The Spy in Left Field

Marcus's palms were sweating so hard he could practically fill a water bottle. Standing in left field during the biggest baseball game of the semester, he felt like the world's worst spy—everyone watching, waiting for him to mess up. Again.

"You good, Marcus?" yelled Tyler, the team's actual star pitcher, from the mound. Tyler, who somehow made being a teenager look like a sponsored Instagram post.

Marcus nodded, even though his stomach was doing jumping jacks. His mom had made him take that vitamin D supplement earlier, claiming it would help with "focus and energy," but so far the only thing focused was his anxiety.

Then he saw it—Cleo sitting in the bleachers, sketching in her notebook like she always did. Cleo, who'd moved here from Seattle three months ago and somehow already knew everyone's secrets. She'd told him at lunch yesterday that she was basically a professional people-watcher. A spy, she'd called it, laughing. "The best kind of spy is the one nobody suspects."

The crack of the bat shattered his thoughts. The ball was soaring through the air, straight toward him—a white comet against the perfectly blue sky. Time seemed to slow down, like when lightning strikes and everything freezes for that split second before the thunder.

Marcus's feet moved before his brain could process what was happening. He wasn't the kid who got picked last for gym anymore. He wasn't the awkward transfer student who couldn't make friends. He was just someone who could catch a ball.

His glove met the leather with a sound so satisfying it should've been illegal. The third out. The game was over.

"Dude!" Tyler slapped his helmet. "Where were you hiding THAT?"

Marcus laughed, actually laughed, and for the first time all day, his palms weren't sweating. He looked up at the bleachers. Cleo was watching him, really watching him, and she gave him this tiny nod. Like she'd known all along.

Maybe being a spy wasn't about being invisible. Maybe it was about seeing things other people missed—including yourself.

"Nice catch," Cleo said later, when they both somehow ended up near the snack stand. "I knew you had it in you."

Marcus grinned. "You and your spy skills."

"Hey," she said, "I never miss."