The Curveball//zdh

Chapter 1//no pun intended

Cast:
You as Y/N

Zach Herron as himself

Your two best friends as Maddie and Haylee

Daniel Seavey, Jonah Marais, Zach Herron, Jack Avery, and Corbyn Besson (Why Don't We) as themselves

Please enjoy the story!
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"SHIT!" I wake up to Tyler, my brother, screaming obscenities throughout the house. It's 6 am on a Monday as far as I know. So why is he screaming?
As soon as my feet touch the floor, I realize why he is screaming. Shit, I think as I notice the numbers on my clock blinking 12:00 at me. The sun is already above the horizon. Shit, shit, shit, I say under my breath.
Tyler comes bursting into my room, "Y/N! Wake your ass up! It's 7:10!" He leaves, slamming the door behind him. I check my phone and sure enough it says 7:11 am right across the top of the screen.
I dig through the clean laundry basket that I folded last night but was too lazy to put away. I grab a random pair of ripped jeans and a pop-art tee-shirt with a picture of the Breakfast Club on it.
I don't have time to take a shower so I pull my hair into a quick ponytail and throw my checkered vans on, which definitely needed cleaning. Who has the time for that, though? I have practice until 5 pm after school, then several review packets to finish since finals are next week, the last week of school.
Championships are this Friday, though, so how could I focus on finals when the biggest game of the varsity baseball season was only four days away. I manage the varsity team, doing stats, keeping book, and basically making sure that the boys know what the hell is happening while they are in the dugout.
Most topics of conversation include, "Who's on deck?", "Who's pitching next inning?", "Am I sitting this inning?", and most recently, "Y/N, your ex needs to talk to you outside." The last one being my least favorite.
The boys all know my ex, Deaton Manson, considering he is the best distance runner on the boys' track team, and not to mention him being the biggest dickhead in the entire school. We broke up because he was controlling, demanding, jealous, and, most recently, violent.
        We are no longer together. He thinks we should be.
        "BUS!" I scream, running out the door with a pack of strawberry pop tarts and my bag unzipped. Tyler comes running out the door not even five seconds after me with what I can only assume is a pack of chocolate pop tarts and his bag hanging from his elbow. Thankfully, his lanyard with our house key is around his neck because I forgot mine.
        I sit down in my seat about three quarters of the way to the back of the bus. Tyler sits in the seat across from me, opening his pack of pop tarts. He sighs then turns to me with puppy dog eyes.
        "Forget it," I say, already knowing what he wants, "I'm not switching you."
        "But you know I hate the chocolate ones!" He pouts, sticking his bottom lip out like a child.
        "One of these days, you'll learn to check the box before grabbing a pack." I sigh and toss him my pack of pop tarts as he does the same.
        I munch on my breakfast quietly until I feel a tap on my shoulder, "You should really stop switching him."
        "I know, Maddie. I just can't deal with his complaining when he is hungry during third period." I shoot him a glare while he enjoys my precious strawberry breakfast pastries.
        Maddie slides into the seat next to me, sliding her bag on to the floor in front of her, "You're right, that is annoying. But that's what you get for being smart."
        "Mads, you're in my math class third period. You should be thanking me since you also sit next to him." Maddie and I are in a small group of juniors that take a senior math class, meaning I have class with my brother. He can be annoying, constantly asking me about the homework, what a specific symbol means, or to explain part of the notes that he didn't take. But in return, he will give me answers to the homework that I don't quite understand.
        "I guess you're right." Maddie says, giving Tyler an exasperated look.
        "Hey!" Tyler says, butting in just to show Maddie his middle finger, which she gladly returns.
        We pull into the school and everyone stands, gathering their bags. I stay sitting, waiting for everyone else to pass before walking up to the front, thanking the driver, and stepping out of the bus.
        The hallways seem a little more crowded this morning, but it might just be because I'm tired. I didn't even realize that my bag is still unzipped, so when someone bumps into me, all my stuff falls out and scatters across the hallway floor.
        "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry... here, let me help you," a voice says as I kneel down to grab my papers and books.
        When I finish grabbing what was left of my things, I looked up to meet the eyes of a boy I had never seen before.
        He had beautiful, dark, brown eyes and wavy, brown hair. He was wearing black jeans and a baseball jersey for my favorite team, the Pittsburgh Pirates. I wonder if he plays.
        He hands me what he picked up of my things, "Sorry again. I'm Zach Herron..." He scratches the back of his neck and adjusts the strap of his bag, shifting it to one shoulder, "And you are?"
        "Oh yeah, sorry. I'm Y/N  L/N."
        "Wait. L/N? As in the L/N that's on the baseball team?" He asks, tilting his head slightly.
        "That would be me and my brother. I manage the team and he plays." I say. He must play or else he wouldn't know all this.
        "Oh! Awesome! I was hoping I'd run into someone from the team... no pun intended." He chuckles, smiling. I giggle. I was a sucker for bad jokes and he had the cutest smile I'd ever seen.
        "Yeah, sorry about that by the way."
        "Oh it's not a problem," he says, "Actually, do you mind helping me find a couple of my classes before school? I'm new here if you couldn't tell."
        "I kinda figured. This school is kind of small so it's one of those everyone knows everyone situations... Let me see your schedule. I can show you where to go." He hands me a piece of paper with several hand-written numbers, names, and classes written on it. He has an independent study period in the band room. I lead him to the band room and he is immediately going around, gawking at all the instruments.
        "Wow." He says, coming up to a beautiful, red, acoustic guitar.
        "Do you play?" I ask.
        "Do I breathe?" He asks, sarcastically. Then he picks up and starts playing a vaguely familiar tune. Wait! I know this song! It's the tune of Don't You Forget About Me from the Breakfast Club.
        "I love this song!" I say.
        "I can tell!" He says, gesturing to my shirt. He finishes out the chorus and I compliment his musical abilities, as well as his taste in music.
        "So are you a junior or a senior?" I ask as we start walking to his second class period.
       "Oh. I'm a junior." He explains.
       "Nice. I'm a junior, but I'm one of the oldest in my class and I take a lot of advanced classes, so I'm basically a senior." I say with a nervous laugh, twiddling with my fingers. That isn't a flex, Y/N, literally shut up.
        He smiles and laughs. He has a cute smile and an even cuter laugh. Oh wow, I really need to calm down. This is not what I need right now. It's not the time for this. I literally just met this kid.
       "That's cool. Maybe we will have some classes together. I'm in a few advanced classes, too." He looks down at his paper again and asks, "Do you happen to have Jordan for math in third period?" He asks.
        "Actually, I do. Do you?" God, it was so obvious that he did but I still asked. What's wrong with me?
        "Yeah! Do you mind showing me where—" He gets cut off by the warning bell, meaning we had four minutes to get to class.
        "I'd love to. How about I meet you outside your second period class and we can walk there together?" I suggest.
        "Sounds amazing. See ya then." He says, waving with two fingers like a salute and walks back to the band room. I walk the other way towards my first class, smiling the whole way.
         END OF CHAPTER ONE