Foul Ball

"I still can't believe you already want to meet her parents," Dalton said the next morning at practice. It was five-forty five a.m., far too early for his shit, but that never stopped him.

"I've told you once, twice, and I'll tell you again, D. I like Macey. I really like Macey, and I intend to do whatever it takes to make things work with her." What I didn't mention is that from the sounds of it, Macey's parents, especially her mother, probably wouldn't be defined as the poster parents for growing up in a loving household. I hated that they blamed Macey for the death of her sister. It would forever hurt them, all of them, but losing two children because you couldn't forgive the first seemed devastating to me.

"You wanna know what Candace said the other day?" Dalton asked, lowering his voice. Everyone else was on the field, already fucking around before coach arrived, so I wasn't sure why it dropped, it just did. "Not really."

"She said that she's sure you and Macey are gonna end up together. She says you're in love. Is that true? Do you love her?"

"First, your girlfriend is a gossip," I said. "And second, whether I love her or not is no concern of yours, let alone Candace's."

"Honestly, dude, I think she's giving you an out with this trip," he said. "Even if you go, you're going to hate her family so bad that there's no way you two can make it work when you're home. You know nothing about this girl or her family other than her uncle who lives down the block. But meeting the parents? This is a big step."

“And it's a step I want to take," I said with a shrug, lacing up my turf sneaker. I got to my feet, grabbed my mitt, and slapped Dalton on the shoulder. "Just support me, yeah?"

"You know I do, brother," Dalton said. "You know I do. I guess Macey is a pretty okay gal."

"I think so, too."

"Ready to kick ass at the game in two weeks?" Dalton asked as I pulled him to his feet. We made our way out of the locker room just as coach arrived at the field with an enormous thermos of coffee balanced in one hand.

"I want to see some blood, sweat, and tears out there this morning," he shouted over us, his usual pre-practice pep talk on point as usual. "If we don't win that game against SSU, I will forever be shamed as the coach from this school who let his team lose the first game of the season."

"We won't let you down, Coach," Kurt said from behind me, and the rest of us nodded.

"We're in it to win it, Coach."

"Good." He looked around at us, nodding in approval, even though the smile on his face fluttered between proudness and annoyance. "Get your asses out there and show me how we're going to play!"