Striking Out With The Star Pitcher: How to catch a crush #1

by Maggie Dallen

  “You know what I mean,” Charlotte said with a roll of her eyes. “There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to…” She waved a hand as she looked for the right word.

  “Flirt?” Avery suggested.

  “Yes.” Charlotte nodded. “Flirt.”

  Everyone fell silent again, and it was Hazel who spoke up. “Charlotte’s right. There’s no reason we shouldn’t be able to get what we want.”

  Spoken like…Hazel. The captain of the girls’ swim team, she was one of those people who seemed driven all the time. Very focused, very intense, and right now, that intensity was aimed at our love lives…or the lack thereof.

  Emma grinned. “Yeah, why not? I mean, it’s not like the popular girls have anything we don’t, right?”

  No one answered that. Everyone was too busy looking at each other, trying to gauge what the other was thinking.

  “I say we do it,” Avery said.

  “Do what?” Max sounded wary.

  Smart girl.

  The smartest girl responded. “Learn how to make our crushes see us,” Charlotte said.

  “Like us,” Avery corrected.

  Lulu looked confused as she reached for one of Max’s fries with hands still stained with paint. “You want us to study the art of…flirting?”

  “Exactly,” Emma said. “Let’s learn what other girls seem to have figured out. How to score a date.”

  “But…how?” Avery asked. “Who’s going to teach us?”

  Everyone grew silent again. I was trying to think of a way to tell them that this was a terrible idea. I mean, people didn’t study how to be cute and flirty, did they? You either were flirty and fun, or you weren’t, right? You either had that sort of charisma or you didn’t…right?

  Because, if you didn’t and you tried, that would be…acting.

  I blinked rapidly as a thought occurred to me. An image, actually. The face of Lakeview High’s leading actress. A girl who managed to wrap every guy at this school around her little finger without even trying.

  Rose Parson. The starlet, the diva…and Jax’s new girlfriend.

  I set my apple down slowly and faced my friends. “I think I might know someone who could help.”

  2

  Simone

  * * *

  This was ridiculous.

  I was ridiculous.

  I couldn’t believe I was actually doing this.

  And yet, here I was. Hanging out with Rose at Jax’s band practice and getting ready to ask a favor because I’d gone and promised the girls that I’d at least ask. “Um, Rose?”

  She looked over at me with arched brows, a smile still on her face because she’d been sitting here mooning over her new boyfriend while I sketched in my pad beside her. Jax’s dad had set up bean bags and a small beaten-up love seat in one corner so it was fan-friendly.

  I guess I was technically a fan.

  Rose was definitely a fan. Maybe even a groupie…

  “What’s up?” she asked, her brows arched in question. In a heartbeat her pretty features morphed to concern. “Was it my Shakespeare today?” She shook her head in frustration. “I knew I was off during that middle part.”

  “What? No.” I gave my head a little shake. Of course she’d go there. Rose might have been supermodel pretty and an incorrigible flirt, but she was also crazy driven when it came to her acting career. She was so intent on nailing these two monologues she had to prepare for a scholarship competition that she actually recruited me to be her acting coach.

  Don’t ask me why, but apparently I was good at that stuff. Although, to be fair, it was hard to be a director’s daughter and not pick up some knowledge.

  “No, your Shakespeare monologue was great,” I said.

  She sighed in relief and sank back in her seat. “Sorry. Paranoia over here. What’s going on?”

  I licked my lips. This was it. The moment I’d been dreading all day, ever since I made that stupid promise to the girls that I’d ask Rose for advice.

  She hitched her brows higher and I swallowed down a wave of embarrassment. “Can you teach me how to make a guy like you?”

  Her eyes widened in surprise and I held my breath as I waited for her to laugh.

  She didn’t. If anything she got…serious. Like, really serious. Like…creepily serious. She half turned so she was fully facing me. “It would be my honor.”

  “Oh. Uh…okay.”

  “But first…” Mischief glinted in her eyes. “Who are we trying to tempt? Hmmm?”

  She’d said it a little too loudly and right as the latest song was coming to an end. Horror sliced through me. Had he heard? I shot a look toward the bassist.

  Long black hair, dark skin, and a perma-scowl that made it seem like he was forever contemplating the mysteries of the universe.

  Right at this moment he was using those deep thoughts to figure out the end of the song which he’d been fumbling these last few times they played.

  “Ohhh,” Rose drawled, her voice annoyingly smug.

  “Shh.” I hissed at her, my eyes still wide with horror.

  “Relax, he can’t hear us,” she said, her voice quieter and filled with amusement. “Does Jax know you’re crushing on his bassist?”

  I shook my head quickly. “Please don’t tell him.”

  Her brows shot up. “Why not?”

  Heat started burning my cheeks. Ugh, this was embarrassing. I should never have brought it up. “It’s just…it’s humiliating enough as it is, that’s all.”

  Her expression turned understanding. “And you think he’d tease you over it.”

  I tilted my head to the side and gave her a look that said duh and she laughed. “Yeah, okay, he probably would, but that’s only because he loves you and that’s how you guys roll.”

  I nodded. Yeah, yeah. I knew all that, but this was one particular topic that I didn’t want to be made fun of for—I already felt pathetic and it wouldn’t take much for him to accidentally crush me. Just one laugh, really.

  One laugh and I’d be mortified.

  “I won’t tell him,” she said. “But for the record, I think you should. He’d think it’s awesome, I promise.”

  I didn’t respond. I didn’t think it was awesome, so why would he? Honestly, having a crush was a pain in the butt. I couldn’t seem to stop thinking about Tony, and when I did, I didn’t get warm fuzzies or some flare of happiness. I just got…anxiety.

  Was this supposed to be fun? Did people actually enjoy this?

  Rose wrapped an arm around my shoulder and gave me a little side hug. “Don’t worry, kid. I got you covered.”

  I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying, here’s looking at you, kid, in an old-timey accent. I wasn’t sure at what point doing impersonations from movies had become my default setting—especially when I was nervous—but there you had it.

  Just one more facet of my personality that made me oh so desirable to the opposite sex.

  “All right, the first thing you need to know is that it’s all about confidence,” Rose said.

  I nodded and reached for my pencil, looking for the first clean page in my sketchbook so I could take notes.

  “What are you doing? Are you…” She started to laugh. “Are you taking notes?”

  I huffed. “This isn’t just for me. I promised to report back to my friends .”

  I could literally see her struggle to contain her amusement, and then she was giving me the most condescending smile I’d ever seen. “That is so cute.”

  I groaned. “Rose…”

  “Sorry, sorry.” She waved a hand like she was erasing what she’d just said. “I hereby vow to help you and your friends.” She grinned. “The boys of Lakeview will have no idea what hit them.”

  I sighed a little at the patronizing air but let it go. “Okay, so…confidence,” I said, making a note.

  “Absolutely. You need to exude confidence, but also…no matter how cocky a guy acts, how cool he seems to be…never assume that he’s actually confident.
”

  I arched my brows. “Really?”

  She nodded. “He might be, but even the most confident person in the world is afraid of rejection.”

  I nodded. “That makes sense.”

  “So if you like a guy, you need to make it clear that if he makes a move, you’ll be receptive. Or, if you really want to be brave, you could just make the first move yourself and save you both the trouble.”

  I stared at her, and whatever she saw in my eyes, it apparently convinced her that I was not that brave. “Right. Let’s start with the basics then, shall we?” She faced me again as the boys started up the next song. “Smile at me.”

  I smiled.

  “No, smile at me like I’m a boy you like,” she instructed.

  I hesitated and then widened my smile until it hurt my cheeks.

  She winced and shook her head. “Okay, clearly we have a lot of work to do.”

  “And that was when I got my first lesson in smizing.” I looked around at the group of girls, each of whom was watching me with rapt attention.

  After Rose’s lessons last night, I promised the girls that I’d share what I’d learned at school today so we’d all gathered in the quad after the last bell. It was an unseasonably warm afternoon and no one seemed in a rush to go home right after school because the outside area was filled with groups of people talking and laughing.

  Some were probably waiting for rehearsals or practices, but the rest, like me and my friends, were just enjoying the sunshine and good vibes.

  “What else did she say?” Avery asked. Her eyes were wide with expectation and I started rifling through my notes to see what other gems I’d written down.

  “Ask her yourself,” Max said.

  I looked up, and sure enough, Rose was strutting toward us, her arms piled high with...something. “Ladies,” she said in that over-the-top tone that only Rose could pull off. “I come with all the study guides you’ll ever need.”

  I blinked up at her, taking note of the smug smile she wore as the others gaped at her. She was eating this up. Not that I should have been surprised. Unlike me, Rose lived to be the center of attention.

  With a flourish, she dropped the stack she’d been holding and we all looked at the pile before us. “Magazines?” Hazel said.

  “What are we supposed to do with these?” Max asked.

  Avery was already reaching for the one on top, Emma and Lulu right behind her.

  “I’ve earmarked the pages you should read,” Rose said, crossing her arms as she presided over us. “This right here is all the information you’ll ever need on the topic. These are filled with all the tips that make up my bag of tricks.” She gave a saucy little wink to the others as she grabbed me by my upper arms and steered me away.

  “Good luck, ladies,” she called over her shoulder.

  “Where are we going?” I asked.

  “You need to practice.” She led me toward a group of jocks hanging out by the parking lot. I spotted a few of the guys I was lunch-table buddies with, including Ryan, Pete, and Andrew.

  Her words registered a heartbeat too late and I skidded to a stop three feet away.

  “What?” I turned to her. “You can’t be serious.”

  She widened her eyes in surprise. “Of course I’m serious. One of Jax’s Fairmont friends is throwing a party tonight and all the guys from the band are going.” She widened her eyes even further. “All of them.”

  I blinked a few times, an anxious pit opening in the depths of my belly. “Tony’s going?”

  She nodded. “This is your chance. He’s going to be there, letting loose and having fun, unlike at band practice, and you need to be prepared to talk to him.”

  “But I’m not ready,” I said. “I don’t know what I’m doing.”

  “Precisely why you need to practice,” she said. She started steering me again, half-pushing, half-dragging me those few feet toward the guys. “Trust me when I say that it takes practice, and you don’t want to be practicing on the guy you actually want.”

  She was on a roll, not seeming to notice that my feet weren’t cooperating.

  This was one of the major downfalls of being short. I was easily transported by taller folks.

  “First of all, it adds too much pressure,” she was saying. “And second, if you mess up and start to look like an idiot, you could ruin your chance with the guy you want.”

  “But…but…” I turned to face her as we reached the outskirts of their group. “I don’t want to look like an idiot in front of these guys, either.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Relax. I’m not throwing you to the wolves.”

  She turned to face the guys who were now paying attention to us. Well…they were paying attention to Rose. Half of them already wore those goofy grins that Rose seemed to inspire in every guy she met.

  “Hey boys,” she said, her tone turning sing-songy and sweet. “Are we interrupting?”

  She didn’t wait for a response. She just went ahead and…grabbed Andrew.

  I blinked in horror. What was she doing?

  “Y’all don’t mind if I steal our star pitcher, now do you?”

  No one minded. Also, no one seemed to notice that she’d donned an inexplicable Southern accent because apparently that was the role she was playing right now.

  Andrew had that small smile on his face, one brow arching up in what might have been called surprise if he did surprised.

  Andrew didn’t do surprised. He was too easy going for that. Instead he just followed along with that smile like this was all part of the plan. His gaze fell on me and his smile tipped up even further. “Hey, Simone.”

  “Hi.” I gave a weird little wave.

  Ugh, I always felt even more awkward around Andrew. It was like the more at ease he was, the more on edge I became. I wasn’t cool around any guys, but being around him was especially difficult.

  “Andrew, we need your assistance,” Rose said.

  I glared at the side of her face. No. Oh no. Not Andrew. This could not be—

  “Happy to help,” he said in that low, quiet murmur of his. “What can I do for you ladies?”

  Rose grabbed his biceps like she’d done to me and angled him more fully in my direction so we were face to face. “I’m trying to teach Simone here how to flirt with a guy. I need you to play the part of her crush.”

  His gaze met mine and I cringed. Then I clamped my eyes shut because…OMG. This was a nightmare. That was the only explanation. This was my worst nightmare come to life.

  I could feel his gaze on me and my skin burned as Rose chattered on like nothing was wrong.

  “Rose,” I hissed, finally opening my eyes to stare at her, ignoring Andrew completely. “I don’t want to do this.”

  She huffed. “Simone, you need to practice, and this is Andrew.” She smacked his shoulder and he just shot her an amused look, because…gah! Nothing fazed this guy.

  “Andrew is too nice to judge you,” she said. “Aren’t you, Andrew?”

  “I would never judge.” His smile was aimed in my direction, and there was no denying the laughter in his eyes.

  Nice laughter, obviously, because he was so dang nice, but it was still laughter.

  “Go on,” Rose said, shoving me toward him as if the one foot of air between us was just too much.

  “Everyone’s watching,” I hissed.

  She sighed and looked over at the group of guys who were indeed watching this scene she’d caused. “I’ll distract them. You make Andrew fall in love with you.”

  Andrew grinned at me.

  Rose patted my head before walking away.

  I…wanted to cry.

  “Hello,” Andrew said after what felt like an eternity passed without either of us saying a word. He leaned back against the low wall behind him that separated the grass from the parking lot.

  “Hi.” I managed to resist the urge to give him another awkward wave. I clenched my hands around the hem of my T-shirt instead.

  “So…”


  I bit my lip. I failed. I hadn’t even started trying and I’d already failed.

  “You’re a fan of Star Wars?” he said.

  I blinked. Then I blinked again. “How’d you know that?”

  His gaze dropped to my chest and then back up again.

  Heat. Searing heat. “My T-shirt,” I muttered. “Right.” It was a vintage T-shirt from the eighties straight out of my dad’s closet, and it may or may not have been my clothing equivalent of a blankie. Which was to say, it was so worn and faded it was basically the thickness of a Kleenex, and the black was more like gray.

  But I loved it.

  “Who isn’t?” I said.

  He nodded, and I could have sworn he was trying not to laugh at me.

  I swallowed a groan. It was official...I was in hell.

  3

  Andrew

  * * *

  I honestly didn’t know if I’d ever seen anyone as miserable as this girl was right now.

  And all because she had to talk to me.

  The thought made my lips quirk up in a grin.

  I wasn’t trying to laugh at her. I really wasn’t.

  But she was making it awfully hard.

  Just when I thought she might explode from tension, she released the death grip she had on that cute old T-shirt and let out a loud exhale. “Look, I appreciate you going along with this but you don’t have to do this. I’ll just—”

  “Hold on a second,” I said, stopping her just as she started to turn away .

  She froze.

  I should’ve just let her go. Poor thing looked humiliated and who could blame her? But also, I didn’t want her leaving like this. “Talk to me.”

  She blinked, her expression so confused it was like I’d just suggested she wrestle me. “Talk to you?”

  I nodded slowly, glancing meaningfully over at Rose who was singlehandedly entertaining the troops like a one-woman USO team. “Rose will never forgive me if I don’t help you…” I arched a brow. “What exactly am I helping you with, by the way?”

  I hadn’t thought it was possible that Simone’s cheeks could turn any redder, but they did.