Concrete Angel

The day had finally come. We were going to state. The coach wanted us all up and eating breakfast together so we did just that. We sat down and the guys quickly dug in. I ate a few bites some here and there but my nerves were getting the best of me and I was feeling sick to my stomach.

"Elizabeth, you have to eat." Zach says quietly. He was strangely becoming nicer to me ever since we started playing ball together. I still tried to avoid him because if we were ever alone for a moment he would bring up my crying yet again trying to figure stuff out. He made it a point to put himself around me when we did team stuff, which is how he ended up sitting next to me.

"Leave me alone Zach." I mutter to him before turning my back and facing Joey who was talking with Scotty about the other team.

"I really hope that Johnny kid isn't playing. I heard he was an amazing player." Scotty says and Joey nods in agreement. I smile to myself at the thought of Johnny playing. He was pretty amazing.

"Izzy, you haven't touched your food hardly." Joey says looking down at me suddenly and I blush taking another bite.

"You have to get your strength up. If Johnny is playing, we need you at your best." Scotty throws in and I sigh taking another bite. I wasn't feeling hungry at all. The very thought of Johnny made my stomach do flips.

"I'm just not that hungry." I say quietly but neither of them heard me turning back to their discussion of Johnny. I wish they'd stop talking about it so much.

Coach was allowing Scotty drive his car to the game so the guys and I loaded up into it while the rest of the team hopped in the bus. The drive seemed to take forever but it really was only around a half of an hour. We all piled out and made our way to the dugout quickly trying to avoid the cameras. There were so many people here already. The teams normally came an hour before the game just to get settled and ready to play. The fans were all here as well, it was nerve racking. I scanned the crowd quickly looking for familiar faces and actually there were tons. I guess I never realized how many people I actually know somewhat cause I see them at school everyday and some faces from my hometown actually stood out as well.

"See people you know?" Chris questions and I glance at him in surprise.

"You used to live in Milton right?" Chris questions yet again and I nod to clear my head.

"Yeah, I did. And I do see some people. It's crazy that you can recognize a face from so long ago." I say smiling up at him and playing my part. I was supposed to have left at a young age so I shouldn't really know everyone that closely.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Its like people who you saw as a kid that you can recognize the face but not a name or anything." Chris says and I nod in agreement. We both stop scanning the crowd and focus on getting prepared for the game.

We all went out on the field to warm up and the roar of the crowd was heard as soon as we stepped out of the dugout. I felt my stomach do knots once again and I wondered what was wrong with me. Normally, I was never nervous for a game.

"Izzy, throw it." Joey says snapping me out of my thoughts. I nodded and did some warm up pitches. I never threw the best I could when we warmed up just in case the other team was watching.

"They're here." Coach says and we all pause our doings to watch the other team arrive. I find myself holding my breath as I recognize over half the guys on the team. I played with those guys. I glance quickly down the line for Johnny to see him missing.

"Johnny isn't there." Joey whispers to Scotty who cheers quietly. I bite my lip and scan the crowd once again.

"Izzy, let's go." Joey says once again patting my arm and I toss a few more balls that were way off. I didn't know what was wrong with me today. Joey gives me a hug before the game begins and I take the mound. I breath in deeply trying to ignore the crowd and throw the first pitch. It was bad. It was a ball. That was my first ball of the season, I heard the crowd all moan loudly and I knew Coach's eyes were staring at me.

"You can do it Elizabeth!" Someone shouts from the crowd causing my eyes to scan the crowd once again. I bent down to get some dirt from the ground but my eyes never left the crowd. That's when I saw him. He was standing right there behind Joey but in the crowd. He looked just the same. I felt tears form in my eyes as I stood up once again. He came. I suddenly knew why this game was so important to me. I wanted to see him. I wanted him to see me and I wanted to do my best for him. Johnny was watching me carefully and I could see his jaw clenched in nervousness. I doubt he knows it is me but just the fact that he was watching me made me want to do better than I ever had. I threw the next pitch and it was a perfect strike. They were going down.

"Izzy, I didn't know you had that in you." Joey jokes as we have a timeout after the 8th inning. We were tied but only because the other team got really lucky. My arms were sore but I refused to give up, I was going to pitch this whole game and I was going to win for Johnny.

"Hey, look isn't that the Johnny kid on the cam?" Jake says pointing to the big screen on the side of the field. It showed Johnny and I knew that on a TV somewhere they were talking about him not playing. I bit my lip once more as the cameras went around the crowd and I spotted someone else I knew. I felt my heart drop ten feet and I quickly looked over to where I saw Johnny last. He wasn't there. I scanned the crowd ignoring coach's fussing about focusing and found Johnny heading towards him. No, Johnny. No.

"I can't play anymore." I say suddenly and I felt the whole team face me with wide eyes. They all started talking but I just walked away right across the field. I could feel cameras on me and confusion go through the crowd.

"IZZY!" Joey screamed running towards me. I paused for a second keeping my eyes on Johnny. He was there. He was talking to him. They nodded and both headed for the parking lot.

"Izzy, where are you going? We have another inning." Joey questions trying to gain my attention.

"Put Jake in. He can handle it. Just tell him to aim low, they suck at low strike hits. I have something I have to attend to." I say heading towards the gate.

"Izzy stop. What's going on?" Joey says grabbing my arm and scanning my eyes quickly. I knew there was fear in them. I was scared. I was more than scared but I wasn't about to let Johnny just walk off with him.

"He's here Joey. I have to go." I say quietly glancing around to see that Johnny was now out of sight.

"Leon is here?" Joey says his mouth dropping and mine dropped as well. I never told him Leon was the one after me. I never told him that.

"You know?" I say staring at him trying to process.

"I've known for a while, June." Joey says quietly staring at me.

"I can't talk about this right now. I have to get to Johnny." I say my eyes wide at the fact that he used my real name. He nods letting me go and I plant a kiss on his cheek before running off towards the parking lot. I knew I needed to call the cops and call someone to help but I couldn't think about that right now. All that was on my mind was getting to Johnny before he got himself hurt.