Who Says Girls and Baseball Don't Mix?

Chapter Five: Step Up To The Plate... With a Blank Page Journal

Gordon's POV

I stare after her in awe. No girl has ever talked to me that way before, even when they had been upset. All of my friends are asking me questions about who River was and she had acted like that, but since I didn't know myself, I didn't answer them. Instead I ignore all of their questions and walk out after her.

What in the world would cause her to act like that? I mean, I know she hates me because I want her to, but I didn't think that she would react that badly when she saw me. I had seen her walk in with Jaxon's little sister and her friends. I knew they were here shopping for dresses for the dance; Brittany is doing the same thing. But what happened in those ten minutes that could've made her so upset?

I get all the way outside and look on the curb for her. Bunches of people mill around and I'm not surprised. It's the start of the weekend before school starts for a lot of the kids and people are getting school clothes shopping done. I notice two small boys tossing around a baseball and I smile. I've always loved kids but have never told anyone. And never will tell anyone.

I scan over the crowd some more and finally catch a glimpse of River sitting on a bench near the edge of the curb. I start toward her before realizing she's not alone. He had been blocked by one of the pillars but when I moved, he comes into clear view. It's that arrogant jerk Jaxon Hill. I stare at them for a brief moment before moving closer to hear what they are saying. I make sure that I am hidden by the pillars of the building. I get close enough to tell that River is still crying.

"I want to hate him," River is sobbing and I automatically know now that it has something to do with her boyfriend. "But we were together for so long that I feel like I can't!"

Jason looks so awkward in the position that he's in, so much so that I'm half tempted to walk over and take his spot. But what they do next makes me freeze. I watch closely as Jaxon reaches up and wraps his arm around River. She leans into his shoulder and continues to sob. I watch , unmoving as she stops crying and just leans into his shoulder, taking a deep shuddering breath. I sigh and walk back inside. I shouldn't watch. I shouldn't.

River'sPOV

"C'mon River! You've been in there for three hours! It's almost dinner time!" Bay pounds on my door. I clutch my stuffed brown bear close to my chest. Tears now stream silently down my face. The racking sobs left me after Jaxon had comforted me and Bay had picked me up. I hardly could get the story out to explain to Bay what was going on. And then I had to hold him back to keep him from running to New York himself and murdering Tony.

"I'm not hungry!" I yell back for the fifth time and this time that did the trick. He sighs and walks away from the door. I hear him tell Mom that and she agrees finally, not sending him back up. I take a sniffling breath through my nose and sigh. I lean back against the wall, resting my head. As my head hits the wall, I hear a small and think, as if the wall where my head was is hollow.

I knock on it and I can officially tell it's hollow. I turn around and press my fingertips against the section. Everything seems hard until my fingers reach across the left side of the wall. My fingers go down suddenly and a small handle appears. I pull the section open and a puff a dust shoots into my face. I cough and loom inside the small section of wall.

I notice a large journal sitting directly in the center of the small section. It looks like it used to be way bigger than it did. I also notice a small black marker sitting next to it. I reach over to the journal and pick it up. I open it to the first page and read the title:

Lettersto Future Users Of This Journal