Strikeout Viral

Marcus's fingers hovered over his iPhone, thumb shaking as he replayed the video for the twentieth time. The clip showed him stepping up to home plate during yesterday's baseball game, then promptly whiffing at three pitches in a row while someone's phone captured every cringe-worthy second from the stands. Now it had 500 views and counting.

"Yo, you went full viral, my guy," Tyler said, dropping onto the cafeteria bench beside him. "Not exactly the content you wanted, but hey, no such thing as bad publicity, right?"

Marcus groaned, shoving his phone deeper into his pocket. His baseball coach called it "learning experience." His mom called it "brave for trying out as a sophomore." The comment section called it things Marcus preferred not to read twice.

Then Harris—aka THE bull of Northwood High, two hundred pounds of starting linebacker who'd been giving Marcus crap since middle school—sauntered over with his posse. The table went dead silent. Harris leaned in, meaty hands planting on Marcus's table.

"Strikeout King," Harris announced, loud enough for half the lunchroom to hear. "I watched that video like five times this morning. My little brother's learning form from it."

Someone snickered. Marcus's face burned. He grabbed his backpack to bail.

"Nah, stay," Harris said, voice dropping unexpectedly. "I'm messing with you. That last pitch? The one you almost hit?"

Marcus paused. "Yeah?"

"You pivoted your hips like a pro. Just need to work on your timing." Harris pulled out his own phone. "Send me your number. I played baseball freshman year before I got too big for it. I'll help you fix your swing if you want."

The cafeteria seemed to hold its collective breath. Marcus stared, then slowly rattled off his number. Harris tapped it in, gave him a chin lift, and walked away.

Marcus's iPhone buzzed a moment later. A message from an unknown number: *Same time tomorrow at the cages. Don't make me regret this.*

Tyler whistled low. "What just happened?"

Marcus stared at his phone, then at Harris retreating back. "I think," he said slowly, "I'm about to get batting lessons from the scariest guy in school."

Sometimes, the things you think will ruin you end up rewriting your entire story. Marcus picked up his pizza, suddenly hungry for the first time all day.