I went in the cage, but didn't put a token in right away . Instead, I took a few practice swings with my right and then my left, trying to time my swing to what I think would be able to hit 80mph . Even though I use to be able to do it perfectly, it's been so long . I don't want to let Noah down and look like a liar or a braggart .
When I finally felt comfortable enough, I put the first token in . The first pitch came, and then went back with the swing of my bat . It was a little off, but I can adjust . I got in the zone and sent back the other eleven pitches, put in a new token and did the same thing with my left .
I let out a big breath of air and let my body fully relax . This was it . The feeling I looked for . I stepped out of the cage, surprised Noah wasn't yelling about, excitedly .
He stood right out side the gate, jaw dropped . I shifted foot to foot, nervously; not sure if he's still excited . For the day that I've known him, he's been showing his emotions without care so he's easy to read . Except for right now .
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He looked at me with a sad looking expression . "Jake . Why are you doing this to me?"
My eyes widen with alarm .
"I just said I was the best freshman . " He sighed . "Now I actually have competition . "
I relaxed and smiled at him .
He gave me the side eye . "Are you going to try the 85?"
I held out my last two tokens and nodded . I wanted to at least try a challenging speed once, before running out of tokens .
He pushed me along to the cage . "Go! Go! I can't wait to see!" He kept pushing and I bumped into something hard . We both had to take a few steps back .
"What the hell?" A tall and very well built guy turned to face us . He glared down, "You kids need to watch where you're going . "
I froze, terrified of this guys booming voice .
"Sorry!" Noah jumped out in front of me . "My bad . I was too excited and accidentally pushed him into you . "
He sent us another glare and walked towards a few guys at a nearby bench, not bothering to even accept an apology .
"Oops, my bad . " Noah faced me, giving me a tight smile . "You okay, Jake? He didn't scare you did he?"
My grip on the bat tightened, but I shook my head no . It's not like the guy was going to hit me . It was only a moment of panic .
Noah patted my shoulder . "That's good . Why don't you go ahead and get in the cage before he gets back . It looks like he's with some friends and they all look pretty serious . "
I didn't waste any time and got in the 85mph cage . No need to look for a confrontation with the guy and his buddies . I slid my second to last token in and immediately set up in the righty's box . The balls came quick and I got off to a slow start, only fouling off the first three, but then started to connect with the rest .
The hitting was a good stress relief . I turned to put in my last token, but stopped at the sight outside of the cage . Noah was there smiling at me like a goof, which was normal . But the four guys behind him, staring me down, was anything but normal . I clenched the bat, freezing up again .
Chapter end
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