He hid near the bleachers making sure she didn't see him. He looked towards the team and couldn't see her. She wasn't even there. Minutes passed before she came walking with her bag over her shoulder. The coach ran up to her yelling at her and stopped.
"What's wrong?" he heard the coach ask.
He saw her shake her head and placed her bag down to get ready for the game. As she got ready and practied pitching, Bradin could tell something was wrong, deeply wrong with Kay. He has never seen her throw like that with that much anger and hurt into her throw. The game began.
Innings passed. It was now the bottom of the seventh and Kay was pitching well. She wasn't herself as he noticed. Bradin continued to watch her. She, then, began to throw the ball so hard she could injure herself. He shook his head as he saw her grab her arm.
"Coach!" he yelled running up to her bench. "Coach!"
"Who are you?" he asked.
"A good friend of Kay's. You have to take her out. Something is wrong. She never throws like that."
The cach watch Kay as she pitched. She was throwing harder than she normally does. She was injuring herself. "God damn," her coach said quietly. "Time!"
Everyone watch Kay and the coach argue about taking her out. She walked off of the field with furry. She threw her glove, punched the gate, and sat on the bench covering her face with her shirt.
Bradin watched as the coach talked to Kay. She was crying. This wasn't the crying that she cried nearly all the time. This was the crying where she lost something that meant the whole world to her. She rarely ever cried like this. He felt someone touch his shoulder. He turned around and saw Kay's mother and Lacey.
"Do you want to know what's wrong with her?" Lacey asked. He nodded. "Our father died."
"What?" he asked.
"Today he was leaving to go back to Boston. Right when they were taking off, the plane exploded. Something was wrong with the engine and it blew to smitherines."
His heart fell. He knew how close Kay Mae and her father were.
Night came. There was a party on the beach for the softball team that played earlier that day. They won the division and were celebrating. Everyone was invited. He walked around looking for her to see how she was doing, which knowing her was terrible. He couldn't find her anywhere. He walked towards the beach and there she was, standing and looking out at the water with her arms folded in front of her.
"Kay Mae," he said. She turned around and looked at him before looking back out at the water. "Your mother and sister told me what happened. Baby, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He saw her slowly start to fall towards the sand. He took her into his arms and held her as she sobbed. He eased their way to the sand and continued to hold her. He was amazed that she was even letting him hold her. But, she needed someone at that moment. After several minutes, she pulled away and kenlt on her knees as she dried her eyes. She looked at him as he moved her hair out of her face.
"I'm here if you need me," he told her softly.
She nodded. She kissed his cheek, got up, and walked away wanting to be alone.
Bradin smiled when she kissed his cheek. Then, he frowned when she walked away. He knew that she didn't want to be accompanied by anyone. He let her go and spend some time by herself. She needed it more than ever.