Full Count (The Catcher Series Book 1)

by Bri Izzo

  “Not the fucking greatest,” I start telling him, but I can’t leave it like that after seeing Buzz’s face fall. Her brother and I both mean so much to her that I know it’s important we work through this and be better for her. “But I think I may have gotten through to him.”

  “He’ll come around,” Benny encourages me, giving my arm a slap before he heads towards the guys on the field.

  “Hey!” I call after him. When he spins around to face me again, I add, “Does this mean you have?”

  Looking amused, he says, “I’ll see you guys later.”

  Later that afternoon after Buzz takes a nap on my couch, we’re waiting for my mom to make us grilled cheese sandwiches when she leans over and whispers, “Can you help me wash my hair today?” She cringes when she says it, and I’m not sure if it’s because the idea sounds painful to her or if she thinks I won’t do it.

  “Yeah,” I assure her, reaching to lightly scratch the top of her head. My fingers slide through the grease coated on her hair. The last time she washed it must’ve been when Gerty did it in the hospital. “We’ll just have to be careful of your stitches.”

  “Ugh, just forget it,” she whines. “I’ll put on a hat.”

  “As cute as you look with a hat on, I think you should wash your hair,” I snicker. A well-deserved slap comes across my arm. “What? I’ll help you,” I laugh.

  After our classic grilled cheese snack, Buzz and I walk over to her house so we can wash her hair. I grab the stool from the vanity in her bedroom and bring it into the bathroom as she’s feeling the temperature of the water as it comes out of the faucet in the bathtub. A folded towel is lying on the edge of the porcelain to help comfort her neck as she lies backwards on the stool. Her head hangs over the side of the tub, and I support it with my hand so she won’t strain her neck. The water from the faucet is barely grazing her hair, but that’s my intention. The force from the water will easily irritate her stitches, so I grab the cup I brought up from the kitchen, fill it with water, and gently pour it onto the top of her head, careful not to dampen her forehead.

  “You comfortable or do you need to move?” I wonder after she shifts herself a little closer to the water.

  “I’m fine. I just want to make sure all my hair-” she tries explaining.

  “I got it,” I stop her, pouring another cup over her hair. “Just relax.” I know she isn’t used to being helpless. But every time someone plays with my hair I enjoy it. I want her to feel the same sensation.

  After reaching for her shampoo, I lather it in her long brown hair. It’s kind of weird to be washing so much hair. The most I’ve ever washed is mine when I had a stupid bowl cut as a kid, but this is obviously significantly longer. I run my fingertips from the edge of her forehead along her scalp and all the way down a few times before making tiny circles to massage her head.

  “Sky,” she moans, and I wonder if she knows how sexual it sounds.

  “Yeah, B?” I answer, continuing to lightly knead my fingers on her scalp.

  “You can rinse it,” Buzz orders with her eyes closed.

  “I know,” I laugh. She has no idea that I can see how much she’s fucking loving the massage and the attention I’m giving her. After everything she’s been through, she deserves to be spoiled a little bit. But I also don’t want her to fall asleep like that and fall off the stool. “How does your head feel?”

  “Mmmmm good,” she mumbles with a small grin. Aw man, she needs to stop doing that. I use the cup to rinse the shampoo out of her hair and watch her breathing steady after her long exhales when I was massaging her head. I do the same thing to her with the conditioner, making sure to give her a little extra massage since it seems to help her relax.

  I’m careful not to brush her stitches when I wrap the towel around her hair and help her sit up. Water droplets trickle down her face, so I reach for a hand towel to dab them dry before they moisten her stitches that are a strand across her entire forehead.

  “Thank you,” she mentions.

  “You don’t have to thank me,” I remind her, resting my hand on her knee. She flinches to stand up, but I guide her back onto the stool. “You were just lying down for a while. You can’t just stand up that quickly; you’ll fucking black out.”

  “When did you become a doctor?” she giggles.

  Raising my eyebrows at her, I say, “I just don’t want you passing out on me, alright?”

  “But you always catch me,” Buzz teases with her bright smile.

  “Come on,” I suggest, reaching my arms out for her, one behind her back and one underneath her knees as she drapes her arms around my neck. I pick her up and carry her while passing Alex in the hallway.

  “Rex,” she acknowledges him quietly.

  “B,” he returns with a softer glare at me than normal.

  After setting her on her bed, I inform her, “My mom needs me to pick up Savannah in a little while, so I’m gonna go. Call if you need anything.”

  “This is kind of tight on my head,” she complains about the towel wrapped into an updo.

  I reach to loosen it, but not completely so her wet hair soaks into her pillow. “Better?” I hope. She nods and grins her fucking pretty smile at me, and I almost forget I have to leave to go pick up my sister. My phone buzzes in my pocket, which I know is a reminder from my mom. Sighing first, I tell her, “I’ll see you later, sweetheart,” and gently kiss her hairline just above her forehead, purposely avoiding her stitches.

  When I leave her room Alex is waiting for me down the hall so we’re out of Buzz’s earshot. I’m not sure if it’s going to be cordial or not, but I do need it to be a quick encounter so I can be on my way.

  “How was the park?” I ask him, a little upset that I wasn’t invited to play ball with everyone even though I was already busy. I’m helping out his sister; it’s not like I’m fucking hooking up with someone instead of hanging out with the boys.

  “It was good. We didn’t really have enough guys, so it didn’t last long,” he tells me. Just as I’m about to slide past him to go downstairs and leave, he adds, “How is she?”

  With a stern face, I say, “She still has a long road ahead of her.”

  “It’s good that you’re there for her,” he musters out, fidgeting around like he’s trying to deny what he just said. I know I fucking heard him, and it’s not like I need his permission to be here, but I raise my eyebrows at him out of surprise. “I saw you with her.”

  “Alex, for fuck’s sake, get over it,” I snap at him.

  “Will you just listen to me for five seconds?” he exclaims. I really have to get going to pick up Savannah, but I figure he’ll make it quick, so I wait with crossed arms. “It’s weird for me that you like her because we grew up together. I thought you saw her as your sister or best friend, like I do.” He pauses, and I remain quiet since he told me to just listen to him. Plus I don’t really have anything to fucking say. I don’t feel like it’s the right time to pronounce my love for his sister. “I guess… somewhere along the way you two became closer, and I stepped back-”

  “When you started dating Leah?” I point out.

  “Yeah, okay. Maybe it was when I started dating Leah,” he agrees, rolling his eyes.

  “Yeah, so don’t pull that ‘bros before hoes’ shit on me,” I argue. Brushing past him to go downstairs, I say, “I have to go. I’ll see you later. Take care of your sister while I’m gone.”

  25 Bianca Ferrari

  I’m not entirely sure why Skyler picks me up and brings me to my bed considering I just took a nap at his house and it’s only 7:00 p.m. but a few minutes after he leaves my brother walks into my room. He seems to be wearing agitation every time I’ve seen him since my accident, which I infer to be a result of Skyler hanging around me so much.

  “You need anything?” Rex asks me, taking a seat next to me on my bed.

  Shaking my head beneath the towel, I tell him, “Not really.”

  “Well, what do you ‘not really’ need?�
�� he questions further. The beauty of growing up together so close in age is that he picks up on my moods very easily. We’re not just siblings; we’re also friends.

  “Just stop giving Sky a hard time, please,” I plead, giving myself away that I heard their conversation in the hallway regarding me. My brother’s stern eyes relax into ones that showcase a little bit of guilt.

  “I’m trying. He won’t even let me,” Rex argues.

  “Nothing is going to happen with him and me, so you don’t have to worry,” I sigh. The truth of hearing my statement out loud hurts me more than I thought it would. I’m starting to feel nauseous.

  “Um… what?” Apparently my declaration surprises him. “It’s not because he was driving the boat, is it? Because you know it was an accident.”

  “I know,” I mutter, my eyes starting to sting. It’s nice to hear it from Rex though. I’m not sure where the stinging feeling comes from, but I just can’t stop thinking about Skyler’s “pity me” face. I can’t look at that every day for the rest of my life. I’m so conflicted though because I like him so much otherwise. However, I hate seeing Rex and Skyler not getting along. I don’t want to come in between them, no matter how right it feels to be in Skyler’s arms. “I know he would never purposely hurt me, and I’m not mad at him. It just… it can’t happen.”

  “But why?” Rex presses.

  The pressure radiates from him, causing my head to feel compressed and the room to start spinning. “I need a garbage can,” I blurt out, looking around for one. It only makes my condition worse.

  “What?” he shouts, and I think he’s trying to find the little one I have in my room, but my vision is all blurred so I can’t completely make him out.

  “Please hurry,” I whimper, trying to sit up and lean over the side of my bed. My towel hair wrap tries to weigh me down but it doesn’t last. The force of my puke is stronger. I hurl over the side of the bed and hear a rustling noise like it hits a plastic bag. I groan as my stomach contracts, trying to feel if anything else is going to come up.

  “If being with Skyler makes you sick, you should tell him that,” he chuckles, brushing his hand across my back. It’s a mean comment, but it’s still funny.

  “You’re hilarious,” I snark at him. My mouth instantly feels disgusting, like mud. Skyler would bring me mouthwash, but I give Rex some slack since I won’t have anywhere to spit it anyways. “I need to stand up, but it has to be slowly. I’ve been lying down too long,” I recall Skyler’s advice. I reach my arms out in front of me, and Rex stands up, shoulders square to me so he can be my post. My vision goes black for a moment as my head settles on the idea of not resting against something, but I squeeze his hands tighter to remain steady. I can feel the apprehension in his breath; he’s worried I’m going to fall over right in front of him.

  After walking over to the bathroom down the hall, I rinse out my mouth and then ask Rex, “Can we do a movie night tonight with everyone?”

  “Oh, um,” he stutters, still holding onto one of my wrists. “Leah was going to come over to hang out.”

  Some things never change. I knew I didn’t have a good relationship with my brother’s girlfriend when she wouldn’t stop begging him to leave the hospital. She didn’t bother coming to see me, but she needed him to come home and hang out with her after only one night away. “She can join. Besides, it’s about time she starts hanging out with our group if she’s planning on being around for a while,” I petition, knowing I can’t be the only one who thinks that.

  Rex complies with my request and calls everyone to come over to watch a comedy, since I can’t manage the suspense of a thriller. It feels like it’s a rainy day at the cabin without having to suffer from the two hour drive through barn scenery. In our basement we have a giant cushioned multi-colored piece of furniture that feels like a couch but folds out to take up the majority of the room to fit everyone comfortably. Pillows line the wall as backrests, but Skyler lets me lay on his lap instead. Leah and Alex are all cozied up to each other at the far end with Baylee and Benny and Tiffany and Sam also paired off. Seeing Baylee sit between Benny’s legs as he wraps his arms around her shoulders makes me want to vomit, but I don’t have the energy to make a big deal about it if Rex or Skyler aren’t.

  Everyone lets me choose the movie since it’s my idea to have everyone over. Because I’m the vegetable of the group that’s hypersensitive to loud noises, I choose Accepted, a funny movie that will make all of us laugh, break some tension in the room. At least that’s my intention. Leah looks nervous as all hell to be sitting in a room with all of us, like she’s the ugly duckling and we’re all going to gang up on her, which is ridiculous because we each individually like her. Kind of. Well, maybe not Skyler. Rex is watching The Leah Movie almost the entire time. Benny on the other hand is at least trying to watch Accepted.

  “Bay, stop,” he demands, but I can feel the flirtatiousness in his voice. He likes whatever it is she’s doing. I move slightly up on Skyler, my head resting on his chest so I can witness the BenBay show. I’ve been aching for some good entertainment.

  “I told you before Bianca put the movie in,” she whimpers. Her hair is getting tousled from fidgeting in Benny’s hold, and it’s starting to annoy her. She combs her hands through her almost waist-length ombre hair and bats her eyes up at Benny like she’s begging for a bunny. I really hope she’s begging for anything else, just not a bunny. Okay, or sex. She’s way too fucking young for that, but her eyes tell a different story. I’m not sure where or when she learned to look at someone like that, but I’m a little jealous of the way Benny returns it.

  “Okay, I know I lost part of my memory, so how long has that been going on?” I whisper up to Skyler. His eyes are already on me when I look up, which gives me butterflies that maybe someone is looking at me the way Benny is admiring my little sister.

  “Longer than it should be,” he mumbles, his eyes flickering towards the shady scene before us. “Hey… you guys know we’re all right fucking here.” He says this directly at Benny and Baylee who are playfully fighting and tickling each other; then Skyler kicks Benny in the side in hopes of making him stop flirting. Skyler’s what-the-fuck expression takes all of the air out of the entire room. I’m trying my hardest not to laugh because I know it will piss him off, but I always laugh in awkward situations.

  Luckily Tiffany butts in and does it for me. “You’re kidding, right?”

  “No, I’m not fucking kidding,” Skyler argues. “He’s five years older than her. It’s disgusting.”

  “We’re not doing anything more than you and Bianca,” Benny tries to defend them.

  “Buzz and I are only a year apart,” Skyler yells, shifting behind me, which results in jostling my head more than necessary. “I didn’t see Baylee in the hospital last week either.”

  “Sky, please,” I beg for him to stop moving.

  “Now someone has to be in the hospital for me to be nice to them?” Benny defends himself. He has a point. I don’t think Skyler’s complete reasoning is because I’m physically hurt. He’s just using it as his excuse - not that I’m going to argue it.

  The room is starting to spin, and I’m not in the mood to be throwing up all night. I reach for Skyler’s arm that’s draped over my side and squeeze it as hard as I can to prop myself into a sitting position.

  “B,” I faintly hear Rex’s voice.

  I close my eyes to help with the nausea, but I can now feel everyone’s eyes hovering over me. Just breathe. It’ll be okay.

  “See? You’re literally making Buzz sick,” Skyler hammers into Baylee and Benny but mostly Benny.

  “Sky!” I exclaim, and I open my eyes to my brother at my feet with a garbage can ready for me. As I take deep breaths, my stomach contracts again like it’s just released vomit, but I manage to calm it down and keep my grilled chicken dinner in my stomach. Both of Rex’s hands are in front of me, one on my knee and one holding the garbage steady, so I’m confused how my hair is being pulled back.
Baylee is across the cushions looking at me with worried eyes, like she doesn’t want to see her big sister like this. I wouldn’t want to see anyone else in the room like this either, so I guess it works out that it’s me.

  “I’m sorry, Bianca,” Baylee mumbles as a lone tear drops onto her cheek. When Benny hears her shaky voice, he gently turns towards her and wipes the tear off. For a moment I think it’s sweet, and I’m happy that someone wants to look after my baby sis, but I just kind of wish she was a little older.

  “Bay, it’s fine,” I promise, sending a small smile in her direction. It’s then that I realize whoever has been pulling my hair back since I almost threw up has begun massaging my head. For the second time today, and actually probably in my life, I’m fully enjoying having my scalp gently massaged. Just before I’m about to let out a little moan, I twist my neck to see Skyler behind me and see it’s his hand comforting me.

  “You okay?” he whispers like we’re the only two in the room, like our entire group of friends isn’t staring at us. I have never seen someone look so sorry before, and that says a lot considering my last week. He has to know he’s just as guilty, if not more, as Benny for the flirting he constantly does with me, but I know he doesn’t care. His dark eyes only see me, not my brother standing in front of me awaiting my response. I can barely think with his fingers kneading my head so gently; he’s practically putting me to sleep. The concern and care that Skyler has for me in this moment makes my heart ache in the best way.

  “Yeah, I’m sorry,” I announce to the group.

  In the most compassionate tone I’ve ever heard come out of his bad ass mouth, Skyler tells me, “Don’t fucking apologize.” Oh, right. Our deal. I have made good on my end of the deal thus far; that’s my first slip up that he’s noticed. But it’s mostly sorrow towards everyone else for interrupting the movie night. Skyler continues massaging my head as everyone returns to their spots to watch the rest of the movie since the commotion is over. I can’t risk lying down and upsetting my stomach or head again, so I sit next to Skyler on the cushion furthest from the TV. “Hey,” he examines my unusual body language of shying away from him. “I’m sorry.”