The Underclassman

The Party Favor

Mick rushed through the food court on Monday afternoon and grabbed a grilled chicken sandwich to go as it was the first offering he ran across. Tipoff for the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship was at 7:20 p.m. and Mick wanted to get back to Bradley Hall as soon as possible and get all his schoolwork done so he could sit back and enjoy the game, accompanied by a few cocktails naturally.

Upon returning to his dorm room, Mick sat down at his desk with his laptop and began to gobble down his sandwich while waiting for the computer to come out of sleep mode. As he was going over his notes from the morning's chemistry class his attention was drawn to an incoming email alert that popped-up in the lower right-hand corner of the screen. He could see it was from the play's director Nina Holcomb. Mick quickly opened the message and began to read through it.

On behalf of the casting panel, the play's director thanked him for auditioning and stated how impressed they all were with Mick considering he had no previous formal drama instruction. However, the panel had decided to move forward with an experienced actor to play the role of Thomas Hill. Mick was not the least bit surprised by their decision and while he felt a sense of relief that he would not be standing on stage in front of an untold number of strangers who would be watching his every move and listening to each of his words, there was still a small degree of disappointment. Mick continued to read further.

The note went on to say that while he was not selected for the male lead, Mick was being offered the dual opportunity to be both the understudy for the part of Thomas Hill and be an extra playing one of the male university students. "This has to be an April Fool's joke," thought Mick. Actors and actresses were to memorize their lines with rehearsals to be held on Monday and Wednesday evenings and some Saturday mornings beginning the following week. The director requested that Mick reply within two days and confirm his participation in the production so casting could be finalized.

Mick realized that that as an extra, he would get to be on stage without the need to deliver any lines. Suddenly, the prospect of being in the play excited him, however that was allayed when Mick began to ponder the amount of time that would be required in preparation. He had already committed to playing softball and by adding rehearsals, it would mean a significant impact to his ability to study and complete schoolwork.

Throughout the evening as he pored over his notes, Mick continued to contemplate the quandary that lingered in the back of his mind. With the basketball game about to begin he thought it probably best to sleep on it before deciding one way or another. "Screw it," said Mick out loud, as he was throwing together his first rum and coke. He knew he would need to be extremely regimented with budgeting his time but resolved to give the play a go.

Mick sat back down at his computer and replied to the director's email to confirm he was accepting the offer to be in the production. With that decision made, all he needed to do now was figure out how to handle his next dilemma -- what to tell Abby.

Later that week on Thursday afternoon as Mick was leaving the chemistry lab, Perry Bertrand called out to him saying, "Don't forget our first game later today." Mick looked over in Perry's direction and nodded, acknowledging that he was aware. For the second time that week, Mick buzzed through the food court and snagged just about the first thing he could find wrapped and ready to go before returning to his dorm room to eat, get in what studying he could before the game, change clothes and to retrieve his ball glove and an old pair of tennis shoes. When it got to be about forty-five minutes to game time, he rushed out the door and jumped in his car to get to the field in time to stretch and throw the ball around to warm up.

Sean was already at the park when his friend arrived, and he greeted Mick with a high five as he walked towards the diamond. "Let me introduce to some of the team," offered Sean, however several of the faces were already familiar to Mick as most of the players were chemistry majors. Sean introduced Mick to Edgar who was the team captain and the chemistry laboratory manager at the university. Edgar thanked Mick for playing and helping to fill out the team for the spring season. There were a few other players spread out down the foul line playing catch and Sean introduced Mick to each teammate as the two of them passed by. "Terri, this is Mick," said Sean, "Mick meet Terri."

It was the first chance that Mick had to gaze upon Terri up close and she was even more stunning than what he had previously been able to ascertain from afar. He was immediately captivated by her lustrous black hair which glistened in the sunlight. Terri's lush mane cascaded down over her shoulders and complimented her full eyebrows and dark, Asian-shaped eyes. Her mouth was a bit smaller than average with her upper lip being somewhat thinner than the lower, but her flush lips were certainly appealing like the rest of her. Terri was gifted with pure, smooth skin having a warm tone and by Mick's estimation she stood about five and a half feet tall.

"Hello," said Terri with a beaming smile and an extremely friendly ring to her voice.

"Nice to meet you," replied Mick as he continued to admire her.

"And I think you know Perry," stated Sean as he pointed to her boyfriend standing in the outfield. For the second time that day, Mick nodded at Perry.

"Come on," Sean told Mick, "Let's get our arms warmed up."

Mick and Sean had been tossing the softball back and forth for about fifteen minutes when Edgar called the entire team in to the bench to go through the line-up. When Mick heard he would be playing right center and batting eleventh out of twelve, his jaw almost hit the ground. Through the remainder of the rundown and as he walked to the outfield, Mick did his absolute best to not look outwardly perturbed. Ripping the cover off the ball was unlikely so Mick did not mind batting next to last but in his own humble opinion, being stuck in right center was a waste of his abilities and suddenly Mick questioned if sacrificing a large portion of his Thursday evenings to play was worth the time, especially now with also having rehearsals.

On his way to banishment in the outfield, Mick met the right fielder who was a very lovely young lady as well. Rather elflike, she could not have stood more than five foot tall or weighed more than one-hundred pounds. Her straight black hair was pulled back into a short ponytail and she had baby blue eyes, a graceful, slender nose and thin lips. "What a little spinner," thought Mick as he introduced himself and said hello. The girl replied with a faint voice that her name was Lily and by all outward appearances she seemed to be extremely shy. It was a very fitting name for the demure cutie thought Mick, as Lily was both beautiful and delicate like the flower itself.

The game pretty much went as Mick imagined. He was hitless at the plate having never gotten the ball out of the infield and except for the one ground ball that came his way, he did not see any action. Mick's only consolation was that while standing bored in the outfield he got to stare at Terri's backside as she played second base.

After the game while walking to his car with Sean, Mick began to grouse about his low standing on the team.

"You have to understand," stated Sean, "Most of these guys have been playing softball together for some time."

"Who has ever heard of a southpaw playing short?" Mick asked sarcastically, referring to the shortstop Christopher who threw left-handed.

"Face it," replied Sean, "You're low man on the totem pole." Mick understood alright, but he still did not like it.

* * *

It was Thursday and Mick was giving his friend Sean a lift to the ball fields as his SUV was at the dealership having the water pump replaced. Two weeks had passed since the start of softball and in that same time initial read-throughs for the play had also begun. As expected, Mick quickly found balancing his classes, shifts at The Dugout and his extracurricular activities to be quite the challenge, but so far manageable.

The two arrived with plenty of time before the start of the game and jogged to the outfield to throw the ball around and get warmed up. With twenty minutes left before the call to play ball, Edgar brought the team together for fielding practice and to assign the players their positions.

"How do you feel about playing third?" Edgar asked of Mick.

Although quite taken by surprise at the question he confidently answered, "Absolutely, no problem."

After a teammate inquired as to Perry's whereabouts, Terri informed everyone that he had flown to Chicago for a conference.

It only took until the fourth batter for Mick to see his first action at third base when a ground ball was hit just to the side of pitcher's mound. He sprinted across the grass, cutting off the bouncing ground ball before it could reach the shortstop Christopher, and threw the runner out. "Good play," said Christopher encouragingly as Mick walked back to his position.

Two batters later, a nubber was hit just past the dirt and into the grass in front of home plate. It was clearly a play to made by the catcher and Mick initially did not make a break for the ball, as did neither the catcher Edith nor the pitcher Edgar. The runner was not slowing down as he neared first base and sensing that he may possibly round the bag and stretch for second, Mick began to shout "pick it up" as he began to sprint towards the softball resting in the grass. Still without any outward signs of urgency, Edith rambled out from behind the plate to pick up the ball then immediately tossed it underhand to Edgar like it was literally a hot potato. By the time Edgar's throw got to second base the runner was already safely on the bag having turned a swinging bunt into a stand-up double. Doing his best to keep his mouth shut, Mick turned around and returned to his position at third base.

The very next inning another ball was chopped into the dirt just beyond the plate and it began to quickly die as it hopped through the grass on the third base side of the infield. Mick charged and tore down the line, beating Edgar to the play who had to cover only half as much ground to get there as Mick did. At full run he scooped up the ball and fired it over to the first baseman, beating the batter by a half step with the throw.

Mick knew he was not the coach or the manager but as Sean put it, low man on the totem pole. He did not want to seem dickish or come off as a know-it-all, especially considering he had only been playing third base for less than four full innings. However, he was unable to hold his tongue for the second time when Edith stood behind the plate and did nothing.

"That's your play to make," he stated to her adamantly. Edith just stared back at Mick unmoved, prompting him to reiterate, "That was your ball."

Edith really irritated Mick. She was a frumpy, lanky, fiftyish year-old woman with short, curly salt and pepper hair who wore glasses which looked like they were stolen from an old librarian. She seemed to put about as much effort into her appearance as she put into playing the game, which was none according to Mick's opinion. During every at bat, Edith was an automatic out as she would hack at the first three pitches tossed her way regardless of if they were anywhere near the plate or not. While catching, just about every one of Edgar's pitches would bounce by her and it was so annoying that sometimes the umpires would reach out and snag the softball as it skipped by her, just keep Edith from having to repeatedly fetch the ball from against the fencing. Mick did not expect her crouch behind the plate as the catchers did not wear any protective gear, but it was reasonable he thought that at some point she would learn how to play the hop.

"You're behind the plate to be more than a backstop," lectured Mick, driving his point home before turning and scampering back to third.

The team took the field in the bottom of the fifth inning with the score tied and a chance to win the game. The first batter hit a high bouncing ground ball in Mick's direction. He shuffled his feet to position himself to field the softball between hops and fired it over to first base for the first out. The second batter was more patient at the plate and very selective of the pitches he swung at. The batter managed to get a hold of one offering and ripped a ground ball down the line and past third base which Mick could not get to. Luckily it was a foul ball because it would have meant extra bases. Mick returned to his position adjacent to third base to await the next pitch.

Suddenly, Mick found himself stretched out prone, lying in the infield dirt and cradling the softball tightly within the pocket of his leather glove. All he could remember was hearing the crack of the bat, the pop of the ball slamming into his glove as it was nearly knocked off his hand, and the collective uproar of both teams as one erupted in cheers and the other in disbelief. Very coolly, Mick pushed himself up onto his knees and tossed the ball over to the shortstop Christopher to throw around the infield as he got up and dusted himself off like it was no big deal. With a look of total amazement upon his face, Christopher exclaimed, "That was incredible!" as he came over to give Mick a high-five for making the astounding catch.

As hard as he tried, Mick could not recall seeing the flight of the ball at any point. Upon contact with the bat, he had dove to his left and snagged the line drive out of the midair robbing the batter of a hit. It was an unbelievable play made purely from instinct and reflex alone.

Mick did his best to be humble and not smile too much as he collected himself readying for the next batter. Once more a ground ball came his way, this time skipping low across the grass. This would be his second assist of the inning and with having just made a spectacular putout, he did not want to botch the play. Mick fielded the ball cleanly and as he came up to make the throw he told himself to take his time, but his nerves got the better of him and he rushed, throwing the ball low. Fortunately, the first baseman was able to stretch out and make a shoestring catch instead of having to dig a short-hop out of the dirt.

While walking off the field, both Mick's teammates and some opposing players congratulated him for making the amazing catch. "Don't hit the ball to third," he heard someone say from the opponent's bench as he passed by. "Make Perry play the outfield from now on," said a voice from behind Mick.

The team went on to win the game in the bottom of the seventh when Terri reached second base on an overthrow to first and Sean crushed a ball to center field driving her home. Everyone was excited to win their first game of the season and several of the teammates decided to go out for a drink to celebrate. "We have to buy Mick a drink for that catch," joked Edgar. Sean immediately apologized to Mick, telling his friend that he needed to go back to the lab to finish some work. Mick told him not to worry, he would run Sean back to the campus and meet up with everyone afterwards.

Mulligans was an American Irish pub featuring a golf motif and like The Dugout, it occupied the ground floor of a mid-rise apartment building. The establishment was located just off The Boulevard not far from The Dugout so after dropping Sean off at the sciences building, Mick parked his car at Bradley Hall and decided to hoof it seeing that he was going to have a few drinks.

When he arrived at the bar, Mick crossed paths with Christopher who was on his way out and said to him, "Everybody was wondering what happened to you." Mick explained that he had to take Sean back to the university and decided to walk back. Christopher apprised him that everyone had already bolted except for Terri who he emphatically proclaimed, "Is hammered!"

Mick walked in to find Terri leaning on the bar to prop herself up and talking to some guy and girl who were unfamiliar to him. She had changed into a snug, gray tee shirt, cutoff denim shorts with the front pockets extending below the fringed hem, and a pair of pink flip-flops. When Mick came close enough to where Terri's eyes could focus, she shrieked, "Mick!" and threw her arms around him. He could sense how unsteady Terri's legs were as he held on to her and she reeked of alcohol. Mick wondered how she could have gotten so blitzed in such a short amount of time.

"These are my friends Jay and Jess, but they were just leaving," Terri told Mick, "Have a drink with me!"

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," he told Terri as she called out to the bartender for another cranberry margarita.

"What are you having?" she asked Mick, but before giving him a chance to answer said, "I'll bet you're a Jack and Coke guy."

"Close enough," he replied, effectively conceding that the likelihood of either of them getting out there before having at least one drink was next to zero.

"That was an amazing catch you made," commended Terri.

Mick thanked his teammate before humbly telling her, "I got lucky."

"Do you get lucky a lot?" she asked him before further inquiring, "And when you do, are you always that amazing?"

The question came across as suggestive and with Mick not knowing Terri well and having never had a conversation with her, he was not quite sure how to take it. Was Terri being intentionally flirtatious? Or was it the booze talking as she was obviously very inebriated.

"Wish I could catch a break at the plate. I can't seem to hit a softball to save my life," Mick responded, intentionally sidestepping answering her directly.

As they imbibed their cocktails, Mick did his best to try to steer the conversation in another direction while avoiding any openings that might introduce Perry into the discussion. When Terri proposed ordering another round, Mick pushed back hard. "I'm worried about you getting home safely," he told her.

She laughed loudly at his statement and told Mick, "I live on the third floor, I'm not driving."

Hearing that was certainly a relief, but he further told Terri, "You could trip and hit your head walking up the stairs."

She cackled again then asked him sounding amused, "You want to walk me home?"

Mick told her that, "You do seem to be a bit unsteady on your feet."

"Cavalry is not dead!" barked Terri.

"Chivalry," thought Mick before telling himself, "I'm going to regret this."

After a bit more cajoling, Mick was able to convince Terri to settle her tab and call it an evening. Fortunately, the building had an elevator that the two used to carry them to the third floor. As they made their way down the hallway Terri stumbled and put her hand against the wall to brace herself. Mick immediately grabbed hold of Terri and helped steady her before wrapping his arm around her back and latching on to one of her belt loops.

"This was just a pre... pretends to get your arm around me, wasn't it?" joked Terri as he escorted her.

"Pretense," thought Mick, "Man is she is sloshed."

When they reached her apartment, Terri rummaged through her pocket and retrieved her key, then began to fumble with it as she struggled to unlock her door. Before Mick could make the offer to help her, she managed to open the entrance and invited Mick to come in.

"I probably should go," he began to say but Terri immediately grabbed Mick by the hand and pulled him inside as she had no intention of accepting his polite decline as an answer. She closed the door then walked into the kitchenette which was immediately adjacent to the entryway and snagged two hard seltzers from the refrigerator. "Let's go sit on the couch," Terri said to Mick while handing him an unsolicited beverage.