The following day Vidaj sat and waited for the English class to begin when he felt two small fingers tapping against his shoulder. Corralling a softball, his classmate Janice reached over and plopped it in his hands. Perplexed, he began to analyze the names on it. Looking back up at Janice, her finger pointed toward the right. Turning in that direction was Lana waving her hands while mouthing the words hurry up as Mr. Mathis walked through the door.

Vidaj tossed the ball to Lana.

He whispered "what's this?"

"The game ball," lowering both her voice and head to avoid Mr. Mathis's view as he started calling for attendance.

"From our final game last year," Lana whispered.

She slid the ball into a protective covering in her messenger bag before lifting it back up toward Vidaj before Mr. Mathis could see. Covering his mouth to hide his smirk he pondered as to why Lana didn't use her powers. He then remembered that Lana also loved the thrill of trying to get a fast one past people without her powers. He gripped his face tighter at the thought of her thinking that she was anywhere near as sneaky without her powers. "From last year's championship game to be exact. Don't you remember?"

Nodding as though there was a spring in her head she came to a realization. "Ooh, that's right. You weren't there because you went fishing with Pax that day. You're going to make up for that this year by coming to all our games."

Vidaj looked up as Mr. Mathis stood in front of Lana. Shocked that she had been caught she jilted up like a flamingo ruffling its own feathers and apologized.

After class Lana jumped up and pulled Vidaj down by the collar in the hallway. "You!" Vidaj stuck his tongue out as Lana tired out, loosening her grip. Still angry she wagged her index finger at him. "Why didn't you warn me that he was coming. You're just soooo... ugh! Just you wait! I'm so going to get my revenge on you for this."

Slapping her hand away, Vidaj brushed his shirt while biting down on his lips to keep himself from laughing. "You mean wrinkling my shirt isn't good enough? You should be saving your energy for your game this afternoon. Not messing around with me."

Lana raised her finger again this time wagging it in affirmation. "You're right. I'll take my anger out on the other team later. Thanks for the motivation!"

Vidaj's grin faded as Lana continued wagging her finger. He realized he had incurred her wrath, and even though he was safe, someone else would have to pay the price.

***

After school, Vidaj walked over to the softball field looking for a good spot. To his surprise there was already a crowd gathered. Vidaj scowled in envy, staring at the parade like a group. Somehow while scanning through the crowd his brother Pax stood out right away. Vidaj started to make his way toward him, but stopped short when he saw his arms around a tall girl with freckles and short, wavy black hair.

Pax, who was scanning the area himself, held his eyes wide toward Vidaj. He proceeded to perform a series of moves ranging from nodding slightly, shaking his head and finally wagging his finger. Vidaj knew that this meant to back off.

Recalling the time, he interrupted Pax and ruined his ridiculous story about the hardships of his life. He didn't want to deal with another crazy ex-girlfriend.

Vidaj maintained a safe distance away from Pax. Safe enough to eavesdrop on the conversation between him and his date. "See? Right there? That girl's my sister. Lana might be small and skinny, but she's a fantastic player!"

Lana left her teammates, who were warming up, and hugged Pax. "I'm so happy you made it to my game. It's such a beautiful day too. I hope I can use everything you taught me to help the Phoenixes win."

His date showed her straight white teeth.. "Aw, what a thoughtful, kind sister you have."

While hugging Lana, Pax slipped a few bucks into her hand. As Lana walked away, the girl said, "She's adorable, but you guys don't look alike at all."

"What do you mean? She's cute and I'm cute. That's hereditary, you know."

Reeling from both Lana's terrible acting and his brother's awful line, Vidaj smacked his palm against his face, but felt compelled to keep observing his brother.

Pax pointed to an empty spot on a hill with a full view of the field. "It's getting way too crowded over here, Allison. How about we go enjoy the game in private?" As Pax and his date disappeared to the other side of the field, the rest of Vidaj's friends showed up and stood behind one of the fences.

"A lot of people turned up for this game," Jane said.

Mallory, who was wearing a Phoenix team hat and a giant foam finger, exclaimed, "Of course! They're all here to see Lana play. Go, Lana!"

Vidaj noticed an empty spot on another nearby hill and signaled for the boys to follow him; they did so while texting on their phones. A short while later, they reached the top of the hill, where they waited for the game to start. The girls ran to the bleachers in hopes of staying close to the action. The opposing team, the Spartans, appeared and made their way to the visitors' dugout to a barrage of boos, the loudest of course coming from Lana's biggest fan, Mallory.

The first girl to step into the batter's box was booed so loudly that Vidaj could see her bat shaking from her anxiety. On the first pitch, she swung and hit a ground ball toward Lana at shortstop. A burst of light, visible only to Vidaj, emanated from her feet. She fielded the ball with ease and made a skillful throw to first base. The crowd cheered, including Pax, who shouted, "Good job, sis!" from his spot on the other hill.

Vidaj glanced at his brother. Allison giggled as Pax put his hands around her waist and whispered in her ear. "Looks like your brother is doing pretty well with his game too," a loud voice echoed.

Vidaj looked up, startled to see Felix looming over him. He pushed him back. "How long have you been standing there?"

Felix ignored his question. "Lana was pretty adamant about us showing up, but the truth is, I heard a lot of girls show up to these games. I mean, look at your brother. He has the right idea." He winked. "I think he's about to round second base."

Vidaj grunted, "What are you? His play-by-play announcer?"

"I would be, but I've got to start my own game." Felix laughed at his own joke. His eyes preyed like a hawk toward a group of girls in the front row behind the fence at home plate.

Vidaj shook his head. "Do you really think this is the place for you to be a complete pervert? I mean, most of them are sitting right next to their parents!"

"Me? A pervert? No way! I'm a total gentleman."

Vidaj rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, buddy."

Felix hurried toward the bleachers, leaving Vidaj with the rest of the boys, who were watching the game and pointing at girls they thought were cute. Vidaj wasn't interested in any chasing after any girls. Instead, he observed Lana waiting to see the new techniques she had been bragging about. The sun was beating down on the hill, but that didn't bother Vidaj a bit. His shadow powers had made him immune to the rays of the sun.

After a few minutes, the rest of the boys had enough of the heat and made their way to the bleachers. Vidaj was far too comfortable to leave his spot. Within a few minutes he settled in on the grassy hill drifting away into a slumber.

Some time later he arose to the raucous noise of the crowd. Darting his eyes toward the field, he saw that Lana was taking her first at-bat. He waved to them like a beauty pageant contestant greeting her fans. Just like the batters had done with Felix yesterday, her playful demeanor transformed into a stern stare aimed at the opposing pitcher.

The pitcher took a few steps back shaking her glove before starting her throwing motion. Lana set her feet and scorched the ball well over the head of the second base player before making her way to first base. If a regular person were running the bases, it would have been just a single, but Lana wasn't a regular person. She dove toward the second base bag before anyone on the opposing team even got to the ball. The spectators cheered wildly as she took a few bows on second base.

Several innings later, Lana picked off one of the opposing players with a fake throw to the pitcher. The girl looked confused; her arms extended toward Lana. "But I saw you throw the ball back to the mound!" she exclaimed. "How do you still have it in your hand?"

Vidaj was very familiar with Lana's fake throw illusion play, which she'd performed several times in their pickup games. The reactions it generated always amused him.

Vidaj began sweating, but this wasn't from the heat. He felt anxiety as a powerful feeling overwhelmed him. There it is again he thought. It's that overwhelming power. Looking into the crowd he spotted the same tall man in the trench coat that was at his baseball game standing in the far back. Wow, what's he doing here? Is he spying on us? Can he sense our powers? Without thinking, Vidaj stood up and made his way to the man. After inching his way through the crowd, he stood within a few feet of the man, who towered over everyone around him.

The crowd stood up and cheered.Vidaj took a quick glance to see that Lana had smacked yet another hit to center field. Looking back to the spot where the large man was he was shocked yet to see that he had vanished. Moving his head in all sorts of directions he wondered how the man was able to keep doing this.

Vidaj made his way back to the hill to get a better view of the field, but stopped midway to watch Lana take a large lead from first base. Though he couldn't tell for sure, he suspected she had created the illusion that she was only a few inches off the base. Just as the pitcher delivered her pitch, Lana dashed to second base. The catcher caught the ball and threw a bullet toward second base. Well in front of Lana the shortstop slid toward Lana with the ball in hand. Lana was heading straight into a tag out—that was, until a light emanated from her left hand pushing herself up so forcefully that she flipped over the attempted tag and gracefully landed on second base.

The shortstop was so shocked by Lana's athletic jump that she stared at the ground in disbelief for several seconds before turning around to see a beaming Lana standing on second base. Vidaj was surprised at how flexible Lana had become since the last time he had watched her play, but what really impressed him was that she wasn't even remotely out of breath.

Vidaj settled in on his spot on the hill again and lay down with his hands behind his head. After that play the game felt like it was on cruise control. The Spartans were demoralized. Vidaj's mind wandered again thinking about the oddity of having seen the large man once again. When he broke free from his trance, he looked at the scoreboard; the Phoenixes had won 14-1.

Gazing out at the field, he was astounded to see that the crowd had vanished. Just like the man in the trench coat he thought. Vidaj scurried down the hill when he noticed that there were still two people in the far distance. From the uniform and the person's small stature, he could tell it was Lana. Moving closer he recognized the curly hair of Jane, who held her arms out as if to say, Don't come any closer.

It was at that moment Vidaj knew that something big was about to happen between the two and there was nothing he could do to stop it.