The silent reverie was broken by the sound of three sets of feet on the ladder. “Oh, my God!” was about all Beth could understand, but she knew she’d be filled in soon enough.
“She did look like a ghost, just standing there all still,” Lexy agreed. Beth reached over and flipped the ball button on the scoring machine and then recorded the pitch in the scorebook. The girls resumed their seats, and Beth shushed them, afraid Mr. Cooper would get on to them as well.
“She was beautiful, though.” The revelation came from Andi, but Beth kept her eyes forward, locked on the game. Just what she needed—another gorgeous girl to swoop in and make her feel like a loser.
“Her lips are so red and pouty…. Her eyes are gold,” Lexy added.
“Do you have a crush on her?” Andi laughed, elbowing the other girl.
“Maybe….” Lexy may have been joking. Or maybe not. But it made all three of them giggle.
“You wanna go look?” Brittany asked, and it took Beth a moment to realize she was talking to her. “I’ll remember what happens while you’re gone. I won’t know how to write it down….”
“No, that’s okay,” Beth assured her, finding a half smile. “I’m sure I’ll see her soon enough.”
“Hopefully, she’s from Everton and she’ll disappear when the other team leaves. Like a ghost.” Andi’s words were in line with what all of them were thinking, but something told Beth that wasn’t the case. Whoever this girl was, Beth had an ominous feeling about her. She couldn’t put her finger on why, but something was stirring deep inside of her, like this night was more important than she ever would’ve guessed.
After the game, Brittany slunk off to her car, still afraid to be seen by anyone in her cashier’s uniform, which was a pair of black pants and a white shirt, nothing awful, but Beth was too tired, sweaty, and annoyed to argue, so she let her friend go. While there was discussion as to whether or not Brittany would give Andi and Lexy a ride home, ultimately, they decided to stay, just to see if Sammy said anything to Beth that night. Beth knew she had a scowl on her face and tried to erase it as she headed to the minivan, realizing she’d have to walk right past the popular girls.
At least now she could see who was making all of the noise. It was the usual suspects, the same ones who’d showed up to the last home game, and Beth silently wished Tiffany and her brother would just break up already so maybe she wouldn’t attend the games and bring all of her friends. Mindy’s high-pitched laugh was probably the most irritating of all of them, and when Beth and her friends walked by the siren went off again. Beth just assumed it was at her expense and sped up, not daring to look back. Not until someone called her name—twice.
With a deep breath, she turned to see Tiffany smiling at her. A lump of saliva formed in Beth’s throat as she looked from her friend’s shocked faces back over to the head cheerleader, who was standing now, and took a step forward her in a glowing white Keds tennis shoe.
“Yeah?” Beth asked, hoping to sound friendly, even though she was certain she must be walking into a joke of some sort, one where she would most certainly be the butt.
“Is it hot up there?” Tiffany asked. “I’m guessing it would be. Hot air rising and all.”
Tiffany’s tone sounded almost friendly, like she was really interested in the accommodations the city had created for scorekeepers. Beth figured that couldn't actually be the case, but what was she supposed to say in return? “Uh, yeah, it’s hot. But there’s a fan," Beth replied, hoping she didn't sound too stupid. It wasn't every day that she had to talk to someone as popular as Tiffany.
“Cool.” Tiffany gave her a small smile, and then her eyes shifted over Beth’s shoulder, and a familiar voice filled her ears right before she was literally shoved aside.
“Out of the way, chubs,” Shane said as Beth took two staggering steps to her right, trying not to fall. She bit down on the response that floated up her throat, not wanting to cause herself further embarrassment in front of Tiffany and her friends. Their attention was completely on Shane now, though, as Tiffany embraced him, and Beth turned to avoid her eyes burning out of her head, should her brother kiss his girlfriend right there in the middle of the park. She almost collided with Shane’s two good friends, Tom and Marcus, and stepped out of their way, hurrying toward the minivan. Would he ever stop embarrassing the crap out of her at every turn, or would she have to live in Shane's shadow for the rest of her existence? Nothing in life ever seemed fair!
Beth did catch a comment in the air, though, as she rushed off, and she thought it was Carly who asked, “Did you guys see that weird girl over in the parking lot, or were you too busy playing baseball?” Her voice sounded almost like a valley girl, and Beth would’ve ordinarily snickered at her, considering they were thousands of miles from California, but she was just thankful there had been no joke, when Shane had pushed her over, and she hadn’t been the butt. They reached the solace of the van about the time she began to question whether or not Shane had actually spared her from some sort of prank or if Tiffany was just being friendly because she was Shane’s sister.
All Beth wanted was to climb inside, crank the AC up, and escape—run away from the other girls, ghost and real, and especially her brother. But as she stood with her head pressed to the glass of the passenger side window, waiting for her dad to finish in the dugout, a voice penetrated the shadows.
“Would you go out with me, Beth?”