After Jace finished his victory run, Willa came up to the plate, her team looking to somehow turn a 5-1 deficit into a win. They looked determined and received loud cheers despite their position and Zach’s premature gloating. Jace no longer cared that much and found a spot in the outfield; he’d already gotten something out of the game.

After two strikes, Willa got off a good kick and ran towards Jared—who, in a moment of pure jerkiness, yanked the cat ears right off her head as she passed by. She freaked out and covered her bare hair with her hands, but then double-backed, picked her ears off the ground, and gave Jared’s shin a kick, which shut up his laughing fit right away. She then made it to second despite the incident of poor sportsmanship.

Willa was then stuck at second base across a series of steady pitches from Carson that took out both Millie and Ash. It all looked just about over by the time Felicity was sent in, and the crowds had grown quiet. But after a quick leg stretch, Felicity suddenly pulled a Babe Ruth and pointed out to the fences. Carson, unshaken, launched the fastest ball he could muster—only to watch it get clobbered for a two-run homer.

The girls watching began to cheer again, and then went into an uproar following a one-two punch from Millie and Trudy, who both scored a run for the team, tying it up. With the game suddenly even, Carson finally broke a sweat as Sadie came up next. That last out he needed finally arrived only after Sadie managed to hit a homer as well.

Jace had noticed Colin during Sadie’s big moment. At some point, he had begun to cheer for the girls instead. Maybe there was no greater reason for it other than his known preference for come-from-behind victories and rooting for the underdogs.

Zach, now panicking, watched as Jared struck out. Then he watched, feeling good again, as Arthur and Jace got hits that put them on first and third base. Tamatha was sent in next, and it was up to her to seal the deal and get her team a win. After two strikes from Delilah at her A-game, the crowd fell into a hush again. Tamatha glared at her other half, guarding first base. Trudy glared back. She felt powerful and vindictive.

She was powerful. Not to be overshadowed by everyone else, Tamatha kicked for the fences, sending the ball rocketing away. Away… and centerfield, directly at Gerald.

He jumped up and caught the ball cleanly. The boys’ last chance to meet or surpass the girls’ six points had come and gone. Game, set, and match.

“Ah…” Zach’s shoulders dropped as cheers deafened him. “Well. That sucks.”

The bell rang just in time, and December held her hand out for high-fives from her team as they ran back towards the playground entrance, each of them receiving more congratulations from the other onlookers who had just witnessed an exciting, tense game of kickball. Park, the unmoved businessman-bookie, passed out some coins as many head-hanging boys passed him by. There was disappointment abounding, sure—aside from Jace, who still didn’t give a damn either way—but only Tamatha and Jared seemed to be particularly mad at the results of a tight game that someone had to win.

“Hey,” December said to Zach as recess emptied out. “Rematch sometime?”

He worked up to a grin, pushed down his shades a bit to show his eyes, and shook her offered hand. “It’s not cool for the coach to sulk. Not bad, December…”

“So does that mean you learned a lesson?”

“What? No. Seeing as how I never said any of… W-wait… Did you just want…”

She smiled again and ran inside, leaving Zach scratching his head. Jace was among the last inside, as he wanted to get a good look at the empty playground. He wondered if it would ever get so full and busy again once the “big kid” Dump reopened.

• •

There was a test waiting for them when they returned to the classroom, so any further discussions about the game were dampened until the bell rang, at which point they spilled out into the pickup area. Several students from other classes were talking about the spectacle as well, and Millie was the first to run up and meet with Jace.

He stopped walking and turned to her, her grin still wide. “You don’t need to brag. I don’t care that our team lost, like all the other guys.”

“It’s all good,” she said and raised her right hand for a fist bump, which was something Jace had taught her. Once he rather grudgingly obliged her, she continued, “That was actually the most fun I had at school in a while.”

“Really? I thought you hated sports.”

“Well, sort of. I’m not interested in rules, or team devotion and all that, but… Can I tell you one of my secrets, if you promise to keep it?”

“Do whatever you want, Millie…”

She looked around and came in closer. “So… I watch professional wrestling with my dad. It’s kind of our… thing?” She flexed an arm. “I do like getting fired up.”

“Wrestling, huh? I guess that kinda explains some things.”

The others walked up to them, with Ash telling Lucy all about the game. She seemed mostly disinterested, but did like the part about the girls winning.

“But did they really win?” Wessy questioned and rubbed his chin.

“Yes,” Sadie replied. “Yes, we did, Wes.”

“Think about it. Tammy was the one that kicked the game-losing ball, and Gerald was the one that caught it. I’m just saying. The lines get kinda blurred, right?”

“In any case, I saw Colin cheering for them,” Jared said accusingly. “Sometimes I wonder about your loyalties, dude. And, uh, Jason? Millie is right near you, just FYI.”

Colin shrugged defensively. “I cheered for your team, too, J! You know how I am. I… I like a good underdog story. It has nothing to do with, you know, us or them.”

“They weren’t the underdogs! They… they were just as good…”

“That means something, coming from Jared,” December said, after sneaking up on them. “And, Colin, I gotta ask, were you just worried about maybe beating me?”

“I, um…” He nervously ruffled his hair. “Something like that… I’m not actually that bad at baseball, or kickball, I guess. But I don’t like this… boys vs. girls stuff.”

She laughed. “To tell you the truth…” she looked at Zach, “I just wanted to play one last good kickball game in case I didn’t get a second chance. I’ve been waiting for some big excuse to get everyone to agree to one for a while now.”

“So it was all just an act,” Zach replied. “Man… You could’ve just asked.”

“But it’s hard to get anyone interested in that sort of thing now. Everyone’s growing up, and… I wanted some last good memories of my time here.”

“What do you mean?” Colin asked her. “Are you moving…?”

“Well, I… Um, I’ll tell you later. The point is, as I learned from summer camp… Boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider, girls go to college to get more knowledge.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Arthur sighed. “Never heard that one before.”

Robby, who overheard them as he walked by, stopped and replied, “But if we’re the ones that managed to get the first rocket to Jupiter, are we really the stupid ones?”

She grinned, play-hit his shoulder, and ran off to find her dad’s waiting car.

“By the way, our mom’s picking us up today,” Ash said. “Anyone want a ride home? And, no, you’re not invited, Jared…” she added when he looked interested.

Wessy responded with a “sure, why not?” and seeing a chance to talk in private, Jace took the twins up on their offer as well. It beat taking the bus in any case. The two followed Arthur and Ash to a waiting SUV with a tennis racquet sticker on the back and got in, with Ash taking the front and Wessy getting between Jace and Arthur in the back. The twins’ mom looked like she had been working out, and still had on a sweatband.

“Thanks for the pickup, Mom!” Ash told her as they left the school.

“No problem, baby. My two o’clock cancelled so I had some free time. You both have fun today or something? I see a few stains.”

“Mm-hmm. We had a big boys vs. girls kickball game. My team won!”

“By one point,” Arthur emphasized.

“Ah, a good old Battle of the Sexes, huh? Well, as long as both sides had fun. Oh, hey, guess who I’m coaching this weekend. You won’t believe this one.”

“Don’t make us guess, Mom,” Arthur said. “You know we’ll never get it.”

“Your principal, Mr. Shumaker! Can you believe that? Wants to get into tennis at his age. I guess he’s planning out his retirement.”

After she laughed, Ash replied, “Welp, you are the best coach in the city.”

“Maybe, but I’m no miracle worker. Oh, Arty, did you sign up for that laser tag thing at King Arcade yet? You and Wes still want to do that, right?”

He shrugged. “Mm, well, he wants to do it more than I do. It’s up to him.”

Reminded of the upcoming game, Wessy became thoughtful about it.

• •

Jace got off with him once Mrs. Teller dropped them at his house, and he didn’t waste any time. Before Wessy could ask him if he wanted to hang out at the K or at his house or wherever, Jace got in a necessary request.

“Wes, hey… For Bullet Water this Saturday… I think we should ask Celeste.”

He stopped in his tracks, turned to him, and let out a nervous chuckle. “What? Why her of all people? She’s kind of creepy around me, dude, if you didn’t know.”

“I do know. But I have a few good reasons why we should give her a chance.”

He crossed his arms and breathed deeply. “They’d have to be really good ones.”

Considering the week’s awkwardness at the park and the result of the ball game, maybe it wasn’t the best time to bring her up. But the mission asked for some bravery.