Liam scanned the rec room, his gaze roaming from the boys playing video games to those at the pin-trading table to the ones lounging on the big couches, watching a movie on the wide-screen TV. Phillip and Rodney were both there, but he wasn’t looking for them. He was looking for Carter.
It was late Sunday night, and he hadn’t seen his cousin since the game. He was half-hoping, half-dreading to see him now. Hoping, because he wanted to be sure his best friend was okay. Dreading, because he was afraid his best friend might not be.
Instead of Carter, however, he spotted Ash. The blond-haired boy was tapping a Ping-Pong ball into the air with a paddle. He looked upset.
Well, duh, Liam thought. His team lost today.
Yet instinct told him that Ash was troubled by something more than the loss. Carter has always said Ash is a fierce competitor. Of course he has to be bummed out. But I would have bet anything on him putting it behind him and gearing up to face the next challenge.
Besides, there was no way Coach Harrison would have let any of his players dwell on the loss. No, something else was going on. Liam was sure of it.
Pink-pink-pink-pink-pink. Ash had mis-hit the ball, sending it bouncing across the room toward Liam. Liam bent down and grabbed it. When he straightened, he saw Ash staring at him.
Liam walked over. “Hey,” he said, handing Ash the ball.
“Hey,” Ash mumbled.
Liam picked up a paddle. “Wanna play?”
Ash shrugged. “Sure.”
Liam moved to one end of the table and Ash to the other. They began hitting back and forth, neither saying a word until Liam missed a return.
“You guys face Great Lakes tomorrow afternoon, right?” Liam asked as he retrieved the ball and sent it back across the net.
“I’ll be rooting for you.”
“Thanks.” Ash hit the ball into the net. He nabbed it before it dropped to the floor but didn’t resume playing. “Good game today.”
“You, too. Like I said before, you and Carter make a good team.”
Ash put down his paddle. “Yeah. Too bad we won’t be playing together after this tournament.”
Liam blinked. “Why not?”
Ash sighed. “I’m probably moving again.” His mouth twisted into a mirthless smile. “So if you want your old room back, it should be available soon.”
“Oh.” Liam was still digesting that information when Carter appeared. His cousin looked a little taken aback seeing the two of them together.
“So,” Carter said, hurrying over, “what’s going on here?”
“Don’t worry, Carter,” Liam said. “We’re fine.”
“I told Liam his room is going to be up for grabs again,” Ash put in.
None of them said anything for a long moment. Then Liam gave a little laugh.
“What’s so funny?” Ash asked.
“I was thinking about how that room has connections to so many of us,” Liam replied. “Carter and I used to hang out there all the time. Then I moved away and you moved in. You met Carter. I met Sean and Rodney. Now Sean is staying in that same bedroom, too.”
He shook his head. “And the weirdness goes on! Carter met Phillip. Carter didn’t like Phillip, which meant when I met Phillip, I didn’t like him, either.” As he spoke, his voice rose, drawing the attention of other boys in the rec room, including Rodney and Phillip.
“Someone talking about us?” Rodney said, coming to the Ping-Pong area with Phillip right behind him.
Liam pointed at Phillip. “How weird was it to find out I’d moved to your town?”
“Very,” Phillip said. He grinned. “I couldn’t stand the thought of you, actually.”
“Likewise, I’m sure!” Liam retorted but smiled, too. He turned to Ash. “Let’s face it, you and I couldn’t stand the thought of each other, either, right? But now look at us, four guys—well, five if you count Rodney—”
“Which why wouldn’t you?” Rodney asked, making the others laugh.
“The five of us here,” Liam finished, “hanging out as friends. So what brought us together? Baseball, that’s what!”
His arm swept in a wide arc. “These ballplayers and the ones on the field and in the dorms and wherever else they are come from all over the world.” His voice rose even louder. “Which means that no matter where in the world we are, or go, or end up, there could be a baseball team waiting for us to join. Or coach. Or ump. Or just watch! Right?”
“Right!”
The cry came from many boys in the room. Even those who didn’t speak English seemed to understand that Liam was saying something important as they grinned and pumped their fists.
“Any one of these guys could be a future teammate. Or future rival. Or”—he nodded at Ash—“a future friend. If you do move, Ash, baseball will be there to help you make friends again.”
Carter put his arm around Ash’s shoulders. “You’ll always have your old friends, too.” Ash looked from face to face and grinned. Then he held up his paddle. “Anyone want to play a different game for a change?”
In no time, they organized a doubles Ping-Pong tournament. They invited all the boys in the room to join and, in the spirit of Little League, paired U.S. players with International players. Liam teamed up with Jon, the Australian boy they’d met at the pool. Carter paired with Kita Hiro; at one point, Liam heard him ask the boy to teach him some Japanese phrases.
Some of the games were competitive; others were total wipeouts. But all the games were played with lots of laughter.
Before long, Ping-Pong was replaced with lively, good-natured pin trading. Rodney, whose collection was by far the smallest, exchanged two California theme park pins for a colorful “spinner” owned by Antonio, an outfielder from Mexico. Antonio grinned as Rodney flicked the pin’s tiny metal arrow to make it move—then passed him another, simpler pin, saying in accented but very clear English, “Please, have this one, too!”
Delighted, Rodney accepted the gift and then whipped out his phone. He threw his arm around Antonio and snapped a photo of them together. He got Antonio’s contact information and sent him a copy of the picture.
“Now you can get in touch with me whenever you want. Except when I’m playing!” he joked.
Later, as Liam brushed his teeth before bed, he knew that no matter how West fared in the days ahead, he would always remember the night as a highlight of the tournament.