Softly

Chapter 2

"Come on, you hit like a girl!" My coach yells at me so I can work through my anger. Something about channeling it into the ball, whatever that means. Thinking out how upset things cause me to be, I swing the bat hard into the ball. My coach nods before telling us to go shower. 

"So, what do you think about when you hit the ball?"  Jacelynn asks me politely.

"Homestly, I think of a really hardcore song and hit it to the beat. Normally it's the same one," she nods and waits for more, "but this time, I thought of Jason." I smile at her and she smiles. Jason is her ex who used to beat her and we all try to say things to make her feel better about him getting beat up by him. 

"I do too." She lightly laughs and plays with her fingers before pulling me into a hug.

"Ari, you are amazing. I'm so glad I got to be on your team." I hug her back and smile. She is absolutely beautiful and I can't believe he used to hurt her in anyway. She can't even hurt a fly, but I guess we are just like animals. We seek to find the weakest, smallest pray and attack there causing the herd to die one by one. 

"No problem, Jace." She smiles softly and walks into the locker room to grab her stuff. I follow behind her, wanting to get home quickly so I can see Hayden and Anna later for dinner. Just as I am about to leave; however, Jacelynn catches my attention.

"Um, I'm sorry to bug you, Ari, but do you think you can take me home? My dad is out." She switches feet before looking up at me. I smile and nod.

"Yeah, if you want you can come to dinner with me, so you aren't alone." I offer her causing her to nod excitedly. I qiuckly text Anna and Hayden and we pile inside my car. I toss Jacelynn my phone and tell her to pick a song. After scrolling through the list of all my songs, she decides to listen to Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Ray.

"Are you sure about this song?" I ask before pulling out of the parking lot. She nods and we listen in silence as the voice pours into the car. I hum along, softly singing the lyrics when Jacelynn changes the song to Work by Iggy Azalea. 

"I thought I could handle a sad song but I can't." She frowns and apologizes. I shake my head.

"It's fine. I have to stop by my house and shower. If you want we have the guest room's bathroom." She smiles and nods. 

"Thanks." She looks out the window and follows me inside the house. I show her the bathroom and the towels before heading upstairs and into my bedroom.

"You do know, that, this is a little awkward for me right?" She looks away from me.

"You don't got to, I just figured you would like to be clean before dinner." I head upstairs and plug my phone into the iHome and play Bang Bang by Will.I.Am. The music causes me to relax some as the catchy beat fills the room. I remove my softball outfit and step into the shower. After a while, I head into my bedroom and play Murda Business by Iggy Azalea and get my curling iron out. There is a small knock at my door and I open it up. Jacelynn is wearing one of my sweatshirts and a pair of pants. I smile at her.

"If you want, you can help me pick out my outfit!" She smiles and nods. She heads over to my closet and begins looking through my clothes. 

"You have beautiful outfits!" She smiles at me and hands me a navy dress with white polka dots, a white cardigan with nave anchors and white sandals. I approve and finsh curling my hair. After  I finish my hair and change, I apply a light amount of mascara and eyeliner and head out the door. Inside my car, Jacelynn turns on the radio and we listen in silence.Once we get to the restraunt, Jacelynn gets out of the car and I reapply some chapstick. 

"Oh em gee there is my girl!" Anna cheers loudly when I enter and head towards our table. I smile and rush to hug her. Hayden gets up and makes his way towards me.

"Last I checked, Anna, you aren't Ari's mother." I smile and huge him, before turning to sit into my seat.

"I hope you don't mind that I invited Jace." I say to Anna. Anna normally puts our get togethers, well, together and I just sprung it on her.

"No problem, Jace is totally cool!" She squeals kind of loudly. Everyone looks towards our table and I wave softly at them.

"Anna, seriously?" Hayden frowns at her and I laugh softly. Jace smiles at Anna.

"Hi, my name is Greyson. I'll be your waiter tonight. Can I start you off with a drink or appitizer?" 

"We will all have a water," Anna says.

"I'll have a sweet tea," I defy Anna and she huffs.

"Pepsi for me," Jace says.

"Heck, gimme a Pepsi also." Anna waves him away and we smile softly. Anna flips us off before looking at her menu.

"I think I want the Chicken Parm with garlic bread," Anna points to Jace's menu and we all keep our noses into what we want to order.

"I had a great time, thank you Ari." Jace smiles after I dropped her off.

"No problem!" I shout as I pull away.

I turn on the radio and sing along to Magic!'s Rude. Every once in a while I would see a deer running in the fields near Hayden's house. He texted me earlier asking for me to come over and I figured why not? I pull into his drive way at five past ten. He opens his door and waves at me. I park the car and get out, making sure to lock it behind me and enter into his home. His parents aren't home, but his younger sister Ella is. 

Ella is four years old and has beautiful black hair. I smile as I see her and open my arms to give her a hug. Ella is Hayden's half sister, but she looks just like him. 

"Ella missed Ari!" She squeals in her loud high pitched voice. She's stuck in the phase where she talks in third person. I think she got it from Elmo, but who knows entirely.

All that matters is what Hayden wants to talk about.