Pyramids in the Infield

Marcus shuffled into the baseball stadium, his eyes feeling like someone had poured sand in them. Three hours of sleep. Four days straight. The history project on Egyptian pyramids was consuming his entire existence, and somehow he'd still agreed to come to Tyler's birthday thing.

"Dude, you look literally deceased," Jenna said, sliding into the seat beside him. She smelled like coconut lip balm and the concession stand's funnel cakes. Marcus's stomach did that thing it always did when she was within three feet.

"Zombie mode," he mumbled, gesturing at his face. "Living that academic struggle life."

She laughed, and something in his chest unspooled. The baseball game blurred into background noise — the crack of the bat, the crowd's collective gasp, the announcer's voice booming over the PA. Marcus found himself watching Jenna instead of the field. She was wearing that oversized jersey from last year's homecoming, and every time she leaned forward to yell at the umpire, her hair fell over her face.

"So," she said, turning to him突然 during the seventh inning stretch, "if you could teleport anywhere right now, where would you go?"

"Egypt," he said without thinking. "To see the pyramids. For real. Not just through a textbook lens."

"For real?" Her eyes widened. "That's actually... kinda awesome. Not gonna lie, I thought you'd say Hawaii or something basic."

Marcus shrugged. "I mean, who wouldn't want to see something that's stood for like, five thousand years? We stress about finals that don't even matter in five years, you know?"

Jenna studied him for a long moment. The baseball game continued around them, but she seemed to be really looking at him for the first time all night.

"You're not who I thought you were, Marcus Reynolds," she said softly.

"What did you think?"

"Just another baseball bro who'd rather talk stats than actual stuff." She grinned. "My bad."

The scoreboard lit up. The game was ending. Tyler was already gathering everyone for a group photo, but Marcus and Jenna stayed where they were, not quite ready to move.

"Hey," she said, "maybe you can tell me more about those pyramids sometime? Over coffee?"

Marcus's exhaustion evaporated. "Yeah. I'd like that."