Free One of the Guys by Dawn Doyle

so something must
have happened between them too.
    “ He was being an ass, as usual.”
Logan said with a shrug.
    I was about to ask him what he’d
done when Carl and Stu walked in. Logan wasn’t happy, and Carl
looked anywhere but at the two of us.
    “ Are you coming to practice today?”
Stu asked.
    “ Yeah of course.” Logan replied,
and they stopped walking as they began talking about innings,
swings and pitches.
    I was lost halfway through the
conversation. I didn’t know anywhere near enough about baseball to
understand what they were saying. Logan hardly spoke about the
terminology to me, and I never thought about looking it
up.
     
    As I looked between them, I knew I
was forgotten about, again.
    No, I didn’t want to be center of
attention, but as a part of the group I would’ve liked to have been
included. Fair enough, I didn’t play baseball and it didn’t
interest me all that much, but I had been there for almost all of
their practices and I had attended every one of their games.
    Instead of standing there, waiting
for them to finish talking, I decided it was best if I just
left.
    “ I’m going to class. See you guys
later.” I said.
    I waited for a response.
    Not one. Not even from
Logan.
    I turned and walked away, feeling
my heart harden a little. I walked through the hallways and got to
my homeroom class and sat down. I put in my earbuds and started
listening to my music until it was time for my first
lesson.
     
     
    I sat down on my seat and got out
my History book, waiting for class to start, and to see whether
Logan noticed I’d gone.
    I hadn’t gotten any text messages
or missed calls. It was probably something stupid, like he’d
forgotten his phone.
    Yeah, that was it. He’ll say
something when he gets here.
    Logan walked in and sat down at the
table next to me, as he always did every year we had class
together.
    “ Hey.” He said with a
smile.
    I just looked at him.
    I don’t believe it! He doesn’t
even realize that I left! I
thought.
    Maybe I’m wrong. Maybe he heard me
saying goodbye.
    I continued to stare, butterflies
in my stomach, and not the nice kind, thinking that maybe he didn’t notice, and he
might have even forgotten I was there.
    “ What?” He asked, narrowing his
eyes a little, still smiling.
    “ You don’t realize, do you?” I
asked, softly.
    “ Realize what?” He looked
confused.
    I was devastated, and my heart hurt
in my chest. The guys had done that to me before, but not
Logan…ever…and now…
    “ What happened in the hallway.” I
said, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
    “ No, what happened?” He asked, like
there was some news to hear.
    I decided to give him a clue and
then work the rest for himself.
    “ We walked into school together,
and Lex and Pike met us.”
    “ Yeah?”
    “ Think about the rest,
Logan.”
     
    I sat back and watched as the
wheels turned in his head. I knew the moment he realized what had
happened. His eyes widened as they snapped to me.
    “ Oh my God, Chase, I’m so sorry!”
He held his hands to his chest. “Why didn’t you say you were
leaving?”
    “ I did. You went to your homeroom
and never even wondered where I’d gone, did you?” The look on
Logan’s face told me everything. “You forgot I was even there in
the first place.” I said.
    I wanted to cry. I wanted to show
him that he’d hurt me, but I couldn’t. He would know my true
feelings, so I took a deep breath and willed the tears
away.
    “ Chase, I’m sorry. We got talking
about practice and, I guess, it took over everything.”
    “ Your game’s important, forget
about it.” I said, looking down at my book when the teacher entered
the room.
    “ So are you.” He
whispered, and I turned to look at him. “ You’re my friend too, and I
should’ve known when you’d left. Practice isn’t an excuse. I was an
ass. I’m sorry, it won’t happen again.”
    “ Sure.” I said.
    I had a feeling that it would. I
don’t know why, or how, but I