A World Without Heroes Read Free

faster than you,” Matt said. “When you throw your best stuff, I can’t hit you.”
    “I tense up lately,” Jason admitted with a grimace. Over the past year, during games, he had started to feel very self-conscious, and erratic pitches had been the result. He had blown some games by giving up too many walks, and he’d lost a key game with a wild pitch. He had also hit a few batters, and at the speeds he was throwing, that was a big deal. No opposing batters had been seriously hurt, but they could have been.
    At first Jason had assumed the increased speed of his pitches had caused the problem. But then Matt and Tim had begun to notice that he routinely threw better during informal games or practices. It bothered Jason to think that he had lost games because he lacked the guts to throw well under pressure. Maybe the problem came from dwelling on how much others expected from him. Maybe he was expecting too much from himself, fixating on perfection. Or maybe his skills were simply fading.
    His friends on the team expected him to overcome his control issues and carry them to glory. But he was not yet the star others expected him to become. He sometimes wished his friends would brag about him a little less.
    April pointed at Jason’s textbook. “Are you getting ready for the bio test?”
    “I’m trying,” Jason replied.
    “What’s the name of your cheekbone?” she quizzed.
    He resisted a grin. “The zygomatic arch.”
    April raised her eyebrows. “Not bad.”
    Holly rolled her eyes. “You guys are such geeks.”
    “Geeks rule the world,” Jason countered.
    Holly grabbed her sister. “We better get over to the softball cage.”
    Jason wanted to ask them to grab a snack or something. Well, specifically, he wanted to ask April, but asking both of them would be less intimidating. They were two girls; he was with two other guys—it would just be a small group hanging out. There would never be a more perfect moment to casually approach April. Who knew, they might end up with a study date for the biology test.
    But he couldn’t make his lips move in time. The twins were walking away.
    “Hey,” Jason called, feeling awkward, squeezing his biology book. “Do you guys want to grab some food when you’re done?”
    Still moving away, Holly pushed her hair back over her ear as she apologized. “We can’t. We have to go to our uncle’s birthday party. Maybe some other time.”
    “Okay, that’s cool,” Jason said, even though nothing about it was remotely cool.
    Behind him Tim exited the batting cage. “You like April?” Tim asked.
    Jason winced, stealing a glance over his shoulder. Was he that obvious? “Not so loud. A little, I guess.”
    “I think Holly seems more fun,” Matt mused.
    Tim tossed Jason the batting helmet. “You’re up. Here’s your chance for back-to-back strikeouts.”
    “You’re a riot,” Jason said, sliding on the slightly oversized helmet. A red light glowed near the pitching machine. Jason adjusted the strap on his batting glove, grabbed his bat, entered the cage, and took several practice chops, overswinging at first, then settling into his regular stroke.
    “You ready?” Matt asked.
    “Go for it.”
    The light turned green. Jason crouched into his batting stance, bouncing a little, anticipating the first pitch, trying to ignore the possibility that April was watching. He tended to swing late on the first ball. It hissed out of the pitching machine and blurred past him. He swung way too late.
    “He’s a lover, not a hitter,” Tim kidded.
    Jason focused. The next ball zipped out of the machine. His timing was right, but he swung too low, and the ball skipped up and back off the bat.
    On the third pitch he made a solid connection. The ball rocketed to the rear of the cage, a high line drive.
    Matt whistled. “Not bad.”
    Jason glanced back at his friends, grinning. Shifting his gaze, he noticed that April was watching her sister enter the fast-pitch softball cage. When he