Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1)

by Bri Izzo

  “So you’re admitting there’s something?” Benny finally realizes.

  “I fucking admitted it on the boat, you asshole. Don’t make me say it again,” I snicker.

  “Alex is gonna hurt you,” he announces as if I don’t already know.

  “And I’m going to kill Chase, so maybe they’ll let me and Alex share a jail cell,” I joke.

  13 Bianca Ferrari

  After telling Skyler to fuck off via text message, Tiffany and I begin mixing drinks in the kitchen. My iHome is blasting my favorite country songs from Garth Brooks, Alan Jackson, and George Strait as Chase and his friend Parker sit at the breakfast bar in my kitchen watching us. They’re casually sipping on their mixed drinks and silently judging me, and I suddenly feel like a child despite my taste in older country music. It’s the first time Tiffany and I are really drinking; it’s never been available to us before besides that one time Skyler and I drank my mom’s wine. Never again. It was so gross. I purposely make my drink with just a little alcohol because I’m not sure how my body will handle it, and I don’t exactly trust Chase to take care of me. I really just wanted his alcohol, not him.

  “Where are your brothers?” Parker asks us, his long skater boy hair drooping in front of his eyes. I’m not sure how him and Chase know each other because they look like polar opposites. Parker has piercings in his nose and on his ears, long black straightened hair, and extremely dark, mysterious eyes while Chase is piercing-free wearing a backwards baseball hat that barely hides his dirty blonde hair and bright excited blue eyes. I’ve never met Parker before, so I’m a bit nervous that he’s in my house while no one else is home. For all I know Chase picked him up at the train station.

  “Out,” I vaguely say, glancing at Tiffany to make sure we’re on the same page.

  “They’re up in Wisconsin at their cabin,” Chase explains, completely blowing my plan of not letting Parker know we are home alone all weekend.

  “Why didn’t you go?” Parker asks us.

  Tiffany glares at me like she’s upset she isn’t going to be spending the weekend with Sam. In reality she didn’t have to stay with me, but she’s a good friend for doing so. “The boys were bringing girls,” I state flatly, trying to ignore Tiffany’s frustrated sigh.

  “Skyler Swanson was bringing a girl,” Tiffany clarifies.

  “Rex brought one, too!” I argue.

  “Like you cared he brought Leah!” she cries. “You act like you haven’t had a crush on Skyler for your entire life; it’s unbelievable.”

  “You and Skyler Swanson? Really? Wow,” Chase processes that in his head.

  “No. There is no me and Skyler Swanson. He made that pretty clear when he brought another girl up north with him,” I snap, starting to chug my drink.

  “Okay. Slow down. No need to get hammered,” Chase notices, reaching his hand out to make me drop my cup. I tear my hand away from him, finish what’s left of the drink, storm across the house into the main level powder room, and lock myself inside.

  “Bianca!” I hear a guy and a girl’s voice both yell at me, but neither of them are Skyler’s so I don’t care. I can’t believe he’s bringing someone to our cabin. Who she is doesn’t even matter. How could he do this to me? Even when our friends and siblings hounded us about hooking up, he didn’t care. He just kissed me in secret. It’s such a rush to do that with him, and then he rips my heart out a few weeks later. I didn’t even notice that I’ve started crying until I feel a puddle beneath my bare feet.

  “B, let me in,” Tiffany demands, jiggling the doorknob. To be fair, I decide to open it for her and then lock it again behind her. She sits on top of the counter judging me as I try to wipe my tears away. “Have you talked to Skyler after he told you?” I nod as I try to control my breathing so Chase won’t hear me. “What did you talk about?”

  “I told him Chase was here,” I confess, looking away from her motherly eyes.

  “So when should we be expecting him at the front door?” Tiffany chuckles although it’s a totally probable result to me telling him that.

  “He doesn’t care. I’m sure he’s not coming,” I argue. “Of course he told Benny though; that’s who was on the phone a little while ago.”

  “And you think Skyler told Benny that Chase was here because he doesn’t care? You’re kidding, right?” she tries convincing me.

  “Why are you pushing this? None of you want me and Skyler together. You all got your wish. Congratulations,” I reply sarcastically, throwing my arms into the air dramatically.

  Hopping off the counter, Tiffany stands right up in my face. I’ve never seen her greenish brown eyes so fierce. “I’ve wanted you to be with Skyler since you first had a crush on him. Don’t you dare categorize me with the boys,” she hammers into me.

  Damn it. She’s right. “Okay, I’m sorry,” I tell her, bringing her in for a tight hug. I’m being the shitty friend in this situation, not her. I’m unintentionally taking my Skyler anger out on Tiffany, and I need to stop before she just leaves me alone with Chase and Parker.

  “It’s fine. Now what are you going to do about Chase?” she wonders in a quieter tone. I can’t tell if she wants me to kick him out or hook up with him. She’s very difficult to read.

  “He did bring us alcohol,” I remind her, trying to gauge her feelings.

  “Fine. They can stay. But they aren’t sleeping here,” she decides, throwing her pointer finger in my face in an accusatory way.

  “Ew, gross,” I agree.

  In the middle of the night when Tiffany and I are sleeping in my queen sized bed, my phone vibrates loudly on my nightstand. I look at the time and it reads 3:30 a.m. and then I notice it’s Skyler who’s calling me. My first thought is that he’s calling me from a jail cell but then realize the caller ID wouldn’t say his name and he wouldn’t have been able to remember my cell phone number by heart. Sneaking into the hallway, I answer the phone quietly so I don’t wake up Tiffany.

  “Hello?” I whisper.

  “Fuck! Buzz what the hell are you doing?” he slurs his words. He asks the question as if he has been up all night worried about me, not like he’s mad or accusing me of anything. But I can’t fall for it this fast.

  “Sleeping,” I deadpan. “What are you doing?” Besides drinking, obviously.

  “Why didn’t you just come here?” Skyler whines. I can picture him pulling on his sexy hair as he paces around, probably outside since he wouldn’t want to wake anyone up this late.

  “Sky…” I try but nothing follows. He knows why I didn’t come to the cabin this weekend. I’m not the one who needs to explain myself.

  “I want you here,” he blurts out. My heart is pounding so fast that I’m sure I’m going to collapse and fall down the stairs. He wants me the same way-

  “Come back to bed, baby,” I hear a girl say into the phone. It’s an unfamiliar high-pitched raspy voice, and that’s all the confirmation I need to hang up on him. I turn my ringer off and flip my phone over so I can’t see any light coming from it and go back to bed.

  What. A. Fucking. Asshole.

  Skyler texts me the next morning to apologize and I have three missed calls from him, but I never respond. When everyone goes up north for Rex’s sixteenth birthday in late July, I don’t go. When Skyler comes over to hang out with Rex, I purposely lock myself in my room or invite myself to stay at a friend’s house for the night. Hanging out with Chase also becomes a regular thing.

  One time as I’m running through the house and heading for the front door, Skyler stops me to talk but I pinch his arm so he has to release his hold on me. I take this as the perfect opportunity to give him back his fluffy sweatshirt he gave me to wear that one stormy weekend at the cabin.

  “B, please,” he pleads, yanking on my arm as I forcefully pull away.

  “I’ll be right back,” I shove him off of me and go back upstairs to my room. His sweatshirt is in the very back of my closet underneath a huge pile of dirty clothes that are from the beginning
of summer. I dig it out, and run downstairs where Skyler is impatiently waiting for me. “Here,” I jab him in his chest as I hand over his sweatshirt.

  “What the fuck is this?” Skyler calmly asks me. He’s so clueless! Ugh!

  “Your sweatshirt,” I snap, glaring at him and folding my arms across my chest.

  “I can see that, sweetheart,” he adds.

  “Don’t ‘sweetheart’ me,” I demand, rolling my eyes. I could puke all over him right now. All I imagine is him giving this sweatshirt to another girl who is probably a hoebag.

  “Buzz-” his voice breaks apologetically, completely defeated.

  “I don’t want to talk to you unless it’s regarding baseball or softball. Get away from me,” I command. I push past him after giving him one last death glare and pledge to not talk to him unless it’s about our sports.

  I’m so serious about cutting him out of my personal life after him getting drunk, calling me, and letting me hear his delightful guest of honor that he brought up north for my favorite holiday invite him to go back to bed with her. Barf.

  For my fifteenth birthday in September I go to the movie theater with Tiffany and Baylee to see a preview of Moneyball. Not only have I been waiting for this movie to come out, but we piss off the boys by going without them. The weekend after my birthday my parents have the Swansons and Lockets over for a fall barbecue. My parents are clearly clueless as to why I’ve been avoiding family functions. I walk downstairs after smelling the grill from my bedroom and deadpan when I see the entire crew on the deck. You have to be kidding me. I knew I should’ve looked over my balcony first.

  “Here’s the birthday girl!” Susie announces. I’m not quick enough to remain unseen apparently. I purposely refrain from looking in the direction of the boys in fear of making eye contact with Skyler who I haven’t spoken to in weeks. It’s the longest we’ve gone without talking or hanging out since I was born.

  “I didn’t realize we were having a party. I have to go change,” I think aloud, turning around to retrace my steps upstairs.

  “Hey, are you okay?” Tiffany asks as she runs behind me.

  “Yeah. I just literally didn’t know we had people over. I look like a slob. My mom will be mad if I stay in this all night,” I explain, continuing into my bedroom to pick out a nicer shirt. Right now I’m in boy athletic shorts and a Red Devils spirit wear shirt.

  “Since when do you care what your mom thinks?” she snickers, crossing her arms to show that she sees right through me.

  “Since I wanted an excuse to leave,” I admit. Rummaging through my closet, I realize I don’t have any nice shirts. Basically I have a row of t-shirts and a row of sweatshirts hanging up and that’s it. I have hit the stage where I need to care about my appearance if I want to fit in at school or dinner parties but don’t have anything to show for it.

  “What are you gonna do?” she wonders, plopping onto my bed like we’re going to have a long heart-to-heart.

  “Call Chase to come over,” I nonchalantly tell her as I put on jean shorts and a fresh tank top with a jacket over it. I choose to ignore the motherly glare she’s shooting at me. It’s definitely her signature move since I started talking to Chase, so I’m used to it.

  “Is that really a good idea, Bianca?” she questions, clearly trying to convince me that it’s not.

  “I always have great ideas,” I chuckle. There’s numerous times over the summer when I wanted to get out of my house for one reason or another that I called or texted Chase to do something, and we hung out in downtown Hinsdale, at the park, or at his house. In the beginning it wasn’t anything more than him rescuing me from what I thought was a shitty situation, but gradually some sparks started to fly - mostly because we may or may not have started making out whenever things got super awkward. It was better than staring at each other from across the room.

  But I know Tiffany agrees more with our boys than me on this.

  “You’ve been hanging out with him a lot,” she tries to casually accuse me of being a stupid girl and a bad friend.

  “I have not. I went to the movies with you and Bay last weekend for my birthday,” I argue. “I only hang out with him when you’re busy.” This is one hundred percent true, but she happens to be busy quite often. She babysat a lot over the summer, and she hangs out with Chloe, one of the girls from our Rockettes team. Skyler and Tiffany used to be my two outlets, and they balanced each other well, but… I had to find a replacement for Skyler. By default, I chose Chase.

  “Hey, it’s me,” I say to Chase when I call him. Tiffany and I are still in my bedroom; I refuse to go back downstairs without a new wave of confidence, and I decide to try to get it from Chase whether or not he shows up.

  “We’re on that kind of basis already?” he teases with a chuckle.

  “Your phone has caller ID. Don’t be a jerk,” I snicker. Tiffany sits on my bed as I pace back and forth nervously. I can’t believe I’m about to ask Chase Morgan to come to a family dinner at my house with my brother and Skyler present.

  “What’s up?” he asks me. My mind fights with my racing heart on whether or not I should ask him to do this for me. Why did I think I would get confidence from talking to Chase? He makes me nervous as hell.

  “I need a favor, and you can say no,” I begin, taking a deep breath.

  “What is it, Bianca?” he stops me from rambling further.

  “My parents invited everyone over for dinner tonight for my birthday without checking with me, of course, and I’m just not ready to be with Sky and my brother by myself,” I explain. I try ignoring the crack in my voice, but Tiffany definitely hears it because she’s laughing, which means Chase heard it, too.

  “Is Tiff there with you?” he wonders, and I hear some shuffling in the background.

  “Yeah.” He doesn’t want to come. Don’t ask him. “You know what? It’s fine. Never mind,” I decide. I need to deal with this on my own.

  “Just ask me,” Chase demands. I pause for a long moment, playing a game of tug-o-war in my head. You don’t need him! You can face these guys without him… Yeah, but you’re going to be miserable the entire time. If Chase is there, Skyler won’t approach you and make a scene.

  “Willyoucomeoverfordinner?” I quickly ask him, closing my eyes so I can’t see Tiffany’s judgmental look. “You don’t have to-”

  “Bianca!” he exclaims.

  “What? I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” I sigh, realizing I forgot to breathe in the last ten seconds. I feel so stupid for asking him to come into my drama-filled life. He’s my escape; I shouldn’t bring him into the mess.

  “I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he tells me when I finally stop running my mouth.

  “What?” I gasp. “You will?”

  “Yes. See you soon,” he calmly says and then hangs up.

  14 Skyler Swanson

  Our parents are totally clueless regarding the tension between all of us kids, so none of us can create a good enough excuse to get out of going to Buzz’s family birthday dinner. I figure it might be an appropriate time to make up with her anyways; we haven’t fucking spoken in weeks. She’s been avoiding me at all costs, literally. After that weekend I also haven’t talked to or hung out with Makenna, but I never had the chance to tell Buzz that because I ended up grounded for two weeks and she never wants to talk to me again. My dad had smelled the alcohol on my breath and found the empty water bottles in the basement bathroom. I honestly didn’t fucking care that I was grounded. Buzz didn’t want to talk to me, and I was pissed at Alex for making things shitty between us. After my grounding I gave up on being mad at Alex, but Buzz isn’t as forgiving.

  My mom announces Buzz’s presence as she walks downstairs and we see her from the deck, but then Buzz turns around and goes back upstairs. What the fuck was that? She hates me that much?

  “Have you talked to her?” Benny whispers while Alex goes to grab a serving plate for his dad who’s on the grill. I shake my head silently. “You didn’
t even wish her a happy birthday?”

  “I texted her. She didn’t answer. She won’t fucking talk to me unless it’s about baseball,” I admit before walking away towards the pool. I can’t handle listening to Benny badger me, especially when I see him sneaking glances at Baylee from across the yard. When I walk away from him it’s actually worse because he leaves to be next to her, but there’s nothing I can do. I sit in a lawn chair while Allen cooks us steaks and everyone’s conversations revolve around anything but the guest of honor.

  About fifteen minutes later I can smell that the food is just about ready, but as soon as Buzz walks out the back door with Chase Morgan attached to her arm, I’m nauseous. I completely lose my appetite. The worst part is that she isn’t even faking her smile. She’s genuinely happy to have him here. I never thought I’d live to see this day. Everyone greets him as if he’s a fucking lifelong friend of ours. Everyone except for me. I honestly just pretend he isn’t even here. He’s wearing a backwards baseball hat like he’s mimicking me, and it’s pissing me the fuck off. I can’t stop looking at Buzz. After a while this makes me notice that she changed her outfit from when she first came outside and my mom announced her arrival. She looked like Buzz in her sports attire. Now she looks like… Bianca, a teenage girl who’s starting to grow up. I’m pretty sure she has some makeup on her eyes, and even though she’s just in a tank top with a little jacket over it, it still shows off her female enhancements. Those short shorts she’s started wearing in casual settings like this make her legs look so much longer and model-like compared to when she wears athletic shorts. Girl’s going to give me a fucking heart attack. She randomly makes eye contact with me across the table, but Chase fucking Morgan always seems to notice and try to steal her attention back.

  “Are we ready to sing?” Beth asks in her high pitched voice. She went inside the house and comes back with a white cake covered in sprinkles, which makes me roll my eyes so hard they almost get stuck like that. How does she still not fucking know her own daughter? I think she thinks Buzz doesn’t like cake at all, so she just orders what she wants. So. Annoying.