I made it, Ma

iv

"Alright, kids, good game!" They had just finished their game against the Brewers, where everyone had had a lot of fun, and to be able to play people they idolized? Cherry on top.

"Yeah!"

"Thanks!"

"Come again soon!"

"See ya!"

Skayler laughed softly, putting her things away in a bag. This was amazing, and she couldn't have thought of anything better to have done for her last season in high school ball.

"Hey, are you Skayler? Vuksan?" The man from the bleachers walked up, holding something in his hand as she had walked out of the dugout.

"Yup," she looked at him, still softly smiling. He smiled.

"I wanted to personally invite you to try out for the Timber Rattlers, I think you'll make it big," he smiled and handed her his card before nodding and walking away.

She stood there, mouth agape, and eyes wide. She looked down at the little white card, seeing an email and a phone number before looking up again. Now this was the cherry on top.

"What's that, Skayler?"

"The uh, dude. The one from the bleachers? He asked me to, ya know, try out for the Rattlers... personally. Said I've probably got," she mumbled off still staring straight ahead. James pushed her mouth shut for her. She mumbled a quiet 'thanks' before walking away to James' car.

As they drove, a silence settled over them. It wasn't awkward, but it sure as hell had a lot of tension.

"So you'll maybe make it into the minors?"

She nodded, fiddling with the card in her hand and toying with the edges. She was breathing quite fast, though her mind was blank.

"You might wanna, I don't know, steady your breathing? You seem seconds away from an attack," they both laughed, and the ride continued on in silence.

...

Today was the day. She was going to be at the try-outs (alongside Liam) for the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. 

And she was terrified.

'What if they think I'm terrible? What if I mess up? What if I don't do good enough? What if...' 

"What if, what if, blah blah blah!" She hissed angrily under her breath, glaring out the passenger window.

"What was that, Skayler?" Liam asked from the drivers side.

She shook her head. "Nothing, just talking to myself," it seemed as though it were a lie, but was it? If she were just saying things out loud, was it her talking to herself or her mind just becoming audible? Why would it be weird to talk to yourself, you do it all the time in your head. She snorted softly.

As they got closer to the field, she grew more and more nervous.

"You got this, Skayler. Between the two of us, you will probably make it," he smiled at her before turning his attention back to the road and pulling in to the parking lot.

As they got out and got their bags, she looked around at all of the people who had come to see their sons try out. Not a single woman was there, other than mothers.

The day went by smoothly, or so she thought. Nobody really paid her any attention, and she was happy about that. Everything would be fine!

Then she heard it.

"God, why did they let a girl here? This isn't a womans sport,"

"I know, she better just be here to help, or be eyecandy. God damn, I wanna-"

Nope. She would not listen to the rest of that sentence so help her. When it was her turn to pitch to the batter, she smiled softly at him. He bit his lip and winked.

"Don't worry, baby. I won't hit you," she snorted.

I won't hit you my ass.

"Can I do both hands?" She called to the director, who nodded while she went and got her right glove before throwing it down beside the mound.

She had a large preference for pitching and hitting with her right hand, though she did fine with both.

She was given a few warm up pitches before the batter stepped in.

"Curveball!" The man called out and she delivered. A curveball, which was put in the inner corner, made the batter swing and miss.

He shook his head. "Sorry, I just stumbled," he hissed out, eyes glinting.

"Gimme a few more of those," the director called, looking down at his clipboard.

She nodded and delivered a few more, each placed carefully and had thought put into them all.

The batter hit a grounder back to her.

He grumbled and stalked off, while the next batter came up.

"Alright, lemme see a..." he trailed off before looking up. "You know what? Do what you want," he finally finished, leaning back and watching her.

She gave a few fastballs, all placed carefully around his bat, before giving off a few sliders and then some slurves. She threw some nice knuckleballs and then a screwball.

The last few she threw with her right hand were her killer changeups. They were nasty, looking to be a fastball before slowing down to a near stand-still once they got closer to the plate.

"Can I see you pitch with your left, now?" She nodded to him, switching out the gloves and warming up a bit.

The next pitches she gave out were rise and sinkers, then her changeup and a cutter.

He nodded. "Good job, you can get ready to hit now, please," she hustled out.

"Great pitching," Liam tapped her head. She smiled and thanked him, before downing a bit of water.