Embellished With Lies

Chapter Four

"That was such a bad hit," Leo exclaimed across the diamond to Nick, who held his hands up in defense.

"I'm sorry!" He shouted back. "My brother slammed my hand in the car door. It's still not working right."

I rolled my eyes and adjusted my blue baseball cap. Nick's brother, Andy, has anger issues, to put it simply. He was always getting frustrated with Nick. Andy thinks that just because he's a senior he can control whoever he wants to. That includes us "pathetic" sophomores. His parents aren't thrilled about his behavior, either. They've threatened to kick him out of the house. Obviously they hadn't followed through on their threat yet, but I had a feeling that day was coming near.

Sam threw the ball back to me. "I know dude, but can you at least try a little harder?"

"Yeah," Jackson agreed from center field. "I want to get a good use out of my mitt."

"Okay, guys," I settled them down. "We need to get this practice done, yeah?"

"Where's coach, anyways?" Ryan asked from the dugout. "He said he was going to be here."

"Next practice," I corrected him. "His daughter had a dentist appointment."

During the typical practice, we run drills for part of the time, and then we scrimmage: starting versus second string.

I personally loved it that way. The whole team got practice and got to play in a game, even if it wasn't a legit one. I think second string liked it that way as well.

At least I hoped so. I would never want them to feel excluded.

"Pitch it again, Kelton!" Nick shouted, gripping the bat and hitting the bottom of his cleats.

"You ready, man?" I asked, making sure.

He nodded. "Heck yeah!"

I pitched the ball, and Nick hit it deep left field.

Owen dove for it and caught it with the snap of his glove.

"Ooh!" Leo shouted from behind home plate. "You're out, son!"

Nick rolled his eyes, a smirk playing on his lips. "Alright, alright, but next time, you're toast."

"I'll remember that," Leo shouted as Hunter stepped up to the plate.

"Come on Shelton," Kirk shouted. "Make up for Nick's crap run."

I pitched him the ball, and he got a single.

---

"What are you?" Coach asked when he stepped out of his car. "A bunch of sissies?"

"Why do you ask?" Adrian laughed.

"You're quittin' early!"

"No," I corrected him, "it's 6:00. Practice is over."

"Oh, well, I was just testing you," he told us.

Coach's daughter, Lily, was standing behind his legs like she always was when she visited our practices. The team loves her: she's only seven, and coach tells us that she adores us all. So, basically, she's like the team's little sister.

"Hey Lily," Leo called over to her. "Dentist was good?"

She nodded. "Yeah."

"Good."

"Hit the showers, team," Coach insisted. "You had a hard practice."

"How can you tell?" I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

"Because you're all sweating like pigs."

The whole team laughed as we grabbed our equipment and headed into the locker room.

"So, who's coming to Ted's Grill with me tonight?" I asked as I took off my practice jersey and untied my black cleats.

"I can't," Levi informed me. "I have plans with Leslie."

"Ooh, the girlfriend..." Leo teased.

"Shut up." Levi rolled his eyes.

I ignored them. "Who wants to go?"

"I will," Hunter spoke up as he walked over to the showers. "I have nothing else to do, anyways."

"Yeah, I think I can make it," Gavin added. "I always have time for ma boys."

I laughed. "Leo, you coming?"

Leo shrugged. "I can, as long as I get back in time for Ellie's piano concert."

"'Kay," I replied and hopped into one of the showers; I let the cold water pour on me until I grabbed one of the white, matted towels. "Anyone else? Derek?"

"Sure," he agreed. "I'm starved."

"Me too," I nodded and dried my dark hair with the towel. "I'm really hungry for one of their burgers."

Once we were dressed, we slung our duffle bags over our shoulders.

"What time is your sister's recital?" I asked Leo as he, Gavin, Derek, Hunter, and I walked to the local diner. Ted's Grill: my favorite. It's one of a kind; the best in all of Hillside. Heck, it's probably the best grill in all of South Carolina. Their mushroom and Swiss cheese burger is to die for.

My mouth is watering just talking about it.

"Um..." Leo started, "I think it's at 7:30 or something. I'm not too sure."

"Do you think we'll finish eating by then?" Gavin asked, a grin spread out wide on his face.

I knew what he was implying. Usually, when members of the team go out to dinner, we eat for a solid ten minutes, sometimes fifteen depending on how hungry we are, and then we just hang out for hours.

Literally.

Once a couple of the guys and I spent three hours in a buffet. Half of the reason was that we kept on getting more food, but still. That's a long time for guys to hang out talking.

When we arrived, Ted's was already kind of full, so we sat at a table for six in the back.

"Hey boys," Ted came out wearing his famous white apron. This time, it had a yellow grease stain on it. "How's the team looking?"

We chuckled.

"Pretty good," Derek answered him.

"I'll bet," Ted smiled, looking at all of us. "Wow. We have the most talented Junior Varsity team. Do you want to know why that is?"

"Yeah; why?" Hunter asked.

"Because you all have drive, determination, perseverance." He grinned. "All them other teams do it for selfish reasons, like the recognition or the girls or the experience. But you all do it for the pure passion of the sport."

I hadn't really thought about it that way.

"Well, Leo does baseball for the chicks," Derek joked.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Do not. I swear to God."

"Hey, swearing to God is not good. Swearing is not good at all," I pointed out, trying my best to be annoying.

"Shut up," Leo told me.

Ted took our order, but he knew he didn't have to. He knew what we were going to have even before we said a word.

And, once our food came, we were indulged in heaven: food with the guys.

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Hey! I have to go but how was it? Bad? Good? Eh?

Please comment, vote, and keep reading for more! I think next chapter is where it gets interesting (@livster17 )

anywho, LOVE YOU ALL!!

Madi :)