Danni.

Danni leaned back against the dugout bench, arms crossed, chewing her gum with slow, deliberate pops. Alex was rambling about something—maybe a bad call from last game, maybe some drama with another teammate. Danni wasn’t really listening.

Her eyes were locked on you, standing there next to the coach, nodding along to whatever he was saying like a perfect little golden child.

Danni exhaled through her nose, rolling the gum against her tongue. Of course. You always looked so damn bud­died up with him. Always in the right place at the right time, always getting that approving nod while the rest of them had to claw their way to recognition. "You're staring," Alex muttered, following her gaze. Danni scoffed. "Yeah, at a damn pick-me." Alex snorted. "You sure that's all?" Danni popped her gum again, louder this time. "Shut up, Alex."

Danni popped her gum one last time before spitting it onto the dirt, not bothering to look back as she left Alex behind. She had bigger things to focus on—like the next pitch. Standing tall on the mound, she rolled her shoulder back and flexed her fingers around the ball, feeling its familiar rough seams. The catcher was set behind the plate, but Danni wasn’t going to go easy. Not now, not ever.

She tapped her cleat against the rubber twice, the same way she always did, then wound up and let the ball fly. Fast and unforgiving. The moment it left her fingers, she knew it was a good one. A wicked curve, low and biting. The catcher shifted, but not fast enough—off balance, the ball skidded past and smacked against the chain-link fence with a dull clang. Danni’s smirk widened.

"Better keep up," she called out, brushing a strand of dark hair from her face. "Wouldn’t want to let the whole team down."

Danni smirked, eyes locked on the pitcher standing across from her. The ball had barely hit the fence before she was ready for another. She popped her gum, rolling her shoulders as if this was just another casual throw. But there was nothing casual about the way she stepped into the next pitch, making sure to put just enough movement on it to throw the catcher off again.

The ball whizzed through the air, curving sharply at the last second. The glove snapped shut too late—another miss.

Danni let out a short chuckle, planting her hands on her hips. "Damn," she drawled, tilting her head. "Didn’t think it’d be this easy." "Danni! Your doing that on purpose!" The coach scolded.

Danni clenched her jaw at the coach’s words, resisting the urge to roll her eyes. "Yeah, yeah," she muttered under her breath, barely loud enough for anyone to hear. Of course, she was doing it on purpose—what did they expect? She wasn’t about to just hand out easy catches.

Frustration simmered under her skin as she got back into position. Fine. If they thought she was messing around before, she’d give them something to actually yell about.

With a sharp exhale, she wound up and threw again, this time with a little extra heat. The ball veered off course at the last second, smacking against the catcher’s leg with a dull thud.

Danni’s smirk twitched, her expression unreadable. "Whoops," she said, feigning innocence. "Guess that one got away from me."

Danni's grip tightened around the ball, her fingers digging into the seams as she watched the coach rush over. Of course. The second something happened, they were all over it, acting like it was the end of the damn world.

She scoffed, shifting her weight onto one leg, arms crossing over her chest. "Oh, come on," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "It wasn’t even that bad."

The way the coach hovered, checking and fussing, only made her blood boil more. What was so special about them? Why did they always get that kind of attention? Danni had taken worse hits and barely gotten a second glance.

Jaw clenched, she forced herself to turn away, tossing the ball in her hand absently. "If we’re done babysitting, can we get back to practice?" she called, her voice laced with irritation.

Danni's eyes narrowed at the coach's command. Take her to the locker room? Seriously? Danni wasn't the damn nurse, and she sure as hell wasn't about to play nice just because the coach said so. "Danni, be useful for once and take her to the locker room, heal her wound."

"You’ve gotta be kidding me," she muttered under her breath, but she knew better than to argue. The coach's tone left no room for discussion. Sighing heavily, she tossed the ball aside, her frustration boiling over as she marched toward where you were, standing there looking like the world had just ended.

"Come on," she snapped, her voice sharp, "Let’s get this over with."

She didn't wait for a response, just gestured impatiently toward the locker room. It wasn’t like she cared about your leg, but the sooner she got this done, the sooner she could get back to practice without all the stupid attention on her.

Danni’s hands gripped your leg roughly, her fingers pressing into your skin as she lifted it. She didn't care if she was being rough—this was her chance to let out all the frustration she'd been holding in.

"Yeah, I bet it hurts," she muttered, her tone sharp and dripping with venom. "Not used to being in the spotlight for once, huh? Coach’s golden child all the time, but the moment you step out of line, you’re nothing. Pathetic."

Her fingers pressed a little harder, and she barely seemed to notice or care about your discomfort. "Maybe this is what you get for always acting like you're better than everyone else. Real cute how you act like you're untouchable, but guess what? You're just a fragile little thing. A pretty face with no real skills."

Danni paused for a second, leaning down closer as her voice lowered to a mocking tone, "You think you’re the one who’s gonna lead this team? You can't even catch a simple pitch. Maybe it's better if you just stick to being the coach's pet. That’s all you’ll ever be. Nothing more, nothing less."

Her eyes narrowed as she finished wrapping the bandage, clearly not done with her little tirade. "You might get all the attention, but just remember—no one respects you. And once the coach figures out that you're just a joke, they'll toss you aside like everyone else."

Danni leaned back with a grin, her words slicing through the air like a knife, but it was clear she was enjoying every second of it. She’d made her point, and even if you weren’t in the mood to listen, she’d made sure you knew exactly how she felt.