The Fox in Right Field

Marcus stood in right field, dragging his cleats through the dirt like he was trying to bury his dignity somewhere deep beneath the infield. The baseball game was a losing battle—literally, 8-2 in the bottom of the seventh—but that wasn't even the worst part.

The worst part was Jordan, standing at shortstop, looking like they'd stepped out of a Nike commercial. Jordan, who'd somehow become everyone's favorite person since moving here three months ago. Jordan, who Marcus had been secretly watching from across the cafeteria, the library, the hallway—basically acting like a total spy instead of just saying hey.

" heads up!" someone yelled.

A baseball arced through the twilight, and Marcus missed it completely. It landed ten feet away with a soft thud.

" My bad," he mumbled, face burning. Someone snickered. Probably Jordan.

Then he saw it—a real fox, a sleek red one, padding along the tree line beyond the outfield fence. It stopped and looked right at him, golden eyes unreadable, completely unbothered by the losing streak, by Marcus's inability to catch anything, by all the high school politics that made every day feel like walking through a minefield.

The fox's tail flicked once, and then it vanished into the shadows.

" What are you looking at?" Jordan's voice came from behind him. Marcus jumped.

" Nothing. Just... thought I saw something."

" You've been out here forever." Jordan leaned against the fence, closer than Marcus expected. Closer than he'd let himself get all semester. " You gonna tell me why you keep staring at me in AP Bio, or am I supposed to figure it out myself?"

Marcus's brain short-circuited. " You—noticed?"

" I'm not oblivious." Jordan grinned, and it was real, not the performative popular-kid smile Marcus had seen a hundred times. " I was waiting for you to actually say something. I was beginning to think you were just plotting something."

" I wasn't plotting!"

" You seemed like you were spying on me."

" I was just..." Marcus sighed. " Overthinking it?"

" Yeah, me too." Jordan's grin softened. " You want to get food after this? We're definitely gonna lose anyway."