The Fox in Left Field

Maya's palms were sweating so bad she had to wipe them on her jeans every thirty seconds. She'd been crushing on Leo since seventh grade, and tonight—under the Friday night lights at the high school baseball game—she was finally gonna shoot her shot.

She adjusted her dad's old baseball cap, trying to channel his confidence. He always said, "Kid, you gotta swing for the fences." Easy for him to say. He wasn't standing next to the snack bar, heart hammering like a trapped bird, watching Leo laugh with his friends in the dugout.

"You gonna talk to him, or just stare like a total creeper?"

Maya jumped. It was Jax, Leo's annoyingly perceptive cousin. "I'm working up to it."

"You've been 'working up to it' since before spring break." Jax grinned. "Meanwhile, Leo's been asking me about you since January."

Maya's brain did a little flip. "Wait, what?"

"But whatever, keep playing hard to get. It's working." Jax rolled his eyes and walked away.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from behind the left field fence. A sleek red fox poked its head through the chain links, ears perked like it was watching the game. Maya pulled out her phone and snapped a pic—this was definitely going on her story.

"That's wild," Leo said, appearing beside her so suddenly she almost dropped her phone. "We see foxes here sometimes. They're pretty chill."

Maya's palms were sweating again. "Yeah, I was just—"

"Taking a picture for your story?" Leo smiled, and it was kinder than she expected. "Can I see?"

They ended up sitting on the bleachers together, talking about everything and nothing while the game continued without them. Leo told her he'd been wanting to talk to her forever but thought she was out of his league. Maya almost laughed—she'd been thinking the exact same thing.

"You know what my dad says?" Leo said, pointing to his own baseball hat. "He says life's like baseball. Sometimes you strike out, but you gotta keep stepping up to the plate."

"So we're both just standing there, waiting for the other person to make a move," Maya said.

"Pretty much." Leo paused. "So... you want to get pizza after this? My treat."

"Absolutely."

The fox had disappeared back into the woods by the time they left, but Maya didn't care. Sometimes you had to be brave enough to step up to the plate—even when your palms were sweating and you felt like you might embarrass yourself completely. Sometimes, just sometimes, you actually hit it out of the park.