Knocked Out of End Zone

   Megan crouched down behind the bleachers so she could see him without being seen. Her chest was bounding as she grasped her ample bosom. It was a hot day, and sweat glistened off her forehead down her blouse as she looked at the boy. His name was Mark and she adored him. There was just something about the glint in his eyes when he smiled at her, and the way he said her name when he called to her in the hallway. They both shared the last class of the day, Algebra, and afterwards he would head off to practice. Mark was a star player on the high school baseball team. He was an excellent hitter and played first baseman on the field.

   It was practice right now. School had ended, and today more than any other day she needed to be around him. Just to be in his presence felt like an undeserved privilege to Megan.

   Mark picked up the bat and put his helmet over his matted brown hair. He slapped the helmet with the rough palm of his hands to make sure it was on, then bent over the plate and laid the bat against his shoulder. He stared at the pitcher, daring him to make a move.

   The first pitch was a curve ball that moved so fast that it stung the catcher’s hand as it made impact with the mitt. He grunted with the unexpected pain and threw it back. The second pitch was far to the right of the plate and would have been ball one if Mark had not swung at it optimistically. Mark was getting impatient. His grip tightened on the handle.

   The pitcher threw a straight ball over home plate, but Mark saw it coming before the ball left the mitt and was able to swing fast enough to make full contact with the ball, sending it barreling into left outfield. Megan saw the baseball soar over her head above the stands flying free into the wind leaving the world behind until it fell back onto the ground with a thud about twenty meters away from where she knelt.

   As he ran the bases, as if showing off his prowess, attention was diverted to the catcher’s mound. The catcher took off his glove revealing a sore hand that looked red. Looking back to where the ball fell on the grass, she dashed over to retrieve the ball.

   Megan knelt down and picked up the baseball. She wanted nothing more than to walk it over to him and give it to him personally. She couldn’t understand what was holding her back. It was the same thing that made her hesitant to learn about biology as it relates to animal physiology so that she could study to become a veterinarian. Megan adored animals. At home, she took care of three rabbits, two mice, a lizard, two parakeets and two short-haired cats. All of the animals lived in the backyard under a large tent structure except the two cars who were able to roam free.

   She stood up and looked at the ball. Underneath the baseball her soft hand felt the rough texture of the worn white leather cover and the intricately woven red hand-stitched lacing threads. Looking down at the ball, she thought she saw a small indentation on the ball possibly made from his bat and smiled. She felt close to him, even though they were many yards apart from each other.

   “Hey, what are you doing?” A gruff voice asked. Without looking behind her, she dashed away, skirting around the gate post, vanishing behind the rosebushes.

   Back at home, Megan threw herself onto the bed in her room. She sighed, looking out the window with the baseball still clenched tightly in her hand.

   Her Motorola cell phone vibrated violently on her Teak Wood nightstand. Megan grabbed the phone with her right hand and answered it. It was her friend Natalie. “Hello” she said, lying back down on the bed.

   “Hey Megan.” Natalie replied cheerfully.

   “Well, today, was quite a day,” Megan said, her legs feeling sore. “There was a pop quiz in Physics that I was SO no ready for, and I forgot my English book in my locker so I had to share with Sharon. You know, the cheerleader. She is Ms. Perfect.” A trace of resentment could be heard in her voice.

   “I told you, you should’ve taken Biology for your science, its less math.” Natalie stated.

   “Yeah, but I will take it next year. I’ll be better then.”

   “Megan, where were you? We were going to meet up today.” No answer. Was the line dead? Natalie continued. “We were going to meet up after class. We were going to study for the history test coming up. What happened?”

   Megan slapped her forehead and sighed. “I’m sorry, I forgot!”

   “It’s Mark, isn’t it.” Natalie said, smiling.

   “Well, I just wanted to see him. I was at the mound and saw him. It was just, I’ve been thinking about him so much. You know, I think he grew half a foot over the summer, he is so much bigger now. His is just so sweet and helps me out so much in math class.”

   “If you like him so much, why don’t you ask him to the dance next month?”

   Megan’s face turned red. “Oh, I could never do that. He is not into me in that way at all.” She giggled.

   “Girl, you need a new wardrobe.” Natalie said. “What’s say we go shopping tomorrow? My older sister can take us.”

   Megan’s face lit up. She always liked going shopping, and her wardrobe definitely needed a makeover. Plus, she had some money saved up from her sumer job working at a camp. “You bet” she said.

   “Ok, meet me in the front of the tennis courts after school. And this time, be there.”

   With that, Megan said goodbye to her friend. She went into her closet and brought down a brown briefcase. She entered the passcode and opened it. Inside was a diary covered in rose petals, a picture of Mark cut out of the year book and a red pen. Megan put the baseball into the briefcase and closed it up, then put it back in the closet.

   The next day was warmer than the last. Megan wore jean shorts a white shirt and a pair of white sneakers. She was excited for the end of the day; it was just not coming fast enough.

   At lunch, Megan and Natalie met up together and planned out the afternoon. They were going to head to Express, Aeropostal, Claire’s and Nordstroms, and then after shopping go to Starbucks.

   It was early afternoon as Megan headed to her last class, chewing gum like that of a baseball player on the mound getting ready to hit a homer. There were only a few seats available since she had taken her time freshening up on her makeup before hand. Thankfully one of the seats was next to her crush, and she made no hesitation sitting next to him.

   Mark was wearing a baseball cap, with his brown hair falling out of the end. His brown eyes were astute looked sharp, showing drive not found in the other guys there. Megan twirled her black hair with her fingers as the teacher began the lesson on substitution. The class seemed to race by as she sat next to him, wishing his gaze was on her instead of the white board. At the end of the lecture, the teacher had each student pair up in teams to try to answer the problem on the board.

   Obviously, Megan paired up with Mark. As they started working on the substitution problem on the board, the conversation turned to the dance.

   “Do you know about the party coming up on Saturday? You know, at Alex’s house, his parents will be away then on their cruise. He’s having everyone from school there.”

   “I can’t make it.” Mark said. “I have practice then.” Nothing further was said by him, so she continued.

   “Aww, shucks, It’ll suck then.” She smiled wryly. “Maybe I’ll see you around at the next game. Are you going to the dance?” She asked, her eyes bright.

   “Umm, I’m not sure yet.” He said avoiding an answer.

   “I’m going.” She replied, and the bell rang before another word could come out. He started packing his backpack up. The teacher told the class that he was going to go over the answer in the next class. She touched his arm. “Mark”.

   “I’m sorry, but I have to go, I can’t be late. The team’s counting on me.” It seemed like an excuse, but she had to swallow it as he got up and left the room.

   She put her binder and book in her backpack and left the room. At the tennis courts she met up with her friend. A green Chevrolet Malibu drove up, and the two girls got in the car. “Thanks for the ride” Natalie said, flicking her voluminous brown hair as she sat down and fastened her seat belt.

   “Don’t mention it.” Her sister replied. “Just know you owe me after this.”

   At 3:30PM, the two girls arrived at the mall and started shopping for evening dresses for the upcoming dance. Megan found a dress immediately, and wanted to buy accessories at Claire’s but Natalie wasn’t ready yet, so Megan agreed to go to Claire’s and meet her there.

   Claire’s was on the second floor, so Megan took the escalator up. On the upper floor, Megan saw a strange store on the other side that sold strange trinkets that she had never seen before between the bathrooms and the Williams & Sonoma. She walked over to it, curious. The front said Odds n Ends.

   Megan walked inside. Incense filled the air, making her cough. Candles, jewels, perfumes and lotions lined the shelves, and dream catchers and old clocks were on the walls.

   “Can I help you.” A mysterious bald man with a moustache, wearing trousers and bowling shoes, appeared suddenly in front of her.

   “Oh! I just wanted to see what was in this store, is all.”

   “Is there something you are looking for, maybe?”

   “Do you have any perfumes, maybe” She asked.

   “A young gentleman?”

   Megan looked at him before saying anything. “Yes”

   “And you would do anything for him”

   She nodded her head.

   He walked over to a shelf in the back of the store and produced a vial with a green substance inside.

   “This is a strong aphrodisiac of sorts.”

   “For me?” She asked.

   “No, for him. It will make him fall in love with you.”

   She looked at the vial, unsure of what to do. “Ok”

   He looked at her curiously. “How old are you?” he asked.

   “Fourteen.”

   “Tell you what, I will give it to you for the price of $10, a real bargain. But once you buy it, you cannot return it. No refunds.”

   “Ok, I will take you.” She dug into her purse for the money and put it down on the counter.

   The man grabbed the money and gave her the vial. “Be careful what you wish for.” He said to her with a wink. She turned away and left the store, putting the vial in her purse.

   It was a quarter past four when Natalie finally met up with her at Claire’s. “What took you so long?”

   “I had to find this.” Natalie showed off the shimmering, bright dress.

   They wrapped up their shopping, when Megan told her friend about the store where she had bought the vial. When Megan led her to the location where it should have been, there was just a space under construction for a new luxury goods store. Natalie raised her eyebrow. “I think it’s time we go home.”

   Megan couldn’t understand it. Was it all just a dream? Not possible, she had the vial on her person.

   The next day, she went to the locker rooms during lunch when no one was around and was able to locate Mark’s locker. It was unlocked, so she got it open and spread the green liquid on his mitt, put it back in the locker and immediately left.

   Over the next few weeks, Mark’s demeanor had slowly changed from being friendly to being flirty. They had begun walking the halls together, and would even sit down and eat lunch together. He would frequently ask her how her day was, and would get jealous of her spending any time with her friend Natalie. It was starting to frustrate her, as she felt that she needed space, but she forgot about it as soon as she saw his smile when he saw her and hugged her. When she worked up the courage to ask him to go to the dance with her, he passionately agreed, but she was still worried about his more aggressive demeanor.

   When the dance came, she found him at her door to pick her up when they originally agreed to meet at the high school. Her mom called out from the hall, “Megan, a young man is here to see you.” Her parents already knew about him, and were fine with him as their daughter’s love interest.

   Megan came to the door and greeted him wearily. “Hi Mark.” She took his hand, and he kissed her. They headed out to the dance.

   When they got there, a big group was already there waiting to get in. “Hey, Mark.” One of his teammates called to him from inside. Mark walked over to talk to him, probably to see if they could get in sooner. Natalie was with her date, a small guy with blonde hair and brown eyes from English class. They walked over to Megan.

   “You came with him?” Natalie asked her incredulously. Megan had told her that he had become more aggressive, but discarded it as just a phase.

   “Yes, I just want to give him a chance after last week.” She felt unsure about the whole thing.

   Natalie wanted to see where the bathroom was so she excused herself.

   Suddenly, Mark approached Megan and Natalie’s date John. “What are you doing with my girl?” He growled.

   “No-Nothing” John stammered. 

   “Back off of her” He violently shoved him away, took her hand and went in.

The lights were flashing and the walls thumped with new age music as Megan's new boyfriend danced with her nonstop. He kept telling her how much he wanted her and how no one else deserves her. He was only fourteen, and kept putting his hand on the top of her breast while kissing her face. She just wanted to get out of there.

As it approached 10PM, she told him that she was getting tired and wanted to go home. He agreed, realizing that he would need to get up early for practice tomorrow.

She couldn't stand it, the potion had created a monster. She grabbed the briefcase and threw it on the bed, emptying its contents. Grabbing everything she had owned relating to him, she went to the den and threw it in the fireplace, and lit a fire. The embers consumed everything in the fireplace. She put her hands to her head, furious at what had become and accidentally knocked a few books off the shelf next to the fireplace on the rug. The embers jumped onto the books, and soon the room was ablaze.

The fire alarms came on, and her dad immediately saw the blaze and called the fire department. But it was too late, her daughter was trapped in the room surrounded by fire.

Mark had come by with a bouquet of roses so obsessed with his beloved that night, and saw the fire. Leaving the flowers on the lawn, he rushed inside to save her. He went through the door, picked her up and walked out, covered in first degree burns. Outside, he was bewildered, not knowing where he was or why he was there. The spell had worn off.

"I'm so sorry." He said after seeing the blaze. "I didn't know." He said goodbye, and let her go.