"You’re going to be there, right?" she asked. "The band’s playing?"
"Yeah. I’ll be there. And they’re all going to see me nude playing the flute, so what the hell, right?" I laughed.
Just then, I heard, "Hey, Cass!" It was Tanya, with Rosa and Amber. And they were all still naked! "Amber was coming to the game and asked us if we wanted to come," she said.
"I can’t believe you three made it through the whole day nude!" I said.
"It was a blast," Rosa said.
"Yeah, it was," Amber agreed. "I’ve been wanting to do this for a while."
"Did you get touched?" I asked.
"Oh, yeah," Rosa said enthusiastically.
"We have health class together," Amber said, "and the teacher asked us if we wanted to, you know, be the class guinea pigs. And we all said yes," she grinned. "We got touched a lot." She giggled, and her voice got lower. "I came three times."
"Only twice for me," Tanya said, "but they were two good ones!"
"Well, I only went once," Rosa said. "I guess I’m slow," she giggled. "But I screamed so loud I think I busted the eardrums of the boy that was doing me! And I came again at lunch when someone slipped their hand under the table," she giggled.
"How did the teachers react?" I asked.
"Mostly so-so," Tanya said. "Some of them are such old farts. The health teacher was great."
"The principal said, though, we had a right to do it," Rosa added, "so the teachers couldn’t say anything."
"I thought you might freak out at being touched," I said.
"Oh, man, I loved it!" Tanya said.
"Now we just need some boys to go naked!" Amber added.
"Hey, Cass," Tan asked me, "how young were you the first time you, you know, did it?"
Uh-oh. "Fourteen," I said.
"Did it hurt?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered honestly. "It usually does the first time."
"Lily was thirteen, and said it only hurt a little," Amber said.
"Well, I’ll be honest," I said. "It hurt me a lot-but only for a couple minutes. It goes away pretty quickly." I looked at Tanya. "Tan, you’re probably still too young, because you’re too small."
"I know," she grinned, "but that doesn’t mean I can’t think about it."
"Yeah, but you know what?" Amber said. "I can wait. As long as I can get somebody’s fingers down there as a substitute!"
"Yep!" both Rosa and Tan said simultaneously.
"And I’m younger than the two of you, I’m not even twelve yet," Amber continued.
"So, are you guys going to get dressed?" I asked.
"No!" they all said.
"Good, you can keep me company."
"Oh, I’m surprised Jared and Amanda haven’t already done that," Amber giggled.
"Not today for me," Amanda said. "I prefer to stay clothed when I’m having my monthly visitor," she giggled.
"I wonder what would happen if anyone got stuck in the program when they were having their period?" I asked.
"Hmmm. Good question. That could be embarrassing," Amanda said. "Well, Kristie Jarret got to postpone her program week for a week last January, and all I heard was that it was for a ‘personal health’ issue, so maybe you can get out of it if you’ve got your period."
"I’d hope so," I said.
Just then, the team came out on the field. Frankie came out to the mound to start his warm-ups.
"Hey, the pitcher is naked!" someone yelled.
"He must be in The Program this week," someone else said.
"Hey, he’s cute!" someone else yelled.
"Nice ass, pitcher!" was next.
I stood up and yelled as loud as I could, "The naked pitcher is TAKEN!" The whole crowd laughed, and Frankie stopped his warm-ups and grinned at me.
"I feel like a kept man," he yelled from the mound.
"I’m having ‘Property of Cassie Vyshenko’ tattooed on your ass!" I yelled back. He grinned, and then went back to his warm-ups.
The game started, and Frankie got the first three outs in quick order.
Our offense struck quickly. After one out, Lily hit a single, and Mike doubled her home. Ty struck out, but Eddie it a homer, bringing Mike home. Quick three-nothing lead.
Frankie came back out to the mound, and he was cruising. His knuckleball was really dancing, and the other team was looking foolish. We got a couple more runs in the next few innings. He gave up one long drive in the fourth, but Lily, playing center field, flagged it down.
It was as he came out to pitch the seventh that Natalie said it. "You know, no pitcher in the history of Westport High has ever pitched a no-hitter. Ed told me that. The betting was that Lily was going to do it this year."
"Hmm," I said. Frankie cruised through the seventh. Lily hit a homer in the bottom of the seventh. The lead was up to 8-0 and there was no suspense as to the outcome. The suspense was, would they get a hit? Damn, I was nervous!
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN FRANKIEYes, I knew. Of course. And I’m not superstitious, either. Lily isn’t-something she told us all when she flirted with a no-no the first game of the season-and knows I’m not. After she hit the homer in the seventh, she sat next to me on the bench.
"You’re gonna beat me to it, aren’t you?" she grinned.
"Best I’ve ever thrown in my life is a three-hitter," I said. "This would be a miracle."
"You’ve got it going on today, though, pal," Ed butt in. "That knuckleball is dancing like Gene Kelly."
"Yeah, that’s why I’ve walked three people," I laughed.
"So it won’t be a perfect game. A no hitter is a no hitter," Lily said.
"Let’s not count any chickens. Six more outs," I said.
"We’ll get ‘em," Ed said confidently.
He had to make good on that in the eighth. The first pitch I threw was a knuckler that didn’t knuckle, and the guy hit a rocket. Right at Ed. One out, and he gave me a big grin. The second guy worked me to a full count, but I ended up striking him out with a well-chosen curve ball. The next guy hit a weak grounder to Rick Paschal, our shortstop. Three up, three down.
Three more outs.
I had to lead off the bottom of the eighth. Thinking more about pitching than hitting, I struck out on three pitches. Who cares? We were up eight runs.
I was quickly back on the mound. Threw my warm-ups, and then took a glance at the stands. Cassie smiled at me-and then showed me her hands, both with her fingers crossed. Hey, every little bit helps, huh?
First batter got a hold of one. Thank goodness for Lily, she tracked it down.
Second batter hit a grounder to Ed. He handled it no problem. Two outs.
One to go.
I threw ball one. Came back with a great knuckleball for strike one. Mikey put down the sign for the slider-which I threw rarely-and it fooled the batter completely. One ball, two strikes. Then I came back to the knuckleball.
He didn’t have a chance. Strike three. Game over. And the first no-hitter in Westport High history. I was absolutely stunned, as Mikey and Ed and Ty tackled me.
"Nice pitching," Ty said. "For a scrawny Mexican."
"Hey, and you caught all the throws to first. There’s a miracle right there," I volleyed back.
Lily came running in from center and hugged me. "Great job. I’ll just have to be the second, then," she grinned.
Then I looked over to the stands. Cassie was standing up, yelling and screaming, tears running down her face. I went over to her, pulled her out of the stands, and hugged her.
"That was phenomenal," she said through sobs. "I’m so happy for you. I was so excited in the ninth inning, I almost bit my fingernails right off."
"Tell me about it," I grinned. "Love you."
"Love you too," she replied.
The locker room was raucous. The usual "don’t talk before Coach gets here" rule was thrown right out the window. Today, Coach didn’t mind. Afterwards, Cassie and I-still nude-walked Tanya and Rosa-still nude-back home. Of course, I told Mom all about the no-hitter. She was thrilled.