ashleyleigh | [post]mortem Interlude #4: Stand and Deliver

Working on the next chapter and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that the story relies heavily on flashbacks. This entire storyline with Jamie I'd written just didn't fit with the overall flow. But it's important so I couldn't just drop it. So I turned it into an interlude instead.

Not medically cleared to play, Jamie decided to sit in the dugout during one of the last baseball games of the year. For the first few innings he didn’t mind. For the next few he was mildly irritated. By the end of the seventh inning, he couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to be out on the field, not sitting on the sidelines with the midday sun beating down on his head.

As soon as Andrew sat down next to him, he started to complain.

“It’s so boring in here!” he whined. “Can’t they just put me way out in the outfield or something?”

“No dude,” Andrew said with a chuckle. “Besides, I think things are about to get a little more interesting.”

Before Jamie could ask for clarification, the announcer said over the loudspeaker, “We have a special surprise for you this afternoon during the seventh inning stretch. Some of our very own Westbury Academy cheerleaders are treating us to a performance."

Kim and a few other cheerleaders walked out onto the field, hands on their hips and staring down the crowd. But as soon as the music began to play, their demeanor changed. Singing along to Toni Basil’s “Mickey,” inserting Jamie’s name where Mickey would usually be, they hopped around the field doing cheesy dance moves.

Oh Jamie
You're so fine
You're so fine
You blow my mind
Hey Jamie! Hey! Hey!
Hey Jamie! Hey! Hey!

Oh Jamie
You're so fine
You're so fine
You blow my mind
Hey Jamie! Hey! Hey!
Hey Jamie!

By the end of the performance, Jamie’s sour mood was long gone as he bopped along to the beat.

~~________________________________________~~

Later that day at his house, Jamie said, “Thank you again for what you did at the game. I really thought you hated that song.”

“I do,” Kim said with a roll of her eyes. “But as soon as I brought it up, everyone else pretty much demanded we use that song. Never again though. Never again.”

“I’m sure I can catch it on Youtube if I ever want to see your performance again,” he said with a chuckle.

“Don’t remind me,” Kim said with a roll of her eyes. “Sometimes I hate living in the era of the smart phone.”

Before they could return to making themselves sundaes, an uninvited guest arrived in the kitchen.

With a scowl Jamie snapped, “What are you doing here? How even do you even know where I live?”

“Do you really want to know all that, or do you want to know why I’m here?” Spencer asked in return.

“I want you to leave,” Jamie said.

“What the hell is going on?” Kim asked.

“Nothing,” Jamie replied. “He was just leaving.”

“Please, just let me say what I have to say and then I’ll leave,” Spencer said.

Kim said, “Just let him talk Jamie. Clearly you two are not the best of friends, but if he came anyway, it must be important.”

Jamie muttered, “Fine, whatever. Make it quick.”

“I’m really sorry I gave you the run around about who wrote the comic,” Spencer said. “I’m not even sure why I did it, but things are different now. I read about you getting hurt in the paper and…well, it really freaked me out. What if it’s not just a story? What if it’s real?”

“What are you talking about?” Jamie asked.