81. Hannah

EIGHTY-ONE

The last note of the national anthem ends, and I'm about ready to send out a search party for Maddox and Chelsea.

I've been so focused on waiting for them to get back— and fending off questions about Maddox— that I didn't even pay attention to what team we're playing against.

"Who are we playing?" I ask the mom seated next to me since I've already moved into Chelsea's seat— thinking she and Maddox would've been back by now.

"Um." Her brows furrow.

The boy on the other side of her points to the player getting ready to bat. "The Windy City Warriors."

His mom nods. "That's right."

Then her gaze moves past me, and from the way her eyes widen, I know they're back.

But even knowing that, I'm not prepared for what I see when I turn my head.

"What are you wearing?" I ask through a laugh.

Maddox tilts his head. "What do you mean?"

I look between him and Chelsea, but they both keep straight faces. Though I can't see their eyes, so maybe they're crinkled with humor.

I hold out my hand. "Give me my slushie, you goofballs."

Maddox nudges Chelsea to scoot into the row first, with her large slushie in one hand and a bucket of donuts in the other.

I peek into the bucket. "Hope you got a discount."

Chelsea plops into the seat. "Yeah, it's called the Maddox discount, where he eats eight at a time."

"It was two at a time," Maddox replies as he wedges himself back into the seat at the end of the row. "And I told you to keep them away from me."

"Uh-huh, so it's my fault."

I assume she's rolling her eyes.

Maddox balances the drink tray on his lap and pulls my slushie free, handing it across Chelsea.

"Thanks," I tell him and take a sip of the cherry ice. "We really not talking about the accessories?"

Maddox tips his head toward the field. "Game is starting."

Sighing, I give up and steal a donut from Chelsea.

But even as I watch the first round of pitches, I keep looking over at the oddball pair next to me.

The twelve-year-old girl and the massive man, sitting side by side, wearing matching gaudy plastic necklaces, each bead about the size of a golf ball, and printed to look like a baseball. But it's the glasses that are the most absurd. The plastic rims look snug on Maddox but oversized on Chelsea, but it's not the fit that's ridiculous. It's the lenses. Like the beads, the image of a baseball is printed onto them.

It's silly. And unnecessary. And the sight of these two matching makes me want to cry.