Tea For Two

4

Disclaimer: This is an original work of fiction. These characters belong to me, as well as their lives. Do not steal them from me.

Thanks. Enjoy.

~~~

The next day after school, I go to watch her first baseball practice. She's so excited, she can't stop talking about it all day. On the way to school, at lunch, and through the walk to the diamond, she's chattering on about pitching, gear, and her teammates.

She's stoked to be part of the team, and to get to know the boys. I'm trying to convice her otherwise.

"Em, you don't know these boys like I do. They're... nasty," I say.

"It doesn't matter, they're my teammates," she argues.

"I know, just-"

"August." She stops and turns toward me, taking my shoulders in her hands. "Stop it."

I sigh. She doesn't get it now, but she will soon.

"Fine," I say. "But be careful."

We've arrived at the diamond, and she walks in, greeted by only a handful of the team, as well as Coach Van. He looks around and sees me sitting in the bleachers, a book in my hand.

"Kid, our practices are closed. You can't be here," he calls up to me.

I sigh and walk down to where I'm closer to him so I don't have to yell.

"I was just going to stick around for Emily so I can walk her home," I explain to him.

A whole lot of the team is standing around listening. Though our school is a fair size, I go to class with a lot of them. And to be fair, these past two days have been the most some of them have heard me speak in a while. Lucky them.

"Look, I'm sorry," he starts.

"One of us could drive her home after," says Kyle Johnson, Emily's pitching counterpart.

"Would you?" says Emily, so excited to be bonding with them.

He smiles. "Yeah. In fact, I could."

She's beaming up at him like he's the best fucking thing since sliced bread. Compared to some of the rest of these idiots, he is. But I'm not sold on it.

"What time would she be getting home?" I ask.

"How far away does she live?"

"Five minutes, keeping to speed limits."

"6:35"

"Okay, I'll be waiting," I say to him, still not sure.

I've always been rather protective of the rare female friends I've had- this was one of the first signs I ever got from myself that suggested I may be anything but straight. It started out as me worrying about their health and physical well being. It soon escalated to thinking I could be a better boyfriend than the jerks they always seemed to be with. To say the least, it was a big red flag the first time that particular thought floated through my brain.

Jake Sellers- probably the biggest skeezball on the team- starts laughing at me.

"What, you don't trust us to keep track of your girlfriend?"

Never mind that Emily and I aren't dating, and I don't intend us ever to, the fact that he laughed at my concern makes me slowly turn on him.

"Sellers, I wouldn't trust you to keep track of your dick even though your hands never seem to leave your pants."