Chapter 1: Meet Tyler

Tyler McGinnis sat in the locker room bench and laced up his Nike baseball cleats. Since he was a new student, having attended Bayside High School for only a couple days and not knowing anyone, he sat in the far corner, keeping to himself. Momentarily, he looked up at the others trying out for the team talking and laughing amongst each other.

"Hey, Tyler. Over here," someone from across the room called.

Tyler looked up, noticing who it was. Eddie Thomas, the only person in virtually all of San Francisco that he had even talked to. He was accompanied by another guy holding his baseball duffel bag.

"I'm Ben," the guy said. "What position are you going out for?"

Tyler stuck out his hand and shook Ben's. "I'm Tyler. And I'm shootin' for center."

"Cool man. I'll see you guys out there," Ben noted and marched off.

Both Eddie and Tyler slung their gear duffels over their shoulders and followed suit. Outside, it was a nice day with a few clouds out. Tyler was shocked to see that there wasn't as many people trying out for baseball as he thought. Near the dugout, he set his bag on a bench and grabbed out his mitt and put his right hand inside the flexible glove.

After about an hour of calisthenics and playing catch to get warmed up, Tyler, along with a few others took up position in the outfield to shag fly balls. From center field, he got a good look at the infielders, with Ben at shortstop and Eddie at second. Tyler then focused his attention just beyond them. Behind the homeplate fence, he noticed a two girls, one in particular–one with wavy reddish hair–caught his eye and he couldn't seem to look away.

"McGinnis! Low liner coming to you," the coach yelled as he tossed a ball gingerly into the air and swung his bat.

Still focused on the girl, Tyler quickly took a look at the ball that was hit squarely, but sinking fast. At the last moment, Tyler stuck out his mitt and dove onto the grass. The ball, however, landed mere inches from his mitt. Tyler slammed his mitt over the ball, trapping it.

"Nice hustle, McGinnis," the coach noted.

With that, Tyler tossed the ball away and trotted back to his position.

Soon, the sun was down and bright colors filled the dusk sky. Tyler, along with Ben, Eddie, and the others raced back to the locker room and to the coaches office where he would post who made the team, and who didn't. At the very top of the list, he saw his name, followed by both Eddie's, then Ben's. All three were on the Varsity team. In fact, everyone who tried out made a team, be it Freshman, JV, or Var.

"Very nice," he thought aloud.

Raven Baxter, along with her best friend, Chelsea Daniels, stood out in the school parking lot, waiting for Ben and Eddie.

"Girl, d'you see that new Pressure video?" Raven asked making idle chit chat.

"Oh yeah," Chelsea purred back. "Hey, what happened to that video you did with him?"

Raven looked around sheepishly and replied smugly. "I'd rather not talk about that... ever."

"Cory got you back. Didn't he?"

"With a vengeance, girl."

"Uh huh," Chelsea huffed. "Figured as much. Oh, you remember Jennifer, my friend from Veggie Camp right?"

Raven nodded affirmatively.

"Well guess what? She's gonna transfer here for the rest of the school year," Chelsea shrieked excitedly. "Now I'll have my two best friends in the world to see everyday!"

Through gritted teeth, Raven managed to say a strained "Great." She vividly remembered the last time Jennifer was here. At first, the two didn't quite get along to say the least, both vying for Chelsea's friendship. But in the end, the two made up and could at least tolerate each other, at least for Chelsea's sake. But having to see her five days of the week and having to hear her call Chelsea 'Chelly' and having to hear that ridiculous Camp Waccamosh cheer.

Raven felt a pain brew in her head as she tried to fathom all of this. She then noticed their two male friends emerge from a set of side doors–accompanied by another guy.

"Hey, Chelse? Who's that with Eddie and Ben?" Raven asked inquisitively?

Chelsea looked towards the guys walking to them. She then squinted at the third guy, who towered over Eddie and stood a clean half foot over Ben.

"I don't know," Chelsea replied still watching the tall male. "But he is tall–"

"Is he dark?" Raven asked gaining interest.

Chelsea nodded.

Raven's eyes quickly shifted back and forth, then looked back at Chelsea. "Dare I ask–is he handsome?"

Chelsea looked up at Raven, gingerly closed her eyes, and nodded with a slight grin on her face.

"Yo Rae, Chelse? I want y'all to meet someone," Eddie called out as he approached them. "This is Tyler. He just transferred here."

Tyler stuck out his hand, embraced, and shook the two girls' hands. "Pleasure to meet you." he smiled nervously.

He instantly recognized one of them as the girl who he couldn't take his eye off of while he was in the outfield. As he shook her hand, he felt his throat dry up and his heart began to race.

"Tyler, this is Raven and Chelsea–"

"–My girlfriend, that is." Ben promptly added in, wrapping his arms around her and giving Chelsea a kiss on her cheek.

It was so obvious to Tyler that Ben was letting him know that Chelsea was with him. In a way, it was kind of amusing, but Tyler didn't laugh or anything. However, something deep within him felt... strange. He always had been very shy around new people, especially those of the opposite sex. But now after shaking hands with Chelsea, his innards felt like they were going topsy-turvy. Not in a harsh way that would make him throw up, but in a way that he was just simply nervous, as if he was meeting the most important person in the world, like the President or Pope.

Quickly, he said his goodbye's to everyone and trotted off. Strangely, the fact that Ben and Chelsea were in a relationship seemed to affect him. It was a sensation that he had never experienced before in his sixteen years of existence. As he walked home, he pondered this. Why did one girl get under his skin so much?

"Mom'll know what's going on with me," he concluded to himself.

Tyler actually had a legit reason for not knowing what was going on with his emotions. In his short life, he had been through brutal military training since birth. Technically, he wasn't born–more like constructed like an elaborate model object designed for assassination and warfare. Unlike a normal human, he had lightning reflexes, enhanced strength and speed, and unrivaled intelligence. When he turned seven, he managed to escape his creators and now his mom–the woman who found him–was his only family.