169 Game: VS Santa Fe HS 2 (2/2)

Kyle faced him with the same aggression as the first two batters. This time, sending him away with a looking strikeout for a hard earned strikeout number three to end their half of the inning.

We all moved to the dugout to get ready for the bottom of the second inning. I sat down by my bag and put on my helmet, since I might have the chance to get up again. Noah switched gear and headed to where the entrance was since he was in the hole and would definitely get to bat.

”That'll be ten laps.” Zeke said from the side, making me flinch. I didn't pay attention to my surroundings and he caught me off guard. ”Ten laps for every error recorded. Mental errors will be five.”

I looked up at him with a sad expression, already thinking about my future laps. ”How do we classify mental errors?”

Zeke cracked a smile. ”Up to my discretion.” Then he walked away to speak with the coaches.

”Wow! Look at you pout!” Kyle flopped down next to me. ”Just a few weeks ago, we were thinking you were a robot with only set emotions.”

I turned my pout his way.

”Don't look at me like that. Makes me feel like I kicked a puppy or something. I just came over to cheer you up.”

I brightened up. ”You'll run my laps?”

Kyle burst out laughing. ”No way. I was just going to remind you that if you have laps to do, you won't have to do the wheelbarrow training.”

I nodded thoughtfully. That makes sense. I rubbed my arm where the ball hit. I'm sure it wouldn't hurt this much if I wasn't sore to begin with.

Kyle noticed my actions. ”Does your arm really hurt? It's not like a line drive hit you. Might just be a bruise.”

”I've had worse.” I shrugged, looking away to focus on our team's offense.

Kyle didn't say anything else. Or maybe he didn't know what else to say. My mom was like a demon living in the shadows, always there but not always noticeable.

Kyle stayed beside me as we watched the game. Kelvin grounded out to second. Chris flew out to center field. I moved to the on deck circle as Noah got up to the plate. Unfortunately, he ended the second inning with a strikeout. We went back to the dugout together to grab our gloves.