Swing

I've had this idea for about a year now, but I wasn't much of a writer then, so it's kinda been in stasis. Since I got to my unofficial goals of 1,000 story hits and 100 profile hits from the US, I figured I'd type this up for you guys. This is based on the song and music video for 'Swing' by Trace Adkins. It takes place sometime between Wizards vs. Vampires and vs. Angels. It's also loosely attached to the WOWP episode 'The Supernatural.'

Disclaimer: The word says disclaimer, as in I'm not claiming anything here. I don't own any of it. That's the definition. Did I really have to write this?

I really wish I didn't need to buy myself a car. Then I wouldn't need any money and I wouldn't have had to take this stupid job cleaning the ballpark and getting the field ready for dad's team practices. It's like 3 in the afternoon on what has to be the hottest day of July, and here I am sweeping the garbage out of the seats for the people who come to watch practice. Who really likes baseball that much anyway?

The guys were just getting started with their fielding practice, everybody taking a few grounders then throwing it around the bases. Justin and the other pitchers were off playing catch to warm up. He's gotten somewhat better since last time. He mainly pitches in practices. Dad lets him use magic there to make the team better, then just tells them he can't pitch in games because he's bad with the pressure. Ballplayers are idiots, must be to believe that.

Not too big a turn out for the fans today. Down by the front barrier there's a couple of younger boys, they're so excited you'd think it was the championship game. It's probably the first place they've gone without their parents or something like that. Up further in the back are two older ladies, I'm guessing they're somebody's relatives, just here to watch their little nephew play ball. Right in the middle, though, is a girl who has to be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. She's got on these little white short shorts and a red shirt, one of those awesome shirts that only comes down to the belly button and ties there. There's some dark pink heart shaped sunglasses on her face, how stylish.

Anyway, the guys are clearing off the field, that means it's time for me to get out there. I headed over to the equipment shed, got the chalk machine, and started laying down the baselines. We didn't need much else for practice. After that, I checked to make sure all the bases were clean and visible. Justin was off in the dugout on his cell phone, probably a math geek emergency. Dad didn't seem too happy about it though, he swept the bat Justin had his feet propped on out from under him and sent him right out here. I was just sweeping off home plate when I felt him bump right into my shoulder and keep on going out to the mound. Seriously? A whole open ballpark and he's gotta go right through me? Dad must've really pissed him off. The good thing was, that girl with the glasses didn't seem too happy about it either. Every cloud has a silver lining I guess. None of the other fans really looked like they appreciated it either, but I could really care less about them. I just let Justin go though, I'd get him back later.

Max was the first batter up to face Justin. He'd just joined the team last year, so he didn't have too much experience yet. The first pitch came, and he completely missed it. His swing spun him around and he landed right on his butt. "Come on Max, stay on your feet!" I shouted at him. Then I looked around at the girl, she was looking at me too! She waved and smiled at me, and I tipped my hat towards her. Of course I took a seat near her, I'm not an idiot. The first step to getting close to someone is physically getting in their general vicinity in most cases.

Max missed the next two pitches in pretty much the same fashion as the first. Then, he headed over to the girl. Guess I'm not the only one who noticed her.

"Hey baby do you come here often?" he asked. Well that didn't work. She wanted no part of him. Better for me anyway.

Jeremy from science was the next batter, but he struck out too. Then he headed over towards her. Seriously, is everybody gonna hit on her?

"Hey baby, what's your sign?" Harper's not gonna like that, she still gets really jealous whenever anybody who ever liked her flirts with somebody else. Good thing she blew him off anyway.

Riley came into the on deck circle after that. He was by far the team's best batter. He was swinging two bats around in there, she looked kinda impressed. Especially after he tore off his sleeves and flexed his muscles. Most girls I've seen like him after that little display. Lucky for him his mom loves sewing, he must go through a lot of those uniforms. All that showing off didn't seem to matter once Justin struck him out on three pitches, strength doesn't really matter unless you hit the ball.

The next guy up was Zeke, and let's face it; he never had a chance. After he was done, though, he headed right over to her. She looked pretty disgusted when he spit out his gum on the ground. She actually got up and walked away.

Sunglasses, my special name for her since I haven't gotten the real one yet, ended up in the tunnel. I've only heard this story, but apparently she was met in there by Joey, one of Dean's old friends. He actually turned out to be really smart.

"I got into an early program at Harvard," he bragged, leaning against the wall next to her, "took a few classes in pre-med. Always wanted to be a doctor." He'd gotten farther than anybody else at that time. She was looking seductively at him over her straw as she sipped her drink, when he had to open his mouth again. "Only stayed for one semester, way too much work." Well he's out, she just turned away shaking her head. He kicked the wall in frustration.

Back on the mound, the guys all got another at bat. Justin struck them all out again. By this point, he'd spread his arms out and was spinning on the mound in a celebratory fashion. Max came up again, and after he was done Justin fake mooned him. Dad didn't seem too happy about that. Then after Zeke went down again he attacked the water cooler in the dugout. That kid has some serious emotional issues. And guess who's gonna have to clean that up later? Of course it's me, idiot.

The next batter was our Japanese exchange student Daisuke. He showed up late, so dad sent him straight out. It was pretty cool the way he was swinging the bat around like a samurai sword on his way up to the plate. He bowed to Justin before and after he struck out. Justin, who'd clearly gone crazy by this point, made some strange karate type gesture towards him. Whatever it was, it seemed extremely disrespectful to his homeland.

Then Justin decided he wanted to take a shot at Sunglasses. He pointed at her, turned around and fake made out with her. Ugh, he could not get any more pathetic. The old ladies decided it was time to leave, and the girl started grabbing her bag, giving Justin the loser finger gesture.

'Great,' I thought, 'I see I'm gonna have to step in, put Justin in his place, and save the morale.'

"Justin," I called, grabbing a bat and stepping up to the plate, "pitch the ball!"

He put his bag down and turned around. I looked around the stadium. Max had alerted the players, who were all watching intently. Sunglasses had stopped and lowered the glasses, staring down at me. This was gonna have to be good. I turned back to the plate and pointed the bat out towards the center field wall, calling my shot. He threw it, and I'll be darned if it didn't go out in the area I pointed to, right over the fence. The old ladies and players were jumping up and down, Sunglasses and the little boys were doing happy dances. I chose to dance around the bases, just to taunt Justin a little bit. When I got to home plate I was met with the entire team, who all seemed pretty eager to high five me for taking him down a notch. Right at the tail end of them, the girl came. She seemed pretty confident as she jumped up and wrapped her legs around my waist.

"Hey, my name's Mitchie. Nice hit." We awkwardly shook hands. So that's her name. Pretty nice, different too.

"Thanks, but I don't really play with wood." I hoped she'd get the hint there.

"Oh you don't, do you? Well then perhaps you'd like to go out with me, have some girl fun?" Her eyebrows wiggled suggestively, making sure I got her point.

"I think that sounds like a great plan. How 'bout we meet up here tomorrow, I'll show you how to hit like that." She agreed, and the plan was set.

The next day, I arrived early to set up a picnic in the outfield. We had everything from potato salad and pickles to sandwiches and a big pitcher of GOP juice. That's grape-orange-pineapple, I just had two cans of the juice mix left, so I made both together. It was alright, possibly a bit too sweet.

After that I tried teaching her to swing. I pitched a few to her softly, but she was pretty bad; she spun all the way around on one and missed the other two by a mile. I decided I'd have to help her, so I walked up behind her and put my arms around her to hold the bat with her. Definitely one of my better ideas. We tossed a ball up in the air and hit it together out towards third base.

"I'll race you for it!" She called as she took off toward the ball.

"Oh you dirty cheater you!" I caught her as she bent down to pick it up, tackling her into foul territory. I ended up underneath her somehow, and we were just staring into each other's eyes. Finally she leaned down and closed the gap between our lips. That was the most amazing five seconds of my life, before the sprinklers kicked on. With that we broke apart and ran for the safety of the locker rooms. I could tell this was going to be a fun journey. I might not have had very good luck with most of the baseball team, but practice made perfect, in regards to my love life anyway.

And there you have it. I thought that turned out pretty well, hope you do too. Spent like half an hour taking better notes on that music video than I do for school. So, if you have some thoughts, and who wouldn't, there's a specially provided blue button for you to click on and share them with me. You can do it! ~SGM