The Vitamin C Strategy

Leo's plan was flawless, mostly.

Step one: Impress Skylar, who was somehow both the baseball team's star shortstop and the person Leo had been staring at during lunch since September. Step two: Make the JV team. Step three: Live happily ever after, presumably.

The plan had one tiny problem: Leo had never touched a baseball in his life. He was a gamer, his thumbs built for controllers, not gloves. But details, right?

"Dude, my cousin said vitamin C boosts reflexes," Marcus had told him between rounds of Halo. "For gaming. But it's gotta work for everything."

Leo, in his infinite freshman wisdom, decided this was sound science. He started carrying a bottle of vitamin C gummies everywhere, chomping them like they were performance-enhancing candy. The back of his mouth tasted like artificial orange for weeks.

He also started running. Every morning at 5:30 AM, which he now knew was an unholy hour that existed only to punish people trying to reinvent themselves. His shins burned. His lungs burned. Everything burned. But he kept thinking about Skylar's laugh that one time in homeroom, and somehow that made the third mile slightly less miserable.

Tryouts came. Leo showed up wearing his dad's old baseball mitt (too big, smelled like 1997) and running on pure vitamin C and desperation.

"You're up," Skylar said, grinning like they knew something Leo didn't.

Leo stepped to the plate. The pitch came. He swung with everything he had—

—and missed by approximately three feet. The ball hit the backstop with a clang that echoed his soul leaving his body.

"Nice cut," Skylar called out, but they were definitely suppressing a laugh.

Leo struck out three times. Grounded out twice. Made one catch in the outfield, tripped over his own feet, and faceplanted into the grass. His vitamin C strategy had failed. His running had failed. His entire existence was a mistake.

"Hey."

Leo looked up. Skylar had walked over, wiping dirt off their uniform.

"You tried really hard out there," Skylar said. "Also, are those the cherry vitamin gummies? Because those are actually way better than orange."

Leo blinked. "You saw me eating them?"

"Bro, you eat them literally every day at lunch." Skylar sat down in the grass next to him. "I like your energy though. You trying out again next year?"

"Honestly?" Leo laughed, feeling lighter than he had in weeks. "I think I'm gonna stick to video games. But... maybe I'll keep running. Minus the 5:30 AM part."

"Smart." Skylar offered a fist bump. "Also, my friends and I are gaming this weekend if you wanna come over. I suck at Halo, so fair warning."

Leo's heart did something embarrassing. "I'll be there."

Later, he dumped the vitamin C bottle in the trash. Some plans were doomed from the start. But sometimes, somehow, the things you totally screwed up led you exactly where you needed to be.