Strikeout in the Rain

Marcus adjusted his fitted baseball hat, trying to look like he belonged in the dugout. Actually, he was just the water boy for the varsity team, but when Chloe—the smartest girl in sophomore English—sat in the bleachers, suddenly his sweat-stained cap felt like the most important thing he owned.

"Yo Marcus, you good?" Jamal called from the bench. Marcus jumped, nearly spilling the cooler. Of course he wasn't good. Coach had put him in as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth because everyone else was benched or injured. Marcus who hadn't played since little league.

He stepped to the plate, heart hammering. The sky had turned that bruised purple color. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

First pitch: swing and a miss. Strike one.

Chloe was watching. He could feel it.

Second pitch: another pathetic swing. Strike two.

Then it happened—mid-swing, his stomach growled loud enough for the whole infield to hear. Something green and leafy flew out of his mouth and landed on home plate. Everyone stared.

Spinach. From the cafeteria's "healthy" salad initiative he'd tried to impress Chloe with at lunch. Now it was splattered on home plate like a crime scene.

The umpire stared at the spinach like he'd never seen vegetation before. Then lightning cracked the sky—white-hot and terrifying—followed immediately by thunder that shook the aluminum bleachers.

"Game suspended!" the umpire yelled.

Marcus wanted to die. He'd struck out, thrown up spinach on home plate, and now the whole game was paused while everyone processed what they'd just witnessed.

But then Chloe appeared beside him in the rain, holding an umbrella. "That was literally the worst thing I've ever seen," she said, grinning. "Also, I had spinach in my teeth all through English today, so we're even now."

Marcus blinked at her through the downpour. Water dripped from his hat brim.

"You're staying?" he asked.

"When they call this game, I'm gonna need to know how it ends," she said. "Besides, I've never seen someone make baseball that... dramatic."

Marcus smiled. Some strikeouts aren't just about missing the ball.