Benny and I hadn't talked about that magical night on the Fourth of July in over a week.
I was starting to think we weren't going to talk about it at all.
"Come on! Hurry up!" I shouted after Benny as he ran from base to base as the boys tried to catch him with the ball.
"Run!" Scotty yelled.
"Back off!" Ham shouted.
"Yeah, yeah!" Yeah-Yeah agreed.
"Throw it in! Throw it in!" Kenny shouted.
"Get him! Get him!" Squints shouted.
Just then a bunch of boys on bikes appeared and stopped at the end of the Sandlot.
The Sandlot boys ran over to the boys on bikes and I followed close behind.
"Oh, damn!" Bertram groaned.
"Oh, no!" Kenny shouted.
I looked over at Scotty to see if he knew what was going on, but he just shrugged at me.
"It's easy when you play with a bunch of rejects and a fat kid, Rodriguez," The boy who I assumed was the leader of the boys on the bikes.
Wow. He was really rude.
I folded my arms across my chest as I stared at him.
"Shut your mouth, Phillips," Benny said, rolling his eyes.
"What'd you say, crap face?" Ham said, getting angry.
"I said you shouldn't even be allowed to touch a baseball," Phillips said, staring down at the boys and then turning towards Benny. "Except for Rodriguez, you're all an insult to the game."
Ok. Now I was getting really annoyed. This boy was so rude.
"Come on! We'll take you on right here, right now!" Ham shouted.
"Come on!" The Sandlot boys shouted, agreeing with Ham.
Benny stayed silent as he stared down Phillips.
"We play on a real diamond, Porter," Phillips said, staring at Ham. "You ain't good enough to lick the dirt off our cleats."
"Watch it, jerk," Ham said, obviously furious at Phillips.
"Shut up, idiot!" Phillips retorted.
"Moron!"
"Scab eater!"
"Butt sniffer!"
"Pus licker!"
"Fart smeller!"
"Ah!" Phillips sniffed the air around him and then looked back at Ham. "You eat dog crap for breakfast, geek."
"You mix your Wheaties with your mama's toe jam!" Ham retorted.
"Yeah!" The Sandlot boys cheered.
Now this argument was getting beyond ridiculous.
"You bob for apples in the toilet and you like it," Phillips smirked.
His crew all "oohed" and laughed at the insult.
"You play ball like a girl!" Ham shouted, snapping Phillips and his crew out of their laughing fits.
I had had enough.
I pushed through the Sandlot boys and stared at Ham.
Ham shrunk back as I stared at him.
"Now I know you didn't just say what I think you just said," I said, squinting my eyes at Ham. "I play just as well as the rest of you."
Ham quickly muttered an apology under his breath as I turned to look at Phillips. Really look at him.
He was cute, I'll give him that, but his ugly personality ruined his looks.
I noticed Phillips looking me up and down, a smirk crossing over his lips as he stared at me.
"Well, hello there," Phillips said, taking my hand in his and placing a gentle kiss on it.
I rolled my eyes and took my hand back.
"What's your name beautiful?" Phillips continued. "I've never seen you with these rejects before."
"I'm Y/n, Y/n Smalls," I said, crossing my arms across my chest unimpressed by Phillips's theatrics.
"Y/n, what a beautiful name," Phillips winked at me.
I rolled my eyes.
"Tomorrow," Phillip said, looking back at the Sandlot boys. "Noon. At our field. Be there, buffalo-butt breath."
"Count on it, pee-drinking crap face!" Ham shouted back.
"Oh and one more thing," Phillips said with a smirk. "If we win, we get the girl."
Phillips winked at me and I scoffed.
"No you aren't," I said. "I don't belong to anyone. I'm not an object. I'm a human being."
Phillips ignored me and biked off with his friends as I rolled my eyes.
I turned towards the rest of the Sandlot boys to see them smiling at me, well except for Ham.
He looked guilty.
"I'm really sorry, Little Red," Ham said. "I-"
"Don't worry about it," I smiled. "I forgive you."
Ham smiled back at me.
"We're gonna kick their butts tomorrow," Benny said.
"Yeah!" The Sandlot boys shouted.
"Because there's no way I'm going with them," I said.
"Jerks," Squints muttered under his breath.
The boys ran back over to their places but Kenny ran up to me.
"Y/n...I mean Little Red?" Kenny said, looking kind of nervous.
"Yeah," I said, putting back on my glove.
"I have a question," Kenny said.
"I'm listening," I said, looking up at Kenny.
"Do you like, Benny?" Kenny asked, bluntly.
His bluntness startled me a little. I could feel my heart race in my chest as my face warmed up.
"What makes you think that?" I said, feeling nervous.
"Well, I was just asking because I'm pretty sure he likes you," Kenny shrugged.
"Oh really?" I asked.
"Yeah," Kenny nodded. "All Benny cared about before you guys moved here was baseball. He said he never had time for girls."
"What about now?"
"There's something different about him. Like there's something else in his life other than baseball that really matters to him. Plus...I can tell by the way he looks at you."
"How does he look at me?"
"Like you're the most beautiful person he's ever laid eyes on. Which you are really beautiful, Little Red."
"Thanks Kenny," I smiled.
"Of course," He nodded. "So...do you like him?"
"I do," I nodded.
"I knew it!" Kenny cheered.
I laughed.
"Are we gonna play ball or not?" Ham shouted.
"One second!" I yelled.
I looked over at Kenny who was smiling at me.
"Don't worry, I won't tell him," Kenny winked. "But you should."
I smiled and nodded as Kenny ran off to his spot to play ball.
YOU ARE READING
It All Started with Baseball
Fanfiction"All Benny cared about before you guys moved here was baseball. He said he never had time for girls." "What about now?" ...
