Junior Year Box Set

When it was my turn, Coach Boyd called out what pitch was coming. They started me out on a steady diet of fastballs. In high school, it was rare to see anyone throw over 90 mph, but the man I was facing was consistently in the mid-90s. It took me a dozen pitches to start to tag him. Coach Revilla calmly reminded me to trust the system. When I finally launched one out of the park, I began to get curveballs.

I got lucky and launched the first one. That was when they stopped telling me what pitch was coming. I embarrassed myself several times as I hacked away at some mistaken predictions. I guess I might not be ready for the major leagues. Coach Revilla wasn’t discouraged, so I felt better about myself.

“David, grab a glove and shag a few fly balls,” Coach Boyd suggested.

They sent me to center field, and I began to run down fly balls or back up grounders. On Kris’ last at-bat, he hit one through the gap between center and right fields that then rolled to the wall. I’d been tossing the balls back in, but Kris took off around the bases. When I got to the ball, he was rounding second. I didn’t even think; I just threw a rocket to third base. Kris didn’t even bother to slide when he heard the pop of the glove as the guy playing third caught it.

Coach Revilla called me in, and I was done for the day.

◊◊◊

At lunch, she arrived. Halle grabbed my arm to keep me from running over to greet her. I was like Duke when you put a treat on his nose and made him wait to eat it. I think I was actually shaking. But knew I needed to play it cool if I were ever to have a chance with her. I snapped her picture and sent a text to my brother; I was sure he would be happy for me.

Everyone on the set knew of my infatuation. It might have been me continually telling everyone about the future Mrs. Dawson. A boy has to dream. That would explain why everyone seemed to find his or her way over to watch. Hannah was talking to Jessup and Rita. I looked around and didn’t see her baseball boyfriend. That was a good sign.

I saw her notice me and took a deep breath to calm down. I looked down at my phone, and Greg had replied with a rude remark. Too bad he was a hater. Hannah was suddenly there in front of me.

“Sup,” I said.

Hannah struck a gangsta pose, or as close to one as a supermodel can pull off.

“Sup.”

“You want to go chill in my crib?” I asked.

Hannah laughed at me.

“No, I don’t think that would be a good idea. Adrienne will be here in a little while to protect me.”

I know it’s wrong to lust after one woman when you’re in the presence of another. Especially if the other is the Hannah Minacci. But the thought of the two of them together drained all the blood from the big brain. I knew a threesome would work because Adrienne liked girls, and I would imagine she liked Hannah. This could be a win-win.

I honestly don’t know how Hannah read my mind. What is it with girls and that ability? I knew Tami and my mom could both do it.

“No, I’m not doing a threesome with you and Adrienne.”

I think poor Zak might’ve had a stroke. Not me; I just smiled.

“I was wondering if you wanted to go horseback riding with me after we’re done,” I said.

Of course, I had Googled Hannah and found out that she’d won the American Paint Horse Association World Championships before she turned seventeen. There was also a story about how at the age of fifteen, she developed and shot up to five-ten. Her boobs were reported to be all natural. I bet there were several guys from her old high school who were kicking themselves for not locking her down before she developed.

Hannah wasn’t the typical model; she was much curvier than most. While not fat, she was solid.

“I would like that,” she said.

“We could then have you and Adrienne over to Rita’s for dinner. Her cook Rosy is unreal.”

“Sounds like a date.”

Hannah had said the magic words. Before I spontaneously combusted, I wished her luck and returned to the set to begin my scene. This was more than I could’ve hoped for, and to continue to talk to her would only increase the chance that I might drool or do something else inappropriate.

Zak found me in makeup.

“Do you really know Hannah?” he asked.

“Yeah. Unfortunately, she has a boyfriend who’s a professional baseball player. I keep waiting for them to break up, but it never seems to happen.”

That seemed to ruin Zak’s day. I would have to keep an eye on him around her. Somehow, I had a feeling he didn’t have the same compulsion to not date women attached to another man.

◊◊◊

After my last scene of the day, I sauntered to my trailer and found Caryn talking to Adrienne.

“There he is. I hear you kept the sexual harassment to a minimum,” Adrienne teased me.

“I’m biding my time until she dumps that baseball player. Just let me know when there’s trouble in paradise, and it’ll be game on.”

“So, you’re taking us horseback riding,” Caryn said.

“No, no, no. That’s just for Hannah and me. I thought we could all have dinner afterward,” I explained.