Rivals (2010) by Tim - Baseball 02 Green

bleachers.
    “You gonna try and talk to Jaden?” Benji asked.
    “Forget Jaden,” Josh said, pulling out his phone. “I’m calling my dad.”
    But when Josh called his dad’s cell phone, he learned that his dad had already left.
    “Your mom asked me to get some grape juice at the store for your sister,” his dad said, “but I’ll come back and get you guys if you’re ready.”
    “No,” Josh said. “That’s okay. You talked to the driver about us being banned from the shuttle bus?”
    “She’s all set,” Josh’s dad said in a low rumble that meant business. “I had a talk with the camp manager.You guys can ride, but keep the comments to yourselves, right? Tell that to Benji, too.”
    Josh smiled to himself. “I will. So, we’ll just catch the shuttle. Maybe we’ll even take it into town and see the Babe’s statue. Benji’s dying to get a shot with it, and I want to see Hammerin’ Hank’s. Then we can take the shuttle home later.”
    “Don’t miss dinner,” his dad said. “I’m going to have batting practice right afterward. This Corcoran kid’s got me worried.”
    “No problem, Dad.”
    Josh hung up and he and Benji made their way to the entrance, where they found the powder blue Beaver Valley Campsite shuttle bus just getting ready to leave. The driver glared at them as they climbed the steps, but several parents and players from the Titans were already on the bus, heading for town, and the driver seemed to consider them with a glance before she said anything nasty.
    “No trouble,” she said, growling under her breath with obvious hatred.
    “We won’t,” Josh said.
    “Trouble’s what you make of it,” Benji said, strutting by.
    “Meathead,” Josh said in a whisper as they took their seats, “what does that even mean?”
    “Sounded good,” Benji said. “Like a ninja or something.”
    “A ninja?”
    “Or a Buddhist or something. I don’t know. Just work with me.”
    “Like that umpire worked with the Comets?” Josh asked, shaking his head in disgust.
    “You don’t have to be as obvious as that,” Benji said. “That guy’s lucky the Comets fans outnumbered the Tallahassee people by about twenty to one or there might have been a riot.”
    “I mean, I’ve seen some bad calls,” Josh said, “but that guy took it to a whole new level.”
    “Starstruck, I guess,” Benji said. “You saw what the Mick did with that crowd. Like putty in his hands.”
    They got off the bus in the center of town with the rest of the crowd from the Beaver Valley Campsite. Josh and Benji fell in with a handful of their teammates who were also heading for the museum. They walked up Pioneer Alley, and at the corner of Main, where the turn for the museum was, Josh saw Mickey Jr.’s limo with its blacked-out windows heading their way. He grabbed Benji by the arm and pulled him aside.
    “Look,” he said, pointing.
    “I told you, dude,” Benji said, freeing his arm. “I’m not impressed with big cars.”
    “Not the car,” Josh said, lowering his voice as the rest of the group kept going and the limo rolled past. “Jaden. You think she’s in there?”
    Benji wrinkled his nose. “Nah.”
    Then Benji said, “Maybe.”
    “Maybe?” Josh asked.
    “They were sitting pretty close in that dugout.”
    “Thanks,” Josh said, turning to go.
    “You asked,” Benji said. “Hey, where you going?”
    “To see,” Josh said, taking off at a jog as the limo continued on down Pioneer Alley toward the waterfront.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
    THE LIMO TURNED THE corner on Lake Street and Josh sped up. His breath was growing short by the time he reached Lake, so he was glad to see the limo make a left and turn into the marina. Visions of Jaden and Mickey Jr. going sailing together or taking a cruise in some antique boat with one of those comfy leather love seats in the back turned his stomach. By the time he rounded the corner and darted into the marina’s long parking lot, the limo had already come to a