𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝑺𝒊𝒙𝒕𝒚-𝑻𝒘𝒐 | b. rodriguez

the girl can catch

The bat hit the ball and sent it soaring into deep center field, right towards me.

By nature, my first instinct was to catch it. I moved over about a foot and extended my arm, reaching for the ball. I felt the adrenaline kick as the impact of the ball hit my glove.

Quickly, I took it out of my glove and pitched it towards the second baseman, who, despite having ginormous glasses, caught the ball.

Even though I'd acted fast, the dark haired boy had nearly reached first base. Gosh, he was fast. He, and everyone else - including Scotty - looked at me as if I had just grown ten feet tall. The boy with the glasses squinted at me, and everyone's mouth hung agape.

I looked at Scotty. "Why in God's name are they looking at me still?" I whispered.

"Youuuu're out!" the catcher called.

The boy I'd gotten out finally closed his mouth and his lips formed an amused grin. My stomach fluttered against my will when I realized he was the boy I'd seen walking across the street the other day.

The four-eyed kid smiled and started clapping his hand against his glove, obnoxiously.

"Whoo!" he cheered. "Holy cow," he said. Half the boys began applauding me.

I blushed a little and brushed some dust off my white shirt.

"Hey! Come over here," the red head demanded. I looked at Scotty who seemed hesitant to trust him. The freckle-faced boy waved me over to the field, and I decided to go along with it.

As I walked closer, Scotty rushed to catch up behind me. The other boys in the field came in closer to find out what the catcher was going to say.

The squinty-eyed boy nudged the dark-haired batter who's eyes were fixed on me. "Benny, she got you good," he cackled.

"Can it, Squints," the Benny guy said nudging him back.

"Yeah, yeah – she's good," said a boy with quiffed hair.

"Yeah, she's good – for a girl." The catcher spat at the ground, while glaring at me intimidatingly.

"For a girl?" Everyone turned to look at Benny. He glanced at me again before continuing. "Ham, she's probably got a better reaction time than you."

"Oooh," the boys hummed.

I felt my face heat up, and Scotty stepped up closer beside me.

"Yo, shorty," the catcher referred to Scotty. "You know this chick?" he asked, nodding at me.

"Yeah," Scotty replied, still wincing at the fact he got called "Shorty."

"She's my sister."

Immediately I felt a wave of regret at having caught the ball – surely I'd just blown Scotty's chance at making some friends for once.

I glared at the red head. "My brother's got a name, you know."

The boys "Ooooohed" me again.

"Sassy," someone said. "I like 'em like that," Squints laughed, and Benny nudged him again, so hard he nearly stumbled over. "Ouch! Benny, man, I was kiddin."