Chapter 34
“Idon’t understand what just happened.”
Denny let out an aggravated sigh from next to Mel. “He struck out.”
“He didn’t swing,” Mel said. “The last time a batter didn’t swing, he got to go to first base.”
“This time the umpire said the ball was in the strike zone, so he should have swung.”
“All these rules are confusing.”
“All these rules are what make baseball make sense.”
Mel never would have thought Denny would be the one saying rules were good. “They’re still winning, though, right?” They hadn’t seen the score change again since the Sailors scored a run in the second inning.
“Yes, Mel. They don’t get a point for striking out the other team.”
“I didn’t think they did,” Mel shot back and caught Denny rolling their eyes.
Whatever. It looked like they were going to a commercial break. Mel grabbed their phone and headed toward their office. The directors scheduled time for Mel to give a presentation on what hiring a professional counselor would mean for the center.
Tomorrow. Which meant Mel needed to get their shit together. They certainly didn’t need to be distracted by a game they didn’t understand. Not even if it meant getting a few glimpses of Rhys.
Especially not that. They had more important things to worry about now.
Even when they sat down at their desk, they brought up the game there. It wasn’t like there was anything wrong with listening to it as they pulled together all their research. Even if they didn’t understand most of what the commentators were discussing.
They did keep half their attention on it while they drafted a presentation, making sure to cite the sources where they found statistics and other figures.
Maybe the directors wouldn’t care how much suicide rates dropped when queer youth felt truly accepted and like they had someone who would listen, who would try to understand.
Mel cared. They didn’t want to lose any of these kids.
Not if they could help it. They didn’t want any of them to struggle the way Mel had.
If they hadn’t found groups on campus, who let Mel see the way they felt wasn’t abnormal…
well, they didn’t know what would have happened.
They didn’t think it would have been great.
And kids like Alexis McCoy, who only had unsupportive families… they didn’t deserve to be left to try to float on their own.
They needed to convince the directors they couldn’t do it all on their own. They might have to shell out some money, but in the long run, it was worth it.
These kids’ lives were worth it.
Rhys’s name brought their attention fully back to the game.
The bottom of the ninth, and the other team had tied it up.
Mel hadn’t realized so much of the game had passed.
They had slides with different suicide rates, with the research about what helped those to drop.
They’d written a damn speech. They’d still have to smooth out some rough edges, but this was something they could bring to the directors.
Rhys stepped up to the plate. Caleb stood at second, and there were two little red dots on the scoreboard. Which Mel learned meant there were already two outs.
Which meant this was the last chance for the Ocelots to score.
No, it would go into extra innings if they didn’t.
Because there weren’t ties in baseball. They retained that much from all the information Denny had spewed out at them over the last months.
Even if Mel only started paying attention in the last week or so.
Mel leaned closer to their computer screen as the camera panned from Caleb back to Rhys. They could swear they could see his lips curve up as he dug his back foot into the dirt. On someone else, they might have even called it a smirk. He could seem to make even that affable.
They didn’t know how he did it.
They thought about the way he’d talked to Liam. The shadows they’d seen in his eyes when he’d looked toward the center. Maybe some of that was a mask to hide the darker parts of what he’d been through. Did he have any place where he was able to take that mask off and be himself?
A loud crack brought Mel’s attention back to their screen.
It showed a quick shot of the ball arcing through the air then Caleb running through third and sliding home.
Mel could hear Denny shouting in the other room.
On the screen the rest of the team piled on top of Caleb.
Rhys came jogging across the middle of the field and joined the rest of them.
Mel was confused. There was still one out left, but they were acting like the game was over. Denny was already tired of their questions, so Mel didn’t want to ask them yet more.
Mel:
Congratulations, I guess
But, why didn’t you have to keep playing? I didn’t think the inning was over yet.
They set their phone down and went back to the computer, bringing up their presentation. They didn’t expect to hear from him right away. He was a little occupied at the moment. They needed to get this presentation into better shape before the morning.
Which was the only thing their attention needed to be on right now. Their gaze drifted to their phone. They’d wake up the screen, only to see that no they hadn’t missed a message from him.
Which was for the best. They needed to focus on this.
After a while, they shut the computer down, realizing they weren’t going to get any more work done. Just as they were gathering their stuff to round up Sonia and Denny and take them home, their phone buzzed.
Rhys:
Walk off, baby!
Since we’re the home team, there’s no chance for them to come back. We only needed the one run to win it.
that always feels good
Especially after not getting to play for a week
And how was your day?