Seventh Inning Stretch

Maya's mom had packed her lunch again—the organic spinach wrap that announced to the entire cafeteria that Maya was That Kid whose parents still controlled her diet. She shoved it deep in her backpack before anyone noticed.

"You coming to the game?" Tyler asked, leaning against her locker. His varsity jacket hung perfectly on his shoulders, like it was tailored specifically to complement his awkward-but-somehow-charming smile.

"Wouldn't miss it." Maya adjusted her glasses, suddenly aware of every frizzy hair that had escaped her ponytail. "I'll be in the stands. Cheering. Loudly. Maybe too loudly. I'll dial it back."

Tyler laughed, and Maya's stomach did that thing it always did around him—like someone had replaced her organs with lightning bugs.

The baseball field buzzed with that Friday night energy. Maya found herself wedged between Sarah, who was somehow live-tweeting the game, and Ethan, who kept stats in a composition notebook like his life depended on it.

Then Tyler stepped up to bat in the seventh inning.

The sky had been threatening all evening, purpling in that way that made everyone check their phones simultaneously. Then—CRACK. A lightning bolt split the sky, bright enough to turn everything negative for one heartbeat.

"Game suspended!" the umpire shouted.

Everyone scrambled. Tyler sprinted toward the dugout, and Maya's body moved before her brain processed. She ducked under the bleachers just as the sky opened up.

"You okay?" Tyler's voice cut through the drumming rain.

He'd squeezed in beside her. So close she could smell that cedar-shavings-and-sweat scent that was unfairly attractive on him.

"Yeah. You?" Maya's heart was doing something anatomically impossible.

"Totally." He shifted. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Anything."

"Why do you always sit in the stands? Why never on the field?"

Maya's face burned. "Because I'm not good at sports. Like, at all. I once got hit in the face during dodgeball. With a foam ball."

Tyler laughed. "So? You're still at every game. You care more than half the team. That matters."

Another lightning flash illuminated his eyes—really seeing her, not past her at someone cooler.

"I packed extra food," Maya heard herself say. "Including my mom's spinach wraps, which are actually secretly good if you ignore the reputation."

Tyler's smile widened. "I've always wondered about those wraps."