Under the Stars

12: The All-Star Game

Three weeks of classes left, followed by a week of final exams was all that stood between us and commencement, followed closely by graduation. I was more than ready to be done with high school. While I had yet to figure out what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, I knew beyond a doubt that I needed to get out of that school and town for at least a little while. I needed a break from the drama that had suddenly become my life. The teachers were just as ready to have a break from us as we were from them. We were so close to freedom that we could almost taste it.

The first of the three weeks of classes left was soon under our belts. We only had two more weeks of classes before finals. However, I had to get through the All-Star game before I could trudge through those two weeks. As a fun way to end the spring sports season, the baseball all-stars and the softball all-stars played in the All-Star Game, and that year, our school hosted the event. It was a fundraiser for each of the schools in the sports conference. Each school received an equal part of the proceeds. At the end of the game, the winning team's players would each then receive a gold all-star pendent and the losing team received silver all-star pendants, signifying the top team.

Teams were picked ahead of time by local sports analysts of competitive sports stations, who were to be the team captains. The teams were not announced until all of the players were on the field. They had to have one softball team member and one baseball team member per position. The softball player and baseball player did not need to be from the same school, but it was highly suggested to keep school members together if possible. I was secretly hoping to be on Stevien's team so that I would get a chance to talk with him. Unfortunately for me, we were on opposing sides. That was just how we were ever since the accident and nothing, it seemed, would ever change that. He simply chose to ignore me; it was like I had never existed to him.

To even it up a little, the baseball all-stars had to bat against the softball all-star pitchers and vice-versa. It appeared to be easier for the softball players to pick-up the baseball pitches. There was just something about the baseball guys trying to hit a rise ball that was hard for them to pick up. The batting order alternated between baseball and softball players as did the fielding positions. Each team captain decided the batting order and how to switch field positions, every or every other inning.

As I worried about being on the other team, it never occurred to me that I would possibly have to face Stevien while I was up to bat. My team was the "away" team so we were up to bat first, and since I was the smallest person on the team, our team captain decided that I would bat first. As soon as I walked onto the field, my heart sank. Stevien eyed me like a lion about to devour a gazelle. I decided to look away and focus on my swings until the umpire called "Batter up!". The game began as I stepped into the batter's box.

I stood at the back of the left hander's box, ready to start my running slap. Stevien took his stance to receive the pitch call. He was ambidextrous, so his father taught him to pitch left-handed. It was almost like taking a step into our childhood. We would often have a game of pitch and hit when we became bored in the summer. I smiled slightly to myself at the thought before catching the harsh glare from Stevien's eyes. I took a deep breath and calmed my nerves, ready to take anything he threw at me as he completed his wind-up. That was the last thing I remembered before everything went black.

"Eliotte!" A voice came up to me.

"Eliotte! Please wake up!" It seemed to be begging.

"Please..." This time it cracked as if it were under the pressure of the world.

Suddenly, someone's hands were feeling my neck for a pulse. When I opened my eyes, I saw the most beautiful set of chocolate eyes looking down at me in worry. I smiled when I saw those eyes and those eyes turned from worry to horror. I instantly regretted smiling, though not from the horror in those dark chocolate pools that I could get lost in forever. No. My horror came from my mouth. My mouth hurt as if I was kicked by a horse. My face hurt and felt swollen, my right eye hurt to move, it felt like it was stuck in place and would not move no matter how hard I tried, and for the life of me I could not figure out why I was in so much pain. The next thing I knew, my dad was hovering over me with his face full of worry and reflecting pain to me like a mirror.

"Lottie, honey, can you hear me?" Dad asked.

"Y-yeah." I managed to say before feeling an excruciating amount of pain. I quickly pulled my hand to my face to cover the hurt spot. I felt something warm and liquid-like. I quickly pulled my hand away to look at the liquid. Blood. It was blood. Suddenly, everything went black.

I never did well with seeing blood, so I was not the least bit surprised to find out that I passed out. Dad helped me up off the field and onto the bench.

"El! I am so sorry!" I heard a voice coming through the fence, only to be stared at once again by the chocolate orbs of beauty.

He called me "El!" He hasn't done that in forever. I thought to myself. It hadn't been since before his parents' accident that he even talked to me.

"It's okay." I forced out, the "s" slurred. Making me realize that something was wrong with my mouth. Something was missing. I started to panic. From the feel of it, I was missing a couple of teeth or they were broken. I felt my eyes go wide and I quickly turned to my dad, pointing furiously to my mouth.

"Sweetheart, please don't panic. We will get it all straightened out. There's nothing to worry about, Pumpkin. Just keep yourself calm. We will wait for the EMS to get here before you go all panic mode on me. Okay?" Dad asked, to which I slightly nodded a yes.

Suddenly, I felt extremely nauseous. I stood up in an attempt to make it to the trashcan, only to meet the ground again, surrounded by my new best friend: darkness.

By the time the EMS arrived, the game was in full swing. Dad decided I should stay laying down until the paramedics arrived, and with the three times of being surrounded by darkness, I completely agreed. I watched Stevien while I was waiting. He looked pretty shaken up and was having a hard time focusing. I tried to give him a thumbs-up when I thought he was looking at me, but I was back to a non-existent being to him.

The paramedics took one look at my eyes, and it was clear to them that I had a concussion on top of the myriad of other issues. They took me to Mercy Mary Hospital, the hospital in our town. The ER doctor was concerned that I may have a broken maxilla or even zygomatic bone. Dad asked him what those were, and he told him upper jaw and cheekbone respectively.

The doctor scheduled me to have x-rays and CT scans to verify what he was concerned with. As it turned out, it was a fractured maxilla, mandible, and a few broken teeth, along with the laceration and concussion the EMT diagnosed. The pain in my eye was caused by all the bruising that occurred from the injury. He told my dad that I was lucky to not have a broken nose and cheekbone on top of it all. They scheduled me for surgery to set the two jawbones and set up a recovery plan for me for when I get home.

The long surgery went well. The surgeons were able to set the maxilla and mandible using screws and plates while managing to take care of the broken teeth. Thankfully, I only had two teeth that were damaged beyond repair, both molars. I had a liquid diet for three weeks followed by a diet of soft foods for the next two weeks. The whole time I was in the hospital, the entire softball team and most of the baseball team, came to visit me. The team captains from the all-start game also came to visit, along with Mr. and Mrs. Jones who brought along Jeremiah and Tyrus. However, the one person I desperately wanted to see, never came. That was when I figured our friendship was over.

I left the hospital after a week-long stay. I was more than happy to leave. If I was going to be miserable anywhere, I would rather be at home. Rocky Leopold, my beautiful, pain-in-the-butt at times, though extremely, loyal friend, made sure to visit as often as she could. I finally went back to school two weeks after I was released from the hospital, which was just in time for finals. Rocky was taking notes for me for the classes we had together, though that was only a few. Jason and Nanette also lent me copies of their notes, though I mainly relied on recorded lessons from most of my teachers. I would then email any questions I had to my teachers or leave notes on my homework where I had questions. My dad took any work I had completed with him on the way to work and drop it off at the school office for my teachers to grade.

Between the notes from my study group and the lessons from the teachers, I felt like I was going to be okay to take my finals with everyone else. I didn't feel right to be excused from my senior finals, though I knew I would not have top scores on any of my exams. My teachers had all agreed to exempt me from the finals, but I had insisted that I wanted to take them, so I did. I scored average on almost all of the exams, a few were higher than I thought I would score, and a few were desperately below my normal, so overall, I was pleased with how my final exams turned out. The last thing to do at the school was to graduate.

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