Chapter Fifteen

Home Plate

Kelsey

The return of Edward Cullen into my sister's life seems to have ended the crazy shit she does. Not that that's a good thing; Edward hardly ever lets her out of his sight unless it's during her grounding hours. Which means I see way more of the creep than I would like.

Right now, I'm stretched out on the floor of my living room, texting with Leah Clearwater. We've gotten pretty close since her father's passing. In fact, she said she'd be at my softball game tomorrow.

Bella and Edward are curled up on the couch together, watching some kind of cheesy movie. Dad's camped out in his recliner, reading a thriller.

"Dad, can I read that when you're done with it?" I ask. He nods.

I got my love of mysteries and thrillers from my dad. When I was little, he would read me detective stories (mostly Nancy Drew) as bedtime stories. I even dressed as Nancy Drew several times for Halloween.

I breathe a sigh of relief when Edward finally leaves. Dude gives me the CREEPS! The way he stares at Bella, like he's addicted to her. It's weird.

Karla gives me a quick hug. "Kill it, girl." I intend to do just that.

We're in the field first. As soon as I'm announced, I walk out to join the rest of my team. I get into my catcher's stance, and catch Alina Symon's eye. I use the signal to show her to throw a fast ball. The current batter isn't very good, and if we can strike her out, it will be make things easier.

I glance at the stands as I hurl the softball over to Carrie Barkfelt at third, figuring we should tag out the girl heading to third rather than the one heading to first. Paul, Leah, Karla, James, Emma and Dad are cheering me on. I smile.

I step up to the batting box, staring the pitcher down. I watch as she uses an extra windup and tosses a grounder to me. I let it pass, knowing that one strike against me is better than making contact but getting tagged out. I make a good hit on the next ball and tear off to first base.

I steal second. My fingers tap out a rhythmic beat as Leila Wilders takes a swing. Home run! I take off around third and slide into home just after Rosie Chapman. We're up by three.

We wind up crushing the other team, 5-0. Coach congratulates all of us before sending us to get cleaned up. I'm one of the first people out; the others like to gossip and do makeup before going to wherever it is that they're celebrating at. I just grab my gear and go.

"You killed it!" Leah holds her fist out to me and I smack mine against hers.

"Polly's?" I ask, naming the only pizza restaurant in town.

"Yeah." Karla says.

So that's how the six of us: me, Paul, Karla, James, Emma and Leah end up around a table in Polly's, arguing about what type of pizza we should get. It's Emma who comes up with the winning idea.

"Let's just get a pizza with everything on it, then we can pick off what we don't want?" That's what we do.

I use another layer of hand sanitizer right before the waiter sets the pizza on the table. When the menu said everything, it really meant everything: anchovies, mushrooms, broccoli, bacon, pepperoni, sausage, some kind of green thing I can't identify, the works.

"Ew! What is this?" Karla holds up an anchovy.

"Anchovy." I say with a laugh.

"You don't put fucking pineapple on pizza." Paul says, disgusted.

"Who the hell puts broccoli on pizza?" Leah demands.

"Insane people?" James suggests.

"I don't think this was a good idea." Emma notes.

"It was your idea." I flick my straw wrapper at her and it bounces off her forehead.

"Um... maybe we should just order a cheese?" James says.

"Good idea." Leah agrees.

I'm still laughing about the everything pizza when I pull into my driveway. I set the leftover everything pizza on the counter. Someone will eat it, and if not, I'll give it to Bella to give to Jacob. That kid will eat anything as long as it stays still for long enough.

I get a shower, relaxing under the spray of hot water and the smell of my vanilla scented body wash. This is the good life.

I drop my softball uniform into the washer and dump in a little extra detergent; the uniform is rather fragrant. I then wander back to my bedroom.

I find myself thinking about home plate. I do that a lot; randomly start thinking of something and not being able to get it out of my head. The home plate is one of the more tame thoughts my brain decides to fixate on.

What I'm thinking is this: home plate is a good metaphor for life. It's your goal to run the bases and reach home plate. It's your goal to overcome the obstacles and reach your goal.

For the rest of the night, home plate pops into my head a total of fifteen times. My psychiatrist would say it's an obsession. I say it's my broken record brain.

Some people think that when you are diagnosed with OCD that you wash your hands until your hands bleed and compulsively check everything. There's that, but there's so much more. OCD is like having a scratched CD in your head at all times. Numbers can have a significance to you, for many reasons. I personally hate the numbers 6 and 13, but 7 and 10 are okay. And the compulsive hand-washing and double-checking are also something I'm guilty of. But OCD is so much more than what the media portrays it as.

I sigh and rub my temple. I need to film a video for my vlog, do my homework and read the next chapter in the book we're reading for English. Sighing again, I force home plate, my broken record brain and how stupid the media is out of my mind in order to do what I need to do. Or, at least, I try to. Debatable on how well that works, though.

A/n: So I'm updating as a Halloween treat for you guys. I used some of my own experiences with OCD to write Kelsey. I want to portray OCD accurately because the media does a shitty job of it. Although, if you would like to read a good portrayal of it, you should read Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone. Also, if you know who originally made the jab about pineapple pizza, you're awesome, and drop it in the reviews for a shout out in the next chapter. I'll tell you who it is then. Just know, the person who said it is absolutely fucking right. Pineapple on pizza is just ew. If I get 46 reviews, I'll update Tuesday. If not, it'll be on Thursday. Later!

Lauren.

Replies to Reviews:

Twilightfanjm: You'll have to wait for a Kelsey vs. Edward confrontation, I'm afraid. Don't worry, it is coming. And it's practically an entire chapter just for that. And yeah, I feel bad for Kelsey, too. It's gotta be hard having a sister like Bella.

Loves to Read Books: Thanks. I hope you like this chapter too; please let me know.

Jingerr: OMG! I just realized I've been spelling your name wrong the whole time! I'm so sorry! I'm glad you love to see Paul's softer side. I hope you like this chapter too; please review and let me know.