jerked her head up startled that someone was there and started standing up ready to try and run. just as she was about to go i stepped i front of her and pulled her in for a hug. as my arms and body engulfed her tiny frame she immediatly tensed up and tried to stop crying.

"hey, hey.... shhhhh." i said trying to keep my voice calm and gentle as i could. after a little while she relaxed a little and started slightly crying a little again. i dont know what i was doing and why i suddenly cared so much about this girl and why it killed me to see her cry. i never cared. i was the school bad boy. the player who had one night stands and was suddenly standing hugging a girl i barley knew trying to get her to stop crying so i could find out what happened. when she stopped crying again i pulled her back so i could see her face. her eyes were red and puffy from crying so much while her eyes were glazed over with tears and she had tear stains on her cheeks. she was slightly shaking and was staring up at me with her big brown orbs full of confusion and some of the same unreadible expression as the day we ran into eachother.

"wh-what are y-you doing he-here?" she hiccuped trying to calm herself down and stop shaking. i just pulled her back to me wanting to keep her safe from whatever was happening to her.

wait what! when the heck did i think that?! i never thought stuff like that! this girl was seriously doing something to my mind. and for some crazy reason... i liked it... i think i need to get help and ask the guys opinion on this.

i started rubbing her back with one of my hands while the other kept her close. when my hand touched her side she flinched back and squirmed around in my grip.

"what happened?" i asked her turning her chin up so i could see her face.

"n-nothing." she said quickly looking at the ground not wanting to look me in the eyes.

"Jay. you flinched, what happened?" i asked again turning her head up to me again.

"nothing. why would you care if something happend to me?" she asked a hint of annoyance showing in her features before being replaced by fear.

"because, ever since you bumped into me in the hall and didnt show up the next few days i got a little worried. plus, its nothing if you come back to school 3 days later have a cast on your arm, bruise on your face, and flinch when i touch you when you didnt before." i stated still looking at her.

what the hell! did i really just tell her that i was worried about her! seriously! what the heck was happening to me?! i really need help. and soon.

"wh-why would you worry about me? you barely know me. and for all you know i couldve gotten in a fight with someone or fell off my skateboard or had a bad batting practice." she said then almost immediatly put her hand over her mouth and stepped back fear completely consuming her face this time. "i uh, i have to get back to um, i should get back to class." she said in almost a whisper before grabbing her bag and trying to run back to the school. i stood there confused. 'why would you worry about me? ......... i couldve gotten in a fight with someone or fell off my skateboard or had a bad batting practice.'

why would i worry?

i actually couldnt answer that myself. it was like i was having an internal battle between my brain and my heart. my brain saying that i didnt care and i just wanted to get in her pants and my heart saying that i liked this girl and to keep her safe and that something wasnt right. i thought about the last part of what she told me, '... i couldve gotten in a fight with someone or fell off my skateboard or had a bad batting practice.' well she certainly didnt fall off her skateboard i know that. my little brother fell off his all the time and he was a little dare devil, and hes never gotten hurt that bad ever. so that left getting in a fight with someone or bad batting practice. i could possibly ask the guys if it was even possible for something like that to happen. back to the fight, that stuck in my mind. questions reeled through my mind, who? why would they hurt her? was it intentional? did she do something wrong? was it family or someone else? i was broken out of my thoughts when the bell rang again signaling the end of first period. i slowly made my way back to the school questions and thoughts still going through my head. and one big question, 

what the hell is wrong with me?

----------picture of Taylor on the side--------