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Episode 16: Take Me Out
To the ball game, that is! After last episode's brief interlude, we return to the aftermath of Sarah and Nathan's difficult breakup. Today Sarah and her friends go to the ballpark to see Nathan in his first major-league game - also the first time they've seen one another since that painful night. Will they be able to move past it? Can love grow once again? --The Author
"Atlanta: 38 miles." The announcement on the big green road sign made eighteen-year-old Sarah Beloit's heart beat a little faster; the sprawling Southern city was not even an hour away! Now there was not very much inherently exciting about going to Atlanta; Sarah had been there many times. But this trip filled her with a complicated mix of feelings. For the first time since their dramatic breakup a few months earlier, she was going to see Nathan.
Ever since Nathan had, with Hannah's help, gotten the courage to call Sarah, they had talked occasionally, and despite the painful memories, they had become friends again, having agreed to put the ugly end of their relationship in the past. And today, Nathan had invited Sarah, her family, and Hannah to a very special occasion: his first day in the Major Leagues! The Cardinals' starting second baseman had suffered an injury during the team's previous game, prompting the Major-league team to promote Nathan from Triple-A to take the injured player's place. And it just so happened that the first game in which Nathan would appear was a Sunday afternoon in Atlanta, only a few hours' drive from his old hometown.
On such short notice, Mr. and Mrs. Beloit hadn't been able to come, so Sarah, Chris, Hannah, and Amanda were on their own. It had been a fun trip down, as the three Beloit siblings had always gotten along together very well, and Hannah was practically part of the family as well. Chris once said that if it wasn't for the fact that Hannah was his girlfriend, he would let her be his sister!
Hannah had gotten the hiccups the moment she had sat down in the back seat of the car, and now, two and a half hours later, the hiccups were still going strong. Chris was enjoying Hannah's uncharacteristically loud, even violent, hiccups so much that Sarah threatened from the driver's seat that she was going to have to separate the two of them if he didn't behave! Even Amanda and Sarah giggled at Hannah's hiccups; though they had all seen Hannah with the hiccups more times than they could begin to count, these were no ordinary hiccups, even for Hannah. Each one came out as a loud, painful-sounding "hic-ULK!" which rocked Hannah back in her seat, even when she tried to hold herself steady. Hannah even had to laugh herself. Needless to say, she had made it an entertaining trip!
Soon they had arrived in Atlanta, found parking, and were walking into the ballpark. There wasn't much of a crowd yet at all, because they were quite early. Nathan had said he might be able to see them for a little bit after batting practice, so they set out to look for him. The security guard at the ballpark gate chuckled when they asked him where they could find the batting cages, where Nathan said he would be. "I can have someone show you down there, but if I was a ballplayer, I wouldn't let this girl into batting practice!" he laughed, clearly referring to Hannah. "All that noise she's making would disrupt anyone's rhythm!"
Hannah giggled. "My hiccups have *hic-ULK* been accused of some pretty crazy things b-*HUCK* before, but they've never *hic-ULK* affected the outcome of a sp-*hic-ULK* sporting event!"
After a couple minutes, a team representative arrived, and Sarah explained that Nathan had invited them to meet him down at the batting practice cages. The lady from the team smiled. "Yes, he told me he was expecting a few visitors; his family has already been by. I'll take you down." As they walked through the stadium, the team lady also commented on Hannah's hiccups. "Goodness, you have the hiccups pretty bad, don't you?"
Hannah nodded. "You can *HUCK* say that again! *hic-ULK* I have hiccups a lot b-*hic* but these are way more vio-*hilk*-lent than usual!"
"My daughter used to get the hiccups all the time," the lady remarked. "Holding her breath would always stop them, though. Have you tried that?"
"Nothing cures my *hic-ULK* hiccups," Hannah replied nonchalantly. "I don't even bo-*huck*-ther to try."
"Wow, you poor dear…" the lady sympathized. Then, addressing all four of the visitors, she asked, "So how do y'all know Mr. Garver?"
It actually took Sarah a moment to connect the formal-sounding "Mr. Garver" to Nathan! "Oh," she finally answered, "We're from the same town. He and I dated for a while, and we're still friends. We're all really proud that he's in the big leagues now!"
Soon they arrived at a room where they would wait for Nathan. The team representative told them that he would probably be out in a few minutes, and then she left. As the four all sat down to wait, Amanda could tell that Sarah seemed anxious. "You ok, sis?" she asked.
"I'm like, really nervous and I don't know why," Sarah admitted. "It's not like I haven't talked to him since then… but I still feel sorta… I don' t know, scared I guess."
Amanda turned and gave her sister a little hug. "It'll be fine," she assured. "It will be nice to see him again. He's a good guy; he really is."
Sarah gave a little smile. "Yeah, I know, you're right," she admitted. "Once I see him and we just talk and all again, it will be *huck* better." As soon as the unexpected hiccup left her mouth, Sarah blushed deeply. "Oh wow, I think my nerves have *huck* given me the hiccups!" she gasped. Then she laughed, "Well, I guess *hic* Nathan probably wouldn't recognize me *hulk* without the hiccups, any-*huck*-way!" At that, Amanda laughed, too. Several more hiccups convinced her that this was no teaser case. "Actually, I guess it *huck* has been a few days since *huck* I last had them."
Amanda sighed in mock irritation. "That means you and Hannah are both going to have hiccups the rest of the day, doesn't it?" she teased.
Sarah smiled. "Could be!" But then she look a little worried again. "What is Nathan *huck* going to think with me ha-*huck* having the hiccups again?" she wondered aloud. "Last time I *huck* had the hiccups, and…" she trailed off.
Amanda again tried to reassure her sister. "This is such a different setting, though. It will be fine. Plus, you've had the hiccups on the phone with him since then, haven't you?"
Sarah had to agree. "Yeah, I guess it *huck* is different. And I *huck* did have the hiccups on the ph-*hic* on the phone with him just the *huck* other day."
Chris and Hannah had been talking to each other and hadn't really been paying any attention to Sarah and Amanda. But now Hannah turned to Sarah. "Are you *hic* ready?" she asked.
Before she could answer, Sarah hiccupped loudly. Hannah's eyes got wide; she hadn't noticed Sarah's hiccups until now. "You have the *hic-ULK* hiccups now too?" she asked incredulously. Another sharp hiccup from Sarah quickly answered the question. "Did you mean to *HUCK* do that?" Hannah asked.
"I sooo *huck* did not!" Sarah answered. "I think they *huck* must have come from me *huck* being so nervous."
Before Hannah could say anything else, a door opened and Nathan emerged. A big smile came to his face as he saw Sarah and the others. "Hey y'all!" he greeted them excitedly. After giving them each a hug, Nathan asked, "How was the trip?"
"It was pretty *huck* good," Sarah said. "Not too much *hic* traffic."
Nathan didn't say anything about the hiccups that interrupted Sarah's answer, but when Hannah too convulsed with another loud hiccup, he had to laugh. "Do you two both have the hiccups?"
"Yep!" Sarah giggled.
"Was that on purpose?" he laughed.
"No, actually it wasn't, although it's still *huck* pretty cool!" Sarah admitted.
Nathan agreed. "You can say that again!"
Noticing Nathan's batting-practice uniform, Amanda spoke up. "Congratulations on making it to the major leagues! Are you nervous at all about the game?"
At first Nathan shook his head, but then he admitted, "Well, a little bit actually, not too bad though."
"Who's pitching for the *hic-ulk* Braves?" Hannah asked.
"Tim Hudson; he's pretty good!"
"Wow," Sarah gushed. "That *hic* will be so awesome playing against *hic* a top-notch pitcher like that!"
"Oh yeah, totally," he agreed. "I'm glad to be going up again such a great guy. That's a pretty exciting way to start my career. Well, unless I go 0-for-5!" he laughed.
The others laughed too. "You'll do great!" Sarah encouraged.
Nathan was quiet for a minute. Then he spoke. "Oh by the way, I really should give this back to you," he said to Sarah, reaching into his pocket. He produced the gold necklace that of hers that he had kept since the night they broke up. "I want you to have it again."
Sarah was quiet too. "It's ok, you *hic* should keep it; it sounds like it's been *huck* helping you, after all!"
Nathan disagreed. "No really, take it." As he spoke, he gently placed it around her neck. "I don't need it for luck; I've got y'all here for me!"
As he said that, Sarah smiled. "OK, thank you. *hic* And it's so good to see you again."
"You too," Nathan said. "I'm really glad you were able to make it."
"I wouldn't have missed it for anything," Sarah assured him.
* * * * *
Not long later, Sarah, Chris, Hannah, and Amanda were sitting together up in the stadium. Nathan had gotten them really good seats, just a few rows behind home plate.
"Wow, we've never sat so close to the game before!" Amanda said excitedly. "But I don't know who to cheer for!"
Sarah laughed. "I was wondering *hic* that too! We always root for *hic* the Braves, but I *huck* gotta root for N-*hic* Nathan!"
"I guess maybe it *HIC-CUP* would be ok if the *hic-ULK* Braves lost just this *HUCK* once," Hannah suggested between massive hiccups.
Chris disagreed. "I say we go for a Braves win but a really good game for Nathan, too."
"But how can it be good if his team doesn't win?" Amanda pointed out.
"He could get some hits, play great on defense, but the Braves still win by a run or two," Chris explained.
Amanda still wasn't convinced. "I don't know, isn't it more important that your team wins?"
Sarah broke in with her own idea. "Well, he'll probably *hic* be so excited just to be *huck* playing that it won't mat-*huck* matter who wins."
Amanda had to agree. "Yeah, you're probably ri-*HUCK*" A sharp hiccup of her own interrupted her. She was so surprised that she didn't even finish her sentence.
"Oh my word *hic* Amanda, do you h-*hic* have the hiccups now, *huck* TOO?" Sarah gasped.
Amanda just waited with her hand on her chest and her mouth slightly open, to see if another one came. She didn't have to wait long. "*huck* Crap," she exclaimed after the second hiccup. "I think I do." In just a moment she hiccupped again, and they all burst out laughing.
They must have laughed for two or three minutes straight! Every time they would catch their breath, one of them would hiccup, and they would burst out laughing and giggling again. "I don't think *huck* we've ever all *hic* had the hiccups at the same *huck* time!" Sarah exclaimed.
Amanda just laughed helplessly. Every hiccup bounced her entire body, jerked her head back, and made her stomach suck in sharply. As it was a very hot afternoon, she was only wearing a little pair of shorts and a thin, tight t-shirt, so there was no hiding her hiccups from anyone, by sound or sight! But it was so hilarious that she didn't mind at all! "This is *huck* actually kinda *hulk* fun!" she finally said, between giggles.
Of course, it there was anyone it was fun for, it was Chris! Of course, two of the girls were his sisters, but still, sitting between three girls who all had the hiccups was pretty awesome anyway! This was going to be a hilariously fun game, they could all tell.
A couple innings into the game, all three girls still had the hiccups, and they were all having a hysterically good time. People in the rows around them periodically gave them strange glances, and one man in the row behind them even moved to another seat, but they were having way too much fun to care. Still, they were paying attention to the game, and when Nathan came up to bat, leading off the third inning of the still-scoreless game, the group erupted even more loudly, if that was possible! They clapped, cheered, shouted, and yes, hiccupped, so much that Nathan chuckled and waved at them before he stepped up to the plate. Even through the noise of the crowd and his own concentration as he dug into the batter's box, he could hear their cheering voices. He also thought of his family, and many other friends that were present at the game to see him. He took a quick glance in their direction, as well.
Above all, though, seeing Sarah again had deeply reminded him of how much he missed being with her. Seeing her just for those brief minutes downstairs: looking into her beautiful face, hearing her charming laugh, and enjoying her adorable hiccups – it filled him with so much emotion that he had nearly come to tears sitting in the dugout between innings. He missed her so incredibly much.
Now all those thoughts were put aside for the moment, as he came up for his first at-bat in the major-leagues. Hudson had been cruising through the first two innings, and he quickly started Nathan off with a called strike. After taking a couple balls outside and firing a momentarily-exciting line drive into foul territory, Nathan swung and missed at a nasty curveball, ending his first trip to the plate with a strikeout. Far from disappointed, Nathan still beamed as he trotted back to the dugout. Even if he were to never see a baseball again, he was now part of major league history forever. It was the most exciting strikeout in his life.
Sarah and the others were of course disappointed that Nathan didn't have better luck in his first at-bat, but they still cheered him wildly. "He'll do *huck* better next time!" Sarah said confidently.
"Yeah, *hic* and he had that good line drive, even th-*hic* though it was foul," Amanda pointed out.
A few minutes later, Sarah's cell phone rang. "Oh, it's Juliana," she said as she answered it. "Hey Jules!"
"Hey, how's it going down there?" Juliana asked.
"It's awesome, Nathan *huck* just had his first at-bat; we're *huck* soooo excited for him!" Sarah gushed.
"Great! How did he do?"
Sarah laughed, "Well, *hic* he struck out. But he *hulk* looked good doing it!"
Juliana chuckled too. "He'll get it next time."
"You *huck* bet he will!"
"So y'all were going to see him before the game, right? How did that go?" Juliana asked.
"Pretty good, *hic* but we only saw him for *huck* like a minute. We'll be see-*huck* seeing him more later. *hic* I was so nervous though!" Sarah admitted. "That's *huck* what gave me these h-*hilk* hiccups."
Juliana was happy to hear that it was going well so far. "That's good, I'm glad you got to see him. Hope you have a lot of fun tonight!"
"Oh we *hic* will!" Sarah assured.
"And yeah, I noticed your hiccups; I wondered if that was on purpose," Juliana said.
Even though she was just talking on the phone, Sarah blushed. "I seriously didn't *huck* mean to! I was *hic* too nervous to do *huck* that. It's pretty awesome though, *hic-cup* we all have them right n-*hic* now! Well, except Chris, he's *huck* just thinking he died and *huck* went to heaven!"
Juliana laughed. "Are you serious? Hannah and Amanda too? It must be something in the air! I'm glad I'm not there!" she teased.
"Yeah, them too! *hic* Hey, do you want to talk to *hic* either of them?" Sarah asked.
Juliana asked to talk to Hannah, and Sarah handed the phone to her. The two friends talked for a while, with Hannah's still-explosive hiccups causing everyone to crack up periodically. "What did they do to you?" Juliana asked in mock concern.
Next it was Amanda's turn, and being the biggest baseball fan in the group, she excitedly told Juliana about the game so far. While they were talking, a Braves player hit a double deep into the corner, driving in the first run of the game. Everyone in the crowd stood and cheered, Amanda and the others included. When she finally sat down and resumed talking to Juliana, she told her what had happened. "Sorry, the *huck* Braves just scored! *hic* McCann hit a double and Chipper sc-*hic-ulk* scored."
"Awesome! Hopefully Nathan isn't too disappointed," Juliana said.
"Nah, it's only 1-0, and *hic* it's just the fourth inn-*HUCK* inning." Amanda explained.
Juliana had been ignoring Amanda's hiccups up to now, but after that particularly loud one, she commented. "I can't believe you all have the hiccups at the same time!"
Amanda giggled, "Yeah, it's totally *hic* crazy! It's actually pretty *huck* awesome though; I've *hic* never had this much fun *hic* having the hiccups. I can *hulk* almost see how Sarah l-*hic* likes them so much!" she said with extra emphasis on the 'almost', as she nudged Sarah playfully.
Juliana groaned. "You too, Amanda?"
"I did say *huck* almost," she pointed out. "I haven't quite *hic* decided yet!"
Amanda had finished talking to Juliana by the time that Nathan came to bat again, in the fifth inning. Once again they all cheered him excitedly, and this time they were rewarded as he rifled a base hit into right field on the very first pitch. They all stood up, and cheered and yelled for all they were worth. A batboy retrieved the ball from the Braves fielder, so that Nathan would be able to keep it as a memento of his first major-league hit.
"That's cool, *hic* they're going to save the b-*hic* all for him," Sarah noticed.
It felt good to get that first hit so soon. The first-base coach gave Nathan a pat on the back as they waited for the next batter. "That's a great start; feels good, doesn't it?" he said encouragingly.
The next batter, the pitcher, laid down a sacrifice bunt, allowing Nathan to race safely over to second base. After a strikeout, the following batter produced a sharp base hit into left field. Nathan raced around third base, and the coach there waved him around, signaling for him to continue on to home plate. The crowd rose in anticipation, as the Braves outfielder collected the ball and fired it toward the waiting catcher. Nathan ran for all he was worth; there was going to be a play at the plate. Sarah put her hand over her mouth nervously. Amanda shouted, "Go Na-*hmk*-than, GO!"
After a quick slide and a swift tag by the catcher, Nathan looked up at the umpire. He thought he had made it in safely, but it was hard to tell in the heat of the moment. The umpire quickly spread his arms. "Safe!"
The home crowd booed heartily, but the call was good. Nathan had barely managed to tie the game.
"He made it! *hic* He made it!" Amanda cheered.
Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. "That was amazing!" She waved excitedly at Nathan as he walked back to the dugout.
From the field, he looked up at her and smiled. "What an incredible girl," he thought.
As the excitement died down and the game continued, Sarah quickly noticed that her hiccups were gone. "Hey, my hiccups stopped!" she announced.
"Oh no! That's no *hic* fun!" Amanda said disappointedly.
"I know!" Sarah agreed.
Hannah, with her hiccups still going strong, added her opinion. "Yeah, what's u-*hic-ULK* up with that? If I have to ha-*hic-UCK* have them, so do *HUCK* you!" They all laughed at how violently Hannah's hiccups still interrupted her.
The Braves quickly broke the tie Nathan had helped create, scoring twice in the following inning. Nathan made a great play in the field to help prevent any more scoring, though, so by the time the ninth inning came around, the Cardinals still only trailed 3-1. Nathan was due up first, and walked to lead off the inning. "Good eye, Garver", the coach congratulated him as he arrived at first base. After two outs, Nathan had moved over to third base, but no one else was on. The Cardinals needed a hit from the next batter in order to keep the game alive.
Amanda, by this time the only one in the group who still had the hiccups, once again wondered who to root for. "I don't know *hic* whether to root for the B-*huck* Braves, or for Nathan's *hic* teammate!" she admitted.
"Me neither," Hannah agreed.
Regardless of who Amanda, Hannah, and the others were rooting for, the rest of the crowd was none too happy when the Cardinals batter hit a double into the right field corner, allowing Nathan to score easily. Now the Braves led only by a single run. Rather than taking his seat in the dugout, Nathan stood at the rail with the other players, to see how it would go. The excitement of watching from the dugout, surrounded by great baseball players, was almost as amazing as being out on the field! "This is what it's all about," he whispered to himself. The batter gave the pitcher a difficult time, hitting a number of foul balls, and running the count full, but finally he hit a weak fly ball, and the game was over.
Nathan was disappointed that the Cardinals hadn't been able to pull out a win, but in baseball, it never pays to dwell long on an individual win or loss. He was just glad that he had done very well in his first game, and was already thinking about ways he could do better in tomorrow's game.
Since the team was playing in Atlanta again the next day, Nathan had some time to spend with Sarah and the others, before they had to head home. Their parents had insisted that they be back at a decent time, but they still had a couple hours.
When they met up after the game, Nathan and Sarah shared a long hug. "You did great!" Sarah gushed, "I'm so proud of you!" Chris, Hannah, and Amanda – whose hiccups had stopped by then – also congratulated him. They knew that he and Sarah really wanted to spend some time together, though, so even though they all went out to eat together, they mostly just chatted with one another and allowed Nathan and Sarah to talk uninterrupted.
Nathan and Sarah did indeed talk while they were at the restaurant. They talked about a lot of things, but toward the end, they came to the topic of their relationship. "I know we've talked a little bit about this before," Nathan began, "but I just wanted to say I'm really sorry for what I did to you when I was back home. I know you weren't ready for that, and it wasn't right of me to expect you to be."
Sarah gave him a sympathetic look. "I know you're sorry, Nathan. And I shouldn't have blown up about it like I did. I mean, it was nothing compared to what most kids our age are doing. I really should have been more understanding."
"It's ok," Nathan said. "It was really hard for you, I understand that."
"Yeah, but you know, since then, I think I've actually come to understand and appreciate our relationship better," Sarah continued.
"What do you mean by that?" Nathan asked.
"Well, you haven't been around, and we haven't been together, and I've had time to think about things. Also, I've hung out more with other guys than I had in a while; I even kinda went on a date with a guy when we were at the beach last month. And I really enjoyed it. But there's still no one else I feel like quite like I do about you. You're, well, you're really special to me, and what we had was amazing. I miss it so much." A couple stray tears crept down her cheek.
Nathan reached across the small table and took her hand in his. "I know how you feel, sweetheart. I've felt the exact same way about you. I've wanted to get back together with you so bad! But now that I'm in Saint Louis for a while, or even back in Memphis, it wouldn't be right to you. I don't want you to be tied to a guy who's so far away all the time."
"Yeah, it would be hard," Sarah agreed, "But is that really so different from how it will be anyway? I love you so much, Nathan; it will be hard being apart whether or not we are ‘official', you know?"
Nathan hadn't really looked at it quite that way before. "I love you too; you're amazing. And maybe you're right, since we do feel this way about each other."
Chris, Hannah, and Amanda could tell, despite their best efforts not to eavesdrop, that Sarah and Nathan were having a very serious conversation. So in order to give them a little more privacy, since they were all done eating anyway, Hannah announced, "Hey, we're going to go walk around outside for a bit; give us a call when you're ready to go. Take your time," she said, smiling. Chris and Amanda quickly understood.
"Thanks Hannah, we'll call you in a few minutes," Sarah said appreciatively.
As the others left, she and Nathan resumed their conversation. It was clear that they were still completely in love with each other, and since that was the case, the distance was going to be difficult whether or not they were officially together. The only real question was: is dating again what they both wanted?
"I do want to be together again," Nathan said. "We love each other too much for anything less. The distance will be hard, but if I stay in Saint Louis, I'll be making good money and then we can fly you up there sometimes. And if I have to go back to Memphis, well, we'll figure something out. Will you do it? Will you be my girlfriend again?"
Tears again came to Sarah's eyes, and she nodded and whispered, "Yes, I would love that more than anything."
* * * * *
As Sarah, Chris, Hannah, and Amanda piled back into the car to head home, Nathan thanked them for coming, and gave each a quick hug. "Thanks for coming and keeping these crazy girls company," he joked as he said goodbye to Chris.
"Any time!" Chris laughed.
To Hannah he said, "Thank you so much for helping me get back with Sarah. That was so nice of you, and I appreciate it a lot."
"I'm glad it worked out," she said sweetly. "I was pretty sure it would!"
Amanda had gotten the hiccups again while she had been walking outside with the others, so when he hugged her, Nathan heard – and felt – her hiccup hard, and teased, "I hope those hiccups don't bother you too much on the way home!"
She laughed, "I don't think they *hic* will; it was a lot of f-*hic* fun having them today, actually. *huck* I think I finally under-*huck* understand how you and *hic* Sarah like them!"
Then Nathan and Sarah shared a loving embrace, and a long kiss. "I love you, Sarah. You're the most amazing girl ever! Thank you for taking me back," he said earnestly.
"I love you too; I'll miss you so much! Hopefully we can see each other again soon," Sarah replied.
"I hope so too, we'll definitely try!" Nathan agreed. And after one last kiss through the open car window, Sarah began the drive home. What a day it had been!