Do Opposites Attract? // Sandlot Fanfiction

10.

I bounced up and down excitedly on the balls of my feet. My aunt, Scotty and I were just outside the airport waiting for Laina's flight to come in. I checked my watch for the fifth time in fifteen minutes. Her plane should've landed ten minutes ago. So, now it was just a matter of waiting for her to get her luggage and make her way out to our car.

I couldn't wait to see my best friend. Even though it hadn't been that long since I left New York, I still missed her and couldn't wait to show her around town and introduce her to all our friends. Especially, a certain tall, four-eyed friend of ours.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity I saw Laina step out of the airport trailing with her two giant suitcases. That's my girl. She may only be staying here for a week but, Laina doesn't go anywhere without having plenty of outfit options for every occasion.

"LAINA!!!!!" I squealed and ran towards her.

"LYNN!!!!!!" She screamed and propped up her suitcases just in time to catch me midair in a giant bear hug.

For a few moments all we could do was squeal like little girls and scream nonsense at each other. Soon we were laughing so hard we both had to bend over to catch our breath.

"Oh Lynnie-Lou, I missed you so much! The lake house just wasn't the same without you," Laina smiled as she used her silly nickname for me.

"I can't wait to show you around. You are going to love the guys," I returned the smile.

Laina ran a finger through her shiny dark brown hair. Straightened, it reached down to the middle of her back. Her tanned skin was flawless and contrasted well with her deep green eyes.

"Oh yes, your baseball boys. I'm so excited," She gave me a teasing look and mischief twinkled in her eyes.

Laina looked behind me and smiled and waved to my aunt and cousin. "First things first, you need to introduce me to your family."

"Right!" I grabbed one of her suitcases and led her over to my aunt and Scotty.

"Laina, this is my aunt and my cousin, Scotty," I introduced them.

"Nice to meet you both. Thank you so much for letting me come for the week," Laina put on her award-winning smile that can charm anyone.

My aunt smiled. "The pleasure is all ours. We're glad you were able to come stay with us. How was the flight?"

"It was pretty good. I slept through most of it," Laina laughed and gave a shrug.

"Laina can sleep through anything. Once we had a free period at school together and the fire alarm went off and this girl just kept on napping. I had to shake her awake to get her up," I rolled my eyes.

"Now that's a real skill," Scotty spoke for the first time. "Can you teach me how to sleep through Johnnie's tantrums?"

Laina and I laughed while my aunt just smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Alright, kids, climb in. We still have a half an hour drive ahead of us."

The ride back home was fairly uneventful. Laina and I chatted away while my aunt hummed along to the radio. Once home, Scotty and I carried Laina's bags to my room where she'd be staying.

I plopped down onto my bed and Laina joined me with a smile.

"I still can't believe that we convinced my parents and your aunt and uncle to let me come stay with you guys for the week. I've missed you!" Laina said with her usual, effortless smile.

"I know, it's been torture without being able to tell you everything that's been happening in person!" I whined.

"Speaking of, you need to fill me in more on what's been happening. Tell me more about these baseball boys of yours," Laina's eyes twinkled with excited.

I was equally eager to tell her. We talked for hours about what was going on in my life and all of her adventures at her lake house. At 5 my aunt called us down for dinner. Scotty had left to go play ball with his friends. I had wanted to catch with Laina and let her rest a bit before taking her to the Sandlot. I promised her that after dinner I would take her to meet everyone. And I made sure to talk up Bertram so she was extra excited to meet him.

After a delicious dinner of homemade hamburgers and potato wedges, we headed out for the Sandlot. We lived so close to the Sandlot that the walk didn't take long at all. We could hear the boys playing their game before we could see them. There was a lot of yelling and the sound of the bat connecting with the ball. I bet Benny was up to bat. I don't think that I had ever seen him miss the ball. We made our way through the alley way and saw the boys in the middle of an intense looking game. What am I saying? It was always an intense game with them.

Scotty noticed us first and waved. "Hey guys!"

He abandoned his post in the outfield and ran up to us. Everyone turned to look at us and after Benny dropped the bat to come over they all ran over. I looked over to Laina to see her initial reaction. She looked calm and confident on the outside but, I noticed that she was playing with her necklace. This was a giveaway that she was nervous. It was something that most people wouldn't pick up on. But, after years of friendship, I knew all of her tics and she knew mine.

"Guys, I wanted to introduce you to my best friend, Laina," I smiled and motioned to Laina.

"Hi guys," Laina smiled, her voice softer than usual.

"Laina, these are the guys. This is Scotty, as you already know, Yeah-Yeah, Repeat, Timmy, Denunez, Squints, Berram and Benny," I went down the line and introduced each of them.

I paused on Bertram, which may have been a little too obvious. Bertram's cheeks grew red but, he couldn't seem to take his eyes off Laina. Ha! I knew he'd like her. Laina smiled at each of them and I couldn't really gauge her reaction or how she felt. She always seemed happy to see new people.

"It's really nice to meet all of you! You'll have to forgive me if I have to ask for your names again," Laina laughed.

For a moment, none of us really knew what to say. Laina and I had interrupted their game and I could tell most of the boys were torn between wanting to stay and talk to the cute, new girl or getting back to baseball.

"So, could you use two more players?" I asked.

Benny smirked. "Game on. Let's go."