Chapter 4: Baseball and Impressions

The rest of the day passed in a blur of mind-numbing lessons and doodling.

No matter how much Celeste tried to focus on the lesson, her thoughts kept drifting back to Lucien.

As she was getting distracted again, the final bell echoed through the halls, which indicated the end of the school day.

“Practice starts in ten, let’s go change Lucien. Hurry up.” Lamperouge called out as he stuffed his school supplies in his bag, which was filled with his practice gear.

“Hey, wait for me!” yelled Bytenkaios, trying to stuff his mouth with some post-school snacks while catching up with the group.

Celeste usually went straight home after school, but Lucien’s first practice intrigued her enough to consider following them.

She stood there for a moment, watching them leave, debating if she should follow them, when she heard a voice behind her.

“You coming?” Adelaide said, rolling her eyes, obviously annoyed with the delay Celeste was causing.

Shit, I forgot I used to walk home with Adelaide every day, Celeste remembered.

“Coming!” she called out as she slung her bag over her shoulder, deciding not to watch the practice today, as not to arouse suspicion or create unnecessary rumors for the time being.

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The field was already filled with students from all ages by the time Lucien and the others arrived. The warm afternoon sun cast a large shadow over half the field, and the monotonous sound of crickets filled the area, sometimes being interrupted with the satisfying clank of a ball hitting the bat.

Lucien looked around the field, as if sizing everything up.

A deep, commanding voice silenced the field instantly. “Everyone, gather at the mound. Now."

The coach gathered everyone as the practice began. “Since it’s the first practice of the new school year, I want to take the time to introduce the new players,” he said.

“This year we only have one new senior, Lucien from St. Mary’s school,” he continued.

As if impatiently waiting to start practice, he kept introductions short. “Okay, let’s not waste too much time! Get to your positions,” he yelled demandingly.

He turned his gaze towards Lucien. “You’re a pitcher right? Better hurry and get on the mound then,” he smirked.

“Yes sir,” exclaimed Lucien as he made his way towards the top of the mound.

As he placed the spikes of his cleats deep into the gravel of the mound, preparing himself to show the team his pitches, he heard a voice behind him.

As he turned towards the noise, he made eye contact with an unfamiliar face.

“Don’t mess up on your first day now,” the strange voice sneered.

“You don’t have to worry about me, mind your own business,” Lucien replied confidently, as he redirected his focus towards the catcher.

The coach's voice sliced through the chatter again. “Bastien stop bothering him, you’re second string pitcher now so get to the bench.”

So that’s my competition for the pitcher spot? What a joke, thought Lucien

As the coach began to get irritated, everyone finally got to their positions. “Alright let’s just warm up with some pitches and then throw it for a double,” he said.

“Casual pitches Lucien, let’s not get fatigued or injured on the first day, Okay?” he continued.

“Yes sir.” exclaimed Lucien as he crushed the ball into his glove and wiped the dirt on his hat, preparing himself for his first pitch.

His arm flung back, putting all his weight on his hind leg, with his eyes locked on the glove of the catcher.

As he threw his arm forwards and the ball left his hand, everything went silent, only the sound of crickets, and the ear piercing woosh of the ball could be heard.

As the ball hit the glove with a large clap, dead center, he breathed a sigh of relief.

But that was short lived as he heard that deep voice behind him again. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing?” he yelled, clearly annoyed. “I told you to warm up, not throw full speed!”

What is he talking about? I am warming up, thought Lucien.

“Pardon me, but I am warming up, what do you mean?” asked Lucien, trying to figure out what the coach meant.

Instead of replying, the coach rather pointed to his right, towards a mysterious machine in the distance.

Lucien squinted his eyes to see what the coach was pointing at.

Is that.. a speed radar? Damn this school has nice facilities, concluded Lucien.

“I didn’t know we had a speed radar, nic–” smiled Lucien, as he was interrupted by the coach again.

“That’s not the point boy, look at the number on the radar.”

eighty-nine miles per hour? Nice, thought Lucien.

Rolling his eyes, knowing that Lucien didn’t get it, the coach explained, “None of my boys can even throw eighty-nine miles per hour, and you want to tell me you were warming up.”

“What do you throw normally in games Lucien,” he continued.

“One hundred point five miles per hour average, sir,” replied Lucien.

The silence after this casual remark was deafening, as gradually some whispers began to fill the pitch.

The coach’s jaw tightened, and Bastien’s overconfident smirk turned into a look of despair. A hundred miles an hour isn’t just high school star level, that’s world class.

“One hundred?” the coach repeated, as his voice dropped another octave. “We’ll see if that arm holds up under a real batter.”

I guess I might have said that a bit too casually, laughed Lucien to himself.

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Meanwhile Adelaide and Celeste were nearing the end of their short journey home.

The setting sun colored the sky orange, contrasting the vast green fields in this part of town, and the shadow of Celeste’s house around the corner was visible as they walked down the road.

“Still thinking about that boy?” inquired Adelaide, side-eyeing Celeste with a smirk on her face.

Celeste didn’t respond right away, she couldn’t explain the pull she felt towards Lucien without telling Adelaide the whole story and seeming crazy.

“He’s cute and all, but I’m mostly just stressed about the upcoming school year, that’s all,” Celeste replied, shrugging it off.

“Don’t get too lost, daydreaming about Lucien,” Adelaide joked, as she hugged Celeste goodbye at her doorstep.

As she walked off, she flung her hair back as it waved through the wind, with a faint blonde glow due to the sun. “See you tomorrow Celeste!”

“See you,”

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