𝐀𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐘 𝐁𝐑𝐎𝐖𝐍 - 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐗 𝐎𝐂

𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐀𝐑𝐌 𝐈𝐒 𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐓

NORTH DENVER 1978

AVERY BROWN was sat on the bleachers watching the game with her best friend, Donna. Avery originally didn't want to watch the game, but Donna persuaded her into coming. Avery Brown squinted her eyes slightly at the boy who walked into the field, quickly realizing that the boy was in fact her classmate, Finney Blake. The brunette watched as Finney Blake was next to pitch, and her close friend, Bruce Yamada was the current hitter. Numerous people who sat close to Avery at the bleachers yelled words cheering on Finney Blake as he went into position. The smaller boy pitched the ball making it clear. Avery didn't take her eyes off the curly haired boy, something about him and the way he played catching her attention. She clapped her hands at the boy along with many others. Finney then received the ball back, he once again threw it and hit a second strike causing the crowd to cheer loudly. To be honest, Avery was actually pretty impressed, Finney Blake was really good at pitching, especially against Bruce Yamada who was one of the best hitters the girl knew. Avery started clapping again, just as Finney was about to pitch, he searched the crowd for a certain pair of hazel eyes that belonged to a certain brunette girl, his eyes locked with Avery's and she sent him a small smile. Finney quickly looked away and blushed in embarrassment, but he quickly brought his focus back to the game. He threw the ball one last time, but Bruce Yamada striked the ball far away. Bruce began to run as the ball flew over the gate, causing one of Finney's teamates to miss the catch, it was a home run. Everyone groaned in dissapointment, while the opposing team began cheering and chanting Bruce's name.

"Hey Aves! Come on, let's get going." Shouted Donna in between the cheers of the opposing team, making sure her friend heard her as she reached for Avery's hand. Avery nodded, quickly understanding what she was saying and grabbed Donna's hand. They soon started walking out.

"Did you see Bruce playing? He looked so hot! If I were you, I would definetly ask him out." Whispered Donna to her friend, fangirling. Avery looked at Donna in disbelief and started laughing.

"Maybe you should ask him out if you're so interested." Avery replied winking at her best friend as she teased her, making them both laugh at each other. Little did Avery know that a certain pitcher was staring at her in admiration as she walked away, with the brightest smile Finney had ever seen. Finney snapped out of his stare and ran to his team and they started congratulating the other team for winning. As Finney was walking away, a familiar boy appeared infront of him, Bruce Yamada

"Dude! Man, your arm is mint. You almost had me." Said Bruce with a toothy smile on his face.

"Good game." Finney replied returning the smile.

...

While walking away, Avery stopped as Donna said she saw some old friends and had to talk to them, Avery nodded and stayed in her spot, not wanting to intrude as she waited for her best friend to come back. Until someone appeared infront of her, she looked up and noticed a familiar pair of eyes, Bruce Yamada. The girl smiled brightly as she noticed it was him.

"Hey, Bruce."

"Hey, Avery! So, how are you?" Asked Bruce with a happy, victorious smile. Bruce's smile was contagious, just like his happiness. If you were ever around Bruce, he would always find a way to make you smile.

"I'm great, thanks for asking. Oh, congratulations on winning! You were amazing out there." Congratulated Avery with a kind smile on her face.

"Thanks Aves, you look amazing by the way!" Bruce said twirling her around, making her chuckle.

"Why, thank you Mr Yamada. You don't look too bad yourself." Replied Avery teasingly with a big grin, making him bow sarcastically, which made her laugh even more.

Something nobody knew was that Bruce and Avery had gone out once, on a date. The truth is that they had a lot of fun on their date, it was amazing, and both of them loved it. But, they knew that if they were a couple, it wouldn't really work out, so they decided it would be better if they stayed as friends, and it was honestly a great idea. So, that's what they did, and here they are now.

"Man, did you see that pitcher play? Finn! That's his name. His arm is mint, he almost had me. Almost!" Shouted Bruce in excitement making Avery laugh at his energy.

"Yeah, yeah I saw! He really was playing pretty well." Avery replied with a smile on her face. Finney Blake really was a good player, and he almost beat Bruce. Avery started to think back to the game, about the time when Finney was playing, he was about to do a third strike when his eyes met hers. She wondered if maybe she distracted him in someway, making him lose his third strike. But she shook her thoughts out of her head.

"Well, I better get going Aves. You should too, you shouldn't stay out too late. Especially now, you know, with The Grabber and everything." Bruce said, with a more serious tone this time. Avery flinched at the mention of his name. She wouldn't say she necessarily believed in those stories, it's just that she didn't like to say his name. After all, it's better to be safe than sorry, right?

"Yeah, you're right. I'll see you around Bruce." Avery replied with a small wave and a forced smile. She started walking to her best friend but she couldn't get The Grabber's thoughts out of her head. Avery was scared, she was scared for herself, and scared for all the kids in this town. I mean, three innocent boys had already been taken, who knows who's gonna be next, it could be her, or any other kid in town. Avery arrived at where Donna was, busy in her train of thoughts, she forgot to hide the worried expression on her face, so Donna definetly took notice, arching a brow at her concerned friend.

"Hey, you okay, Aves?" Asked Donna, concerned for her best friend. Avery got snapped out of her thoughts and quickly forced a smile onto her face.

"Yeah, of course! Don't worry about me."  Avery replied shaking her head with a smile. She didn't want her friend to worry about her over something that was probably not going to happen to her. Donna arched a brow once again, suspicious of her friends behavior, which made Avery chuckle nervously as she shook her hands infront of her in denial.

"Donna, don't worry! Come on, let's get going." Avery dismissed her worried friend as she took Donna's hands into her own, guiding the way.

The two girls started walking to their houses, and in a matter of minutes, Avery had forgotten all about The Grabber.

But something she would never ever forget, was what was about to happen to one of her closest friends, and she had absolutely no idea.

MESSAGE FROM ME: HEYY GUYS!! Okay so I kinda liked this chapter! todayy we had A LITTLE DONNA AND AVERY FRIENDSHIP, A LITTLE FINNEY AND AVERY EYE CONTACT AND A LITTLE BRUCE AND AVERY TIME. ughh this chapter was also pretty short but whatever.
DUDE THE WAY I HAVE CHANGED THIS CHAPTER LIKE 3 FUCKING TIMES IS SO ANNOYING. I LITERALLY HAD TO REDO IT AGAIN BECAUSE MY EDITS WEREN'T SAVED LAST TIME.

(dude i just realized how sloppy and unorganized my ideas AND my writing was lol. but i'm fixing it!!)