The Pitch

Marcus stood by the water fountain, trying to look casual. Which was basically impossible when your heart was doing jumping jacks and your palms were sweating through your favorite orange hoodie.

"You're staring again," Jamal whispered, elbowing him. "That's not spying, that's practically stalking."

"I'm not stalking," Marcus shot back, though he totally was. He was watching Chloe from across the baseball diamond, where she sat in the dugout with her phone. Her golden retriever, Buster, was sprawled across her feet like he owned the place. The dog kept lifting his head every time someone cheered.

The baseball coach blew his whistle. "Practice in ten!"

This was it. Marcus had been crushing on Chloe since seventh grade, and they were finally sophomores now. If he didn't make a move soon, he'd graduate alone. His friends kept saying he was overthinking it, which was rich coming from Tyler, who once spent twenty minutes analyzing whether a girl's Instagram story meant she liked him.

"Just go talk to her," Jamal said. "She brought her dog. She's literally asking for attention."

"Easy for you to say. You didn't choke on a hot dog last time you tried to flirt with someone."

That was the low point of freshman year. Marcus still cringed thinking about it.

Across the field, Chloe stood up and Buster immediately perked up, tail thumping against the dugout bench. She stretched, and Marcus watched her and immediately felt like a creep. He turned toward the water fountain, trying to play it off.

Then his phone buzzed.

Unknown number: "Your friend Jamal just gave me your number. He says you're staring at me like I'm a math test you didn't study for."

Marcus's brain short-circuited. He looked up, and Chloe was watching him, grinning. She held up her phone, wiggling it.

Buster chose that exact moment to bolt. The dog dashed across the baseball field, making a beeline for Marcus. Chloe took off after him, laughing as the retriever zigzagged through players warming up.

"Buster! No!" she called, but the dog didn't care. He reached Marcus and immediately started jumping all over him, barking like Marcus was his long-lost best friend.

Chloe caught up, breathless. "I am so sorry, he's literally never like this—"

"It's cool," Marcus said, trying to act smooth while being assaulted by a very friendly dog. "I'm Marcus."

"I know," she said, smiling. "Jamal told me. Also, I've been in your English class for two years."

Marcus felt his face heating up. "Right. Cool. Cool cool cool."

Smooth. Professional.

"Hey," she said, scratching Buster behind the ears. "You want to get water after practice? My treat."

The baseball coach blew his whistle again, and players scattered. Marcus looked at Jamal, who gave him a tiny thumbs-up from across the field.

"Yeah," Marcus said. "I'd like that."

And somehow, the rest of the world faded away—just him, Chloe, and a very excited golden retriever named Buster, while the sun painted everything orange and perfect.