𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 ✰ 𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘳 ✔

s e v e n t e e n ✺ in the lonely hour

s e v e n t e e n ✺ in the lonely hour

Chris

Seeing Rease kissing Taylor put a whole new perspective in my head.

And that night, as I tossed and turned, I immediately thought: It should've been me.

That's right, I admitted it. I loved Rease. I had fallen for her, hard. Ever since that day a month or two ago that she ordered her large thing of fries at Steak N' Shake, I obviously fell in love.

But who was I kidding? A guy like me would never score a great girl like her.

I was elaborating on this when my phone buzzed out of nowhere.

From: Coach Cash Money 💸

Hello, Arch. I just wanted to inform you that Moore and Guyer have been traded to the Giants and the Indians, respectively. Sorry to wake you up. See you @ 8.

I sigh at the text. Matty Moe and Raisin Bran were gone? I checked the time: 5:39 A.M. Damn, I do miss out on a lot during my off days.

I rubbed my eyes and kicked off my covers. No need to go back to sleep.

The phone rang...again.

"Seriously?" I pick up the phone. "Hello?"

"Is this Chris Archer?"

"Yeah, and this is?"

"Luke Maile...I got a new number."

"Oh, hey, wassup!" I secure the phone between my ear and shoulder as I grab some of those Aunt Jemima French toast sticks and a protein shake.

"Aye, you got Shaffer's sister with you, right?"

"Yeah."

"You may want to tell her Richie got called up."

"He did? He's been down for three weeks...that's fast."

"Yeah, bro. But with that, I got sent down."

"Well, I'm sorry, dude."

"Yeah, man, no prob. I didn't have Rease's number, so I had to contact you."

"I see. Thanks for telling me. She'd 've glad to hear it." I listen as Luke finished the conversation. "Okay. Bye."

"Chris?" Rease shuffled her sock-clad feet on the hardwood floor. "Who was it?"

"Maile." I put the toast sticks in the oven. "Your brother got called up."

"Really?" She asked ecstaticlly.

"Yeah." I uncapped my protein shake. "Yeah."

"This is awesome!" Rease grabbed her phone off the counter. "I'm going to call Taylor and tell him the exciting news!"

Ugh. So much for not bringing him up.

°°°

We were in practice a few hours later when someone came up to me.

"You're Chris Archer, right?"

I jump. I see that it is our newest shortstop, Matt Duffy. Yup, a Matt for a Matt.

"You okay?"

I laugh. "Yeah, man, I'm fine."

"Bro." Duffy slightly laughed. "I see through that shit. Wanna talk about it in the locker room?"

"I guess?" I give him a look.

"Alright." And me and Matt walked towards the locker room.

"What is it?" Matt looked around. "I know I'm new here, and I don't know anyone, but hell, if something's off, I can fucking see it. So, spill."

"There's a girl." I sigh.

"Ah." Matt nods. "What's her name?"

"Rease. She's actually Richie Shaffer's sister."

"Whoa." Matt said. "That's a stretch."

"Oh, man." I laugh. "She's amazing. She's funny, quirky, and yeah. She's the whole thing. But, there's another guy. I don't really like him."

"Who does she like?" Matt said.

"This guy-"

"Archer!" Richie came up to me. "When did my sister get with Taylor?"

"Uh..." I pause.

"Isn't Taylor a chick's name?" Duffy asked.

"Shut up, Giant. Anyway, how long? Archer, tell me."

"Like, a day!" I laugh.

"Well, I can't believe she didn't tell me!" Richie laughs. "She's with one of my best friends. Damn."

"I'm confused." I look at Richie.

"This is bullshit!" Richie stomped the ground. "Why Motter? I'd be okay with Maile, hell, Myers would be okay too, but Motter?" He bitterly laughed. "Yeah, I'm not happy."

Matt laughed. "Good luck with the girl, Arch." And he jogged off.

Richie shrugged at me. "You seem to really care about my sister."

"More than anything." I eye him.

"Great. I don't know how long I'll be in the majors, man. But I have you to keep an eye in her. She can do whatever she wants...I suppose. But please, man, make sure she's careful around Motter. He..erm," Richie got close to me, "hasn't had that great of a track record with girls."

I nod.

"Thanks, man. You keep it real." Richie tips his hat, and we both head for the bullpen.

I feel eyes on me, and see Taylor glare at me.

"Archer, you're needed in the bullpen. Is that okay?"

I jump to see Cash pointing to the bullpen.

"Sure, man."

°°°°

When I got in, Taylor was practicing with Snellzilla.

"Hi!" Blake waved to me.

"Whaddup?" I gave him a peace sign.

Blake returns it, and pitches again to Taylor.

Taylor hit the ball, and it came spiraling to my arm.

"Whoa!" I shake my arm. "What the hell, dude?"

Blake pointed to the rapidly growing bump that was appearing on my arm. "Uh, let me get some ice." And he raced out.

I look to Taylor. "You did that shit on purpose."

"Of course I did!" Taylor smirked. "I know about your little attraction to my girlfriend."

I look to see Duffy with a small smile on his face. So much for telling something to a Giant.

"Stay the hell away from her, you got it?" Taylor said. "I know Shaffer isn't okay with it now, but he will approve of our relationship sooner or later."

"That's his sister." I glare at him. "He cares."

"Me and her sounds better than you and her." Taylor smacked his bat to the ground. "I'm sorry you're jealous, Archer. But your dating life sucks more than your average this year."

Blake ran back with a bag of ice. "What the hell is happening?"

If only I could understand.

a.n.

this chapter was kinda ehhh. But then again, I wrote it at 10 at night.

next week I'm starting high school (wish me luck!), so updates may be slow for a while, at least until I get the swing of things.

So, during the course of this, Richie DID get called up....then called down. Whomp-whomp. And Matt Duffy is now a Ray...as you can tell, he's already got a place in this story.

thoughts on this chapter? I'd love to hear them! 💬❤

- Rease 😅