Left Field Love
: Chapter 11

The incessant beeping is getting to me.

“I forgot to grab rice,” I tell Gramps, which is actually true. “I’ll be right back.” I duck out of line to head back into the main section of the supermarket.

It doesn’t take me long to replace the correct aisle and grab the light blue bag. There’s only one grocery store in town. Gramps and I have been coming here every Saturday for as long as I can remember to stock up on food for the week.

Gramps has moved up to second in line by the time I return to the check-out. I toss the rice in the cart and try not to wince as the scanner keeps beeping nonstop.

Finally, it’s our turn. Gramps chats with the owner as she rings up our groceries.

“I’m going to put these in the truck,” I tell Gramps, grabbing two of the paper grocery bags and heading toward the door. He nods as he continues making small talk.

I spin around to push open the door with my back. When I turn back around, I’m standing on the sidewalk just outside the store.

Face-to-face with Caleb Winters.

We stare at each other as we contemplate what to say.

At least, that’s what I’m doing.

“Hi.” Running into Caleb outside of school is strange, especially following his unexpected offer to help me pass gym. It added another layer to our already complicated…something. Not a friendship, definitely not a relationship, but something more than nothing.

“Hi,” Caleb repeats. All I can see on his face is surprise. Unlike me, he’s not alone. Jake Barnes, Colt Adams, and Luke Evans all hover behind him. Jake looks bored; Colt and Luke amused. “Good weekend?”

“Thrilling. Can’t you tell?” I nod at the two paper bags I’m clutching to my chest.

“Yeah, it’s pretty obvious.”

I shift the weight of the bags I’m holding. “How about you?”

“It’s been all right,” he responds.

“Winters! We gotta go,” Jake calls. He, Colt, and Luke have drifted down the street, and are now standing about twenty feet away from us. It’s disconcerting to realize I was so focused on Caleb I didn’t even notice their departure.

“I’ve got to put these in the truck, anyway,” I say, giving him an easy out. “I’ll see you on Monday.”

Caleb doesn’t acknowledge Jake. Doesn’t look away from me. “Do you want to come?”

“Come?” I echo.

“To see a movie. We’re headed there now.” He jerks his head to the left, toward the town cinema located a couple blocks further downtown. His voice is casual, but the invitation is anything but. The most popular guy in school is asking me to hang out with him. It feels like a cliché that I’m stunned speechless by the offer. But I don’t replace Caleb’s popularity appealing. It’s a reminder of everything I hate about this town.

“Why are you asking?”

A muscle pulses in Caleb’s jaw as he glances down the street at his waiting friends. “I have to have a reason?”

“Caleb…”

The door behind me clangs open and shut. I turn to see my grandfather emerging from the store, carrying two more paper bags. “Gramps,” I admonish. “I was coming back for those.”

“I can manage a couple bags, Lennie,” he informs me, before his gaze moves to the guy standing in front of me.

“Well, hello there, Caleb.”

“Hello, Mr. Matthews,” Caleb replies.

Gramps shakes his head. “I told you to call me Earl.”

I don’t miss the glances Caleb’s friends exchange following the revelation he’s met my grandfather previously. I wish I’d realized they were still in earshot sooner.

In a town as small as Landry, it’s rarer not to know someone than to know them. But Gramps and I don’t exactly frequent the events where most of the local socializing takes place. Not anymore.

Caleb smiles. “You did, sir. Earl,” he tacks on hastily when my grandfather gives him a sharp look.

“Better,” Gramps praises. “What are you boys up to?” Gramps asks, shifting his gaze from Caleb to his posse hovering nearby.

“We’re headed to see a movie,” Caleb replies. “I was just seeing if Lennon wanted to come.”

I know what Gramps’s response will be even before I catch a glimpse of his delighted expression. “You should go, Lennie.”

I glare at him. “What about the groceries?”

Gramps waves off my question. “I can handle it. There are only a couple more bags to grab.”

“I can help.” Caleb doesn’t hesitate to offer his assistance, and to my surprise, his friends help too. I end up watching all four of them load our groceries for the week into the back of the old farm truck. I expect Gramps to take advantage of the opportunity to strike up a conversation about baseball with four of Landry High’s starters, but he drives off as soon as the truck is filled.

Probably eager to leave before I can come up with an excuse to depart with him.

“This better not be a horror movie,” I tell Caleb as we walk back toward the sidewalk where his friends are waiting.

“I thought you’d come around on those,” he replies. “Aren’t we doing Frankenstein for our paper?”

“That’s a book, not a movie,” I inform him. “Plus, I wasn’t about to spend all of lunch arguing with you about other options.”

We reach Luke, Colt, and Jake.

“Hey, you look really familiar. Have we met before?” Jake asks as we continue in the direction of the movie theater down the street. He pairs the question with a cheeky grin.

“I assume you’re referring to the fact that we’ve gone to school together since kindergarten, Barnes?”

Jake laughs. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”

I roll my eyes. I’m trying to act casual as we walk along the brick sidewalk, but it’s a challenge to pretend like this is anything normal.

Hanging out with Caleb is bizarre enough, but the last few years of animosity have established some familiarity between us. I can’t recall the last time I spoke to Jake Barnes. The only time I’ve talked to Colt Adams was when he approached me at Marcus’s party. And Luke Evans barely bothered to acknowledge my existence when he stopped to talk to Will after the basketball game.

Even before my family drama made me the school pariah, these were never people I was friendly with. Walking down the sidewalk now, it feels like I’ve stumbled into some bizarre alternate reality where I’m friends with four of the most revered guys in school. It’s a jarring shift compared to the infamous solitude I settled into freshman year.

The movie theater is bustling with activity when we enter it. It’s a dreary, overcast day, and there are few forms of entertainment in town during the winter months to begin with. The cinema is connected to an arcade and a diner, making it a popular spot for everyone to congregate.

After we buy tickets for a spy thriller, the guys all decide to buy snacks from the concession stand. I stay in the lobby, claiming I ate lunch just before Gramps and I went shopping. In reality, I don’t have any money to spend on overpriced candy.

Leaning against a wall watching others buy their tickets gets old fast, so I wander into the arcade area. I haven’t been in here since middle school. I’m surprised by how nostalgic I feel looking around at the flashing lights and listening to automated trills. The air hockey table was always my favorite, and it’s empty right now. I send the puck flying into the opponent’s goal for old time’s sake.

“Lennon?” I turn to see Will standing a few feet away, with Marcus Freedman beside him.

“Hi, Will,” I greet. “Marcus. How’s it going?”

“Not bad,” Will replies, giving me his usual friendly smile, then glancing at the table behind me. “You’re playing some air-less air hockey?”

I smile. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Are you here with Cassie, or…”

“Oh. I, uh, I—” I stammer and stall, trying to figure out how to respond. Will may be nice enough to pretend otherwise, but I know he’s aware I’m barely perched on the first rung of Landry High’s social ladder. There’s no easy explanation for why I’m here with those comfortably situated at the top. Mostly because I don’t understand it myself.

“Thought you were staying in the lobby, Matthews.” Caleb’s voice joins the conversation.

“I got bored,” I reply, internally cringing as I see Will’s wide eyes bounce back and forth between the two of us. Marcus looks shocked, too. “I’ll see you guys around.” I shoot Will a small smile, then turn to head back to the lobby.

“Masterson’s into you,” Caleb comments, falling into step beside me.

“Maybe.”

A warm hand encircles my wrist, tugging me to a stop. I face Caleb, raising an eyebrow. His throat bobs with a swallow. “Lennon…”

“We thought you left.” Jake approaches, Colt and Luke right behind him. Caleb’s hand drops, releasing mine.

I figured Jake was addressing Caleb, but his gaze is on me. “I just walked into the arcade.”

“Thank God,” Luke mutters.

I glance at him, confused. “If I wanted to leave, I would have,” I reply. “It’s not like Caleb would have bothered to stop me.”

Colt looks highly amused by my response for some reason. “Good luck, Winters.”

Caleb rolls his eyes. “I wouldn’t have invited you if I didn’t want you to come, Matthews. Hurry up.” He starts down the carpeted hallway that’s lined with movie posters and smells strongly of buttered popcorn.

“Winters is weird about missing the previews,” Luke informs me as we all struggle to keep up with Caleb’s brisk strides. “God forbid we just arrive on time for the movie we actually came to see. We have to be embarrassingly early, like we’re here for the senior discount special.”

“Yeah, he would watch movie trailers in History last year.” The words are out before I’ve thought them through, and Colt gives me a weird look.

I’m just as confused. Why do I know that? Why did I remember that?

Despite Luke’s complaints, the movie theater is already close to full when we enter the dark auditorium. I follow the guys to the top row of the stadium-style seating.

“Nice of you to finally join us.” Caleb smirks. I flip him off. I reached the top of the stairs only a few seconds after he did.

“Ladies first,” Jake says, holding his arm out like a game show host presenting the winning prize. Only instead of a brand-new car, I receive the gift of having to shuffle past all four of them down the row.

There’s some whispering at the top of the stairs, and then Caleb is the one who walks down the row and takes the seat next to me.

“You draw the short stick?” I mutter.

“Yep. They’re making me share my popcorn with you, too.” He holds the container out to me.

“I don’t like popcorn,” I lie.

“Then why did you eat some at lunch last week?” Caleb counters.

I raise both eyebrows. “Why do you know what I ate for lunch last week?”

“So I could catch you in a lie when we went to the movies this weekend,” Caleb says sarcastically. “Just take some, Matthews.”

I cave and scoop up some of the salty, buttery snack. “Thanks,” I murmur begrudgingly. I finish the handful before the movie has even started.

“Here.” Caleb holds out the bin of popcorn again, and this time I don’t argue with him.

He goes to take some at the same time I withdraw my hand. His palm grazes my knuckles, and the contact feels like touching an open flame. I react immediately, hastily yanking my hand back into the sanctuary of my seat as though I’ve just been burned.

The movie finally starts. I focus my attention on the massive screen, acting as though the film featuring a hunky actor I vaguely recognize, along with a lot of guns and gore, is all that matters in the world at this moment. In reality, the back of my hand still tingles. I’m excruciatingly aware the tall frame silhouetted in the seat next to me is Caleb Winters.

The darkness makes it seem like there’s no one else here besides the two of us.

I keep my eyes trained on the screen in front of me, but the movie can’t distract me from Caleb sitting only a few inches away.

I listen to him munch popcorn.

I watch him bounce his knee.

I feel his elbow bump my bicep when he shrugs out of the hoodie he was wearing.

And…I’m attracted to Caleb Winters. I don’t just replace him objectively good-looking. I like talking with him, knowing he’ll have a response ready for anything I say. I like how he doesn’t seem to care I’m a loner and an outsider. I even enjoy the fizziness when I’m around him, how my awareness of everything is heightened.

By the time the movie ends I’m just as clueless about the plot as I was before it started. Thankfully, no one asks for my opinion as we exit the auditorium. Jake and Caleb are engaged in a detailed discussion about one of the stunts.

“Hang on,” Jake says as we approach the lobby. “That slushy ran right through me.”

He ducks into the men’s restroom. I take the opportunity to escape for a moment as well. “I’ll be right back.”

I walk through the doorway marked with a stick figure wearing a dress, then take a sharp right to head down the hallway lined with stalls. I lock myself in the first one that’s available and tap my head against the plastic door three times, hoping it will knock some sense into me.

No such luck. The memory of sitting next to Caleb in the pitch black still causes goosebumps to rise on my skin.

This is bad. Really bad. I can’t avoid him until graduation in June and wait for this silly crush to fade.

I wash my hands and then head back down the hallway toward the exit. I’m just about to round the corner to re-enter the hallway when I hear Colt’s voice.

I pause in place. “—think it’s adorable you had to use her grandfather to trick her into spending time with you.”

“This is the sort of shit I’d expect from Jake, not you,” Caleb responds. “We happened to run into each other. She’s writing that article on me, and it’ll be easier if we try to get along. It’s not a big deal, okay?”

Colt snorts. “You’re not fooling anyone with that crap, Winters. It’s obvious—”

Footsteps sound behind me, and I have no choice but to round the tiled corner and leave the bathroom before they reach me. Both Colt and Caleb fall silent the second I appear, and that only increases my curiosity about what they were discussing.

Caleb scrutinizes my face closely as I approach. I’m pretty sure it means he has an idea I might have overheard some of his conversation with Colt. Jake and Luke are standing closer to the lobby, waiting for the rest of us.

“Are you heading home from here, Jake?” I ask, once we’ve reached the exit.

“Uh, yeah,” he replies.

“Can I get a ride?” Instead of answering, Jake glances at Caleb. So do Colt and Luke.

I don’t.

Jake lives in an upscale gated community located only a couple of blocks from the high school. There’s no such thing as “out of the way” in a town as small as Landry, but there’s no denying the fact Jake lives closest to me.

“Sure,” Jake replies, although the words don’t sound all that welcoming. Maybe he’s worried someone from school will see us together.

Relieved about managing a ride home with someone other than Caleb, I turn to the other three boys with a bright smile. “See you guys Monday. That movie was great…exciting.”

Exciting can apply to any action movie, right?

I’m avoiding looking at Caleb, but both Colt and Luke nod their heads before I head toward the exit doors.

A few seconds later, I hear Jake behind me. I hold the door for him as we emerge outside into the damp air.

Jake Barnes is known for being a jokester. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him without an easygoing grin stretched across his face.

But he’s silent and serious as we walk down the sidewalk. Aside from turning on the radio and instructing me to play whatever I want, Jake doesn’t say a word as we make the short trip back to Matthews Farm from downtown Landry. There are a couple of times when he opens his mouth, as though he’s about to speak, but he always closes it before any words actually escape.

“I’ll, uh, walk from here,” I say when he pulls into my driveway. I can’t handle any more of the awkward silence.

“You sure?” Jake asks.

“Yes,” I confirm, opening the door to climb out. “Thanks for the ride.”

I jump out and start walking up the dirt driveway, trying to put as much distance between myself and this weird afternoon as I can.