Glory Days

Chapter 37: Baseball?

-Rylee-

Now with my AP Physics exam over, I can finally relax and focus on finals, which are always easy. And, I can spend more time with Henry. Except, he still has baseball so he's still super busy. We've gone on 2 dates, and they were both amazing. I love spending time with him outside of school and band, we have no pressure or responsibilities so we can just enjoy each other.

I walk into band early to get a head start on setting up the timpani. A freshman was playing around with it a couple of days ago and it takes longer to tune it now. Mr. G took a look at it, but he can't figure out what he did. I walk into the quiet band room and sigh.

"You're early." I hear a familiar voice say. I look over and see Henry.

"You're never early." I say and smile.

"Yeah, I noticed that it takes you a while to tune the timpani, so I thought I come early and give you some company when you tune." He says and smiles.

"I'm not that lonely." I say and laugh. I walk to the back of the room and place down my backpack next to him.

"What happened to it?" He asks as we walk over to the timpani.

"Mr. G thinks that a freshman messed around with the smallest drum, it's always out of tune at the beginning of class. But it's not too hard to fix." I say.

"Ah." Henry says. He watches me as it tune the small drum, leaning against the wall. I look up at him and smile, he smiles back. "You like what you see?"

"Ugh, sometimes I think you love yourself too much." I say and roll my eyes.

"Maybe." He says and chuckles. "But, you still like me anyways."

"Yes, I do." I say and smile.

"Hey so I was wondering if you wanted to come to my Baseball game on Thursday. We play at Westmoore so it's our rival game, which is a big deal, I guess. And I know you have a couple of friends over there so maybe- "

"Yes, I would love to come." I say. Henry smiles. "My friend Kira is actually really good friends with one of the baseball players at Westmoore, so I think I'll ask her if she's going."

"Really? That's great. I didn't think you would want to go, since you complained about football so much." Henry says and takes his hand out of his pockets. I take one of his hands in mine.

"Well football is confusing. I occasionally watch baseball with my dad. It can be quite an exciting game." I say.

"Who does your friend know on the team?" Henry asks.

"Do you remember Aaron Vandorren?" I ask. Henry nods his head. "She's friends with him."

"Really? That's crazy!" Henry says.

"I know! Also, she has feelings for him, and I get the sense that he likes her too. But I think they're too scared to tell each other." I say. Henry laughs a little.

"I know that feeling." He says, looking down at our hands.

"Yeah, it's a little scary." I say. He wraps his lean arm around my shoulder.

"But it was worth it." He says looking down at me. I smile up at him.

"Yes, I guess it was." I say.

-Aaron-

Yesterday we had our AP Bio exam and not going to lie, I feel pretty confident with how it went. I walk into homeroom towards my usual seat next to Kira. She is quietly reading a book with her air pods in. When I sit down, she smiles and takes out her air pods and closes her book.

"So, how'd it go yesterday? I know we can't talk specifics, but how do you generally feel?" She asks.

"I feel pretty good. I knew everything that was on the test and I feel pretty confident in my free response questions. How about you?" I ask.

"I feel pretty good too. It's nice to know that everything we learned was on the exam." Kira says and smiles. She looks very relaxed and happy, a look she hasn't had in a while.

"Yeah, that is a good feeling." I say.

"When do you play Lakewood?" She asks.

"Oh, on Thursday." I say. "Are you thinking of going?"

"Yeah, I have a friend whose boyfriend is on their varsity team and I was thinking of asking her if she was going."

"Wow, you know everyone don't you?" I say and laugh.

"You could say that." She says and smiles. "Actually, Emme introduced us to each other."

"Really? That's pretty cool." I say. "Who is her boyfriend?"

"Henry Davis." She says. I start to laugh but Kira looks confused.

"Henry Davis was notoriously known for having many, many girlfriends." I say. "What's her name?"

"Rylee." She says, still confused.

"That name doesn't ring a bell." I say, thinking back on the people I knew at Lakewood.

"Well, she's in Band so you probably never had classes with her."

"Wait... I think I remember Henry saying once that he was in Band, but some of the guys said band was for losers. I told him I thought it was great he was taking a class he enjoyed. Well, good for him, and Rylee." I say.

"Yeah." She says. She looks like she wants to say something else, but she goes back to reading her book. I pull out my Spanish notebook and read over my vocabulary for the upcoming speaking final.

--

Coach gives us a long lecture about how important it is to win this game and other inspiring coach 'words of wisdom'. I'm fairly certain the coach at Lakewood is giving the same lecture to his team. Coach calls my name as we leave to go to the field.

"Aaron, I want you to come up to plate for the pregame. Is that good with you?" He says.

"Yes, I'll come up." I say. Pregame is when one player from each team come up with the coaches and shakes hands with the coaches and player and Umpire to show good sportsmanship. After we warm up on the field, I walk up with the coaches to Home Plate to meet for pregame. I look over at the player from Lakewood and recognize him.

"Henry, is that you?" I ask. He smirks and nods his head.

"Yeah, how's it going Aaron?" He asks.

"Pretty good. I miss the old team but Westmoore is pretty all right. I heard you have a girlfriend." I tease.

"Yeah, her name is Rylee." He says and smiles. "She's apparently friends with a friend of yours, who happens to be a girl." He says and winks.

"Yeah, her name is Kira." I say and blush a little. "But were just um, were just friends."

"Heard that before." He says and laughs. "Here's some advice. Once you say how you really feel, it gets easier."

"Thanks." I say. Henry chuckles and shakes his head, clearly amused. He then looks to the stands and smiles to a tall African American girl with black curly hair. She's standing next to Kira. That must be Rylee. Rylee nudges Kira and she looks towards me and smiles. I smile back at her.

"Yeah, you're not just friends." Henry says shaking his head.

"Oh, shut up." I say and chuckle.

"Well, good luck to Westmoore." Henry says and holds out his hand.

"Good Luck to Lakewood." I say and shake his hand.