It was late March, and baseball season was set to begin in a week. Dexter lay on his dorm room bed, aimlessly throwing a baseball up in the air and catching it. He had barely left him room in the last five months outside of classes and baseball, and his emotions were in a tailspin. He hadn’t seen Callie since the show, and he figured she probably wasn’t into him. After all, that would line up with his past experiences. He had a hard time listening to Rise In Girl’s music, cringing at his ignorance whenever he heard the beautiful vocals of Trevor Green. One of his heroes hated him, and he just had to learn to accept it. But he still hadn’t.

Dexter heard the door click, and Bobby walked in. “Aw man, you’re sitting around doing that shit again?” he asked incredulously. “You gotta snap out of this.”

“Dude, it’s not worth it,” Dexter replied. “Trevor thinks I’m an idiot, and no girl on this campus will ever think I’m cool enough. Why bother?”

“Bro, are you seriously still on this? You got so much going for you,” Bobby asserted. “You’re killing it in your classes, you play a great third base, and you are a cool fucking dude, man! At least when you’re right. But not when you’re sulking like a wannabe emo kid. The season starts in a week, man. Be hyped!”

“Ah, fuck, dude, you’re probably right,” Dexter groaned as he got up from his bed. “I just feel like that was a big part of my identity that was taken away from me. Baseball and emo music. I don’t feel like I’m complete.”

“Well, throw that shit aside and get complete, cause we need you, man,” Bobby demanded. “Bro, this Jimmy Fender clown is pissing me off.”

“Yeah, what’s going on with that, man?” Dexter asked. “Seems like y’all are fighting it out pretty hard over there at first.”

“He’s a dickhead, man,” Bobby explained. “Thinks he’s all high and mighty over there. And of course Coach Ronnie has to kiss his ass because he’s a trust-fund kid and his dad knows President Haggerty. But I know I’m better.”

“Right, like he hits bombs and stuff, but you do, too,” Dexter agreed. “And you’re obviously way better for the team’s chemistry.”

“I gotta do something, man,” Bobby said. “I gotta show Ronnie that I’m the man so I can kick that dumbass bully to the bench. He thinks he can pitch, too, but he can’t hit the broad side of a freakin’ barn.”

“God, I wish we could get him out of here,” Dexter said. “The way he shoves people around in the locker room is just not fucking good. Someone’s going to get hurt.”

“I gotta be based, though. I need to find a way to let all my worries go and just live my life. And you do too, man.” Dexter slowly nodded in agreement as he flipped the ball into the air one more time.