Timothy’s Terrible Prompt Stories - 13. Prompt 364 That is the last time I am telling you anything! (I)

“That is the last time I am telling you anything!” Tina snubbed the two other girls, who were dragging her away from us. They were clearly embarrassed by the spectacle of their friend cooing over us and saying “I just knew it!” I imagined all of us thought ‘yeah, right’ to her outburst since it was highly unbelievable that Gossip Girl would pass up on a chance to share the interesting tidbits she loved to ferret out.

I was never more grateful for the ability of my best friend to face any kind of situation with a shrug and a joke.

“Right, I guess the town crier has done her duty, and you’re now well and truly launched as a couple. Such drama, but what can you expect?” Jasper suddenly grinned, “Maybe she’ll get course credits for the performance. Is Ms. Neall here?”

He made a show of looking around for our drama club teacher, and several people laughed. I heard one girl say that Ms. Neall would have appreciated the show, but criticized the over-the-top acting. I agreed.

We made our way to where we wanted to sit and got ourselves organized. We had brought extra clothes in the form of warm sweatshirts, thin but insulating socks and windproof coats. We spread one thick blanket on the bleacher seat, sat down and folded the sides up and over our outer thighs, before draping the other blanket over our laps. Jasper grinned at us; he had opted for green thermo gear leaving him free to move around, but looking somewhat like a bulky, reverse-color carrot.

“Don’t you look cozy! Hmm, I may have to try this idea with Carolyn. I bet you can get up to all sorts of fun under the cover of staying warm.”

“Shut up, Jazz,” I said, but I couldn’t really be mad at him, since Eric’s arm was around my shoulder and he was nuzzling my hair with his nose and whispering that he liked the idea. So far all of our hands were firmly above the blanket, but once the game got going, people would stop paying attention to us. Or so I hoped, because I wanted to hold his hand underneath the cover.

***

My prediction came true, more or less. No one paid us any attention once the game started. We held hands and kept each other warm, except whenever Rob was in action. Then Eric was busy entering data on his smartphone, explaining that he did all of his brother’s baseball statistics for him. He would also comment on the game at other times, and he was clearly well versed in all the aspects of baseball.

During the first hour of the game, things were pretty equal, but by the bottom of the fourth inning, West Hill had a lead of 5 to 2. I felt Eric tense up before the beginning of the fifth, and when I asked why, he said, “My dad’s here.”

I saw a tall blond man talking to Rob by the dugout. He turned around and after a bit his eyes found us. Eric raised his hand and his dad nodded at him. When he made no move to join us, my boyfriend relaxed again. I couldn’t help giving him a questioning look and Eric turned his head to speak in my ear.

“It’s not that I’m ashamed of us, or of him. But I don’t want to introduce you here.”

I nodded, since I could see his point. I wanted him to meet my parents in the relative calm of my own home too.

As we got closer to four o’clock, Jasper began to look around for Carolyn. He had managed to turn his phone on and texted her a couple of times. She agreed to come over to the school to meet him, after she finished work. Since the sixth promised to be another quick affair, both of them would probably stay for the 7^th and last inning.

In fact, we were well into the bottom of the sixth, when Carolyn found us. Jasper greeted her with a hug and a quick kiss. She said, “Hi Nelson, Eric,” and I gave her a quick wave, but Eric’s attention was on the game. There were runners on third and first, two outs, and Rob was at bat, one strike down. I heard Jasper give his girlfriend a pointer and she immediately focused on the game too. She’d gotten quite fond of baseball after she started to date my best friend.

The pitcher threw a curve, but Rob didn’t swing, and it was called a ‘ball’. The next pitch was a fastball and Rob swung. The sound as the bat hit the ball was loud and sweet, and Jasper immediately yelled, “Home run!” Eric jumped up, spilling blankets, our bag of peanuts, and me all over the place. My friend’s prediction was soon vindicated, and I stood up to join the cheering as the ball sailed out of bounds and Rob started his amble around the bases waving at the crowd.

“Oh man, Dad is going to be over the moon. Rob will be so pleased we were here to see this.”

“Do you go to all his games?”

“Most of them. Baseball is the only sport we all like; even my mom will watch it on TV with us.”

“I’ve been to one or two of Jasper’s games, but I have to admit, it’s more fun when I’m here with you.”

Rob finally finished his home run and my boyfriend turned to smile at me.

“Thanks, Nelson. I enjoyed myself a lot more too. Would it be OK, if we went down to congratulate Rob after the game?”

“Sure. After all, we do sort of owe him, don’t we?”

"We do..?"

I smiled, and got close to his ear. "Well, he did play Cupid, after all." Eric agreed with a big blush and grin.

The seventh inning was nothing more than a formality and the two relief pitchers shut the game down with no more runs. I could see that Jasper and Carolyn were anxious to go, so I made a quick decision.

“Don’t wait for us, Jazz. We want to congratulate Rob, but it will probably be a while before he’s available. We’ll find another way home.”

I basked in the warmth of three grateful looks, mainly the one from Eric who was obviously torn between the desire to be here for his brother and the worry of annoying the friends of his boyfriend. After all, we had originally meant to go home an hour ago.

“Thanks Nelson, I’m worn out after a busy day at work, so I want to go home and relax. Eric, will you please congratulate Rob from Jazz and me?” Carolyn smiled at both of us, and Jasper nodded and took her hand. From the twinkle in her eye, when she said “Have a nice evening, boys,” as they left, it was obvious Jasper had spilled the beans about Eric and me.

We got our belongings together, stuffing the blankets and sweatshirts into our backpacks but keeping our coats on, since the wind was getting stronger. By the time we made our way down to home plate, the visiting team had gone in to shower, but most of the home team was still celebrating their win. Rob was being hugged and kissed by a buxom blonde girl, whom I assumed was Melanie; I could vaguely recall having seen the senior around.

Rob’s dad was standing next to them, and I wondered if the prospect of facing both of them would deter Eric. But he kept a firm hold of my hand and we bided our time. Once Rob had disentangled himself from his girlfriend, she turned to speak to his dad. Rob’s eyes scanned around and as soon as he caught sight of us, a huge happy grin appeared on his face. Without the slightest hesitation he pushed his way through the crowd to get to us.

Eric began talking the moment Rob was in earshot.

“Well done, Rob, that was awesome…”

He got no further before Rob crashed into us and gave us both an exuberant hug.

“You stayed! I wasn’t sure you would, but I spotted you during the warm-up. I went out there and told myself, ‘This one is for Eric and Nelson’, and I just knew I would nail it. I saw you cheering too. Thanks, guys!”

He squeezed once more, before letting us go. I held on to Eric who put his arm around my shoulders to steady me while I got my breath back.

Eric said, “That was your fifth home run, wasn’t it, Rob? One last year, and four this year is pretty good for a twelve game season. And your batting average and RBI were better than normal too.”

“Well bro, you would know.” Rob grinned and turned to me. “My clever brother has done all the statistics for me ever since I started playing.”

Just then Rob and Eric’s father came over and the coach shouted at the players to grab their stuff and go clean up, since the locker rooms and showers were now free. Rob grinned at us and jogged off, pausing for a quick word with Melanie, before he picked up his gear and disappeared inside. She followed at a slower pace, together with the girlfriends of other players, and I recalled that Eric had told me they were all going out to celebrate.

I turned my attention back to Eric, whose cheeks were a bit red, and suddenly noticed that his dad was looking at him expectantly.

“Ehm, Dad, would you mind giving Nelson and me a lift back, since Jasper left already?”

“No problem. But maybe you have time to come home with me for an hour or two? We’d love to meet Nelson properly. When do your parents expect you back for dinner?”

Uh oh…