the sandlot orphan » b.rodriguez

; twenty one

S A M

"Hello!" Sam chirped as she stepped inside Zoey's house. Heads shot up from the couch; Zoey and Charlie. Jacob was cuddled up in Charlie's lap, no surprise there.

"Sammy!" Jacob gasped and jumped down from Charlie's lap before running over to Sam and hugging her legs.Sam kneeled down and hugged him. He then pulled back and pointed at the television that was on and playing a show. "Flinstones! Bam! Bam!"

"Yes, go on ahead and keep watching, Bamm-Bamm." Sam laughed and ruffled his hair. He pulled out of her grasp and ran back to the couch. Instead of sitting down on Charlie's lap, he sat next to her.

"So?" Zoey came into view. "How'd it go?"

"I—we uh," Sam's index finger started twirling a strand of her gold, blonde hair. Her cheeks started to warm up as her lips curled into a smile. "We're back together."

"Yes! Oh my god!" Zoey squealed and wrapped her arms around her best friend in a tight hug. Sam tried to hug her back but her arms were around them also, so she couldn't lift them up. She was hugging the daylight out of Sam.

"Zoey. Can't—breathe." Sam wheezed.

"Oops," She giggled and stepped back. Sam took a deep breath in and ran her right hand through her hair. "Sorry but, finally!"

"Okay, okay." Sam kept smiling, but she smiled bigger, if that was even possible.

"Look at you! You can't stop smilin'!"

"Alright, I get it!" Sam laughed. Her eyes started to wander around the room and they landed on Charlie. She was looking down at her feet, biting her bottom lip. Sam's smile faded away and guilt started swimming inside of her, eating her alive.

"Charlie," Sam sighed. She looked up, but then back down. Sam's feet walked up to her then her hand gripped her left arm. Sam pulled her up and she stood in front of her, but her eyes keep darting to everywhere but Sam's face. "I'm sorry."

With that, she finally looked up at Sam. She mentally sighed. "You can do whatever ya' want with Bertram. I overreacted 'cause I was mad about what Benny did to me. I thought you were betraying me or somethin'. I overreact a lot, so I promise to control myself. I'm really sorry, I just need my best friend back."

"Come 'ere." Charlie opened her arms. Sam walked into them and hugged as hard as she could. Charlie did the same. "I'm sorry for trying to make ya' go back to Benny. I knew what happened but that completely slipped my mind."

"No, ya' shouldn't be apologizing." Sam stepped back and held her hands in her own tightly. Sam smiled and Charlie returned it.

Everything was alright again. Except for the fact that Sam still had a problem with her parents and Wendy, but other than that, everything's back to normal.

⚾

"There are the boys," Zoey gushed, two weeks after Sam's get-back-together date with Benny. "It might happen today."

She was talking about Sam and Benny's first kiss after years of having their last one. Of course Sam told the girls, she told them everything.

"Ya' say that everyday." Sam shook her head, giggling. Everyday Zoey said it, it was getting old then.

"Yeah but, I have a really good feeling about today."