NOTE: I don't own these Gilmore Girls characters but I do love the show so much.
A/N: Thank you, guys, for all the reviews that I've gotten. Listen, I know what's going on with Rosa is kind of hard and totally depressing for everyone, especially me. You guys are going to have to bear with the plot a little, OK? Don't worry, though. Oh, and for some of you who do not know. Here is a little clarifying for the girls on Jess's team.
Kathy: Best player, first grader, blonde hair, and blue eyes.
Ellen: Energetic one, kindergartener, red hair, and blue eyes.
The other girls are Annie, Melony, Susan, Dorothy, Ruth, Helen, and Amy. I'm not using all of the girls, of course, but I would just like to point certain things out to you guys who might be confused.
CHAPTER 5
"Come on, Ruth!" Kathy shouted at the next practice. "Hit that ball in there."
Ruth, who was up for bat, shook her head and just held the bat in her hands tighter. When Dorothy, the kindergarten pitcher, tossed the ball Ruth's bat managed to smack it but did not send it going very far. Helen, another kindergartner on the field, caught the ball quickly, much to Ruth's dismay.
Jess clapped his hands a couple of times. "Hey, that's OK. You'll do better next time," he said to her, surprised at how the coaching thing had really gotten easier for him.
"No, it wasn't!" Kathy insisted, folding her arms.
Jess just gave her a side look, making the girl keep quiet, at least for the moment. "All right, switch," Jess ordered.
As usual, the first graders stood from the bench and ran out to the field while the kindergartners raced out to sit down on the bench.
"We still have to work on a few ground rules," Jess began, picking up the abandoned bat. "First off—" He stopped abruptly when he saw Rosa standing in the doorway that led back into the school. "Hey, come on, Rosa!"
Rosa gasped at her name then looked over at Jess. "Oh," she realized softly, making her way back to the bench. "Sorry, Coach Jess," she apologized even softer.
Jess held out the bat to her and said, "I see you want to be up first."
"Huh?" Rosa immediately panicked. "N-no. I... I don't want to... um..."
Jess just gently put the bat in her hands. "Get out there," he ordered in his dry Jess like way.
Rosa whimpered slightly before going up to bat. Kathy, who had developed herself as main pitcher, swung her famous fast ball in Rosa's direction. Like before, the ball bounced off Rosa's bat but she did not try to hit it or even move the bat a little.
"Not this again," Kathy said with a roll of her eyes, referring to Rosa's stone like movements.
"Sorry," Rosa whispered, sitting the bat down, assuming her turn was over.
"Hold it." All the girls turned to look at Jess. "Do it again," he said directly to Rosa.
"But, I... I can't," Rosa said quietly.
"Rosa," Jess stretched her name. "I said do it again."
"I can't," Rosa repeated herself louder.
"Can't?" Jess repeated. "No." He looked around at all of the girls. "That's the thing about our team. I don't ever want to hear that you guys can't do something. It's just that you won't do something that's the problem."
"But, Coach Jess, I really can't do it," Rosa insisted sadly.
Jess's had enough. "Then you have no business on this team," he said, getting a flash of memory, realizing that he had used the same tone Luke had when he had told Jess to leave.
Rosa panicked, trailing off. "I... I..."
"That's all you know to say." Rosa turned and looked at Kathy, who had a haughty look on her face. "I bet you can't even hit a ball. You suck, anyway."
"Kathy—" Jess started.
"Yes, I can," Rosa interrupted Jess, her voice small.
"Ha!" Kathy scoffed. "You can't even move the bat, slug girl."
"Slug girl, slug girl, slug girl," most of the others began to chant. "Rosa's a slug girl."
"I am not!" Rosa suddenly shouted, surprising even herself.
"Why don't you prove it then?" Kathy challenged.
Rosa formed a determined look on her face and picked the bat up again. "Fine," she said darkly, once again surprising everyone.
What looked like a smile crossed Jess's handsome features.
Susan, one of the first graders on the field, picked up the ball that had bounced off Rosa's bat and tossed it to Kathy. Kathy swung her arm back then sent the ball flying. Rosa suddenly cracked the ball so hard with the bat pieces of wood could have gone flying off. Everyone watched in awe as the ball went sailing, landing right outside the school's entrance.
Surprised himself, Jess broke the stunned silence. "Run, Rosa!" he shouted towards her. "Go to first base!"
Rosa suddenly dropped the bat and did as she was told before one of the first graders could pick up the ball and tag her with it. The brown haired six-year-old slipped and slide into base, getting a cheer from the girls, even Kathy.
"Good job!" Jess called.
Rosa sat up with a groan and wince. "Ouch," she moaned.
Jess, concerned, ran out to her, kneeling down. "You OK?" he asked, keeping his voice far away from panic.
Jess was surprised that Rosa seemed to be holding her left arm instead of her leg, which should have been the thing that had gotten hurt.
"I'm OK," Rosa winced.
"You don't look OK," Jess said, reaching out for her left arm. "Did you hurt yourself?"
"No!" Rosa suddenly exclaimed defensively. "It's OK."
Jess managed to take her arm and look closely at it yet saw nothing. He then thought about it and pulled up her sleeve, revealing it to be partially bandaged. Jess looked at the strange wound, shocked.
Rosa pulled back her arm, looking away, embarrassed.
"W-what... I... what happened to you?" Jess stumbled.
"It was my fault," Rosa replied quickly. "I..." she thought of a quick story. "I was playing in the kitchen and I fell against our stove and... and... hot water was cooking and it fell and spilt on my arm really bad."
"Looks bad," Jess had to agree yet was suspicious of the child's story. "When did this happen?"
"Um... last week I think," Rosa told him, tugging her shirt sleeve down.
"Coach Jess!" Jess released a groan and looked over at Kathy. "Come on. We wanna play!"
"Let's play, let's play," Ellen sang, jumping up and down, her red hair flying around with her.
Jess sighed and decided to go back to the game, leaving Rosa to stay at home plate. "OK, girls," the twenty-four-year-old began. "Tomorrow, Saturday, is our first real game. I don't want you to overwork yourselves. Just, you know, beat the other guys." He received a large number of giggles from the girls.
When the practice let out the Red Wolves ran back towards the school, laughing and talking about the game that would come the next day. Rosa, as well, headed inside, lagging behind.
"Hey, come back a minute," Jess called after her. Rosa looked back. "I need to talk to you for a minute."
Rosa released a slight whimper before going over to her gym teacher. "Y-yes?"
"Hey, it's all right." Jess guided her over to the bench where they both took a seat. "I just want to talk." Rosa nodded. "So, uh, how are you doin'?"
"OK," Rosa whispered.
"How's your aunt?" Jess asked, gently reminding her that he knew that story about the aunt had all been a big fairy tale.
Rosa smiled sheepishly. "My mom's OK."
Jess gestured towards Rosa's left arm. "What'd she think about that?"
"Oh." Rosa looked down at her arm. "Well, she gets really mad when I get too close to the stove." She looked up at Jess with a hint of a smile on her face. "You know what? When she gets really mad her face gets really, really big and red and then smoke goes boom out of here ears. One time she got so mad that the whole house just..."
"Just what?" Jess nudged in a whisper.
"Popped!" Rosa cried, shooting up, surprising Jess. "But that doesn't happen all the time," she added.
Jess nodded. "Yeah. My uncle, Luke, used to do that... a lot."
"I gotta go inside," Rosa rushed suddenly.
"Hold on a minute." She turned back to look at him. "If you ever need somebody to talk to, about anything, then I'm always around, pretty much."
Rosa gave him a soft smile before turning and entering the school building.
A/N: Things will get more complicated before they get easier... or something like that. Please review!