Ever since I had that fight with Sammy, things have been pretty damn awkward. I felt like the team really rallied behind him instead of me, as if I was the one who had fucked up. Which wasn't fair, because Sammy lied to me and kissed me out of nowhere. But instead, everyone was comforting him.
I was walking down the hall and spotted a gang of guys from the team together. As I got closer, I almost called out to them when I realized they were all crowded around Sammy, who looked just awful. Dude's eyes were red rimmed and a little puffy, and he had dark circles under them like he hadn't slept in days. He had probably been crying and not sleeping, which was so unlike Sammy. He'd never gotten this upset when a chick dumped him after finding out he was a player. Devin had his arm around Sammy's shoulders, muttering something nonstop into his ear. I did feel a little guilty for a second - did I do that to Sammy? But then I remembered that he was the liar and the one who started everything, so it wasn't my fault. I mean, yeah, I did say something really awful to him, but he was the one who accused me of being gay.
As I got closer to the guys, everyone suddenly became aware of my presence. Sammy's eyes shot straight down, like he couldn't even look me in the eyes. Devin just looked me right into the eye then shook his head.
I wanted to talk to Sammy, maybe try to sort this all out, but I didn't want to do it in front of the guys. Usually they were always messing around, having fun, but everyone seemed like they were so serious now.
"Sammy, bro, can we talk?"
Before Sammy could even respond, Leo stepped in front of him and forcibly said "Hey man, not now." All the other guys seemed to be backing Leo.
The sting of rejection, not just from Sammy, but from the rest of the team too, really hurt.
I didn't know who to turn to. Then I realized there was someone who always had my back - Coach Tom. I said fuck it about my first period class, went straight to his office and knocked on his door.
"Luke? Come in. What's going on with you and Sammy?"
I was surprised Coach went straight to the point, but he was always a no bullshitter, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for him. He treated us like we were adults, not just a bunch of kids. No beating around the bush.
"What do you mean, Coach?" As much as I wanted Coach's support, I didn't really feel like going into detail about our fight. I'd be so fucking embarrassed if anyone found out what me and Sammy had been doing, I mean, what he was doing to me.
"Luke, Sammy came in this morning and quit the team. I have to choose a new captain now, and get Ryan, our alternate pitcher, up to speed."
Wait, what. What!?
"Sammy quit the team?"
"Yes, Luke. What the hell happened? He seemed really upset. I heard the other guys talking, it seems like something went down between the two of you."
"Well, Coach... yeah, it's true, Sammy and I did have a... fight, I guess. But I had no idea he was going to quit!"
Coach sighed and leaned back in his chair, putting his powerful arms behind his head, which really showed off his huge biceps. "Listen, Luke. You and Sammy have been inseparable since you were kids. I really doubt whatever happened is going to be permanent. And you know I'm not a hard ass, but this is going to seriously affect team morale. All I'm asking is that you try to fix things between the two of you."
Man, why was it up to me to fix things? Sammy should be the one apologizing, not me. I wasn't going to give in until he did. But I still told Coach that I'd do my best, just to get him off my back.
For the rest of the day, I avoided Sammy and the guys on the team. Luckily Sammy and I had no classes together, so there weren't any awkward incidents besides seeing each other in the hall. At least, until lunch.
I walked into the lunchroom and made my way to the table in the back where the team always sat. As I got closer, I saw the team all sitting with Sammy, who had his head in his hands. They all seemed to be muttering stuff to him, like they were trying to cheer him up or something. Even though he wasn't on the team anymore, he was still sitting with them. I felt so awkward, there was no way I could go over there. The rest of the team just turned to me and stared me down. I didn't think they were mad at me, they probably just wanted me to give Sammy some space. Usually when one of us was rejected by a girl, the whole team would show up and be like "Man, fuck her, she was a bitch anyways". I wonder if that was what they were saying about me? I was still pissed off that they seemed to be treating Sammy like he was the victim here, when he was the one who lied to me!
It wasn't worth it to have a confrontation, so I decided to find another place to sit. Scanning the room, my eyes fell on a table in the corner with a single person there. A rail thin, short guy with reddish brown hair... oh shit, that's Mark! Hm, maybe talking to Mark wouldn't be such a bad idea. I doubt he'd ask about the whole Sammy thing.
Mark looked up from his camera as I got closer, unintentionally casting a shadow over him. His eyes immediately bugged out like a rabbit that just got caught by a wolf. I don't get why he was always so nervous around me - yeah, I was an alpha stud, but I wasn't an asshole.
"Hey, uh, Mark, right? Is it okay if I sit here?"
Mark looked over his shoulder at The Table, then looked back at me. "Uhm... L-Luke... don't you usually, um, sit with the other baseball guys?"
Ugh, I really didn't want to explain what had happened to little Mark; we weren't even friends. I tried to play it off casually.
"Yeah but they got something going on right now and I wanted to get some peace and quiet. So, can I sit here?" I really hoped Mark said yes, sitting with anybody is better than sitting all by yourself.
"Yeah, uhm, I guess so..." Mark looked around frantically, and back over his shoulder at the table. "Hey, this isn't like a prank or something, right?"
I felt kinda bad. Is that what Mark thought about me? That I was the kind of guy who would play a cruel prank on him, like we were the jock and nerd from a bad Netflix movie. Fuck that, I wasn't an asshole. And I was gonna prove it to Mark so he would stop looking at me like I was going to hit him. If the team wanted to side with Sammy, I guess I just needed to make new friends.
I sat down in the seat and started in with my lunch. I was damn hungry, but I couldn't help but notice Mark kept staring at me while I ate, fiddling with his camera.
"Hey, what've you been working on?" I asked, gesturing to his camera.
"W-what? You mean the photo stuff? Well, I was doing portraits for the athletes, like action shots of them at practice or during games. Uhm, I had asked you to sign a form and let me take some pics?" he replied sheepishly.
"Oh damn, really man? I'm so sorry, I just got a lot going on right now. Do you have that form with you now?"
Mark nodded and rummaged around in his backpack, pulling out a single piece of paper. I quickly signed it and handed it back to him. I did feel kinda bad because he's been asking me to sign it for a couple weeks, I just kept forgetting. I've had a lot on my plate with the Sammy stuff and my weird ass changes.
"Can I see?" I had no idea why Mark was always so nervous to talk to me, I knew he was shy but sometimes it felt like I was the only person he was this shy towards. Could he be afraid of me? I didn't want anyone to think I was an asshole, so I decided to try and make nice with Mark.
"You mean, see the photos? Uhm, I mean, sure. OK."
Mark got up a little from the table to more easily hand the camera across. When he stood up there was a loud THUMP and the table rocked a bit. What the hell was that? I looked up to see
Mark's pale face turn bright pink, looking like he wanted to die from embarrassment. It was kinda cute actually.
Wait, cute?
I didn't get a chance to think about that because Mark shoved his camera into my face. I grabbed it, flipping through the pics he had taken on the little screen. Honestly, Mark's stuff was awesome. I always saw him around with a camera but had no idea he could actually take good pictures. I stopped on one pic of Jordan O'Keefe, our star quarterback. The way Mark had taken the picture, it was like Jordan was going super speed while the rest of the world was in slow-mo, like in that superhero movie.
I tried to focus on the photos, but for some reason my hole was throbbing again. I guess I hadn't done anything since the fight with Sammy... damn, what the hell happened to me? A couple days without Sammy and I was starting to go crazy again. I tried to fight it but the throbbing sensation just made me squirm in my seat.
"Damn, Mark, this one is fucking awesome! I could see this on the front cover of a magazine. I don't know shit about photos, but they look great to me. Is this what you want to do?"